Evening journal., 1920-04-06
DECLARES PRISON
SYSTEM A MENACE
lcontlnued from FIrst Pace. }

Continued from First Page)
man OF high character and train
ing. II is an educational problem
which prison warden Is called
upon to handle; not merely the
problem OF how 10 hold men under
lock and key and force them un-
willingly to work. A man compe-
tent 10 handle such a Job Is worthy
OF good salary; he can save
money for the State In othe ways.
3. The woman's department.
should be completely separated from
the mems prison; and The head ma
tron should not be the Warden's
wife. II Is not worth while dis
cusslng these points; they are self
evident
"a. Prison contract labor Is VIC
ious In principle and should be abol-
ished; " properly regulated, how
ever, II Is better than idleness. In my
Judgment the pr sent system should
be retained until thoroughly intel
ngent system based on sound eco
nomlc principles. can be formulated
and adopted by the proper authori-
ties This should be taken In hand
at once. The best judges now agree
that prisoners should receive fun
compensation for the work they Go
and, on the other hand. should pay
for all they acknowledging. board,
clothing ,etc. That Is mol only fair,
but Il gives TO the prisoners, ele-
meniary lessons IN n0lit'e"l e"c~,
my which most Of them badly need.
.. Most important and underly-
ing all other reforms Is that recon-
mended by Dr. Hart: "A limited
amount OF self-governmenr;-a
though 'self-goyernment is term
not very accurate. for real self-goy-
ernment is not practicable In a pris-
on, nor very satisfactory-for II Is
very apt 10 be misunderstood II
would be better 10 call II Inmate
responsibility II means the en-
cOuragement In each man OF a COM
prehension Of his responsibility for
the welfare OF the community as a
social unit. and OF training In the
exercises Of that responsibility.
That is what makes any man a good
citizen.
&C. Just what form this respon-
slbility should assume in an insti-
tuition so peculiarly constituted as
the New Castle County Workhouse,
Just how far IL could be wisely car
ried out and under what forms the
desired training could best be OBJ
tanned must be a matter for careful
Investigation and experiment There
Is danger In proceeding too the
oretlcally-as has been shown In
some other Institutions. The initla-
tive in such cases should always be
given to the prisoners; for II the
responsibility is 10 work for good II
must be their responsibility, volun-
tarily undertaken and conscienti-
Ously carried out
u. n the trustees are desirous
OF adopting this recommendation
OF Or. Hart could personally be OF
service, not only because OF my six
wears experience with the system
in three prisons, but because I can
secure more readily than most, the
confidence OF the pris0ners-an es-
sentlal element. II the trustees VIII
accept the assistance I can give
them and the warden viii be guided
by nv advice I will undertake to
have the prisoners under better con-
troll doing more work and giving
every evidence OF turning away
e-on, criminal practices,-SNithin
three months. j make this STATE
mgnt with fun knowledge OF all the
difficulties arising from the various
kinds OF prisoners. the handling OF
two races. and the other facts that
render your problem one OF the
most complicated within my know
ledge
IS. During twenty years expert
ence at the head Of a large manu-