Evening star., 1933-05-30
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
Margaret Germond.
BEHIND THESE WALLS. BY James R.
Winning. New York: The Macml-


Ian Co.
Punishment for crime and for lessee
infractions of the law is as old as ths
human race. From the time that mar
became conscious of himself and Of his
relations with others Of his kind h
has felt himself righteously justified II
dealing out punishment to any and al
of his fellows who have wrongfully In
fringed upon his property, his person o.
his privileges.
Before the institution of the Mosaic
law man took matters largely into hi.
own hands and meted out punishment
to his enemies or his neighbors ac-
cording to his own concept of what
the offense deserved, but with the
proclamation Of the law of Moses botf
crime and the specific punishment
therefor were defined, and, despite tht
countless laws written in the statute
books through these many centuries, tht
law Of Moses, which demands an eye
for an eye, life for life, is the basic
law of the world today.
Just how far civilization has changed
good of the world Is a question. Tht
purpose Of punishment Is the same to.
day as it was when prehistoric man sci
out to seek revenge-to prevent repeti-
tion of an offense by the same person
and to sound warning to others tc
keep from wrongdoing. In the ancient
days revenge was swift and sure. Ir
the present day the wheels Of Justice
grind slow and all too frequently they
fail to grind exceeding fine.
With the mockery Of justice and the
failure of punishment which prevails
in this country today for major as well
as minor crimes and infractions of the
law, this volume by a man sentenced
to ten years in a State penitentiary
for committing a robbery while armed
is of momentous interest. It can be
judged from a variety of viewpoints
and each of those viewpoints can be
right. The professional prison reformer
will hail 1t as an authentic and COM
pelling expose of the inhumane, brutal
and soul-killing methods which are en-
ployed in many of the penal institu-
tions of this country. The sociologist
will read into 1t confirmation of the
belief that in most cases criminals are
born more often than they are made.
The psychologist will interpret 1t in
terms of the influence of early environ
ment and other specialists will find In
its pages the elements of whatever
their particular social or economic in
terests may be.
To the average reader-that Is, the
man or woman who strives to under
stand and to Judge fairly and without
Behind These Walls" produces a
tangle of emotions which may be diff
ficult perhaps to sort and place in
their proper order, though it does not
alter the feeling that crime justifles
The experiences OF Mr.. Winning are
not lovely. They could not be expected
to be So They are revelations Of con-
ditions which are appalling and of
treatment calculated to crush the souls
as we'll as the bodies of those whose
deeds have brought sentence upon them.
1t is known. Of course, that in some
of the big penal institutions conditions
are indescribably bad. For many years
efforts have been made by the Federal
Government and by State governments
to clean up prison administrations and
to maintain a regime of humanity. But,
again, the wheels grind slow and none
too sure.
1t is a shock to learn that in a State
penitentiary filth predominates and that
horrible diseases are allowed to spread
without check and without precaution
against repetition. 1t seems unbeliev-
able that forms of brutality are prac-
ticed which would have done credit to
those who ordered great holidays that
the populace might participate in the
festivities attendant upon the spectacle
OF public human torture. The descrip-
tlons Of overcrowded cells, of the lack
OF sanitation and Of ventilation read
like tales Of the dungeons maintained
centuries ago by the emperors of France
and of Rome. Bad food, of course, and
the horrors Of solitary confinement and
numerous forms of inhumanity receive
their share Of indictment.
The story is told in narrative form,
giving an inside picture of the authors
companions during the period of his
Imprisonment and the reactions of the
various temperaments to the conditions
with which they are surrounded. There
are some touches Of humor and a con-
sistent relation of incidents which show
a clannish spirit of comradeship and a
tenacious loyalty Of the prisoners to-
ward each other
One OF the most horrible, and at the
same time dramatic, chapters deals
with a conf1agration in the peniten-
tlary In which several hundred of the
prisoners needlessly lost their lives. As
a result OF this particular fire the
author of Behind These Walls" was
inspired to lead revolt. If the con-
ditions which prevail In the specific
penitentiary with which this story deals
n nf fR,ct
it Is no wonder that the country a few
years ago witnessed an epidemic of
prison levolts which resulted in the
loss of hundreds of lives and millions
OF dollars worth of property.
1t is not possible to read this book
without developing more sympathetic
state OF mind toward prisoners in gen.
eral. Civilization in general and
Americans in particular do not approve
OF torture as a form of punishment for
offenders. Humaneness in relationship
to all mankind and toward all creatures
has grown into an unwritten code of
behavior in this country, and stories
of brutality, upon whomever practiced,
invariably stir up mighty storm of
righteous indignation. Mr.. Winnings
book is likely to do so, and it should
surely arouse the people of the State
which maintains the institution in
which he served his term to clean house
and clean it we'll
The fact that prison methods as they
are operated in some institutions are
wrong and should be righted does not
mean that some of the re-
forms which have in recent years been
are right. A prison was
never intended to be a place of ease
and comfort and freedom from care.
and it should never come to be re-
yarded as such. Much criticism has
oeen aroused, and undoubtedly rightly
50, by the comparative freedom and
comfort accorded in institutions where
so-called reforms have been placed in
operation.
With all of the sympathy which "Be-
mind These Walls" arouses in the heart
If the reader, the original cause Of the
suffering which this man was called
upon to endure cannot be forgotten or
overlooked. Though his motive was
robbery he was armed. and he was
therefore a potential killer. Had the
of his capture been more
favorable to him he would undoubtedly