, 1934-12-21
The World
At a Glance
BY leslie EICHEL
Central Press Staff Writer

NEW YORK. Dec. 2l.-The fed
eral government is going after one
crime breeding area-through slum
c~learances. 1t soon may 90 after
after another-through urging pos
sible elimination Of jails Ia first
offenders.
The most fundamental cause OF
crime. economic starvation Of fam
lilies (maldistribution of income)
may work itself out in the broader
scale Of economic and social re-
adjustments later.
The county jail. the workhouse,
the prison farm, all have been de-
scribed as the worst contaminators
Of crime we have.
Judge Joseph c. Hutchinson Of the
Fifth United States circuit court OF
appeals. Houston. Tex. told the
crime conference in washington
what he thought Of jail conditions.
He described county jails in the
southern district Of Texas so me-
dieval and barbarous and so con-
trary TO the ordinary principles OF
democracy and social justice that
! was shocked beyond expression
The judge added:
II found that men with lungs and
hearts. nerves and brains like mine
were penned up for months on end
with hardly a single thing TO do.
They had no access to the open air,
no opportunity for exercise except
In the bull pen and runarounds in
side Of dark walls.
mo provision was made for their
worthwhile occupation or their i'm
provement, no segregation Of pris-
oners was attempted, nc processes
Of restoration begun. The convict
ed and the unconvicted, the begin
ner and the hardened were con-
demned TO a congregate In a life
necessarily degrading"
Aid For Prisoners
We print a letter on which per-
haps We are q bit late:
AT Sing Sing. In San Quentin
In Fulton Tower prison. on the
Georgia chain gangs. and in other
penitentiaries and jails throughout
the United States. hundreds OF in
nocent men are enduring years OF
heartbreaking confinement for
crimes they did not commit. These
men are political prisoners. Such
fantastic charges as criminal syn
dicalism'. 'sedition', and melting 70
riot have been used by bitterly pre-
JUDGED judges and juries 10 put
them behind bars.
When these men are sent TO pri-
son 1t Is not they alone who Suf-
fer: their wives and children arc
left in restitution and want. II Is
the function Of the prisoners re-
lief fund OF the International La
Dor Defense to send each political
prisoners and each family Of a
prisoner a small monthly allow
ance. The following quotations
from letters We have received in
dicate the manner IN which our ef-
forts are appreciated: i surely don't
want 10 face starvation as / did
: last winter, before / heard from
you people . Il tried TO get help
from the government relief. but ]
did not get anything but hard
words. But when I think back over
all you have done for us I feel
happy as can be- I was SO
glad Of the three dollars YOU sent
that ! had TO write you all a few
lines 10 let YOU know how glad !
was . What a great surprise
and yet such a pleasant n was
your letter and the five dollars
The prisoners relief fund is
conducting a Christmas drive for
funds for political prisoners and
their families. These men have
gone 10 Jail because they tried 70
improve the lot OF all OF US. Help
lis help them and their families.
Send a contribution 10 the prison
ers' relief fund OF the international
Labor Defense. 80 East Eleventh
street, New York City.
ROSE BARON, Secretary