Chapter I: Section 1: Be it enacted, etc., That the active or visiting committee of (1)

any society heretofore incorporated and now existing in the Commonwealth for the purpose of visiting and instructing prisoners, or persons confined in any penal or reformatory institution, and alleviating their miseries, shall be and are hereby made official visitors of any jail, penitentiary, or other penal or reformatory institution in this Commonwealth, maintained at the public expense, with the same powers, privileges, and functions as are vested in the official visitors of prisons and penitentiaries, as now prescribed by law: Provided, That no active or visiting committee of any such society shall be entitled to visit such jails or penal institutions, under this act, unless notice of the names of the members of such committee, and the terms of their appointment, is given by such society, in writing, under its corporate seal, to the warden, superintendent or other officer in charge of such jail, or other officer in charge of any such jail or other penal institution.

Approved--The 20th day of March, A. D. 1903.

SAML. W. PENNYPACKER.

The foregoing is a true and correct copy of the Act of the General Assembly No. 48.

FRANK M. FULLER,
_Secretary of the Commonwealth_.

First President of The Pennsylvania Prison Society, from 1787 to 1836.]

NEW SERIES NOS. 47 AND 48.

THE JOURNAL
OF
PRISON DISCIPLINE
AND
PHILANTHROPY

PUBLISHED ANNUALLY

UNDER THE DIRECTION OF “THE PENNSYLVANIA PRISON SOCIETY”
INSTITUTED MAY 8TH, 1787

JANUARY, 1909

OFFICE: STATE HOUSE ROW
S. W. CORNER FIFTH AND CHESTNUT STREETS
PHILADELPHIA, PA.

THE

PENNSYLVANIA PRISON SOCIETY

(FORMERLY CALLED THE PHILADELPHIA SOCIETY FOR ALLEVIATING THE MISERIES OF PUBLIC PRISONS.)

Place of Meeting, S. W. Cor. Fifth and Chestnut Sts., Philadelphia.

The 122d Annual Meeting of “THE PENNSYLVANIA PRISON SOCIETY” was held First month (January) 28th, 1909.

The meeting was called to order by the President, JOSHUA L. BAILY, at whose request the Vice-President, the REV. H. L. DUHRING, D. D., took the chair.

The Secretary, JOHN J. LYTLE, being absent on account of illness, ALBERT H. VOTAW was appointed Secretary _pro tem_.

The Minutes of the 121st Annual Meeting were read and approved.

The Treasurer presented a report which was satisfactory. (See page 15.)

The officers and the members of the Acting Committee for 1909 were elected. (See pages 3 and 4.)

GEORGE S. WETHERELL, on behalf of the Acting Committee, presented a draft of proposed amendments to the Constitution of the Society. This report was referred to the Acting Committee for further consideration.

The Nominating Committee presented the following resolution:

“In recognition of the long, faithful and unselfish services of JOHN J. LYTLE as Secretary of ‘THE PENNSYLVANIA PRISON SOCIETY,’ the Nominating Committee recommend that he be elected Honorary Secretary....”

The resolution was adopted unanimously by a rising vote.

ALBERT H. VOTAW, _Secretary_.

SPECIAL NOTICES.

All correspondence with reference to the work of the Society, or
to the JOURNAL OF PRISON DISCIPLINE AND PHILANTHROPY, should be
addressed to THE PENNSYLVANIA PRISON SOCIETY, 500 Chestnut St.,
Philadelphia, Pa.

The National Prison Congress of the United States for the past ten
years has designated the fourth Sunday in October, annually, as
Prison Sunday. To aid the movement for reformation, some speakers
may be supplied from this Society. Apply to chairman of the
Committee on Prison Sunday.

FREDERICK J. POOLEY is the General Agent of the Society at the
Eastern Penitentiary and at the Philadelphia County Prison. His
address is 500 Chestnut St., Philadelphia.

Contributions for the work of the Society may be sent to JOHN WAY,
Treasurer, 409 Chestnut St., Philadelphia.

OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY FOR 1909.

PRESIDENT

JOSHUA L. BAILY, 30 S. Fifteenth Street, Philadelphia.

VICE-PRESIDENTS

REV. HERMAN L. DUHRING, D. D., 225 S. Third Street, Philadelphia.
REV. F. H. SENFT, 360 N. Twentieth Street, Philadelphia.

TREASURER

JOHN WAY, 409 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia.

SECRETARIES

ALBERT H. VOTAW, 300 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia.
FRED. J. POOLEY, 300 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia.

