The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-06-16
The Peoples Forum
How Improved Prison Relations Help

How Improved Prison Relations Help To the Editor of The Age eHerald: The following is a letter I have receive rom MT. Valentine W. Macy, Jr., son o Honorable V. Everit Macy, who until ew days ago was commissioner of welfar n Westchester county, N. Y. I take som ,ride in the good results achieved in tn Nestchester county penitentiary at East jew, as I was instrumental in bringing Cal in Derrick here from California, and h ection to commence putting into effect som # these improvements.
 May 16, 1924. My dear MT. Lewisohn:
 Father thought you would be inter- ested in a copy of letter from Edward A. Rumely to Warden Mcclellan, which l enclose herewith.
 MT. Rume!y and his two attorneys requested that they serve the sentences imposed on them by the federal author ities in connection with their returns on the purchase of the Evening Mail during the war, in Eastview rather than Atlanta or any other federal peniten- tiary. After serving one month they were pardoned by the president, as I expect you know.
 Father was much interested in the opinion from inside" knowledge of the methods and personnel of the county pen itentiary as expressed in this letter by a man superior in education and intelli- gence to the usual run of inmates.
 Yours very truly,
 VALENTINE E.. MACY, JR.
 April IS, 1924. Warden Mcclellan,
 Westchester County Penitentiary,
 East View, New York. My dear Warden: 5~
 I have had few. hours visit with my family. It was a wonderful home coming Now I am at my desk. My first letter goes back to you. There is something gripping in what you and your associates are doing at East View that keeps lingering in my mind. Re peatedly the thought formulated itself while there, There is more of Chris tianity within these walls than in many clubs and churches. There are innu- merable acts of kindness, of sympathy, of understanding by yourself, by the guards, and the others on the place for the men," Among the men themselves a feeling of collective interest in the league of sympathy of an individual man for his fellow-man reflected the spirit of the place. Many times during the past month some simple act of one man for another challenged my attention because it revealed the spirit that your asso- ciates you, and the men who have built that institution have introduced into the group and are keeping alive there. Your infinite patience, your willingness to trust and if one man does not live up to the trust to trust the next again, and the next, coupled at the same time with realism that enables you to see clearly the defects in character that mar, and go so deep that there is little hope in this life of changing fundamentally the mans nature. And yet knowing this, you persist in trying to get the best out of him. It is easy for those in the out side world, who when a man of ordinary ability and makeup has stumbled, to aid and help him on to a new start, for generally he succeeds; but you must deal with so many where the stumbling and falling keeps repeating itself-and yet that in spite of this you keep your faith is the great thing-is the essence of religion! As fire gradually grows, its heat becomes more and more intense, and suddenly it turns to light and lllum- mates things for a large distance around, so I am convinced what you are doing at East View is soon to reach a point of intensity where it's light will illumine the whole problem of prison manage ment.
 If ever there is an opportunity where could help in any way that lies In my power, ,I wish you to feel free to call e. kbo xrorly fbot vnn are doing has fundamental importance. Out of your talk and that of Dean Kirchway on his visit, certain thoughts came to my mind which 1 found, by ac- cident, in one of the letters that l had written, on my desk at home this morn ing. "A driving rain outside, but good cheer here. HOu missed, by your early departure, an interesting talk by War den Mcclellan and by Dean Kirchway These men are the carriers of q great faith" An interesting item ill one of the talks was a quotation that Marcus Aurelius wrote in his dairy one eve ming. He said: Even in a palace, life can be lived nobly.' The motto is turned Even in a prison, life can be lived nobly," as it was pointed out that nobility results. from controlled character that places self-resraint upon it's appe- tites-a thing much easier te do in a prison than for the man at the top, in palace.
 Some of your words and acts would look in a motto about like this:
 Even in a prison, life can be
 lived nObly.
 "As we help one another here and
 establish orderly self f-gOvernment,
 we build the true basis of life"
 "Trust in another man brings
 trustWOrthineSs.'
 Every act of kindness creates in
 others many new acts of kindness"
 With best wishes to you and the worthwhile work that you are doing,
 Sincerely,
 EDWARD A. RUMELY