The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-01-18
HOMES OF CRIME
There Are No Good Cities in
Kansas, COdding Says.
Penitentiary Warden Addresses
Rotary Club at Luncheon.
PARENTS RUIN CHILDREN
DisObedience in Homes Leads
to Law-Breaking Later.
Prisons Must Be Made Repair
Shops for Wrecked Men.

Warden ]. K Codding, of the Kan
sas state penitentiary, arraigned the
city home, "a boarding place for dis
obedient, idle children, not home"
as the source of the criminals which
the state is caring for at Lansing, in
an address before the Topeka Rotary
club at the club luncheon.
Warden Codding checked the mat
ter of curing crime" up to the well
fare workers of the city, whether the
welfare be accomplished by legisla-
! ton or otherwise.
There are no good cities in Kansas.
AS long as my boys are turned out of
the penitentiary, there will be more
criminals to come in, while the factors
which make criminals continue to
operate in the cities of the state, the
warden said. He found two grave
faults with the modern city home:
the first was the lack. of obedience
among the children, the other was the
lack of something for the younger
generation to do.
l. Warden Codding described the mod
ern penitentiary as "a vast field of
experime ntation, and detailed the diff
! flculties which are encountered in ex-
perimenting with human lives and the
storm of criticism which is raised
| When an experiment failed.
Get at Root of Crime.
In dealing with the curing of crime
1t won't help any to cure the GRIM
maj. The source of the trouble must
| De attacked" he said. Codding plead
ed for cleaner cities; for welfare work
which will remove the conditions of
ldleness and influences which make
criminals of men. As one means to
this end he favored, strongly, proper
| medical examination in the schools
! Sixty per cent of the inmates of the
/ penitentiary are physically deficient
| he says. and of the 600 prisoners who
underwent surgical operations after
1 they had entered the institution, many
would have been bright, capable and
honored citizens if the operations had
I, been performed in their youth
Inc municipal farIn appeals to the
warden or the Kansas penitentiary
| strongly. II think that every CITY in
the state should have a municipal
| he said.
working the prisoners on the roads.
in road camps, Warden Codding saws
! is good for the roads, but not wholly
good for the prisoners. He suggested
half and half system as ideal: work
| ing the men on the roads during the
summer and giving them the winter
/ indoors for more intensive training to
III. them for life after they have left
Z, the prison.
Many Arc Made Fit.
The doors of employment are not
/ SiOSSo hPoH my OOyS dIter Lney nave
left the penitentiary" he said. MANY
OF them can get jobs when the aver
| age man cannot. because they have
been trained to do the work, in the
penitentiary. I now have a hundred
| places, some of which cannot fill un-
| less the governor gets busy and pa
| roles some more men.
| But the doors of society are closed
against them. Once an ex-convict al
ways an ex-convict, and the scarlet
| letter is burned deep into the hearts
of my boys"
| The speaker welcomed the idea,
which is taking hold in all states, that
| penitentiary is not a place of pun
| ishment but "a repair shop for brok-
en- and wrecked men,"
The attendance at the luncheon was
/ large. The Sunflower quartet fur
nished music, and there were other
entertainment features, on the pro-
| gram.
Several names were proposed for
membership during the meeting. Sew
eral legislators were guests of the club