The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, October 5, 1916, Page 7

g e Lk R e From Behmd the Prison Bars What’s Wrong With the State Penitentiary at Blsam@ ; . to the Leader by Prlsoners, the Wax?—rall N one of the outer walls of the state penitentiary at Bismarck brick masons have been at work recently. There is an irregular shaped patch - of newly mortared brick reaching nearly four feet from the ground and about three feet wide at the widest point. It is bound to attract the attention of - anyone at. all familiar-with prisons. It mthemarkufasboldnndamamga prison break as ever was heard of. ‘Between 11 and 12 o’clock of a bright July day this year a cavernous hole was excavated’in the wall at this point by - prisoners and eight of them made their way to the outside air and liberty.: . < “This was the climax of a series of es- capes from the penitentiary that have = embarrassed the prison -authorities and brought them a lot of ‘unwelcome public- ity. In ten weeks eighteen prisoners got away from the institution at Bismarck. In one case a guard was locked in a cool-. ing room at the prison slaughterhouse, i thnt the gnards ‘themselves are not “the right class of men.” This, he says, is ‘due to the fact that the state doesn’t pay enough money for guards. -WARDEN “TOO LENIENT” . SAYS ONE INMATE A different view. of this lack of disei- pline is taken by the others. One of the inmates told the correspondent that Warden Talcott was “too lenient” and that he did not properly uphold the authority. of the guards. The. same stories come from outside the walls. 'It - is charged that the guards are given no means of mamtmmng their authority and that the prisoners curse them on oc- casions and generally show contempt for them! = Tt is said also that a vicious class of prisoners is being “caddled” and . that amateur ideas of reform have resulfed in creating a- hypocritical spirit among a large percentage who are working to im- Prisoners have lots of time to think and they have_ Worked out their own ideas of prison con- . trol. “A prison is just like a college,” says one. “] think the warden and all other employes ought to be chosen with just the same care as the presxdent of a university and all the pro-. fessors are sel t 4 Cok located outside the walls, and his charges hurried to freedom, while in others men - working “outside” have sxmply aneaked away and the guards have humbly come - % Naturally the public, which® pays the press the warden an 0 " with their fitness for liberty: “ It is charged too, that mcompefiap and bad management of ' the force Vof keepers, added to-lack of discipline, - Tegulted m making it very easy for ‘a é-vns having said that Warden Talcott was oo lemeg/ elaborated ‘at length his e ‘views on Theremdsocha.rgeao:t neglecta! dw:fampmperty is ‘partially ad- mttadbyWMen'l‘dcothwho says he hsn’thdemnghmen through. the sum- Leader. mer to do the work.: The farm, of course, - each prisoner. ~It takes do_ one man’s work, he says.. The charge ; 18 ¢ thewallsandnotdlpnmers -~ can be put on farm work. Warden Tul- 'eottthmksztunrmabbtoe’xpectflmt a'fullday's work can be gotten out of “about two- to utslders is. thatthemnmtmnblemth Another aecusafion agamst ‘the: pnm !'xianagemmt m related: to themmterm 'Entnnee to the North Dakota state penitentiary at Blsmauk cipline at ‘the. institution might be chargeable to them. 4 THE OTHER SIDE OF = THE DISCIPLINE QUESTION Over against f.hese charges “there is .the statement of Warden Talcott that he is trying to practice modern ideas of re- form and the testimony of the prisoners and others to the effect that anything resembhng brutality has been abolished at: the pemtenuary The prisoners — -those whom the correspondent talked to, at least' — apparently were smcere in their praise of the warden, It should also be said in justice to the management of the prison thatthe pris- oners appear to show the effects of kind - - treatment. They are not in stripes and their heads are not shaved. Their quarters are clean, their food appears good, and they have little of the hang- dog appearance associated with prison inmates. _ They certainly are not being brutalized by harsh treatment. All pun- ishment more severe than confinement in a cell on a bread and water diet has been abolished. The only prisoners locked in’ their cells the day the correspondent vis- ited the prison were half a déZen who- ; had been recaptured after escaping. The Leader correspondent visited the prison in the late afternoon. After a talk with the warden he walked through the interior with the deputy warden and returned to the institution in the' even- ing. At this time Warden Talcott called | . into the office one prisoner after another and permitted the visitor to talk to them in private in an adjoining roem.