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Show MEW Lit Ml I j IIS GOOD CITIZENS. Reform in Method of Treatment Treat-ment in Penal Institutions Institu-tions Beneficial. AN EXAMPLE IN UTAH Policy Pursued by Warden J Pratt Is Cited in Summary Sum-mary by Hilton. One of t he reasons that b'witzerland has probably the best army of its size of any nation in the world lies in the fact that the Swiss start with the fundamental funda-mental idea that every boy is born to be a soldier and hence his proper training train-ing is begun at an early age. The Swiss have gotten away from the idea that mere mechanical military drill makes soldiers; sol-diers; they realize the necessity for intellectual in-tellectual and social as well as physical training. One of the main reasons why more men who serve prison terms today go forth from prison walls law-abiding, industrious, in-dustrious, progressive citizens than ever before is because more men in charge of prisons are realizing that the convict Is a human being, ruled in the main by the same impulses, aspirations and emotions as are other men; who understand that "no man stands by himself in this World; he Is elbowed and befriended, crushed or assisted by others, even when those others oth-ers say they know nothing about him and care less." Reform Illustrated. Striking illustration of the psychological application of this fact to prison reform was made by Judge O. N. Hilton, an eminent criminal lawyer of Denver, who has been in Salt Lake for several days as associate counsel in the famous Blll-strom Blll-strom case. In the Sunday issue of the Denver Post is a signed article by Charles ,McA, Wlll-cox, Wlll-cox, in which the psychology of the rule of reason in prisons Is Illuminated, Judge Hilton being quoted In part as follows: A certain citizen of Colorado once upon a time invented the "prison horse." He and his friends thought they had done a great thing In the line of reformation machinery. A stubborn prisoner was strapped on that horse, you remember, and beaten with wooden paddles until he promised prom-ised to be good and obey the rules. His Way Is Better. Warden Pratt df the Utah penitentiary peniten-tiary has a better way. He took charge of a penitentiary of cowering, rebellious criminals; he has turned it into a club of self-respecting men who are working their way back to society so-ciety on the merit system. Distinctive .guards have been abol-islied; abol-islied; every morning each man takes his bedding out of doors for an airing; air-ing; each cell is thoroughly cleaned ; the prisoners are allowed to write home when they please; they are allowed al-lowed to read and they are allowed to gather In groups and talk; members mem-bers of the supreme court visit th'e prison frequently, as do members of the board of pardons; baseball, moving mov-ing pictures and music form the recreations, recre-ations, and less than 1 per cent of the men in that prison have tried to escape since Pratt took charge. Studies Men Personally. Warden Pratt, like "Tom" Tynan and Thomas Osburn, study the men committed to their care. They know that, save for a loose screw In the convict's makeup and some sad lack in his circumstances, he is much as other men ; he has the same emotions, emo-tions, the same impulses, the same desire for affection, for home, wife, children, for fair name, as men outside out-side the walls. Of course, there will be many lawyers, law-yers, those who worship precedence, who believe the law handed down through the ages is good enough for today's needs. The lawyers and judges in England Eng-land thought the law was fine which sentenced young boys to hang for deeds which today are regarded as forms of mischief and signs that a boy is healthy. The standpatters cannot stop the reform In the law any more than King Canute could stop the waves from wetting his royal feet when he persisted in mingling with them. |