Seward daily gateway., 1925-07-18
INMATES OF RUSSIAN PRISONS HAVE MORE
 HUMANE PRIVILEGES

MOSCOW, July IF. (P)-Prison life in Russia has greatly improved since the grim days of the Bolshevik revo- lution. A much more humane re- gime has replaced the terroristic me thods which accompanied the change from a monarchial to a democratic regime. From the hardened murder CT down to the inoffensive looking youth accused of theft, prisoners eat sleep, mingle together and share the same daily conditions of prison life. Criticism is chiefly directed at the slender quantity of food and lack of outdoor exercise.
 Only in the cases of the most dan- gerous criminal prisoners are found 1 such things as stone cells, iron bars, and solitary confinement. All others even political prisoners, are given large, well-lighted, tidy rooms with iron cots, and a single blanket for covering. In most cases these rooms are not even barred, and the in mates are free to mingle among themselves. Very little work is pro- vided, and the prisoners, therefore, are free to indulge their hobbies. to smoke, play cards, read and have the freest use of musical instruments (their own) and other forms of en- tentainment.
 Paradoxical as it may seem, it is this lack of work, according to the prisoners themselves, which makes prison life so difficult to bear Judg- ed by American standards, prison la Dor in Russia is poorly organized. In the larger jails there are carpen- ter shops, bookbinding plants, print cries, basket-making departments and machine shops, but the work is sufficient only to keep about one third of the inmates occupied. This is especially true of the juvenile jails, where the boys and girls are allowed to pass their sentences in idleness. This soon breaks down the morale and spirit of the prison CTS, making them morose and des- pondent, and when they are releas- ed they are wholly incapacitated for any useful pursuit
 Murder in Russia is relatively a mild offense as compared to counter revolution. The correspondent on a recent visit to one of the Moscow prisons spoke to youth guilty of triple murder, who was serving only three years, while in the next room was a man accused of counter-revolu- tionarq activities, who was condemn ed to death. Ten years is the maxi but death invariably is meted out to those found guilty of working against the present political regime. The Bolsheviks say this severity is ne. cessary in order to insure the sue
 cess of revolution.
 In another prison the correspond
 ent talked with a priest, still wear ing his clerical garb, who, according to his own story, was sentenced to three years for having censured from , the pulpit a group of young Com . munists. Across the corridor from him was a physical, of refined fea
 lures and keen intelligence, who ; was imprisoned for a similar tern
 because he refused to join the med ical corps of the Red Army. Tn an l other room was a delicate-featureG soft-spoken student, who was giver three years for attempting to cross < the frontier without a passport. > Counter-revolution is regarded the y most grievous offense of which one can be convicted in Soviet Russia = The State Political Police C'Cheka" | now called the e. P. U.," keeps al
 ever-watchful eye on those belonging
 to the old imperialistic regime, mak
 ing scores of arrests every week ol ' even the slightest suspicion. Mos
 of the arrested persons are sent t > the famous Buterka Prison, on thu / outskirts of Moscow, which has be come known as the "Aristocrats' Pri e son." from the number of princes Il princesses, barons, baronesses, count l. and countesses interned there