OCR Text |
Show PROHIBITION AND CRIMINAL CLASS: Warden of Colorado State Prison Gives Out BosM Interesting Facts and Comparisons. Regarding the effect of the prohibition prohi-bition law on crime condition in Colorado, Colo-rado, I wish to say that the effect of the law was not perceptible at this institution until the first of March, on account of the fact that the jails contained con-tained so many men who were waiting trial for crimes committed previous to January 1st. On March I the institution contained contain-ed 827 inmates. On account of the paroling and discharging of prisoners at the end of their sentence, we find that our count today is about 703, with HO more to be released during the next month. Regarding the receipt of prisoners will say that we are receiving receiv-ing only one this year where we were receiving three last year or about that ratio. I find upon investigation that all of the county jails are empty or nearly SO) except in the thickly populated centers and even in these cases, the number is only one-third of what it usually has been for years past when we had open saloons in Colorado. The following is a table, giving the statistics statis-tics regarding this institution and which will undoubtedly be of bene-1 fit to you. Prisonesr received? Pa-1 rolcd and discharged, during the months of May, June, July, August j and September, 1015 and 1910. Received Discharged 1015 l'Mfi 1')I5 1916 1 r4 16 May M ."15 ' 49 27 June 50 36 81 !'. July 32 42 17 16 August 16 45 39 19 September 43 34 One of the most advantageous fea-, tares that I notice in regard to the prohibition law is that the influx of ! the bad element from the outside of the state has decreased very perceptibly percept-ibly on account of the saloons being closed. My experience has been that crooks, yeggmen, black-mailers, pickpockets, pick-pockets, burglars and pimps all congregate con-gregate in the booze and red light districts dis-tricts and I think the police of all the cities of Colorado will bear me out when I say that this class is passing up Colorado and are not coming into the state as formerly, while on the other hand, it will be fojnd that the percentage of these people in New Mexico and Wyoming has increased very materially. Seventy per cent of all the men who formerly came to this institution were non-residents of the state of Colorado. Kansas has twice the population of Colorado, yet their penitentiary contained fewer men than Colorado's up to January 1st. To my mind it proves that the bad element ele-ment passed up the state of Kansas largely and came into Colorado, understanding is that the state of Kansas largely and came into Colo-My Colo-My understanding is that the expects to go into farming on the with this bad element since the saloons sa-loons closed in this state. Furthermore, I have observed that the habitual criminals or men who constantly returned to this institution each time after their sentences were served men whom we required to serve their maximum sentences on account of their being repeaters left the state after their discharge this year and have not returned to this institution in-stitution ns they formerly did. But I do find that a number of these men I have landed in the Wyoming penitentiary, peniten-tiary, proving unquestionably that these men left Colorado and went to states where the saloons were open. |