The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1926-12-23
when he went to California. Funcr-
al services were held Monday.
NAGGING WIVES
SEND MANY MEN
BEHIND BARS
Warden Lee Also Gives
Wrong Home Training as
Biggest Cause of Crime

Wrong home training and nagging
wives bring more men to the state
penitentiary than any other causes.
in the opinion of John Lee, warden
at the state prison here.
Lees observations are based on the
things he has seen during his years
as sheriff Of Ward county and prison
warden and on confidential talks with
men after they arrive at the prison.
Large numbers of wcll-mcaning
and sympathetic people have taken
an interest in the prison problem,"
Lee said. But most of them ice the
cause and not the effect.
IF you and ! and other citizens
would make il our business To take
care Of just one child whose environ
mcnt is bad and who hasn't much
chance in life unless someone helps
him. it would do more than anything
else to solve the prison problem.
The time to keep people from COM
ing to the penitentiary is when they
are young. II they never got headed
in this direction few Of them would
arrive here.
"The story of half the people here,
who either are or will be repcatcrs,
is that they lived with their mothers
until they were eight or ton years
old. then were thrown on :heir own
resources or taken to an institution
or a reform school and thus got start
cd in the wrong direction. Ii we
made sure that all children received
the proper care and training we
would do much to reduce the prison
population"
Cites Instance
Lee. WIN has n finn, ilv az h tc
own. cited an instance which occur
red when he was sheriff Of Ward
county. A boy was ordered to the
reform school because he had no enc
to care for him and the state had
no better place. Lee took the boy
home with him. grew attached to him
and made it his business to look
after the boy. 1.-THE boy had coG,mit-
ted no crime and felt it would start
him on the wrong path to send him
to the reform school," Lee said.
To-day the boy has filed on land in
Canada and. so far as know, he
never run afoul of the law in any
way"
Lees ideas as to the effect Of the
nagging wives on the prison p0pula-
ton is based on stories which the
men themselves have told him. In
many instances their home life be-
came so unbcarahlc that they left
home. In some instances this has
landed them in the pcnitentiary on
descrtion charges. In others it has
developed feeling of irrcApOnsi-
bility or II sour outlook on life and
they arrive at the penitentiary as
the result of a crime directly trace
able to their frame of mind.
Prize Story
The warden's prize story is that
of man from "A city in the central
part of the state who arrived at the
prison with the statement that he
wanted to begin serving his term.
lie had no commitment papers and
Lee investigated.
lie found that the man had been
given suspended sentence the year
before following his conviction Of
crime. The sentence was suspended
IN order that the man might have
another chance and that he might
provide for his wife and family.
But his wife gave him no peace.
Nothing he did satisfied her and she
bcratcd him continually, telling him
he fought to be in the penitcntiary."
The man insisted on being admit
ted to prison, Lee said, on the ground
that he wanted to do lust one thing"
to please his wife. Lee got the man
\ job but the wife refused to come to
him and later got divorce. "He
came to me while back and told me
he was the happiest man alive" Lee
said.
He could cite numerous other in
stances, Lee said. in which lack Of
family harmony has been the start Of
mans journey to u cell behind
prison walls.