Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-19

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an honest way.
A large number of those who violate
the laws are without elementary or vo-
cational education they cannot obtain
or n Did a self-supporting job.
About one-f1fth of those entering
prison doors are drug addicts.
And-important to prison keepers
no serious riot has occurred in an insti-
tuition where all inmates have been pro-
vided with study and productive work:
The problem, reduced to practical
terms, was what to do with 10000 HUI
man beings damned into crowded pris-
ons, and an almost equal number of
Federal petty" offenders in more than
thousand local jails and similar insti-
buttons, so that they would emerge at
the end of their terms better-or at
least no worse-than they went in. 1t
was not part of the policy to spend more
Of honest peoples money simply for the
purpose Of making criminals more COM
Portable. Additional prison expenditure
could be justified only by q practical
attempt to convert society's charges into
law-abiding, self supporting citizens.
At least one Massac husetts-
the State In which I had been engaged
in prison administration before coming
to the Federal service-has demon
strated that wholesale severity Of pun
ishment is not essential to better public
order.
Number on Probation.
In that State today there are nearly
four times as many persons on proba :
ton as there are In prison. And there,
nevertheless, crime rates have been go
ing down, even while they were tf1creas-
ing in other parts Of the country.
On the other hand. the creation of
several new classes Of Federal crimes
and the transference Of others to the
National Government by acts Of Con-
gress within the last 10 or IS years have
been bringing many thousands Of addi-
tional prisoners before United States
judges for sentence. The practical
problem was and is what to do with
them. Congress was willing-nay, anxi-
ouS--to do something more than build
additional and bigger prisons. 1t was
willing, under the leadership Of the
President, to give authority to tackle
the job Of reconstructing men and
women, not just for their own benefit
but for the protection Of the law-abiding
masses, who In the end pay the bill for
crime.
And so one after another in the last
two years new prison laws have been
written on the statute books of the
United States. Those laws will not in
stantly transform $4,000 Federal pris-
oners into $4,000 useful. law-abiding
citizens, but they are leavening the
lump, nevertheless, and enabling real
progress to be made.
Take the Jail situation, for example
Thousands Of violators OF Federal laws,
including many women, who have been
sentenced to serve a year or less are
! confined TO county jails and other local
! institutions. We had no real control
over such places. more than a thousand
/ in number, and there we're only two
! inspectors to see whether these places
were At for human custody. The con-
ditions in some Of these jails were
nothing less than horrifying But with
only two inspectors IL took a long time
to discover such things. Now. under
congressional authority. We have eight
inspectors. each having charge of in
/ spections in a certain district They
are getting cooperation from local au-
thoritieS in making the jaiis fit places
for the confinement of human beings for
short periods. Jails are being cleaned
that never were cleaned before, or at
least in the last 10 or 20 years PriS-
oners are being given clean, plain. SIM
pie food instead OF starvation rations or
filthy and spoiled vituals. and lax con-
ditions are being discovered and con-
demned
Moreover. Congress has authorized
the building Of four large Federal jails
for short-term prisoners. When we can
transfer to those jsils prisoners who
previously could be placed only in local
institutions not At for human habita-
ton We shall be able to influence bet
terment there by Withdrawing the reve-
hue derived by the county from the Fed
eral Government.
Consider the drug addict situation.
One out Of five Federal prisoners is
addicted to narcotic drugs-thousands
OF men and women in the aggreg gate.
After withdrawal of the narcotics these
unfortunates are mental and physical
wrecks. They need rebuilding Of body,
mind and soul
For that purpose Congress has APP
propriated money to acquire. in con-
junction with other Government de-
partments, two so-called narcotic
farms" There prisoners and other VIC
Tins of the narcotic habit will be re-
habilitated under skilled medical care
and strict discipline. There will be no
'coddling" Of such prisoners. but under
the new regime they will be given the
opportunity at least to come back to q
normal manner of life.
1uHUECuS NACIttUUy DCACNuVCs
Into the prisons have gone hundreds
Of mental detectives, the degenerate,
the idiot, the insane. For these to be
kept with other prisoners is crime In
itself. Congress has provided for their
segregation and confinement In hos
pitals
In the past, owing to the difficulty Of
obtaining competent medical service in
the prisons, much of the disease. physi-
cal and mental, which scientists say
bears so close a relation to criminality,
either has gone undiscovered and I'M
treated or else has had to be treated
casually or internationally. The I'M
portance of accurate diagnosis, prompt
prophylaxis and segregation where
necessary can hardly be overempha-
sized.
Under authority of new legislation
the United States Public Health Serv-
ice has taken charge of Federal prison
medical work and competent medical,
surgical and psychiatric staff now pro-
vides In our penitentiaries service
which rivals that of any group OF penl-
tentiaries in the world. There will be
fewer men and women discharged from
prison broken in health or carriers OF
infectious diseases to the world out
side.
Why do m0 in prison revolt? One
of the answers sometimes given to
this question is a real or fancied griev-
ance against the sentencing or parol-
ing authorities. Under the old system
the granting of paroles in Federal in
stitutions was in the hands Of busy men
who could not give the time and atten-
ton necessary to a careful study OF the
merits of each case. Under the new law
an independent parole board passes
upon applications for parole and pris--
oners have the assurance OF fair ana
prompt consideration, based upon the
merits of their cases.
One way to prevent prison over
crowding-and the making OF more and
worse criminals to keep people out