Evening star., 1921-12-12
Prison Breaks"

W1tnln lew Gays three desperate
prison breaks" have occurred, two Of
them successful, at the time. At Little
Rock, Ark, the other day, one Of the
most notorious "bad men" Of that
region overcame his guards, and with
five other convicts won the way to
liberty, only to be shot down by one Of
his companions later and killed. It
has been limited that the man who
slew him was chiefly responsible for
the break" seeking to wreak private
vengeance upon the desperate despite
the virtual certainty that he would be
executed. In Chicago yesterday, q
notorious gunmani implicated in nu-
merous crimes and finally convicted
and sentenced to death for killing a
policeman, escaped with two other
convicts after a fight with the guards,
is now at liberty with the police
ordered to shoot to kill the moment
they see him. This case suggests 'in-
side aid" The condemned man was
armed, and under a prison rule the
guards in charge Of the exercising
squad had no weapons. Eventually
doubtless this fugitive will be caught
and probably slain. He was taking a
last desperate chance in the face Of
simultaneously with the Chicago
"break" a riot occurred in the Michi-
gan state reformatory at Marquette.
where, during a motion picture exhibit
,tion, a number of the prisoners sprang
upon the warden and beat him.
wounding him dangerously with
knives presumably taken from the
prison kitchen, and before they were
subdued several of the officials had
been badly injured.
These successive troubles in sup
posedly we'll conducted penal institu-
tions suggest that discipline is lax
in these places. The tendency for a
number Of years has been to loosen
the hand of control over men held by
the state in confinement. Prisoners
have been given more privileges, even
condemned men have been treated
with sympathetic leniency and much
more visiting has been permitted.
Communication between prisoners is
now easy, whereas formerly in the
major establishments it was difficult.
The smuggling Of contraband to the
inmates of large institution is com.
paratively easy, it would appear from
results, and escapes occur with signifi-
cant frequency
The question arises whether prison
leniency has not been carried too far.
The men who are held for crime are
not, of course, all hardened into ire.
deemable rebels against society. There
are many who are susceptible Of i'm
provement. Perhaps most of them, If
released at once, would lead law-abid-
ing, decent lives. But there are many
who cannot be trusted, either in prison
or out Of it. Probably the best course
in seeking reformation would be to
have two types of institutions, one for
those who are readily to be classified
as chronic criminals, and the other for
those who are only casually breakers
of the laws. This has been to some
degree the tendency, but for lack of
proper provision the states have not
offered adequate opportunity to the
courts to differentiate in sentencing
those convicted of crime.
Paroles and probations permit some
classification of the convicted, but
there remain many Of the hopeful
kind who must be held in custody, and
for these there should be provided de-
tention places suitable to their condi-
ton, while the habitual law breakers,
the men with records, the men for
whom there is practically no chance
of redemption, should go into jails and
penitentiaries where confinement
means punishment, and from which
there is no chance Of escape.