COUNSELORS

HON. WM. N. ASHMAN, Forty-fourth and Spruce Streets, Philadelphia.
HENRY S. CATTELL, 1218 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia.

THE ACTING COMMITTEE

John J. Lytle Moorestown, N. J.
John H. Dillingham 140 N. Sixteenth Street, Philadelphia.
P. H. Spellissy 120 S. Eighteenth Street, Philadelphia.
Dr. Emily J. Ingram Telford, Pa.
William Scattergood West Chester, Pa.
Mrs. P. W. Lawrence 1338 N. Thirteenth Street, Philadelphia.
Mary S. Whelen 1520 Walnut Street, Philadelphia.
William Koelle 1209 Girard Avenue, Philadelphia.
Rev. R. Heber Barnes 600 N. Thirty-second Street, Philadelphia.
Dr. William C. Stokes 2003 Arch Street, Philadelphia.
William T. W. Jester 412 Spruce Street, Philadelphia.
Deborah C. Leeds West Chester, Pa.
Mrs. Horace Fassett 220 S. Twentieth Street, Philadelphia.
George R. Meloney 4809 Springfield Avenue, Philadelphia.
Joseph C. Noblit 1521 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia.
Miss C. V. Hodges 2102 Master Street, Philadelphia.
Rebecca P. Latimer 4131 Westminster Avenue, Philadelphia.
Rev. Floyd W. Tomkins, D. D. 1904 Walnut Street, Philadelphia.
Rev. J. F. Ohl 826 S. St.Bernard Street, Philadelphia.
Harry Kennedy Eaglesville, Pa.
Layyah Barakat 236 S. Forty-fourth Street, Philadelphia.
William E. Tatum 843 N. Forty-first Street, Philadelphia.
Mary S. Wetherell 2036 Race Street, Philadelphia.
George S. Wetherell 2036 Race Street. Philadelphia.
Henry C. Cassel 2316 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia.
Albert Oetinger Warminster, Pa.
Rev. Philip Lamerdin Olney, Philadelphia.
David Sulzberger 316 Race Street, Philadelphia.
Mrs. E. W. Gormly Pittsburg, Pa.
A. Jackson Wright 2141 N. Camac Street, Philadelphia.
Frank H. Longshore 2359 E. Cumberland Street, Philadelphia.
Charles H. LeFevre 827 Race Street. Philadelphia.
Mrs. E. M. Stillwell 1248 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia.
Solomon G. Engle 648 N. Thirty-ninth Street, Philadelphia.
Charles P. Hastings 2304 N. Twenty-second Street, Philadelphia.
Isaac P. Miller 409 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia.
Elias H. White West End Trust Building, Philadelphia.
John Smallzell Haddonfield, N. J.
John D. Hampton Twenty-ninth and Ridge Avenue, Philadelphia.
John A Duncan 257 S. Fifty-first Street, Philadelphia.
Jonas G. Clemmer 2209 N. Franklin Street, Philadelphia.
Charles McDole 812 Race Street, Philadelphia.
Samuel B. Garrigues 1719 N. Twenty-eighth Street, Philadelphia.
Harrison Walton 1706 Columbia Avenue, Philadelphia.
Rev. C. Theodore Benze Erie, Pa.
Rev. A. J. D. Haupt, D. D. Pittsburg, Pa.
Arthur Buckler 2209 Tulip Avenue, Philadelphia.
Mrs. Mary S. Grigg 1235 N. Thirteenth Street, Philadelphia.
C. Wilfred Conard Lansdowne, Pa.
Henry W. Comfort Fallsington, Pa.

COMMITTEES.

_Visiting Committee for the Eastern State Penitentiary_:

John J. Lytle, Rev. Philip Lamerdin, Charles P. Hastings,
P. H. Spellissy, Harry Kennedy, Solomon G. Engle,
John H. Dillingham, Layyah Barakat, Isaac P. Miller,
William Koelle, Rev. J. F. Ohl, Elias H. White,
Rev. R. Heber Barnes, William E. Tatum, John Smallzell,
Dr. William C. Stokes, Mary S. Wetherell, John D. Hampton,
William T. W. Jester, George S. Wetherell, Jonas G. Clemmer,
Deborah C, Leeds, Henry C. Cassel, Charles McDole,
Mrs. Horace Fassett, Albert Oetinger, Samuel B. Garrigues,
George R. Meloney, David Sulzberger, Harrison Walton,
Joseph C. Noblit, Frank H. Longshore, Arthur Buckler,
Rebecca P. Latimer, A. J. Wright, Mrs. Mary S. Grigg,
Rev. Floyd W. Tomkins, Charles H. LeFevre, Albert H. Votaw.

