The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1921-05-21
PRISON REFORM
Noteworthy Address by Thomas
Mott Osborne, of New York

| The need of common-Sense sys-
TEN in prisons so that men will come
out better than when they went in
was the keynote of the address OF
| Thomas Mott Osborne before the
I31st annual council OF the diocese
| of South Carolina Tuesday evening.
+. The meeting was held III the Prcsby-
terian church! 70 accommodate the
large crowd, the use OF the building
having been offered the council by
| the pastor, Rev J. p. Marion, and
| the session of the church.
In introducing the speaker Bishop
Gucrry, the presiding Officer. said that
| Mr.. Osborne had done bis great
work because he had taken the po-
si1ion that men in prison are not
brutes but our brothers. The bishop
also asserted that Mr.. Osborne had
more real heart heart friends than
any man in America
Mr.. Osborne declared that he was
not Interested in prison reform from
sentimental reasons pointing out that
he had been plain business man for
twenty years after leaving college.
| then entered politics and became may
or of his native city. Auburn. y. y.
| It was when he VISA appointed on
| board of commissioners on prison re-
/ form that he became interested in
prison conditions and decided TO ente:
! Sing Sing prison IL 4 fu!i-fled@ed IN
mate for a weeks stay. IN order TO
! become acquanted with the conNlctSi
in their daily life and as one Of their
number AfterwarG. as warden Of the
great Denitentiary at Ossinln2. \. Y.
! ne was able 10 institute the reforms
that he had found to be imperative
! for the we'll being OF the inmates. but
only after overcoming much opposi-
ton.
He said he was led to take up the
work because he looked upon the mat
ter OF treatment Of criminals rs q
great unsolved problem Of society.
! That it is n problem crying for earn
est conSide-c ton is shown, he said, by
the fact that % or more per cent OF
The inmates Of prisons have served at
least one previous term. There is no
indication in that. he declared. that
prison methods turn bad citizens into
good.
Showing the enormous cost Of crime
to the country in dollars, Mr.. Osborne
stated that the average number OF
confined criminals each year is 1885,
oO0 entaiiing a proportionate mum
Der Of prison officials and guards.
Such a condition puts al citizens in
danger. and the shadow Of the prison
is on every city and State" he de-
clared.
The theory that tho criminal belongs
to an exclusive class, quite different
from other human beings, has been
exploded Mr.. Osborne declared. From
his own contact with criminals and
from tests made by an English ply
sician. it has been found that there
are no physical criminals or mental
criminals" in the sense that the COM
mission of a crime is the result Of
peculiar physical or mental constl- |
tuition. AS matter Of fact. he said,
it has been his experience and that
of others. that the average OF lnte!l-
scnceo fperSons inside q prison Is
higher than that of the persons out
side
1t is the conscience, not the mind,
of the criminal that is undevcfoped. he
asserted, and moral hospital IS the
aspect that prisons should strive tor,
rather than to continue as places
strictly Of punishment. The indeter-
inmate sentence is the best method.
he holds. for it is coming to be real
| lied that the theory that the pun
ishment should be made TO lit the
! crime. and not vice versa IS correct
1t is practically impossible for pres
ent methods TO reform criminal. as
they have the inevitable result Of max
ing 4 man worse. sending him back
into the world with a spirit OF revenge
against society He pointed out that
! in many cases a criminal tendency isl
the result of environment and asso-
ciat"s.
A large part OF AIr. Osborne's ad-
dress was a relation Of some of the
many incidents that had marked his
close association With convicts Incl
dents that reflected the rules govern
| ing the management of convicts in
prisons of the old type and showed
| how the. criminals react 20 the condi-
tons Other incidents indicated how
they responded to his system, sys-
tenn reposing confidence in them and
giving them chance 10 prove that
they are amendable to correction wise
lv administered The liberty allowed
the convicts at q road camp in the
STATE of New York was described.
and how their loyalty 10 the method
prevented them from taking advant-
age Of it.
He gave concrete instances showing
that a criminal can be reformed and
make a good citizen of himself when
he returns to the outside world. The
| first name OF one of them was John
ME" and he read letter that he had
received from Johnnie, telling how he
was making good in the world. be-
sides supporting his wife and two
! children.
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