The Coconino sun., 1925-04-17


of support, but | refer as we'll to the whise col
Jared and handsomely gowned hoboes of the clubs
and the slick-haired sheiks and painted shebas o.
the dance halls, with no employment save that Of
spending money IN search of some new amuSe
ment, some new entertainment and new thrill
Recreation, amusementS, entertainment and play
are necessary to the well-being of mankind az
work, but the men and women who devote then
whole time to the chase for pleasure and thrills
are about as necessary to their fellownen as
boil or a cancer
1t is from these loafers and vagrants that oul
penal institutions get most of their inmates. They
are sent there because of their aversion to work
because they have chosen to steal the products Of
the labor of others rather than work themselves.
Our penal institutions are designed to accom-
plish two things; the protection of society anC
the reformation Of the criminal. To my mine
they fail hopelessly in both particulars. Instead
of giving the prisoners employment they keeL
them in ideness for the period of their incarcera
tion and turn them back better trained and bet
ter equipped to prey upon society again, and witt
less chance of being detected.
/ think we all agree that it is better for the
prisoners and better for the state that all able
bodied inmates of penal institutions be employed
In some useful occupation, but every time it is
proposed we hear great cry from a handful OF
radical labor agitatorS who are unwilling to com.
pete with prison labor and our politicians are not
big enough to put over their program in the face
of such opposition
We can never hope to reform man so long as
we turn him loose with heart filled with bitter
ness for the treatment we have accorded him, anC
that is what we do.
sometimes wonder which is worse the crime
of the. criminals against society or the crime OF
society against the criminals. Let us try tic
place ourselves in their shoes and see how we
would feel. The great majority of the convicts
have been sent up for thefts, forgeries in some
form involving less than one hundred dollars. Ad
mitting that they are wrong and admitting their
debt to society, let us see how they made tt
pay. They are given one, tWo three and some
times ten years in the penitentlary. They arc
compelled to live life of idleneSs and Incidence
They are not permitted to earn a livelihood fol
those who are near and dear to them. There is
no one there to take personal and individual in
terest in them, no one to give them the once over
and help them find their niche in the world They
have had no opportunity to learn trade and pre-
pare themselves for some honorable and gainfu
occupation.
And finally comes their discharge They are
led to the gate garbed in new suit of clothes anC
given a ticket home They return to their homes
with a light heart and in many cases good reso
luton to go straight and be a credit to then
families and their friends and then come the
shocks and the tests. They find that society has
prosecuted them and prosecuted those who are
dear to them; that society was not satisfied tx
make them pay, but had made the innocent pay
more dearly STILL Some of them find wife o,
mother living in poverty, their homes wrecked
their children disgraced and Stunned by theiI
playmates, and their Sisters and daughters things
of the street. They are denied employment BY
reason of their handicap. | tell you If they have
any manhood left, their hearts must necessarily
be filled with resentment and bitterness, and It Is
not to be wondered that they soon find themselves
behind prison bars again; and we have but our
selves to blame. In making them pay their debt
we have outdone Shylock. We have demanded
more than our pound of flesh. We have takeT
from them all they have to give and have left
them and their families half starved and hal
clothed without employment, with the admon1
ton, "Thou shalt not steal
But then, you say, how easy it is to criticize
What remedy have you to offer? The remedy
have to offer is fair play and square deal. say
put your criminal to work. Teach him the les
sons of thrift and industry his parents failed tx
teach. Put him in the hands of vocational
training director. Help him find himself. He'll
him find his place in the world. See that he i
given work for which he is fitted and in which
he is interested and see that he works. II NJ
doesn't like it. make him work until he learns tt
Like it. You can't make him acquire the desire
for work, but if you can make him acquire th'
habit without the desire he will think twice be
fore he will take chance on return engage
ment And now | am going one step farther, tx
Say-pay our criminals for their work. We can
right one wrong by the commission OF another
Our criminals have no right to steal your money
ana mine ana tley SlOulu pe Iidue W pay, ou'
we have no right to steal their time and Wher
we do it we should pay and we should help sup
port those who are dependent upon them. | have
vet to hear logical reason why we should not
make of our prisons industrial plants for the
manufacture of useful articles from the products
Of our state, and yet to hear logical reason why
such articles should not be thrown upon the mar
ket in competition with like goods Of other manu-
facturers If we will do that there is no reason
why we cannot make our penal institutions prac-
ticay supporting. We will see that the fami-
lice of the inmates of those institutions are pro-