_Visiting Committee for the Philadelphia County Prison_:

Fred. J. Pooley, William T. W. Jester, Mary S. Wetherell,
Dr. Emily J. Ingram, Deborah C. Leeds, David Sulzberger,
Mrs. P. W. Lawrence, Mrs. Horace Fassett, Mrs. E. M. Stillwell,
Mary S. Whelen, Miss C. V. Hodges, John A. Duncan.

_For the Holmesburg Prison_:

Fred. J. Pooley, David Sulzberger.

_For the Chester County Prison_:

William Scattergood, Deborah C. Leeds.

_For the Delaware County Prison_:

Deborah C. Leeds, C. Wilfred Conard.

_For the Western Penitentiary and Allegheny County Prison_:

Rev. A. J. D. Haupt, D. D., Mrs. E. W. Gormly.

_For the Bucks County Prison_:

Henry W. Comfort.

_For the Erie County Prison_:

Rev. C. Theodore Benze.

_For the Counties of the State at Large_:

Fred. J. Pooley, Deborah C. Leeds, Mrs. E. W. Gormly.
Layyah Barakat, Albert H. Votaw,

_For the House of Correction_:

Fred. J. Pooley, David Sulzberger, Layyah Barakat,
Deborah C. Leeds.

_Auditors of Acting Committee_:

Charles P. Hastings, Dr. Wm. C. Stokes, John Smallzell.

_Editorial Committee_:

Rev. J. F. Ohl, Rev. R. Heber Barnes, Dr. Wm. C. Stokes.
John Way, Albert H. Votaw,

_On Membership in the Acting Committee_:

Dr. Wm. C. Stokes, Albert Oetinger, Charles P. Hastings.
George S. Wetherell, Elias H. White,

_On Finance_:

George S. Wetherell, David Sulzberger, A. Jackson Wright.
Joseph C. Noblit, C. Wilfred Conard,

_On Discharged Prisoners_:

Joseph C. Noblit, George S. Wetherell, Dr. Wm. C. Stokes.
Mrs. Horace Fassett, Mrs. P. W. Lawrence,

_Auditors of the Society_:

A. Jackson Wright, Elias H. White.

_On Police Matrons in Station Houses_:

Mrs. P. W. Lawrence, Dr. Emily J. Ingram, Mary S. Wetherell.

_On Prison Sunday_:

Rev. H. L. Duhring, D. D., Rev. R. Heber Barnes, Rev. J. F. Ohl.
Rev. F. H. Senft,

_On Legislation_:

Rev. J. F. Ohl, Joseph C. Noblit, Rev. R. Heber Barnes.
David Sulzberger, Elias H. White,

JOURNAL OF PRISON DISCIPLINE AND PHILANTHROPY

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SECOND YEAR.

1787. OF 1909.

THE PENNSYLVANIA PRISON SOCIETY

ANNUAL REPORT OF JOHN J. LYTLE, GENERAL SECRETARY.

In submitting this, my Eighteenth Report, covering the last two years, I realize that I have much cause for gratitude. For a large part of this time, I have been blessed with health and strength to continue my labors among the prisoners of the Eastern Penitentiary.

I have been an Official Visitor at this institution for fifty-six years, and for more than a score of years I have given my entire service to this work for which I have felt that I had a special call.

While providing prisoners at the time of their discharge with a respectable outfit, it has also been my earnest desire to point them to the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. I have also continued my visits to the cells of the prisoners, and I have felt that a blessing has attended my efforts. While I can never know the result of these labors, I have worked in faith endeavoring to minister to both their temporal and spiritual needs. Many have confessed to me that their imprisonment had been to them a blessing. Arrested in their career of crime, they had resolved to lead better lives in the future. I have not doubted their sincerity, and have encouraged such to seek Divine help. It is right to protect the community, and the law-breaker must suffer the penalty for his crime, but while he is incarcerated it is our duty to avail ourselves of the opportunity to instruct him and to plead with him to follow better ideals. Indeed, I have felt it a great privilege to sit beside a prisoner in his cell and tell him of the “old, old story of Jesus and his love.”

From careful inquiries, I am satisfied that the most of the prisoners can trace their downfall to indulgence in drink and the social evil.

THE EASTERN PENITENTIARY.

