The evening herald. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1906-1942, 1920-01-09
MOVE TO
'HUMAN|zE' THE
STATE PRISONS

4 prisons of the United States has beer
undertaken by the Gray Brother.
hood. an organization OF reformed
ex-convicts. according to a former
inmate Of Sing Sing who served 10
years behind gray stone walls. An.
other object of the campaign is to
counteract anarchy, for. he said, "oi
the 100000 convicts, men and wo-
men, who annually emerge from
American prisons fully 30 per cent
are potential Bolshevists."
This man. a.product Of the New
York slums. who not only redeemed
his own life but saved two younger
brothers from criminal careers. all
as the result of the Mutual Welfare
work at Sing Sing. Of which the
Gray Brotherhood movement is an
offshoot. declared that American
penal Institutions are being surrep-
titiously flooded with radical litera-
ture, with leaflets of hope to the
oppressed" and that the secret
movement to Bolshevixe the nations
prisons is being combatted from the
inside.
He said that. supported by the
efforts Of $4,000 members OF this
Gray Brotherhood its unnamed
leader. known as the Gray Brother.
hopes to make prison reform plank
in the platform Of one Of the big
political parties in the next presi-
Dental campaign. He is reputed to
be man of great influence in WASH
ington and to be the intimate of
several senators. The former Sing
Sing inmate said that the Gray
Brother was back of a prospective
Investigation of Joliet. Illinois.
prison. intended to be the first Of the
Brotherhood's national prison re-
form program.
"If the Gray Brother. should come
in here now and tell me to jump out
of that window "a four-story leap).
'"I'd do it at once" confided the
former inmate of Sing Sing. 1--WE all
would trust him with our lives and.
believe me. this prison investigation
backed by him is going to be a
thorough job. The people outside
haven't any idea Of how Bolshevism
is spreading In the prisons. A few
days ago four Reds, it was discover
ed by our men. actually had them
selves convicted SO they could work
behind the bars.
''The Reds have their literature in
the public libraries. some teachers in
the public schools are 'sympathetic'
and for some time they have been
distributing their doctrines in pri-
sons, jails and warehouses; to win
over to their side the army of dis
contented malefactors who have an
alleged grievance against society.
The Gray Brotherhood is alive tol
their propaganda, however. and
hORC9 " dooii5n its fOnC Va thc uSoI
ways to stop it is to treat conviets
like human beings, instead of beasts,
and give them a chance to redeem
themselves. The state is breeding
anarchists by turning at large men
and women who have been brutally
treated and who leave prison with
hearts filled with the desire for re-
taliation and revenge.
Under the old system a kind
hearted warden is engaged in maxi
ing healthy burglars and porch
climbers of first offenders. The
prison experience did man no good
and he had no conception of right
and wrong. no sense of responsibility
to society. when he came out. With |
our method it is different. AS an
there are 1000 former
ex-convicts and members of the We'll
fare League in New York city. All
Of them are making good Most of
them are young, and of the 1000
more than 400 were In the army or
navy during the war. They include !
former burglars (box men) and
similar so-called slick thieves.
"Since Thomas Mott Osborne,
former warden at Sing Sing, took
charge of the naval prison at Ports
mouth, N. H., three years ago, he /
has been instrumental in returning /
10000 former inmates, men made
over in character, to the United
States navy. enough to man three
3attleships. The present crime
wave in Chicago is due to bad prison
treatment and the desire of ex-
,onyicts to get even.' II it had not
,een for Osborne's administration in
New York prisons, New York would
,s suffering from the same evil"