Evening star., 1938-05-24

ATTORNEY GEN
out injury to free labor, to remove
] the ancient curse of idleness.
Another challenge is presented in
the health of these men. We have re-
solved that they shall not leave our
institutions with the mark Of prison
pallor and the handicap of sickly
body. Men can't fight their way back
to respectability under such burden.
In the past five years we have doubled
the medical staff of the Federal insti-
tutions and during this period the
number of out-patient treatments in
creased from $4,000 to 100000. Spe-
cial research in the treatment OF drug
addiction has been inaugurated at two
| of the institutions Why should we
expend all these efforts in behalf of
men who have violated our laws when
often outside prison walls persons who
have led orderly lives suffer for want
of such treatment? Why? Because
they all come cut.
Note Of Hope Needed.
Another great task which confronts
! us may be characterized by the phrase
hope versus despair" Prisons breed
bitterness. The whole atmosphere OF
prison life is conducive to the produc-
| ton of warped minds-long prison
corridors, the lock step, the monoto-
nous shuttle of marching men, the
| walls, the bars, the guarded towers. 1t
becomes our duty in these surround
ings to inject some note Of hope.
though at times I confess it is ex-
tremely difficult. To remove bitter
ness, rancor and the pervading sense
of defeat is a real task, but neverthe-
less an essential duty which falls upon
us. The fight is an unending one.
We have another obligation, how
ever, and a primary one. That is to
see to it that the sentence OF the
! court is fully and faithfully executed,
and that men leaving the institution
do not leave by the route which is
commonly described by the inmates
| as lover the fence" When man
goes to Federal prison he must real
| ize that loss of liberty is the inevitable
consequence of crime. Occasionally,
of course. few men escape. They
| are few indeed. During the last fiscal
year, out of an average population OF
nearly 10000 only 19 men escaped,
usually from prison camps. and ID OF
these were recaptured within a few
hours. Shortly after I assumed the
Office of Attorney General I became
convinced of the need in our prison
system for an extra secure institution
in which might be confined offenders
of a well-understood type. 1t was
this conviction which led me to take
such personal interest in the estab-
lishment of the penitentiary at Alca-
traz in 1884 We needed some place
where the "end product" of our law
enforcement system could be incar-
cerated. We needed place also for
ingenious escape artists" and for those
who are intractable or impair diScip-
line or seek to maintain contact with
the underworld. We established such
an institution. It was not only in
tended for the purposes named but
also to improve the morale and release
the tension in the prisons in which
this type of prisoners had previously
been confined Firm discipline and
minimum privileges without resort to
brutality, these characterize what has
picturesquely been termed "the Rock"
The warden at Alcatraz. Mr.. James A.
Johnston, is possessed Of intelligence,
experience and ingenuity. can as
sure you that it would be difficult to
place the institution in more compe-
tent hands.
100000 Are Incarcerated.
There are today upward of 100000
men and women in all of our State
and Federal prisons and reformatories.
This does not include thousands of
individuals confined in city and
county jails A little more than $4,000
of these, including inmates in narcotic
farms, are in Federal institutions.
In addition. about 1900 are serving
parts of their sentences on parole or
be added about 10000 men and women
who have been placed upon probation
by Federal judges and who are under
the supervision of Federal probation
officers This makes a total of more
than $4,000 Federal offenders who are
today under the supervision of the
Department of Justice.
There is still one other group, con-
sisting of 5000 Federal offenders, who
are boarded out in local city and
county jails, awaiting sentence or
serving short sentences. To insure
proper housing for this group it has
been necessary for us rigidly to in
spect all Of the jails in this country
which might be used by the Federal
Government. Out of a total of more
than 5000 county jails in this coun-
try the Bureau of Prisons has ap-
proved less than TOO. These inspec-
tions have served highly useful pur-
pose by drawing public attention to
those that are inadequately equipped
or poorly operated. The conditions
which exist in many of them are de-
plorable. Such institutions frequently
are virtual schools Of crime. Outlines
there is no attempt at segregation.
Discipline is lax and the sanitary con-
ditions are literally disgusting. Graft,
corruption and brutality are not
uncommon. Partly because Of these
conditions and also to serve as q DEM
onstration of what standards should
prevail in the operation of a modern
jail, we have provided for three new
regional institutions at Sandstone,
Mimi; Tallahassee, Fla, and Terminal
Island, Calf. The California in
stitution will be formally opened within
the next two weeks. The other two
institutions are almost ready for oc-
cupancy. They will also serve to take
care Of the growing number of Fed
eral prisoners which are crowding our