At the Eastern Penitentiary several thousand visits are annually made by the members of the Acting Committee of the Pennsylvania Prison Society. This Committee is composed of clergymen and laymen, men and women. To each block one or more visitors are assigned, and it is believed that the interviews held by these with the prisoners, either in their cells or at the cell doors, are productive of much good. The lady visitors of the Committee are all assigned to the women’s block. Here a Bible class is held every Sabbath afternoon; and the matron is also earnestly and constantly interested in the spiritual welfare of those in her care. On every Sabbath morning, at 9 o’clock, service is held in each of the corridors under the direction of the moral instructor, the Rev. Joseph Welsh. The speakers are supplied by the Local Preachers’ Association of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Protestant Episcopal City Mission and the Lutheran City Mission.

The total amount expended by the Society during the last two years for the use of prisoners at the time of their discharge was $5,152.54, and for tools $93.30.

The following are the statistics of population at the Penitentiary during 1908.

White Colored Total
Males Females Males Females
Number remaining from 1907 925 12 280 8 1,225
Committed during 1908 524 4 137 8 673
----- -- --- -- -----
Total population 1,449 16 417 16 1,898
Discharged during 1908 318 5 92 3 418
----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Remaining December 31, 1908 1,131 11 325 13 1,480

THE DISCHARGES WERE AS FOLLOWS:

By Commutation 357
” Order of Court 8
” Time expired 20
” Pardon 9
” Order of Huntingdon Reformatory 9
” Death 15
---
Total 418

Average daily population for 1908 1,371
Largest number in confinement during the year 1,486
Smallest number in confinement during the year 1,225

PHILADELPHIA COUNTY PRISON

There are two County Prisons in Philadelphia, under the same Board of Inspectors, one at Tenth and Reed Streets, known as “Moyamensing,” and the other at Holmesburg. The former is used chiefly for prisoners awaiting trial and for those serving short terms for minor offenses; the latter, for those who are sentenced to longer terms.

Cleanliness and good order prevail in both institutions, but both are overcrowded. “Separate and solitary confinement” may be a part of the sentence, but the insufficiency of the accommodations renders it impossible to carry out this provision of the law. Since there is abundant room for additional buildings at Holmesburg, it is unfortunate that the county authorities do not erect as many buildings as may be needed.

Frederick J. Pooley, the Society’s Agent at the County Prisons, also considers it very unfortunate that those awaiting trial, some of whom may be found innocent, have their minds contaminated by listening to the stories of the older criminals. When released from prison they are the more easily induced to enter upon a criminal career.

Mr. Pooley visits Moyamensing three times a week and Holmesburg twice a week. He gives special attention to those who have been committed by magistrates for short terms. These he interviews as soon as they are committed, and when he feels assured that anyone is being wrongfully or unduly punished, he takes measures to have him released. He regards the untried department as an especially fruitful field of work.

OTHER PRISONS

Among other prisons visited by members of the Acting Committee are the following: Chester County, by William Scattergood; Delaware County, by Deborah C. Leeds; the Western Penitentiary, by the Rev. A. J. D. Haupt, D. D., and Mrs. E. W. Gormly; Erie and Warren Counties, by the Rev. C. Theodore Benze.

THE DOOR OF BLESSING

The door of Blessing, at 4220 Chester Avenue, was founded and is conducted by Mrs. Horace Fassett. Its object is to provide a home for women discharged from prison until they shall return to their relatives or be put in the way of earning a livelihood. During 1908 forty women and one infant were admitted. Thirty of these women were from the County Prison, two from the Eastern Penitentiary, one from the House of Correction and three were sent by magistrates. Of the whole number five were returned to their homes in other states, seven to their homes in Philadelphia, twenty-two left to take positions and four to look for work. Only six are known to have resumed their former evil life. The Door of Blessing is indeed what its name implies, as many of the women who have been its inmates are now leading orderly lives.

THE HOME OF INDUSTRY

The Home of Industry, Seventy-third Street and Paschall Avenue, Mr. Frank H. Starr, Superintendent, is doing for men what the Door of Blessing is designed to do for women. It provides food and shelter, gives employment at broom-making, for which regular wages are paid, and seeks to bring all who seek it under the saving power of the Gospel. Its success in reclaiming men has been very pronounced.

* * * * *

From the minutes of the Society:

ISAAC SLACK.

Born 1832. Died 1907.

The subject of this sketch was born in Cumberland County, England.
About the time of the Civil War he came to America and located in
Philadelphia.

He joined The Pennsylvania Prison Society about the year 1886, and
subsequently became one of the most interested and active members
of the Acting Committee. Though without educational advantages in
his early life, and therefore self-taught and self-made, he had a
remarkably clear insight into many of the social problems of the
day, and knew how to give his convictions and conclusions forceful
expression when occasion demanded.

His largely attended funeral brought together many friends unknown
to his immediate family, to whom he had been a confidential
adviser, and whom he had befriended in many ways.

