The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-12-23
TRANSLATE THE PAINTING

The people of Alabama are gratefully
 appreciative of the excellent painting by
 Sasanoff in Kilby Prison, depicting Christ in the benignant scene in which he ut tered the compassionate words, "unto the least of these." This attitude is that also
 of the people of Alabama towards those so unfortunately constituted as to render necessary for society's welfare their so-
 journ in the prison for varying period
 of years. A prison sentence is commonly
 spoken of as punishment. To be sure it is a punishment. But it should be
 much more. It should, as far as humanly
 possible, be a process of restoration to
 manhood and womanhood of those re- claimable ones whose early environment,
 ignorance, training or remediable defect
 impelled them to transgress the law. It lis believed that the administration of Kilby Prison is itself beyond reproach.
 But the painting, though hanging in this prison, does not confine it's promise of humane consideration to the inmates of
 that one prison. It symbolically typifies the states proper attitude towards all it's
 wssds in all it's prisons and camps and mines.
 Unfortunately, as MT. Kilby so we'll
 pointed out in his address at the unveil-
 ing of the painting, that humane pur-
 pose is not carried out in many of the. other places of penal detention, partic-
 ularly and notoriously in some of those
 camps where prisoners are let out for hire to private concerns at per diem far less than their services are worth. In such camps, by and with the approval of stored to drive men to their work, re- gardless of their treatment or food. MT. Kilby declared that proper discipline can be maintained without the lash. He might have gone further and said most truthfully that any prison administration finding it necessary to resort to the lash confesses it's inefficiency and incompe- tence. Prisoners are driven to rebellion because of improper discipline or in- humane treatment. They do not rebel without grievance. The lash merely cows them without removing the cause of the resentment.
 Not only is the lash transgression of the spirit of the painting in Kilby Prison, but so also is our system of renting hu- man beings out to slavery in mines and mills. Governor Brandon has sought to evade the responsibility for permitting this diabolical institution to exist by ex- plaining that the prisoners are under con- tract and under state supervision. That evasion deceives and deludes nobody. Governor Brandon makes great show of clemency through the release of some favored individual convicts on parole or pardon, but he is quite callous to that suffering in the mass which he could stop with one order and at once. The parole power has been abused, but the funda- mental principle of humanity to pris- oners in the mass is ignored. Nobody wants to have the prisoners pampered, as some have unjustly alleged, but every person, for the sake of public self-respect, demands that convicts be treated humanely.
 If Governor Brandon desires to give the people of Alabama Christmas pres ent they will appreciate, he will make forbidding the use of the lash and withdrawing convict labor from private exploitation. The gift would lose none of it's value through its absolute |