Evening Star Newspaper, March 14, 1926, Page 91

ILLUSTRATED FEATURES MAGAZINE SECTION he Sunty Staf " Part 5—8 Pages BY WILL P. KENNEDY. ASHINGTON is setting an example ehich every State in the Union is watching and copyving, and which many foreign nations are trying to emulate, hy revolutionizing in a practical way the penal system, through its workhouse at Oecoquan and reformatory at Lorton, Va. Washington's” “leading private cit- izen,” John Joy Edson, now nearing his eightieth birthday, by his lead “ership in this innovation and refor-; mation has done the most outstand thing of the century in prison | veform. Prison cells have taken out the men and women slesp In dormi: tories and eat at tables in the dining hall, they work unmanacled in the open, drinking in air and sunshine they are encouraged to talk together, have entertainments, are given a full day's work under skilled supervision d to learn trades along he natural bent, and erecting buildings in | live and work | words, they aw treated | bheings, n nitary con- ! the ing for the | lives an oppor decently with their been and e which In other like human ditions, 1 tunity fellawmen Wh and feet mding st er cure, punishment our th hey time in 1 this is from the sys. | Y dun with the | andeuffed, w leeding | 1 mg_ hours of | floor: the | by forcing | hours in a | thrashin ment. It is of the hard the key v of the dismal, disease-breeding | smoked his while the ron ists n from he wi the culpr the her barharous t distinct antithesis 1 crueity when in the lock loathesome. vhile the warden but er felt easy witenders against sociely were out of | th the days when those who had under the “heavy hand of the | were treated as beasts and cave rs. and responded to the treatment, | not maudiin sentiment that | ted the big change or that | Lorton and Occoguan (for | co-ordinated institutions). | father of the reformed | hard-headed business who is well known 1. where he ha ears of stead dav-after-day work for the betterment of the commu in a practical, husinesslik He has never At or beld public office, although Presidents—Harrison, McKinley Roosevelt—on five different occa- asked him to accept appoint ment District Commissioner. He has heen an adviser Presidents, A R. ¥ ed ~from offin strait jac fallen dwel man in the IDSON Washington ago. when he was dis an Army hospital at | the age of 17, having enlisted as a soldier at the age of 15. He was in general charge of the big Union Army reunion in 1892, He took a leading part in establishing the Homeopathic Hospital. He was a_charter member of the Washington Loan and Trust Co., was chosen its second president in 1894, and continued in that office for 24 vears. Forty-six vears ago he organized the Equitable Building As- sociation and has been its president since 1508. He was in charge of the erection of the first office building in Washington at Ninth and F streets. e has always been active in the work of the Associated Charities. He w chairman of the McKinley inaugura ceremonies in 1901, has been on every inaugural committee since, and was also on Cleveland's. e was a member of the organiza- tion committee of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States and initiated the erection of the handsome national headquarters of American husiness on H street. For a quarter of a centu been on the board | of the National Ge phic Society and is its treasurer. e is one of the building committee of three for the | onal Press Club Building, at Four- | 1 I streets—the others being | Hammond and J. William will be the most imposing | owned building in Washing- will be ready for occupancy | came to private ton and in a It ow such who ur Rress Preside practical business man of | and distinguished service | ok 1o do, under act of Co; at the personal request of Roosevelt, what the keeper prison in the country 18 said could not be dene, only twe of the prison thought was worth while | = to do ry vears azo and whick keepers tryi Tribute also must he paid to Jus- tice Wendell P. Stafford, not only for thorough co-operation and > agement is reform. but for fir voicing the sentiments regarding treatment of prisoners that led to the reform A representative government, acting in the capacity correspondinz to our Secretary of the Interior and Attorne ene’ on visiting Occoquan and Lorton re- cently, expressed nmazement at the Hberly sranted the prisoners to lead normal lives, and said: “This is the most distinet departure in penology in modern times." He had just seen life prisoners drivinz carts about the grounds—2,600 P HE late Dr president ¢ of the German ac B Charles R Un Henderson ersity, who was the American Prison Association, and