The Society, the prisoners, and others have therefore suffered a
genuine loss in his death, and it is with sincere sorrow that we
record his demise.

With the earnest desire that the work of The Pennsylvania Prison Society may continue to grow and prosper, I submit this report.

JOHN J. LYTLE,
_Secretary_.

SUMMARY OF THE WORK OF THE ACTING COMMITTEE.

With the exception of two months in the summer, meetings of the Acting Committee have been regularly held every month since the last number of THE JOURNAL was issued.

An important part of the work of the Society consists in the personal visitation of prisoners for the purpose of fostering in them higher ideals and bringing about their spiritual improvement. As will be seen in the General Secretary’s report, this work has continued to receive faithful attention.

A committee is at work revising the Constitution and By-Laws of the Society, and it is expected that their report will be made and adopted before the beginning of next year.

We desire to extend our sincere thanks to the generous friends of our cause, without whose contributions we could not carry on our work. During the last year it has been more difficult than usual to secure financial aid, doubtless in consequence of the recent depression in business. We hope that all our friends whose means will admit will continue their practical assistance.

At the meeting of the committee held June 18, 1908, the venerable Secretary, John J. Lytle, submitted his resignation, with the understanding that he would continue his duties as the Society’s Agent at the Eastern Penitentiary. The following resolution relative thereto was adopted at an adjourned stated meeting of the Acting Committee held June 29, 1908:

WHEREAS, our friend, John J. Lytle, having reached the
eighty-fifth year of his age, asks to be released as Secretary of
the Acting Committee, also as General Secretary,

_Therefore be it resolved_, that the Acting Committee, in acceding
to his request, place on record its appreciation of the faithful
performance of his duties in both these positions throughout the
many years he has served the Committee. First elected as Secretary
in 1852, afterward as General Secretary in 1886, John J. Lytle has
served the Society officially for more than fifty-six years.
During this long period he has constantly kept a single eye to the
prisoners’ welfare and through storm or heat has stood ready to
sacrifice himself on their behalf. We are still to have the
benefit of his long experience as Secretary of the Society and as
Prison Agent. May the freedom now gained from arduous secretarial
duties so relieve him that he may, with the more vigor, prosecute
the work at the Eastern State Penitentiary on behalf of the
discharged prisoners, the phase of our work which he feels most
deeply laid on his heart.

Albert H. Votaw was elected as Secretary of the Acting Committee to serve until the time of the next annual meeting.

The newly elected Secretary was subsequently authorized to make a systematic visitation of the County Prisons of Eastern Pennsylvania. His report of these visits will be found below.

On behalf of the Acting Committee.

ALBERT H. VOTAW,
_Secretary_.

REPORT OF THE SECRETARY ON THE CONDITION OF PRISONS IN EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA.

PHILADELPHIA, PA., 12th mo. 1, 1908.

To the Acting Committee, Pennsylvania Prison Society,
Philadelphia, Pa.

DEAR FRIENDS:

In accordance with a resolution of the Acting Committee, adopted at a special meeting held 6th mo. 29, 1908, authorizing the Secretary to visit some prisons in the eastern part of Pennsylvania, I now present the following report:

Since that time I have visited the prisons in thirty-eight counties, including the State Reformatory at Huntingdon, and I am gratified to report that I have been received everywhere with courtesy, and have been enabled to maintain cordial relations with all prison officials whom I have met. Interviews at some length have been held with sheriffs, wardens, under-keepers, inspectors, and the fullest freedom has been granted to inspect the prisons and to speak with the prisoners. As a rule these officials appear to be discharging their duties as well as the equipment of the prisons allows and as faithfully as the conditions admit. Some of the caretakers seem to have a genuine interest for the best welfare of those over whom they have been placed.

I am under the impression that there has been improvement in recent years in the direction of securing a greater degree of cleanliness and better sanitation, and while much of this improvement is due to the various county officials, it must not be forgotten that along these lines the State Board of Charities has rendered important service.

In twenty-four of the prisons visited the prisoners have little or no labor to perform, although the sentence of the presiding judge may have been “to separate and solitary confinement at hard labor.” In no prison is the work arduous. The majority of prisoners welcome opportunities to work. Such occupation is refreshing, as it aids them in whiling away the tedium of their hours of restraint. I heard of no complaints arising from the necessity of laboring, but I did hear complaint arising from the scarcity of employment. In several places both officials and prisoners claim that they are hampered by the State regulations on the subject of prison labor.

