The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1922-04-26

in court charged with a first and
somewhat trivial ~offense. He inter-
coded for them, sentence was suspend
ed, and later through the instrumental
ity of Mr.. NDaugherty the boys were
given a chance to make good. All of
them rose to responsible positions in
life. They made good.
1t seems likely that this personal in
terest in first offenders and In the
chance of their salvation has induced
the chief law officer of the government
to recommend that an industrial and
penal institution shall be established
at Camp Grant, ILL.,, for convicted first
offenders against the federal law.
President Harding has given the plan
his sanction.
The bare news of the proposal al
ready has been printed. 1t may not
be embarrassing to know that crimi-
n~ologists think that, If the records
could be obtained in full and studied
carefully, 1t would be found there are
fewer young second offenders against
the federal law than there are against
the state laws.
OF course nearly every federal law
has a state law somewhat similar to
1t. and perhaps a better way to put
the matter would be to say that the
belief seems to be that in proportion
to numbers, more first offenders VINO
have served terms In federal prisons
are reclaimed than first offenders who
Ia,.o co,yoI fboir fprraC In ctnfp nriS-
ona.
Look Lightly on Some Laws.
There are certain offenses against the
federal law which to some ~easy-going
minds do not appear to be offenses ut
all. Men and wome who would n o
steal n postage stamp, even II its theft
was to save them a walk of five miles
TO n post Office, will try to beat the
Governments tariff laws and are not
Mt all conscienee-stricken apparently
when they succeed in beating its pro-
hibition laws.
There are hundreds of first offenders
against the federal government who
have looked at certain of the statutes
as having been made to be broken.
There probably are a great many
young men in the federal prisons
who do not realize today that their
crime really was a crime. Instead
of being criminals some of these young
men simply have a warped moral view
point. This seems to be understood
by some of the present prison officials
of the government and by men in of
flee elsewhere.
1t seems likely that the attorney gen.
eral is overconfident when he says nine
out of ten Of the first offenders can
be reclaimed. There probably Is no
such record Of salvation as this to be
found in any of the reformatory In
situations In the United States. 1t Is
said that straightaway prisons where
close confinement and hard labor are
the rules do not reform a fifth of their
inmates. If state reformatories are
able to bring back into the fold OF
grace one-half of the black sheep
which have broken away. the officials
probably consider hat their work JUS
titles itself many times over.
Danger OF FdVoTll'SHHs
1t has not yet been decided whether
the recommendation for the Legislation
to make the Camp Grant institution
possible shall include in it q provision
that the first offenders shall be sen
by the courts to existing federal pris
ons, or whether the offenders shall be
sent direct to the r~eformatory.
There seems to be a division Of opin-
ion In this matter. II the matter OF
the selection of federal prisoners In
the regular institutions for transfer to
the ~reformatories shall be left in the
hands of the wardens, favoritism may
play its part. On the other hand, If
this course is followed m opportunity
would be given to determine which of
the prisoners are best fitted for early
reformatory methods.
If all the first offenders are to be
Sent to the reformatory direct from
the scene of sentence 1t might receive
men past reform and whose example
would make difficult the reformation
of others more susceptible to guiding
influences.
1t is not known yet in Washington
definitely what strength of opposition
will develop to the plan for turning
Camp Grant into a reformatory, but it
seems likely today that authority will
he given for the establishment of this
school prison.