Dr. Amos W. But- ler, the most outstanding penologist in the United States today, a great naturalist and friend of the late Vice President Thomas Riley Marshall, who was alse president of the American Prison Assocfation, took a keen interest in the experiment in prison reform undertaken by the District of Columbia. In fact, Dr. Butler nhas actually reproduced the plant at Occoquan in Indiana, so en- thu tic has he bhecome over the! success of the venture here. Both Dr. H -n*fl.ny nd Dr. Butler con- sidere e undertaking of Mr. Ed- con and Judge Stafford so important a departure in their special flelds of protecting society that they sent men who were to run their prison farms to Lorton to live for several weeks, just so that they might imbibe the Spirit of the institutio For the last 20 ) cially since Lorton prison farms have been established in various places throughout the States, and there has been a great deal of talk about the “honor s tem.” Now, Mr. Edson and M. W Barnard, the superintendent at Lor- ton, are not sentimentalists. In fact, Mr. Barnard is an old-system prison warden, who, when the District plan was first outlined to him and he was asked to take the job over, shook his head. He thought it could not be done, but when he was asked if he would try to carry out the scheme— keeping in mind the distinct purpose that when a man i offended against society his liberty must be taken away, hut in all other respects he was treated as a normal human heing—he said he would make an honest effort. Mr. Barnard is today pary, and espe- was started, Outstanding Prison Reform of the Century Credited to Jo}m Jo.y Edson, Leading Washington Citizen, Who Had Support of Justice Stafford, Original Advocate of Such Methods—Prisoners Treated Like Human Beings, Unde:r Sanitary Conditions, With Enjoyment of Air and Sunshine. and Opportunity to Learn Useful Trades—Success Here Encour.aged Similar Enter- prises in Other Parts of Country, With Resulting Improvement in Conditions—Superintendent Barnard's Record. WASHINGTON, Ve Ke. orma,tom, Kite enthusiastic about the new system and is recognized as an ideal man in the position, especiglly on account of his prev experience under the discarded system. Mr. Edson and Mr. that there are just about 15 prison- ers in each 1.000 who cannot be trusted nd that prisoners. are a fair o section of humanity. The system they have developed at Lorton ‘is the first distinctly con- ous effort to revolutionize the care of prisoners of all classes and for all kinds of offenses—not merely the trusties, not just short-term men, but all kinds—by taking them out of the. caveman arrangements that for many, many centuries have been dis- tinguishingly characteristic of pris ons, and letting them live like human beings. Barnard know HERE are 2,600 acres in the prop- erty occupied by the reformatory at Lorton and the workhouse at Oc- coquan. The fornier institution occu- pies 1,500 acres and the latter 1,100 acres. Occoquan was started in 1919 and Lorton in 1916. There is a brick- making plant on the property, where the prisoners make the bricks, which are laid by other prisoners working under a skilled paid overseer. Thus they are putting up their own build- ings. . The Lorton plant is being built on an extensible unit plan, with central mess hall, kitchen and bakery. These central buildings are well along to- ward completion. They are sanitary, scrupulously clean, with abundance of fresh air and natural light On either gide of a large quadrangle ’ between the administration building (yet to be erected) and the mess hall six dormitories are on the*plan, and four of these are already built. Back of the central buildings are to be four disciplinary barracks, two of which have been built, and a number of shops—electrical, carpenter, paint, etc.—three of which are erected. These buildings, put up by institu- tional labor and with institutional brick, are of a type of permanent structure which wins hearty approval of leading contractors of the countr: The prisoners also have built the roads on this reservation. There is a power plant, with docks, on the property, supplying abundant light, heat and power. There is a stone crusher, which sup- plies crushed stone for District of Columbia construction w There is a five-mile railroad which forms a transportation link from the docks to the main line railroad sys- tem. This has proved an efficient aid to distribution of supplies and will be a permanent factor in distribution of prison products. . Individual beds in the dormitories have replaced wooden platforms on hinges in cells. rest room is pro- vided in each ddrmitory, where the prisoners are allowed to mingle freely