Evening star., 1933-07-08
Representative Shoemaker
Appeals to LOrtOn Inmates
Minnesotan, Who Served
Prison Term, Urges Men
to Submit to Rules.

~OATLESS, hatiess, with perspi-
ration pouring from his face,
Representative Francis E
~ Shoemaker of Minnesota, who
once served prison term
himself mounted a table in the Lorton
Reformatory dining hall yesterday and
shouted a fervid appeal to the inmates
there to. forSake their mutiny and sub
nit to the regulations of the prison.
You may have your grievances.
Shoemaker told them. but 60 about
righting them in the right way. Rails
ing trouble will do you no good and
will only embarrass me and others who
are trying to help YOU
When he concluded with an appeal
for show OF hands by all those OF
you who will support me- practically
every hand in the hall, both white ana
black. shot into the air with cheers.
The speech was made only to those
whom prison authorities had deemed
not requiring the solitary confinement
meted out TO the ringleaderS and bad
actors who are said to have fomented
the food rebellion These malcontents.
l0S in number already had been locked
securely behind bars in a distant build
ing.
Knew Their Language.
Accompanied by Capt NJ. NJ. Barnard,
he entered the huge dining hall when the
prisoners were half through their meal.
Mounting a table he began his speech,
telling them he was one of them-a
former convict who knew their Ian
guage and problems and had their in
terests at heart.
He told of his own conviction and
sentence to years imprisonment in
Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary.
Il come to you as man who has
wcrn a number on his back" he as
serted Il am no snitcher or stool
pigeon. came here on my own hook
to help you. No one asked me to cine" ="
Spasmodic cheers punctuated his
speech the loudest coming when he
shouted:
we don't want these cops here.
know what coppers are and you krOW
what they are and We both want to get
rid of them. Give me lift and send
these cops home"
II know you have your troubles" he
continued. Some of them may be
imaginary, but many of them are prob
ably real. We can iron these out, but
it can't be done by raising hell.
Fights for Them in Congress
eff you want changes made here.
write to me and I can promise you
your lettsrs will get proper considera-
ton and be answered. And you can
send your letters to me uncensored."
he added. turning to Capt. Barnard,
who stood beside him, for confirma
ton. Capt. Barnard nodded his head
in assent.
Shoemaker told the convicts he was
lighting for you all the time in Con-
gress."
Il know our prison system is far
from perfect" he said. 1T makes as
many criminals as it cures. But I
am trying to get Congress to do away
with some of the injustices of our
penal code and penal system.
The real trouble is the economic
what keeps people from having equal
opportunity and causes conditions such
as this. What I am fighting against
is this system where few have every
thing and most of us have nothing.
If every one had an equal opportu-
nifty there not only would be no places
Of this kind, but there would be no
use for such places"
As he passed out of the dining hall
at the conclusion of his address. a pho
tographer asked Shoemaker to pose for
picture.
Barnard Objects to Picture.
"Sure," replied the Minnesotan, you
can make shot with me standing on
the table and these fellows all around
me-
But Capt. Barnard interposed with
the objection he never allows, photo
graphs inside the buildings and Shoe
maker did not protest.
Outside the mess hall, Shoemaker ex-
planned at length to reporters his views
ON reforms in the penal system. He
urged adoption of the British system,
under which, he said. no fingerprints or
pictures Of criminals are kept on file