Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-04-30

The loss of more than 800 lives ir
the fire at the Ohio State Penitentiary
! in Columbus arouses much indignation
| over conditions that permitted such
tragedy to occur. Lack of proper &C.
| commodations is blamed, and a large
part of the press of the country ex'
,, presses belief that similar conditions
are to be found in many other States
Public apathy in the face OF known con-
ditions is charged, and it is urged that
the disaster be accepted as lesson FOL
the future throughout the United States
Authority flddling discordant note:
while prison burns Is Nerolike reck-
lessness that fits into an entire scheme
of responsibility" declares the st. Pau
Pioneer Press, with reference to, tragic
absurdities," as illustrated by the point
as to whether night captain could
give an emergency order to day
guard" which was given right OF way
over action that would save men from
horrible DEATH" The GAINESVILLE Sig
nal says ut is tragedy of the sort that
sickens the heart, this wholesale mas
sacre of men who hadn't a chance to
fight for themselves" The Birmingham
News comments: Escaped prisoners
can be recaptured. But life cannot be
restored after the tenement in which 1t
lives is destroyed"
n X + X
None Of the prisoners made break
for liberty" according to the Akron
Beacon Journal. Their only thought
was of saving the lives of others. The
stories that will be told of these en-
deavors will pass into the literature OF
the Columbus tragedy as the one factor
that softens its sordid background Of
avoidable distress and horror. The
Black Hole Of Calcutta was an example
of deliberate cruelty to prisoners that
has won for its authors the execration
of the ages. They could plead in abate-
ment of criticism the fact that what
they did was justified by the exigencies
of war. What shall be said in defense
of modern prison management which
condemns thousands of men to remain
helpless under destruction not less
certain than that which claimed CAL
cuttas victims?"
"All that a penitent people can dc
now" advises the Dayton Daily News,
sis diligently to see what gain, here in
Ohio and elsewhere, can be refined out
of this miserable loss. If the 800 pris-
oners who are dead through our neglect
are the means of ending that neglect,
then perhaps we can say they did not
die in vain" The Sioux Falls Argus
Leader feels that IAN improvement in
prison practices and structures Is almost
certain to result" while the Columbia
Is. c. State holds that "Ohio's expert
ence ought to cause in every State q
careful scrutiny of all structures In
which persons are held in restraint"
"That conditions at the Ohio Peni-
Tertiary have not been safe has been
demonstrated at frightful COST" re-
marks the Columbus Ohio State Jour-
nal, and the Lexington Leader AYERS:
"Other States may at any time expert
ence what Ohio has Just experienced. 1t
Is a warning which comes from Column
bus. Conditions should be changed as
soon as possible" Less optimistic Is the
conclusion OF the Little Rock Arkansas
Democrat: after the horror of 1t all
has passed. prisoners will be crowded
back into the penitentiary and the Ma
ton will rock along until another riot
and more deaths bring us new shock;
for prisons are of another world, and
folk who walk the street have little
interest in them, save fear of being
locked up in one Of the innumerable
crowded fire traps"
What the State needs and its citi-
zens will demand" In the, opinion of
the youngstown Vindicator, as perma-
nent relief from conditions which for
20 years at least have been pointed to
as reflection upon the good name Of
Ohio, which in many other things is far
ahead of sister States" Crowded con-
ditions throughout the country impress
the Green Bay Press-Gazette as Great
ing "a strange dilemma" In which I'VE
seem doomed to be In hot water If we
do not prosecute lawbreakers. and in
just as hot water II we do" That paper
also contends: "The problem Of provid-
ing prison facilities and satisfactory adj
ministration Is acute in every State. At