Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-08-26
PENOLoGY.


tentiaries were. on the whole, dis
grace to civilization. Methods which
were believed cnicacious in protecting
society in medieval ages were used,
no account being taken of the TACT
that social conditions had changed,
and that convicted men and women
no longer came necessarily from so
called criminal class. Ccsare Lom-
borso's theories. now discarded, were
responsible for the retention of bar
barrie treatment OF criminals. The
Italian. declared that criminality was
congenital, and American prison war
dens, who then i'm the main were po-
litical appointees incapable of making
successes i'm the competitive commer-
cial world, agreed Justify that Lom-
hroso was correct, without taking the
trouble TO ascertain the truth or fall
sity of his views. What he said was an
endorsement Of their systems, so why
investigate?
From time to time individual PEN
ologists attempted minor reforms
within their walls. but few met with
even average success because society
would not tolerate any lessening of
the "eye for an eye. tooth for a
tooth policy which the world for so
long had accented as the right one.
II remained for Thomas Mott os-
borne. a practical manufactures, TO
give a dramatic touch 10 prison re-
form which resulted in the public
taking more interest in punitive meth
eds. Most newspaper readers remem-
her tom Brown's' week in Sing Sing
switch led TO Mr.. Osborne being APP
pointed Warden and given fun au-
thority TO modernize the prisons dis
cipline.
| Mr.. Osnorne's theory--and Il has
not been exploded so far when prop
erly practiced-is that society must
do more than punish the criminal. foi
society must protect itself against thu
/ criminal when he is released There
| fore. Mr.. Osborne argues, society mus
reform the man before he aasse!
hack into the world He mus. b.
shown that one travelling the straigh
road reaches self-respect; success an'
happiness, before the man who take'
the winding path. One must not con
fuse this theory with the practice o
the sentimentalists against whom
william Howard Taft warned whel
he said that we must not make ou
prisons so attractive that criminal
will break into them.
The success OF Mr.. osborne's poll
cies at Sing Sing and later AT tn
Portsmouth naval prison caused war
dens in other States who really dc
sired 10 do something more for sc
ciety than merely 10 punish the me
,.,.nstad IN their care, TO follow th
osborne plan. of course some of thes
men made mistakes; but we imagin
that they were mistakes of the hear
; and not of the head. Their effort
I toward MISUNDERSTANDING their wor
4 was commendable.
e That these wardens are striving
: make their prisons great CORRECTLY
institutions which will give good Sc
vice TO society is shown by the maj
ner i'm which they gather in convex
. tions and earnestly exchange the
ideas and experiences. The America
j., Prison Association. which is compo
: ed Of the majority of our penoi
gists. will hold its fifty-first annu
congress in Jacksonville, Fla, Il
last week in October. Instead of +
+ garding it as a juniset-as CONVEX
tiops once were-this one, like tho
\ in the last few years. will be tin
when practical men will attempt
solve many of the perplexing pro
A lens which are facing penologis'
TODAY. In a certain sense this meetir
|. will be of great value TO the DOC
d polite. for whatever methods the wa
: dens put into use reacts. through u
= liberated men, upon society at large
~