and talk together. . The entire institution is a develop- ment and exercise of this truth—the prisoner’s environment should bring out the good that is in him rather than the worst. If he is abused, left to sit idle in his cell, he grows lazy and morose and vengeful. If his days are made comfortable and happy and he is taught regular habits and in- D6 SUNDAY MORNING, MARCH — Lorton Reformatory System an Example for the Country PHOTOS BY JOHN MUELLERD . NS AR WAL LETG Sdting Type in the Reformatory~ dustry, he thinks more cheerfully and goes out a happier man and' ready to contribute something to society. His health is bullt up by regular work out of doors, so that he sleeps well and eats well. All of which means more of 14, 1926. Fhe the civilizing influences of a normal community life for the prisoners. How different this is from thé sen- timent expressed in the report of the New York Senate committee in 1882— “To make any impression on the minds of either convict of- the public there must be sufferings (on the part of the inmate, and, to make ‘any ade- quate impression, such sufferings as will excite feelings of terror.” Recently, when a powerful New York lobby was working at the Capi- tol to put across for the District of Columbia a law based on “the New York - plan” - for .moths pensions, Justice Walter S. McCoy, presiding justice of the Supreme Court of the District, was incidentally asked about the Lorton Reformatory, and he said it was doing wonderful work and set- ting an inspiring example to the rest of the world for a distinct change in prison methods, Only a few days later Associate Justice Frederick L. Siddons similarly testified. He knew intimately and from personal knowl- edge whereof he spoke, for the work at Lorton was instituted during his term as District Commissioner. Each grand jury visits this institu- tion and the present grand jury was there last week. There are five different kinds of prisons, and the workhouse at Occo- quan and the reformatory at Lorton are two of these—the first of their kind in the world. The workhouse is for petty of- fenders—assault and battery, drunks, thieving, drug addicts (both men and ‘women). The reformatory is for the peniten- tiary class—embezzlers, manslaughter, felonies of all kinds. Here are mostly the younger men and first offenders, with hopes that they may be reform- ed. They are kept there to prevent their close association with those who have offended repeatedly, so that they FICTION AND HUMOR cformato ry~Dakery~ may not be hardened to crime through such assoclation. * ¥ k ¥ T nearly 20 years ago that the seed for the reform was plant- ed. Justice Stafford, at a banquet in the University Club, in the course of his speech pointed to the need for improvement in the physical ap- pointments governing the care of prisoners who had so offended against society that it was necessary to deprive them of their liberty. This found fertile ground in the minds of his hearers. A few days later a resolution was introduced in Congress and promptly passed authorizing the appointment of a commission of three men to visit the penal institutions of the country. Mr. Bdson urged the then Attor- ney General, Charles J. Bonaparte that he should nominate for chair- man of the commission Judge Staf- ford, who should be impressed into service as a public duty, because he conceived the idea and had valuable knowledge gained during many years' duty in the courts. Then President Roosevelt sent for Mr. Edson and insisted that he also serve on the commission, because “for about 40 years he had been honorably asso- ciated with nearly every practical moyement for social betterment ia this* city.” The third member was Robert V. La Dow, then superintend- ent of Federal prisons. Mr. La Dow represented the old school of penal administration, while Judge Stafford and Mr. Edson came in with inquiring minds, vet guided by practical common sense and a fine zeal to have prisoners bettered rather than embittered under re- straint. The commission visited and inspected jails or workhouses in Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Philadelphia, was as well | at « | treatment, as in the rules| ew roit De tories rk, Boston, Cleveland nd Chicago; the reforr sreord Junction, Mass P OFio prisons and ed tSates ey rth, Kar 1 Prison experts in as Maryland chusetts Leaveny 1 the Americ consulted on came to the cor the method of handl as fundamentally wro at the possi ble prevention is a grea\ subject by itself and the possi reformation of the criminal Is other. They thought a systen should be evolved which would send prisoners back into the world, on the expiration of their sentences, bet ter