The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1921-02-18
STATES HONOR SYSTEM
UNDER A STRAIN

1t is apparent to the Star that the
honor system as applied to the state
convict system is under a severe
strain, and may break. In theory, the
honor system is sound. 1t is that most
criminals lapse from honesty for. but
a brief interval, and if they have help
they will atone for their misdeeds and
ego straight And of course it is to
the advantage of the state to have
good people rather than bad In the
penitentiaries of Florida and some
other states the system has been put
in operation. the prisoners working
without guards, and being punished
Only by lack of privilege for slackness
or misbehavior. 1t is believed that
the better class of prisoners is. so
numerous that they can keep the
worse in. order.
Two years ago we visited the Flor
ida prison farm and saw the system
at it's best. The men were working
under discipline administered by
themselves, and they were working
we'll and cheerfully. 1t would have
been unfair not to praise it for what
it was doing and hope that it might
continue to do well.
There was one thing that we
thought of at the time, and spoke of
to both the superintendent and his as
sistant-it being the confirmed GRIM
inal, who used fairness only to his own
advantage, and considered kindness
merely weakness. But the two gentle
men said they did not believe there
was any man who could not be reached
by the honor system unless he was at
least partly insane, in which case he
should be in the lunatic asylum. And
as we believed they were honestly
trying to make their own little corner
of the world better, we said nothing
to discourage them.
How well or how i'll they have car
ried out their ideas since then we are
not prepared to say. We have not
seen the state farm since. We have
heard it highly praised by some and
severely criticised by others. The
critics of the farm say the manage
ment is too easy on the men, they
have too much time for recreation in
proportion to their work, and too
many chances to escape. On the other
hand we have seen men who declare
they have been all over the farm and
say the prisoners work hard and eff
ficiently, and they they earn surplus
time in doing their work with extra
rapidity. Some praise the discipline
of the farm and some say it is lax.
As it is big farm, and has some
four or five hundred people on it, it
is impossible for any man to come 20
correct judgment of it without
spending week there and meantime
going all over and all thru it, without
aid or interference from its officers
or inmates.
When it comes to pronounced action
in the criminal world, there are two
schools of work. The preceptors in
one-the old one. that has come from
the ages-believes in punishment to
the extent of the law; in making the
penitentiary such a fearsome thing
that men will behave in order to keep
out of it. In the prisons of the old
time, and in many of today, confne-
nient and hard work have had added
to them cruelty, the only check on
which has been greed. which has some
times, not always, kept guards from
killing their prisoners as long as
they could force work out of their
wearied and ill-nourished bodies.
From the worst of this. America
has been spared. On account of its
more enlightened people; yet our con-
wet system has had no small amount
of cruelty and greed. And we must
say that while the old idea has I'M
doubtedly protected honest men TO
large extent, we doubt that it ever