Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-19
Uncle Sans Prison Problem
Continued From First Page.)

Continued From First Page)
in boiling oil for what would now BIZ
no offense at all.
And to what effect? Did crime
cease? Did all men obey the lawsP
Was property made secure even in the
days when those penalties were being
inflicted?
Nc one can afford to be dogmatic
in these matters, but we can certainly
risk one positive statement. The prison
or crime problem simply cannot be
isolated and treated as a single prob
lem, criminality subjected to a single
cure-either by the hangman's moose
or the judges decree of probation or
suspended sentence. Not until we
have solved the manifold problems OF
poverty, bad heredity, industrial In
equality and physical and mental In
adequacy shall we approach a COM
plete solution of the crime problem.
Something Of the real nature of that
problem can be learned in an hour
spent In the criminal division of a
Federal court on a day when prison.
ers are brought before the Judge to be
sentenced.
Here we have a young man and
woman, brother and sister, from a
Southern city, never before convicted
Of O crime or even q misdemeanor
But both now. by the same evidence
have been convicted of violating the
Federal laws relating to embezzlement
from national banks. The brother
took or borrowed" little money from
the bank for which he worked as a
clerk, to speculate on the stock mar
ket; then he took more to cover up
when the market went the wrong way
In serious trouble, he appealed for
help to his sister. who also worked for
the bank. In q panic OF fear. she
helped him to make false entries
helped him take more money, hoping
always that luck would turn" and
that 1t would be possible to restore
what had been taken.
Before the same Judge, the same
day, appears for sentence a man who
has been selling narcotic drugs
"dope"-not only to drug addicts but
to q score Of dope peddlers" He has
Illicit trafhc-and ruined scores OF
lives.
Here also is q man OF another race
who, In q frenzy Of passion, committed
murder in q Federal Jurisdiction.
Here are q boy and girl who stole ar
automobile for trip together through
several States.
The Hardened Criminal Type.
And here Is . hardened criminal, ar
! escaped convict captured when he triec
to rob q mail cara man past As. who
has spent the greater part Of the las
80 years in jail or prison.
These are only a few Of the many
facets that are part Of what we cal
the prison problem"
How could the Judge deal with thi!
complex problem in these half dozer
cases Ave years ago?
He could infiict the death penalty II
the murder case he could sentence tn,
others, old and young, new offender
| and hardened criminals alike. to vari
GUS terms in the same penitentiary.
And what were the prisons and peni
tentiaries like-State and Federal
Solid blocks Of cells, concrete floors
iron bars. high. small, barred windows
The air might be fairly good: it nigh
be foul. laden with disease germs from
tuberculosis prisoners. The food nigh
be sufficient; it might be fairly clean
| 1t might be fairly svarming with yer.
min. There were vast differences II
prisons. in prisoners and in prison keep.
ers. But in practically all the PRISON.
| there was one vast evil and curse
idleness. never-ending. soul-destroying
mind and body breaking idleness
Hour after hour, day after day, weel
upon week, month upon month for thu
years OF their terms of imprisonment
men sat or stood or lay in small. darl
cells like Gagged animals or Joined to.
gether in promiscuous association witt
nothing to do except futilely to plo
escape or revolt.
Society was protected as long as tn,
term Of imprisonment rsn. but wher
sentences expired there went out into
the world again men and women better
| trained for crime by contact with each
other, and with fiercer hatred against
the law and its Officers. but with no bet
ter equipment for earning an honest
living than when they entered. What
was the result in most cases? A prompt
return to life of crime, Of course.
Is this a mere statement of unfounded
opinion? Not at all. Examination OF
records has shown, for instance, that
out CT ll6 male delinquents committed
to one Western institution nearly 10 per
cent "relapsed" into criminal ways after
release. OF 1873 released from another
institution, u per cent went wrong
again.
The 22-year-old clerk who went TO
prison for crudely forging a few small
checks came out of prison q bigger and
better forger educated" by an old con-
Wet. who knew how to counterfeit bank
drafts that even passed muster at the
banks-most Of the time.
The new Federal prison program was
based on certain essential facts and
principles, among which might men
ton these:
Duty Of Government.
The frst duty Of society or govern
ment is to protect its members-by i'm
prisonment, If necessary, of those who
are q menace.
Men land women) may be punished
en- rnasse; they cannot be reformed that
way. Practically all of those who enter
prisons must in due time emerge. to
come in contact with society again.