Evening star., 1929-12-13
CHANGING PENAL
: SYSTEM IS HAILED
Bates Says U. S. Should
Il Work to Make Good Citi-
zenS of Criminals.

Traditional methods of handling
criminals have failed and the time has
come when protection Of the public
requires that prison attempts to turn
men out better than when they went
= In" according to Sanford Bates, super
intendent of Federal prisons, who spoke
last night on "A Protective Prison Pro-
gram" in the weekly National Radio
Forum arranged by The Star and spon-
sored by the Columbia Broadcasting
Company.
Liquor legislation, the narcotic act,
the Dyer automobile act and the Mann
white slave act have tremendously in
creased Federal crime problems" de-
clared Mr. Bates.
- ut is quite certain" he added that
there will be no immediate diminution
in the number of Federal offenders"
Holds Analysis Is Vital.
Overwhelmed with the task of hous-
ing and feeding twice as many inmates
as the penitentiaries should accomn1o-
: date, the real work of Federal prisons
personal reconStruction-haS had to
be deferred, Mr.. Bates explained. He
declared that if the program of protec-
tive penology is to be carried out, and
If men are to be made better and
therefore less dangerous to the public,
1t cannot be done by herding or over
= crowding, by idleness or Government
y neglect.
TT can only be done" continued Mr..
Bates. by analysis of the problem. the
classiflca ton of the inmates, the per-
sonal diagnosis of their needs, the
proper penal discipline, by steady en-
ployment and by the substitution of
new incentives for old"
Mr.. Bates said one of the greatest
dangers Is "the careless or cruel or
criminal tendency of certain people to
hurt us, to take our property, to make
us suffer in other ways.
And in the same way that We have
sought to protect ourselves from other
dangers We must seek to protect our
selves from crime in modern scientific
ways" he declared. I'VE. the innocent
ones, are reasonably entitled to such
protection"
Text of Speech.
Mr. Bates speech follows:
am privileged to address the radio
audience on subject which ranks high
In importance in our present civilization.
The Attorney General is charged by law
~ with the control of Federal peniten-
= tiaries and reformatories. In the De-
partment of Justice. Of which the At
torney General is the head, there is
q small bureau known as the Bureau
of Prisons. to which the Attorney Gen
eral delegates certain duties with ref
erence to the care of prisoners. AS {.
representative of that bureau. pro-
pose to take the members of that huge
audience into confidence in discussing
some O. ,,.e plans of the Federal Gov
eminent with reference to the care of
its prisoners and to ask its support of
such program.
Much is being said and written about
the great prevalence of crime in the
United States. We have been urged on
many hands to feel alarmed about it,
and so we should. Too much cannot be
said as to the need for modern and
effective methods to control this dis
concerting situation and for the need of
an increase in our general desire for an
orderly government and a crime-free
; Nation.
And, after all, as our President has
said, we have to want to be free from
crime before we ever can be. We have
: built ourselves, it seems to me, a rather
> dangerous civilization. We want a
good deal faster travel, not old horse and
buggy and we pay the toll in automo-
bile accidents. We want daily movies
and constant radio. and we pay for it
IN eyestrain and nervous exhaustion
We want the utmost in freedom and
the greatest liberty to express our per-
sonal opinion. We can lead a quiet,
gentle life If we want to, and we will be
reasonably free from crime.
Most of us demand life of sport, or
adventure, or of excitement Now, ad-
venture means danger. Every story
book hero that started out to seek his
fortune or to partske of a life of ad-
venture always took his sword along
with him. So sone of our boys with a
distorted or exaggerated notion of what
true heroism is start out on an adven-
ture with pistol or revolver. Young
America wants adventure. We have
recognized that our mode of living is
hazardous one. So science has stepped
in to make it more secure. Traffic
lights, rubber tires, eyeglasses, fences,
elevators. telephones, ether, pasteuriza-
ton, X-ray and other scientific bene-
- factions have prolonged our lives and
: made them more comfortable, in spite
Of the very evident dangers Of our civil
ization.
Now, one Of our greatest dangers is
the careless or cruel or criminal ten
dency Of certain people to hurt us, to