Evening star., 1937-03-27

| crowded prison yard. When you take
work away from imprisoned men you
remove one of the most potent factors
in their rehabilitation, The demoraliz-
| ing effect of idleness in prison cannot
be over-emphasized."
LIE BELIEVES 1t is futile to argue
that the American system Of i'm
prisonment can continue in its pres
ent form without providing some
means of occupying the minds and
hands of those sentenced to hard
labor" To understand this, he
claims, lone must gain some concept
of the routine of the prisoner and his
| world The prison corridor, the lock
step. the wall, the bars, the criminals
warped ideas of manhood, his undeviat-
ing faithfulness to a remorseless code,
his bitterness toward the social order,
and his scorn for the thrifty and in
dustrious are attributes of life in a
world altogether foreign to most
people.
Never is there relief in a prison
from the eXacting regularity of every
action and every move from morning
until night Precisely on the moment,
the cell doors are unlocked and the
men march to their meals. They
stand at the doors of their cells three,
four or five times a day at exactly
the same moment to be counted. In
many prisons, for months in advance,
the content of the diet can be pre-
dlcted."
From to IA hours a day the
prisoner must lie on his bunk in the
cell, often with nothing to occupy
even his mind. Worry, lack of work
and exercise may make it impossible
for him to sleep more than few
hours. For many of them, all that
they can look forward to is the ad-
venture of combing their hair or
cleaning their teeth, cursing the guard
or booing the warden as he marches
by on his daily inspection tour. The
prisoners build time list,essly, un-
smilingly, usually sullenly. The re-
suit is that the whole prison atmos-
phere is charged with bitterness, ran
cor, Slothfulness and an all-pervading
sense of defeat"
With regard to this, James E. John
ston, now warden of Alcatraz Peni-
tentiary, said: The great necessity
in prison is work If had to man
age a prison upon condition that
make my choice of one thing, and
only one. as an aid to discipline, as
an agency for reform, for its thera-
peutic value, I would unhesitatingly
choose work-just plain, honest-to-
goodness work.
"Of course, l wouldn't like to con-
centrate so on choice, and it would
be unwise to be SO restricted. Physi-
cal examinations, medical treatments,
bodily repairs. educational opportuni-
ties, spiritual guidance, psychiatry,
psychology are necessary and helpful.
But the habit of work is what most
men need"
Referring to correction of this con-
dition as one of the major problems
at present, Bennett said: Five years
ago the machine shops and indus
trial centers Of the prisons were max
ing labor for the great majority Of
the prisoners. About all they are do
ing in the State prisons today is TAX
ing in each others wash. The ma
chine shops are idle. The men have
nothing with which to occupy their
time or use their energy. ! have ac-
tually been in prisons where outside
labor was brought in to construct ad-
ditional buildings or add to the struc-
lures in some way and the prisoners
themselves sat in the prison yards
and jeered at the outside workmen."
The work problem is not quite so
acute, however, in the Federal irsti-
tutions. In these workshops a rea-
sonable proportion of the prisoners