The Washington times., 1922-06-11

back into the social stream ana
fight for q living.
have heard people refer to tho
criminal countenance." ! mover
saw ono. Any man Or woman loolrs
lflke criminal behind tho bars.
In Atlanta prison I made It .
point to seek out those men that
were called bad" ! found the
men, but aid not find them bad.
They responded to Kindness with
the simplicity OF q child. -
. In no other institution on he
earth are men 20 sensitive M those
who are Gagged In prison. Theytars
ofttimes tsrror-stricken: they DO
not see the years ahead which
may be fun Of promise. they see
only the walls and the steel hars
that separate them from their loved
ones. .....
never saw those bsrs nor the
walls IN tho nearly three yeszs
that I spent In Atlanta I was
never conscious Of being . pris-
oner. II I had had that cof5scicus-
ness Il would have been tanta-
mount to an admission Of guilt,
which I never sttached 10 myself.
Il was because was oblivious
Of the prison as . thing that
held my body under restraint that
I was able to Let my spirit soar
and commune with the friends Of
freedom everywhere .
The intrinsic me was never In
prison. :. x. s-,@ ~ ,.;S..y.5
Z No nnttsr what might have
habp NED 70 1ss'f wouid stiii havs
bssp u iargs IN thsc spirit. Many
Syeafs Aso, when I made my
choice Of what life had to offer.
I realised. saw quite plainly. that
the route had chosen would be
shadowed somewhere by the steel
bars Of . prison gate. I accepted
It. and understood It perfectly. I
consider that. the years I spent
In prison were necessary to COM
plets my particular education for
the part that am permitted to
play In human affairs @
I would certainly not exchange
that experience. II I could. to be
President Of the United, States,
although some people indulge the
erroneous belief that I have COW
eted that office in several differ
ent political campaigns.
PREDICTS END OF PRISON.
TvHE time win come when the
prison a. We now know It
win disappear. and the hospital
and asylum and farm win take
its place. In that day we shall
have succeeded in taking the jail
out of man as well a. taking man
out of Jail. g.;
Think Of sending . man out
from prison and into the world
with q shoddy suit Of clothes.
that 10 recognized by every de-
tective a. . prison garment. q
pair Of paper shoes, . hat that
will shrink when II rains. . rail-
road ticket. q IS bill. and 2 cents
carfarel g.. '..
Bear In mind that the railroad
ticket does not necessarily take .
man back into the bosom Of his
family. but TO tho place where he
was convicted Of crime Co.,
In other words. . prisoner after
he has served his sentence. goes
back to the scene Of his crime.
socisty's responsibility ends there
so II thinks. . r..'-.t...
But does II? say, not. with
the prison system what II Ia. with
my knowledge Of what II does to
mon after they get into prison.
and with the utter contempt with
which society regards them after
they come out. the wonder 10 not
that we have periodical crime
waves IN times Of economic and
Industrial depression. but the
wonder IL that the social system
is not constantly in convulsions
az q result of the desperate doods
OF the thousands of mon and
women who pour in and pour out
Of jails and prisons In never ending
streams OF human misery and suf.
fering. ... at.
But society has managed to pro
tsot itself against the revenge Of
the prisoner BY dshumanisina him
whfis he 10 In prison. The process
10 slow, by degrees. IKE polluted
water tricikiing from the siimy
mouth Of . oorrodsd end snerustsd
spsut-but Il b . sure prses>s,
when . man has rauaansd IN
prisea svsr . esrtaan lsngth ~