Evening star., 1937-01-24
BATES TO ATTACK
CRIME At SOURCE.
Prisons Bureau Director,
Heading Boys Clubs, De.
fends Parole System.
BY FRED C. KELLY.
(copyrisht. 1887. by the North American
Newspaper Alliance lnc0


Sanford Bates. who is leaving his
Federal Job as director of the Bureau
of Prisons on February /. discussed
yesterday some Of the utilities OF the
work of a criminologist.
1T am going to become executive
director of the Boys Clubs of America"
he said, simply because I believe I
can be more useful there. After 19
years in prison work, I feel as If 1t
would be more satisfying to try to pre-
vent crime itself rather than to deal
only with men after they have COM
mitted crimes"
He picked up a pamphlet with a
picture of grinning youngster on the
cover. If you can't help fellow that
age to 60 straight" he asked, "how can
you hope to reform criminal?
I'VE have made progress in handling
prisons within recent years." Bates
said, "but we are still SO far from
intelligent methods-still so far from
having public opinion that would
tolerate saner methods-that prison
work is discouraging to those who di-
rect it.
I'VE take men who need expression.
but we give them repression. They
need to learn the satisfaction OF use
full work, but we encounter preJudices
and obstacles against prison-made
goods. They need to be encouraged
toward a normal life. toward natural
emotional outlets. But If prisoner
is a married man, he is not only cut
off from association with his wife, but
is almost sure to start worrying lest
his wife may seek consolation with
some one else. No man can undergo
that kind of situation year after year
without being harmed.
Russian Prisons Better.
"They do many things better IN the
Russian prisons. There man may
have his wife come and spend time
with him, and also he is sure OF work
at the same wages he would receive
outside of prison.
"A great difficulty is that we do
not really try to reform men IN prison.
We send them to prison because So
ciety desires revenge upon them. In
MANY prisons-though no longer IN
Federal prisons-when a man Is de-
MED privileges for disobedience. ne
is forbidden to have books or to write
to his mother. 1t would be more
sensible to tell him he must stay IN
his cell until he has written several
times to his mother and until ne can
show that he has read every line CT
q worthwhile book.
public attitude toward the parole
system is an example of the persls-
tence of our demand for our pound
of flesh, for revenge rather than re-
form. When occasionally man vlo-
lates his parole and commits another
crime, one reads in the newspapers
that he should not have been released
from prison. What reason have We to
think he would have been less in
clined toward crime if he had stayed
in prison year or two longer? Inc
truth is that men who are paroleo
actually serve longer terms in prison,
on the average, than do those who are
sentenced without chance for parole.
Suppose Judge sentences two men
to prison, one for two years, the other
for four years. The two-year man Is
released at the end of his sentence
with no further control over him; the
other man, with the four-year SEN
tence, is released, let us say. at the
end of two years and placed on parole.
For two years more he Is under a
degree of supervision. He must make
regular reports of his activities and
whereabouts. In other words, ne
must make a gradual readjustment TO
his freedom, to normal life, instead
of a sudden readjustment with no
strings on him.
Dillinger Case Example.
"The early part of John Dillinger's
career gives us good example of how
not to treat a criminal. He was SEN
fenced for his first offense to 10 years
in prison and served 8 years. Does
anybody think he was less embittered
against society, more benefited by the
associates he met in prison than If
he had been paroled at the end Of two
years and sent to a job where he
could make his living? A prisoner
kept too long behind walls and turned
out with no control or supervision Is
far more dangerous than one who
makes the transition more gradually.
IT frequently hear 1t charged that
Q dangerously high percentage Of men
on parole relapse into crime. But
the truth Is, that the percentage is
surprisingly small. In the first three
months of 1885 the Federal Bureau Of
Investigation found that out of 90,504
arrests recorded, and for which there
were fingerprint cards, only 500 were
Of persons on parole. OF 1885 ar
rested for criminal homicide, none
were on parole; Of 1853 accused of
theft, only IS were on parole.
Even when a man does violate his
parole, why blame this entirely on the
fact that he did not serve his full
term in prison? Why not blame it
at least partly on the desperate pow
erty in which he grew up? We must
all take part of the blame for that!
The parole system does not solve the
crime problem, but it is at least a step
toward meeting the problem sanely
and rno lief ;co Il1,