The Washington times., 1922-07-23

that the food was never properly
cooked, but steamed and stewed.
Even had It been Of better quality
when 1t left the market-place. 1t
would have been rendered unedible
by the steaming process. This
ill-cooked stuff was served In a
manner to cause revulsion to all
alike, and that item in the prison
life aroused more ill-feeiins and
resentment than all other causes
combined.
Whatever modification there may
have been recently in the barbar-
GUS old punitive theory. that sys-
tenn Is still stoutly upheld in the
wretched menu and table service Of
every prison in the land
IL IL extremely difficult to say
whether men who 60 to prison arc
ruined moro quickly physically by
the rotten food served to them. or
morally and spiritually by tho
harsh and bitter treatment they
receive. =, .~ ~ ~
whichever method of degrada-
ton comes first In the inevitable
prison process Of human deterfora-
ton, II can be said without fear of
contradiction that they are twin
evils in reducing men to carica-
lures.
ITO feed prisoners decently and
wholesomely-not extravagant-
ly, but In q clean. plain and sub
stantial manner to conserve their
health instead of undermining and
destroying it-would do more to
humanize the prison and to make
It reformatory, rather than defor-
matory. than any other ono thing
that could be suggested in the pre-
vailing social system. As to the
necessity of the prison at all.
shall have something to say in .
later article)
Such q system, however, WIN
never be established until direct
and effective measures have been
taken to eliminate the graft Of one
kind and another In the contracts
under which the food is furnished.
and in the handling of tho food In
side the walls from the time It Is
delivered until It Is served to the
convicts.
As a single typical instance. I
may relate the following incident:
II was commonly understood
that there was = regularly organ
lied traffic carried on I'm the prison
kitchen ut Atlanta in which the
choicest foods wero privately sold
and disposed Of under the Govern
ment's roof.
Two of my cellmates had told me
that they knew of two employees in
the kitchen who had bought their
Jobs for 500 each. In their posi-
tions they were able to realize
handsomely from the foodstuffs
that passed through their hands by
selling It to favored prisoners in
exchange for tobacco (which, in
prison, is equivalent to legal tender
in the outer world, and for cash
when they could strike a bargain,
either inside or outside, which was
frequently the case.
Realizing that the general run OF
the prisoners were the victims Of
this arrangement, and that they
were not getting the food the Gov
ernment was paying for, I reported
the matter to Superintendent Dick
erson on his next visit and had him
confronted with the men who made
the charge; those men came before
Mr.. Dickerson and named the pur-
chasers and the sums they had
paid for their kitchen Jobs.
Mr.. Dickerson made notes Of the
evidence and said the matter would
be investigated.
On his leaving the city. the two
mon who gave the testimony and
exposed the corrupt practice were
reduced to moniai positions, and
thus were made 20 pay the penalty
for exposing ono OF the vicious
abuses that obtain within prison
walls,