The Washington herald., 1918-03-03

established In Washington q big So
eisty which has as its aim the moral
salvage Of the eonyicts annually re-
leased from the penitentiaries Of the
country. It Is known as the Pris-
oners' Relief Society and its head
quarters are at SOC E street North
west
Three years ago. an ex-convict. who
had served five years for man
slaughter, started a society with
"a borrowed to help the 10000 men
who come out Of the penitentiaries
Of the country every year with the
brand Of the convict upon their brows
and upon their soul.
start Of Society.
He started this society in his own
home town, Huntington, West Vir-
gfnia. where everyone knew him
and his history. Earl E. budding,
that Is his name, met with q good
deal of encouragement. Some OF
the Eood people didn't like him or
his society. But with q few faithful
helpers. he persisted.
The first prominent man to eX-
tend help to the struggling society
was Daniel willard. president of
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad,
and now president Of the nations
advisory council. After that, things
came easier.
I'VE have q great field. We can
not fail" he said. And he was right.
Gradually success came.
Last year the society placed five
thousand released convicts in well
paying, respectable positions. Nine
ty per cent Of these men made
good
And now the society has grown
to the point where 1t has decided
to make its home in the Capital
Men Go Straight.
"we don't preach at the men," said
budding. I'VE Just help them. A
man who, when he steps from the peni-
tentiary, finds q good job and a fresh
start awaiting him, is a man who is
going to go straight, nine times out
Of ten
O. In 1880 budding, then a $5.Ooo-a-year
salesman for the firm OF Carson,
Pirie. Scott & Co, Of Chicago, was
sent to the Moundsville (W. Va)
penitentlsry for having shot man
who had struck him over the head
with a pick handle.
Having taken, a partial course in
medicine, he was placed in the prison
. hospital. where he attended many of
the prisoners who had been whipped
at the post or struck by the guards.
Gaining the confidence of the new
warden, NJ. L. Brown, he brought the
abuses to his attention, with the re-
suit that the whippings were ended.
With a whimsical humor. budding
says, Il was doing more stitching up
Of wounds in that place in a day than
a city doctor does in q month. 1t
seemed to me that II I was to make
my job easier. / would have to re-
form something. So 1 did IT."
whippIngs Abolished.
But the whipping was not the
only prison abuse that budding was
able to have done away with. Due
to underground information that he
had gathered from the convicts. he
was able to show the warden the
wholesale grating, cruelties and
dope smuggling that were going on.
warden Brown had made q clean
and humane place of the prison
before left" said budding.
Finally Dudding's time was up.
He left the prison.
As he got off the train in Hum
tington. his home town, he met q
friend.
well. Earl. what are you going
to dor said the friend.
I'm going to get back to where
= N.PN ~
"How?' said the friend doubt
fully.
II don't know" said budding.
But I'm going to do IT."
He borrowed $500 from . bank
and started on the road again as a
salesman But when he started to
beat back" he could not seem to
find the trail leading to a new life
'In four months my money was
all gone" said budding. It had
failed. Men who had been my Gus
toners turned their backs on me.
The travelling profession said 1t was
q disgrace to their profession to
have an ex-convict on the road. Old
friends called me aside when / tried
to sell them goods and said that 1
had better leave that section of the
country"
Almost Discourage.
-Broken-nerved and discoura ged, al
most beaten, I returned home. ] have
learned to feel the smart Of other
mems wounds through the sting OF
my own
zone Sunday afternoon. when every
thing seemed at its lowest ebb, il
!. came to me that there were hundreds.
L. -
ton, men who wanted to make good,
but finding the struggle too much for
them. slipped back into the ranks OF
80 legion OF the lost. Why not do
fnething for these TO put them back
The plane OF manhood and self
- ,eetY''
ding then sought out his closest
- John W. Koontz, Who agreed
: 1Alp him with the new project.
Wfth sll IN borrowed rsoney, a charter
was purchased and the Prisoness' Re
Hef Society was launched
There was no money for a stenoe-
rapher. 30 an ad was inserted asking
for the help OF a young lady who was
willing to give her service gratis to a
philanthropic organization
TO this ad there replied a level
eyed. enthusiastic girl. who said that
she was Interested in the type Of work
the Prisoners' Relief Society purposed
to DO. Her names was Letha watts.
They made her ONCE manager, and
they could not have gotten a better
one II they had procured high-priced
secretary. :
: The first step was to send out 10 ooo
letters to representative employers of
3aoor. telling OF the aims of the So
ciety and asking for their cooperation
N combating the negative public feel
ie< toward released prisoners; to help