“Separate and solitary confinement” is a portion of the sentence which is honored more in the breach than in the observance. It is almost impossible, considering the limited facilities of most of the prisons, to carry out this enactment. In some of the smaller prisons the prisoners are together during most of the day with entire freedom to engage in games, conversation and such exercise as their quarters will permit. At a few of the smaller jails the full freedom of the yard is allowed at all times of the day. It is a source of deep regret that in some prisons the juvenile criminals are confined in the same part of the prison with the older lawbreakers. Usually the boys who have been convicted are very soon sent to the State Reformatory at Huntingdon, but while awaiting trial, or while serving short sentences, they are held in county prisons where there are no arrangements for the segregation of the male prisoners. The women prisoners are usually entirely segregated, but in a few prisons they are confined in cells opening into the same corridors which the men use.

A complete prison ought to have several distinct departments: one for men, one for women, one for boys, one for vagrants and common drunkards, and probably a department for those who are for the first time held for trial. Few of the prisons of the State are so constructed as to admit of such segregation. It seems pitiful that hardened criminals should have such opportunity to corrupt the minds of the young or of those who have committed their first offense under peculiar circumstances of temptation. Those prisons which are constructed with the cells back to back, with door opening into a corridor toward the outside wall of the building, admit more readily of the separation of the various classes of criminals. This plan affords better facilities for light and cheerfulness, and commands some view of the courtyard. It does not give the individual prisoner the opportunity to get air directly from the outside. When such prisons are built, with an additional narrow corridor between the cells at the rear, this objection is in part obviated. At York a prison has recently been built on this general plan. Being three stories in height, it contains several separate subdivisions. The addition to the prison at Allentown, now in process of construction, will have accommodations for about one hundred prisoners, and the commissioners have adopted some of the distinctive features of the York prison.

Your Secretary made some inquiries as to the daily rations, and discovered quite a variety of bills of fare. In more than one half of these prisons there is a _per diem_ allowance for the maintenance of the prisoners. This allowance varies in the prisons visited from fourteen cents to fifty cents. In the smaller prisons this allowance should of necessity be proportionately larger than in the prisons of the more populous counties; but there is a constant tendency, where this allowance is made, to take profit on the transaction, and it appears to be the understanding in some counties that the sheriff is to receive some of his compensation from this source. In one large prison, where there are about one hundred and thirty occupants, the daily ration consists of bread and coffee, the bread being served three times and the coffee twice. Soup is given three times during the week. The allowance for provisions at this prison is thirty cents a day. Those prisoners who have means are allowed to purchase additional supplies from tradesmen, and they can make arrangements to have meat, oysters, etc., especially cooked and served, if they will meet the additional expense. The privilege of purchasing little comforts and additional provisions is almost universal. It is a surprising fact that in one or two prisons it is possible for prisoners to procure, either by purchase or from their friends, a supply of intoxicating drinks. Generally the supply of food is ample and the quality fair. In two or three jails the food is sent from the sheriff’s table. On the whole I am inclined to the belief that the best diet conditions prevail where the authorities let contracts for supplies every three or six months. In prisons where the number of prisoners is fifty or more the daily cost of maintaining a prisoner is from ten cents to twelve cents. I noted in one small county, where a rather profuse bill of fare is served, that the cost was about thirty cents a day.

Vagrants, drunkards and railroad trespassers are often treated with considerable rigor. They may have bread and water for diet and a plank for a bed. In one prison a third offense of this kind is punished with confinement in a small, dark, unfurnished cell for thirty days on diet of bread and water. But in many of the smaller jails these distinctions of punishment are not observed.

It is quite possible that men of just that laudable combination of talent which may fit them for both restraining and reforming the erring are rarely to be found, but surely more attention should be given to the selection of men who have adaptation for such an important work. A faculty for both ruling and governing is an important qualification, but in no field of labor is there more need of a sympathetic spirit, of power to implant new motives and to inspire with desires to lead a better life. These positions should not be regarded merely as a reward for political services. I am glad to report that some of the men in charge appear to realize their duties and responsibilities. Let me call attention to one warden, who, entirely unarmed, calls a company, largely belonging to the famous “Black Hand,” about him in the open yard and asks them to relate stories of their homes once under Italian skies. The same official spoke with feeling of the religious services on the Sabbath and of the conversions and requests for prayer. It is possible that those prison officials who report that all religious services accomplish not the slightest good are themselves not very susceptible to impressions of a religious nature. On the other hand, if these religious services are performed perfunctorily, with lack of evidence of Christian fellowship, the convicts receive little or no benefit.

