Evening star., 1938-05-24
PRISON POLICIES
DPR0TECT|VE
US. Efforts to Develop Best
in Transgressors Told
by Cummings.


Following is the text of an address
on prison problems delivered by At
torney General Cummings last night
in the National Radio Forum. spon-
sored by The Evening Star and
broadcast over Nationwide network
OF the National Broadcasting Co.
have frequently wondered what
varying degrees of amazement might
be manifested by some OF my early
predecessors in the Office of Attorney
General were they to return today
and, in a tour of the Department OF
Justice, observe the diversified duties
of the Governments chief law officer
in the year 1888. There would be,
I am confident, many expressions OF
genuine surprise at the remarkable
expansion that had taken place. For
instance, they could not fail to be
impressed by the fact that the At
torney General has under his super
vision % penal and correctional insti-
tutions, ranging from reformatorles,
mountain camps and hopsltals TO
the prison in San Francisco Harbor
known as Alcatraz
The Federal prison system Is to-
day the largest co-ordinated prison
system in the world. Its story has
never been fully told. Prison stories
generally remain untold. From the
beginning of institutional treatment
the public psychology has dictated
that what transpires behind prison
walls shall remain a mystery. There
has been a definite demand that those
who have transgressed be forgotten.
Don't throw their problems back at
U.s." they said. I'VE have builded g
prison wall to keep them in. Keep
them in. They are men apart. Keep
them apart"
It has only been in recent years
very recent years-that we have
come to comprehend the challenge
which prisons present in our culture.
The awakening comes inevitably II
we inquire about our prisoners. Who
are they? What happens to them?
The answer-I'n give it to YOU
they all come out! Well. at least 80
per cent of them. OF the $4,000 Fed
eral prisoners confined in our insti-
tutions last year only 70 died. Yes,
they come out-back to live in your
neighborhood, to walk beside you on
the street. even to join your church.
Their children will associate with your
children, their families will be a
part of your community. If men don't
die in prison they must live-and
die-after they leave prison. And
that, my friends, is the challenge
of the prison system. We cannot
escape it and we simply must face 1t
Life in the Barred Cities"
The institutions which come under
the Federal Bureau of Prisons OF
the Department of Justice have been
called Uncle Sans barred cities.
The people in them have one-and
only one-thing in common. They
have been caught. convicted and i'm
prisoned for some violations of the
many hundreds of Federal criminal
statutes. There are forgers, auto
thieves, kidnapers, smugglers. muir
derers, bank robbers, racketeers. mar
cotic addicts, confidence men, and even
a few of our mountain folk who
neglected to comply with certain
revenue requirements in the manufac-
ture of moonshine. No two persons are
alike. Some are rich, others poor. There
are the sick and the well, the morons
and the geniuses. Every occupation,
skill, profession and religion is repre-
sented. They form an amorphous mass
which must be broken down and ana
lyZed before there can be intelligent
treatment. Remember that, for better
or worse, they all come out some day.
Classification thus becomes our
first great task Obviously $4,000
separate means of institutional treat
ment are out of the question. But
we can make, and we have made,
genuine attempts to separate the old
from the young, the sick from the
well, the good risks from the bad.
Let me describe briefly this phase
of the work.
Young offenders are placed in re-
formatories such as the one at Chilli
cothe, Ohio. Here they are educated
and taught trades Others who give
evidence of an awakened sense of re-
sponsibility and who have no apparent
ambition to escape are sent to our
mountain camps, such as the one at
Kooskia, Idaho, or the one in the
Catalina Mountains of Arizona. The
physical and mental detectives are
sent to our hospital at Springfield, Mo-
The narcotic addicts are concentrated
in specially equipped institutions.
While only per cent of our prison
population is made up of women, it
has been necessary to maintain spe-
cial institution for them at Anderson,
w. Va. The habitual criminals are
ordinarily sent to the older prisons,
such as Atlanta and Leavenworth. For
those with serious records of violent
crime, or who are intractable in ordi-
nary prisons, we have institution at
Alcatraz. 1t will be seen from this
brief listing that each institution
serves a separate purpose.
Immature Delinquents.
The most recent attempt to secure
q degree of specialized treatment is
represented by the measure which I
recommended last week to the Con-
gress, which would create a uniform
system for dealing with immature de-
linquents. It provides for a uniform
procedure for the trial of Federal
juvenile delinquents much like the
enlightened systems which have been
created in many of the States, since
the turn of the century. This, I think
you will agree with me, is vital need.
It provides also that the juvenile may
be committed to the custody of the
Attorney General so as to make posi-
BILE the use of such State and local
institutions and quasi-public homes as
may appear to be suitable. Such
system would thus serve to reduce to
. minimum the detention of juveniles
in jails. Again, we must not forget
that some day these youngsters will
come out.
The greatest curse of prison life is
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