The Washington times., 1933-08-07

think we should consider 1t,
along with others which may
be offered.
Send Letters
my idea is this: Why not
send a letter to each prisoner
in the penitentiary, asking him
how he would manage the
prison if he were a member of
this board? We could offer a
prize for the best answer, and
may find a gem or two in the
replies"
The Judge stared at Mrs.
Billings for a moment. Sud-
denly, he clapped his hands,
together noisily.
'Mrs. Billings" he said en-
Enthusiastically, you have hit
upon something which is a
credit to your intelligence and
farsightedness. If the other
members will give us their ap-
proval, we will put your idea
into operation at once.
IF prisoners escape, why not
go to the prisoners about it?
If there is something wrong
with our system, as the news
papers say, why not ask the
prisoners what is wrong? It
is an excellent idea. A fine
idea"
The voting was unanimous.
Within "a hours, mimeograph
machines were running of
several thousand letters, which
would later be addressed to
each prisoner in the peniten-
tiary.
Jimmy Caten was in the act
of reading when his letter ar
rived. He placed the book
carefully under the mattress,
and opened the letter. When
he finished reading it, he
smiled.
And when he finished writ
ing his suggestions, he smiled
again.
For Jimmy was bad man.
He was known to be the best
or worst, as you prefer-shake-
down man in the State. His
racket was to get a line on the
weaknesses Of wealthy, we'll
known men.
The next step was to go to
those men and blackmail them
for whatever sum it might be
worth to keep quiet. In most
cases Jimmy's clients paid. In
a few cases they resisted. That's
why he was in jail.
A Bright Man
But Jimmy was by no means
dumb. Had he chosen to dl-
rect his ideas along the So
called proper channels he might
have become a Congressman,
or worse, a prohibition agent.
But Jimmy, many years ago,
thought the matter over, and
decided to become a racket man.
Three weeks elapsed before
the parole board could decide
who had won the prize. Then,
when the reporters and pho
tographers had arrived, Judge
Engle and his fellow members
met in the penitentiary audito-
rum, looked over their spec
tacles at the assembled prison
ers and announced their deci-
sion.
"Gentlemen," said the Judge
in his deepest voice, my words
will be both brief and direct.
AS regards the contest to sub
NIT ideas for better manage
ment of institutions such as this,
the members of this board had
a difficult time deciding the
winner.
1--WE have finally, after great
deliberation, hit upon a com.
mon choice. The name of the
winner is James Caten, and the
prize which I will award right
now is $3.50"
When the guard signaled,
Jimmie arose from his bench
and climbed over the knees of
his fellow prisoners. Judge
Engle presented check to him,
which was promptly taken by
the warden, who gave it to the
property clerk for safe keeping.
Jimmie's Ideas
Jimmie'S ideas of prison re-
form and management were
simple. The first requisite, he
stated, was to eliminate graft.
The second was that favoritism
of the wealthy prisoner should
be abandoned so as not to
discriminate against the penni-
less guy. The third was that
prisoners, instead of spending
% ont of % hours in their