In most of the counties visited the prisons are under the direct care of the sheriff, who holds his office for only one term of three years. Before he has scarcely served an apprenticeship in prison management his successor assumes the duties and begins a new apprenticeship; hence many of the county jails, from one decade to another, are under the care of apprentices. Other things being equal, I have the impression that the best results in prison administration are found in those prisons which are under the care of a warden, who may hold his office year after year so long as he gives satisfaction. This office calls for efficiency, which is obtained by training and experience, supplemented by good executive ability, and should not be granted merely as a reward for political services. Since the care of the prisoners is, in most of the counties, a minor part of the duties of the sheriff, I think it might properly be considered whether the county jails should be placed in the charge of some official appointed by the commissioners. Such a man would be chosen with direct reference to fitness for such work.

The subject of commutation of sentences has received special attention. There is much ignorance in some of the smaller counties about the application of commutation, and prisoners often serve the entire term for which they have been sentenced, although by statute they have earned by good behavior a diminution of their sentence. The statute provides that “every convict confined in any State prison, penitentiary, workhouse or county jail in this State on a conviction of felony or misdemeanor, whether male or female, where the term or terms equals or exceeds one year, exclusive of any term which may be imposed by the court or by statute as an alternative to the payment of a fine, or a term of life imprisonment, may, if the Governor shall so direct, and with the approval of the Board of Inspectors, or Managers, earn for himself or herself a diminution of his sentence or sentences.” Now while this statute explicitly mentions those sentenced to a term in county jail as coming under the provisions of this statute, yet in about one fourth of the counties visited there is little attempt to secure for the prisoners the benefit of this statute. As the sheriffs are in office only three years and have manifold duties, they do not become familiar with the provisions of all the statutes relative to prisons and prisoners. It is provided by law that all prisoners sentenced to a term of one year or more, excepting those sentenced for life, should be promptly informed of this provision by which, by good behavior, they can secure a diminution of their sentences. This is neglected in several counties. It is true that those sentenced for the longer terms are taken to the State Penitentiary, yet there are many in the county prisons serving sentences for from one to ten years. In one county the services of an attorney may be secured to aid in getting the commutation, but those who lack means to employ an attorney serve out their time. This is unjust to the prisoner who has behaved satisfactorily, and besides imposes on the county a charge from which it might readily be spared. Copies of the law have been given to the officials in charge of the prisons, the conditions have been explained and blanks indicating the information which is to be forwarded to the Governor of the State for his action in the premises have been supplied; and your Secretary has reason to believe that a large number of prisoners will in the future receive the commutation which they have earned.

As will be seen from our reports, this Society is engaged in very important service for the prisoners in the Philadelphia County Prison and in the Eastern Penitentiary, both while in prison and after they have been discharged, which work we have no intention to relinquish; but in whatever way this Society enlarges its present field of labor throughout the State, its work would in greater degree correspond to its corporate title, THE PENNSYLVANIA PRISON SOCIETY. In conclusion I desire to call attention to the hope expressed by the retiring Secretary, John J. Lytle, in the report made in 1907, that the “Pennsylvania Prison Society may constantly widen its scope of operations and grow in efficiency and usefulness as it grows in years.”

Very respectfully,

ALBERT H. VOTAW,
_Secretary_.

JOHN WAY, _Treasurer_,

IN ACCOUNT WITH

THE PENNSYLVANIA PRISON SOCIETY

RECEIPTS.
1908.
January 21. To Balance on hand $841 26
” Members’ Dues and Contributions 278 00
” Net Income from Investments 1,748 02
” Income from I. V. Williamson Legacy 645 00
” Interest on balances to November 30, 1908 58 46
---------
$3,570 74
PAYMENTS

By Salaries $2,337 48
” Printing and Postage 130 85
” Janitor Service 97 00
” Advertising in P. E. City Mission Directory 5 00
” Expense, Committee on Police Matrons 3 00
” ” Delegates to National Prison Congress 92 83
” Traveling Expenses of Secretaries 114 83
” Office Expenses, Incidentals 23 10
” Engrossing and Framing Minute to J. J. Lytle 8 20
” Amount to Cover Overdraft in Principal Account 40 00
” Accrued Interest on Bonds Bought 44 69
” Balance on hand December 31, 1908 673 76
---------
$3,570 74

SPECIAL FUND FOR RELIEF OF DISCHARGED PRISONERS

RECEIPTS

To Balance on hand January 21, 1908 $608 60
” Contributions 2,455 60
” Income from Investments (net) 135 24
---------
$3,199 44
PAYMENTS

By Discharged Prisoners from Eastern Penitentiary $1,821 92
” ” ” ” Philadelphia County Prison 885 00
” Balance on hand 492 52
---------
$3,199 44

