Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-02-15
Ten Year Record at Lorton.

L
day a supplemental estimate of appro-
priations for continuing the permanent
building program at the District Re-
formatory Reservation at Lorton, Va,
following recommendations by a special
House committee that the District of
Columbia should have a walled prison
and be in shape to take care of its worst
criminals who are now being sent to the
Federal penitentiaries in Leavenworth
and Atlanta
This focuses attention on the mobile
experiment" made at Lorton under the
leadership of the late President Roosevelt
in carrying out the recommended
ton of two of Washingtons leading
citizens as members of special COM
mission to report on penal system for
the National Capital-John Joy Edison
and Justice Wendell P. Stafford Of the
District Supreme Court.
Ten years ago the building program
was started at Lorton--the first inStitu-
ton of its kind in the world for harbor-
ing long time prisoners without walls or
bars, giving them work to do, teaching
them habits of industry and affording
them a chance to learn trades, with
abundant fresh air and sunshine and
wholesome and varied food The first
wooden buildings were literally hewn
from the virgin forest. Trees were cut
and the lumber sawed on the ground
A decade ago the permanent building
program that is now nearing completion
was worked out and the ground laid out.
The permanent buildings are of brick
and laid out like a model community
settlement, resembling greatly college
dornitories and recreation halls about a
central campus. They are open to the
air on all sides, have unlimited sunlight
and are arranged for most careful
sanitation.
There are no walls, but there is one
disciplinary barracks and one cell house
to take care of those who have proved
that they cannot be trusted. But these
structures are more as a warning than
for use and as a general rule are empty
or nearly so.
While the Board of Public Welfare
has not yet definitely decided just what
will ultimately be done to carry out the
recommendations of the special House
committee for a walled prison, 1t has
been decided that there will be some
strong buildings where people can be
kept, where the prisoners will not wilt
for lack of air and sunshine Under the
new appropriation asked yesterday it is
proposed to erect another disciplinary
barracks and headquarters for the
assistant superintendent who is in
charge of discipline.
All of the men now under confinement
at Lorton are at work on the farm or
in shops-foundry, canning factory,
broom or basket making, garment fac
tory and making auto license plates. The
problem presented by the decision to
have all District prisoners, even those
heretofore sent to Leavenworth or
Atlanta, committed to Lorton, is that
while others are virtually at liberty on
the reservation these relatively few bad
cases must be kept under lock and key.
How many of these will have to be thus
closely confined?
When the Lorton experiment was
started the civilized world thought that
the only way to keep any prisoners in
penal institutions was under lock and
behind bars and walls Lorton proved
that theory wrong.
Paroled men from Lorton are taking
an honorable place in life and industrial
employment. Society today is more in
terested in what the man is going to be
after he comes out than in the mere
matter of his physical safekeeping. All
such longtime prisoners eventually come
out-the latest available average for the
entire country is three years. Today
even lifers are eligible for parole.
If prisoners escape from Lorton, or
! break their parole those in charge of
the District penal institutions will 60
to the ends of the world after them
for the matter of discipline and for
the moral effect on others.
| Lorton in a decade has worked out
many important problems. 1t will work
cut the present one of caring for the
bad men" Of the District.