The Washington times., 1922-08-13
The Folly of BelieUing That
There Is Honor Am0ng Thiepes"


There Is Honor Among TheUes"
have read and the criminal world has read vii
much interest and amusement Of the comments an
remedies which have been set forth to deal with III
epidemic Of crime" which for more than year nd
been plain to everybody who reads the newspaper
The professional criminals know perfectly we'll ad
are all perfectly well agreed to what Is the matte
The Underworld Is big prosperous and over populate
because of the great work the prison reforers ha}
accomplished In the last fifteen years. -
Crime fourishes and is popular and profitable il
stead OF precarous and not worth WHILE because t1
sentimentaliss have year after year influenced leg
1ation In regard to our courts and prisons until Grim
Is a much more attractive field of endeavor than
ever used to be.
The prison refem enthusiasts hold their meeting 4
appoint their committees and make their contribi
tons because 1t is their fad They have the time an
the leisure to indulge their fad They are organize
and the general public is not organized. Therefo}
when they present to the legislatures year after ye
new laws and changes in old laws to tighten the pei
alties of crime and make prison life attractive theI
is no organized effort to interfere with their succe}
In securing their pet legislation.
l believe In prison reform, SO far as reform
needed--n clean prisons, sanitary prison cells deceI
and sufficient food and the assurance that crueti(
will not be inflicted upon the prisoners.
. But the sentimental reformers busy themselv|
with an entirely different set Of things. They woI
out their programme of easy sentences and pIessai
surroundings in Jail upon three fundamental falsce
as follows:
THAT there Is honor among thieves.
2-That fear Is not deterrent to crime.
3-That the criminal Is "sick man..
have lived many years, am sorry to say; in I'll
Underworld, and j have fairly wide acquaintant
among the more intelligent criminals of America an
Europe have never met crook who did not laus
loudly at each Of the foregoing three Fundamentals
upon which the refomers base their theories, prop'
ganda and legislation. .' :.
Probably no one person has done more to demora
lie the righteous and successful dealings with GRIN
than Mr.. Thomas Mott Osborne. Mr.. Osborne stand
at the fore front Of modern prison refomers He an
his little following of sentimentasts actually made
much noise at womens lectures, ETC.. that he al
pointed warden Of famous old Sing Sing Prison. An
the mess he made of 1t they have not yet recovere
from at Sing Sing. #h
Mr.. Osborne planted his feet solidy on the asse
ton that there was honor among thieves. He unde
took to establish an honor system among the thug
murderers, sneak thieves and miscellaneous Gu
throats In that famous institution Here he had
fine collection Of scoundrels, absolutely without h
most rudimentary sense Of honor, and the humoro,
absurdity Of undertaking to put men upon their hont
who never had any honor never seemed to have o.
Cured to him. .' -
II there Is any one OF all the old-fashloned adag'
which Is utterly untrue II Is the absurd notion thu
there Ia any honor among thieves. Any experience