\ A 'GENTLE MURDERER'S 3 OPINION OF THE WARDEN The pnsoner wlxo is’ mentioned above proper conduct of a peni- tentiary. . He is serving a sentence for ir - second-degree murder which was origin- ally for thirty years but has' been cum- mntedtoammmumdten. He has _been “inside” for six years and with his goodhmeaflowaneeexpecta to be out next spring. Helsa“tnmty and, ac- cordmgtoWardenTsleofl;amm“w:th- oubacrmma!mshnct. Heseanedaverymxld—mannmd in- a little .mtelhgeneg, showever. “I ‘have been ‘studying and .thinking about this matter of prison discipline quite a bit,” he said.. “I Have come to ~ this “conclusion: ~ Kindness won't ' do ~everything. You've got to rule with a firm hand in a place like ' this. There ’tr,ealotofmenthat don’t sppremate kind treatment. - “Warden’l‘aleottmafineman,buthe S :s too lenient. Now I’lI’ show you what Imean. Supposeyonwereaguardand rule' It y ( rytlnng. thafirm. and in a place like not the warden or a guard that said this but one of the prlsoners at Bismarek, the , tll warden is “too lemeli’ 1. o 10ld ers the men started to abusing you with their tongues, calling you foul names; You are not allowed to pumsh the men ' yourself, All you can do is report theny to the warden. Then e calls them inte the office and tells them such conduct if wrong and asks them not to do it again, That don’t work with class of men. They, don’t have any respect for you affer thaty They know you can’t hurt them.” “What would you advise in a'case likl that?” he was asked. : “I'd punish them,” said the : trustyy “I wouldn’t be brutal but Pd make them suffer enough so that they'd remembez it.. ‘You have got to take into consideras tion that there are men who will not ba ruled except by fear and you have got to run your prison accordingly to get thl best results:. “Warden Talcott knows just how I feel about these things. /I have talked tg him about it.” 5 GUARDS ARE “LOW ‘CLASS” | *SAYS A LIFE TERMER This prisoner was not the. only ona who felt some of the responsibility for the good name of the institution on hig shoulders. . 'Another was a fine—lookmg : young man of 26 who has served ninq years of what was originally a life semw tence for a murder committed when hg ‘was 1"1. “He also hopes” to gain his lib« erty within a few months. He is the type of young fellow you might ,expect to see in'a bank or office or almost any« where where good appearance and mtel]i- gence were factors. He wore a gold-rime med eye-glasses with a chain, his care riage was’erect, his face was ruddy from outdoor ‘exercise 'and his ‘manner was frank and engaging. “We’ve had a bad class of men in hers lately,” he said. '“I i guards are to blame for letting men es« cape. The f{rouble is, we don’t get good men for guards. The state doesn't pay enough money to get good, reliable - men. What can you expect for fortys five or fifty dollars a month? - { “Warden Talcott is a fine man. W all think he is doing everything he can, but he can’t help himself. You see, the board of control only allaws lnm certain Themabihtyofthewndentoget“th.q _right class of men” for guards seems to be universally deplored among the loyal boosters of the institution. Apparently, the men bhad beén discussing it both too, the e with the warden and among themselves.” The warden himself, in fact, made ' the same complaint and in much the same way as his young prisoner friend. g “The trouble is,” said the warden, “‘wa getmenonthe‘ohasguardswho do - nothowhowtousethexrheads. One “of our eseapes was from the slaughtet R house, wlm;h w outmde the prison walll. : S You ve got i e this”