fitted to be good citizens. found that harsh and unnecessar treatment is bound to make men worse, nad that considerate, humane no matter w the . gree of crimin decid jon that * Aok ok at the where whickh HE ned Massachuset 500 pr rst impression chouse, ere grew continuec were more fixed prisoners i Sing and ng—14 7 feet bunk | ercise. t cells safe handli dormitor men in on ed and we ter. They decided be allowed to as they would if | walls and that they ed onl | Ligh { tial to hum: | be norm | sentials mospher sick and po: Then the ishing cory every 1.000 the convicti were unnecesfary of prisoners risoners should ach other he prisor should be attend sibly a per decided in en as low As 5 r the conditions they recor ¥ were stron for indu that each indivi cal, mental a1 developmen idea was that any prisen matter what should erty taken away, but in else he shou tr Thesy on |er. no ense, | have his I everyth ormal man recaleitrant be se; with be the should quarters le | that the 953 others | retarded in their devel | denied humane or n for the sak properls the few. | They “conceived the idea that the [ Jafls were improperly used: that the: should be used for men awaiting trial and awai sentence after conv tion and for such prisoners as were serving a very short sentence They were of one mind that a r confined in idleness has laziness grown upon him. grows morose ugly At the very first prison visited | in Massachusetts) they decided that violated ned he h society that was no reason why t Government s d support him idleness. and that if properly o | ized as an indus plant. each ir | tution could become self-supporting instead of a drain on the taxpavers. | There should he shops where the men could he tau to use their hands in trades of <kill and engage in manu facture of usef! icles. Such ar ticles could be used by the District | government in its us depa ments. After deducting the cost of | operation a surplus fund couid be | established, out of which allowances could be prorated to dependents the prisoner, with pin money to the | prisoner, and a A1l amount iaid aside to give the prisoner a start when he walks out into the world at the termination of his sentence. * % ok * TN December, 1908, the penal investi gating commission made its report to President Roosevelt, making these specific recommendations: 1. A jail to be used only as a house of detention and never place where prisoners should be to serve sentences. A probation s do not absolutel ment. 3. A reformatory be imprisoned and yet cases. 4. A workhouse for those who are not_hopeful ca and vet are mot such as must be sent to a penitentiary. 5. Confinement in a penitentiary for the worst offenders. 6. A parole law for prisoners who may be safely released upon conditions before the expiration of their terms. Specifically regarding the reforma- tory, they said it should be located an a tract of land of not less than 1 000 acres, consisting of unreclaimed land to be cleared, cultivated and built upon by the prisoners themselves. There should be established upon this tract shops wherein a variety of industries may be taught and carried on. the product being easily consumable by the various District departments. Hopeful subjects sent to the reforma tory would get the benefits of a cou in discipline, education and industry. The report was transmitted by Pre dent Roosevelt to Congress, With a strong statement in support of the en tire program. Then Mr Edson gave home, 1324 Sixteenth street, attended by his assogiates on the penal com mission, members of the District ap propriations committees of both House and Senate, and the District Commissioners. The very next day a bill was introduced authorizing an appropration of $100,000 to start the penal reform scheme in the National Capital and it was promptly passed— with no restriction on the penal com- mission. So it was to in as a sent require imprison for all who must are hopeful dinner in his ry out one of the six recommendations that the Lorton Reformatory was established—an absolutely new venture in penology and one that has worked out most encouragingly—so much so that the whole world is watching it, with a view to profiting by example of the National Capitol. So Lorton is blaz- ing a new trial reformation and opportunity in life for the casual of. fender. During the coming week Mr. Edson is going to make another step in de veloping the first recommendation of the commission. He is to appear before the House District committee to advise regarding the best course to be pursued at the District Jail, based on his experience, to relieve the over crowded nd insanitary conditions exposed by ‘“Pete Martin” In last Sunday's Star, 4