BARTON FUND

FOR TOOLS FOR DISCHARGED PRISONERS

RECEIPTS

To Balance on hand January 21, 1908 $153 13
” Income from Investments 30 87
-------
$184 00
PAYMENTS

By Amount for tools for discharged prisoners $45 26
” Balance on hand December 31, 1908 138 74
-------
$184 00

HOME OF INDUSTRY FUND

RECEIPTS

To Income from Harriet S. Benson Legacy $392 00
” ” ” Caroline S. Williams Legacy 222 41
-------
$614 41
PAYMENTS

By $500 Springfield Water Co. Consol. 5% Bond due 1926
at 101⅜ and interest $506 88
” Accrued Interest on above Bond, one month and
twenty-nine days 4 10
” Balance on hand December 31, 1908 103 43
-------
$614 41
SUMMARY OF BALANCES

On General Fund $673 76
” Special Fund for Discharged Prisoners 492 52
” Barton Fund 138 74
” Home of Industry Fund 103 43
---------
$1,408 45

We the undersigned, members of the Auditing Committee, have
examined the foregoing account of John Way, Treasurer, have
compared the payments with the orders and vouchers, and believe
the same to be correct, there being a balance to the credit of our
deposit account, under date of December 31, 1908, of $1,408 45.

We have also examined the securities in the possession of our
agents, The Provident Life and Trust Company of Philadelphia, and
have found them to agree with an accompanying schedule.

ELIAS H. WHITE,
A. JACKSON WRIGHT,

_Auditing Committee_.

LIFE MEMBERS OF THE PENNSYLVANIA PRISON SOCIETY.

*Ashmead, Henry B., Harrison, Alfred C., *Potter, Thomas,
*Baily, Joel J., Harrison, Chas. C., *Powers, Thomas H.,
*Bartol, B. H., *Hockley, Thomas, *Price, Thomas W.,
*Benson, E. N., Ingram, Wm. S., *Reynolds, Mrs.,
Bergdoll, Louis, Ingram, Emily J., Rhoads, Joseph R.,
*Betts, Richard K., *Jeanes, Joshua T., *Roach, Joseph H.,
*Bonsall, E. H., Jenks, John S., *Saul, Rev. James,
Brooke, F. M., *Jones, Mary T., *Santee, Charles,
*Brown, Alexander, Jordan, John, Jr., *Seybert, Henry,
Brush, C. H., Justice, W. W., *Sharpless, Townsend,
Carter, John E., *Kinke, J., *Steedman, Rosa,
Cattell, H. S., *Knight, Reeve L., Sulzberger, D.,
*Childs, George W., *Laing, Anna T., *Thomas, Geo. C.,
Coles, Miss Mary, *Laing, Henry M., *Tracey, Charles A.,
Collins, Alfred M., Lea, M. Carey, *Townsend, Henry T.,
Coxe, Eckley B., Jr., Leaming, J. Fisher, *Waln, L. Morris,
Downing, Richard H., Lewis, Mrs. Sarah, Walk, Jas. W., M. D.
Dreer, Ferd. J., *Lewis, Howard W., Warren, E. B.,
*Dreer, Edw. G., Lewis, F. Mortimer, Watson, Jas. V.,
*Douredore, B. L., Longstreth, W. W., Way, John,
Duhring, H. L., Rev. Love, Alfred H., Weightman, William,
Duncan, John A., *Maginnis, Edw. I., *Weston, Harry,
*Elkinton, Joseph S., *Manderson, James, Whelen, Mary S.,
Elwyn, Alfred, Milne, C. J., *Williams, Henry J.,
Elwyn, Mrs. Helen M., *McAlister, Jas. W., *Williamson, I. V.,
*Fotterall, Stephen G., *Osborne, Hon. F. W., *Willits, Jeremiah,
Frazier, W. W., Patterson, Robert, *Willits, Jeremiah, Jr.,
Goodwin, M. H., *Pennock, George, Wood, Walter,
*Hall, George W., *Perot, Joseph,

*Deceased.

ANNUAL MEMBERS.

Ashman, Hon. William N., Clunn, Herschel, Grigg, Mary S.,
Appleton, Rev. Samuel E., Cadbury, Benj., Harris, Rev. J. Andrews,
Ash, H. St. Clair, M. D., Conard, C. Wilfred, Hart, William H., Jr.,
Allen, H. Percival, Comfort, Henry W., Hagert, Edwin,
Baily, Joshua L., Dillingham, John H., Hackenburg, William B.,
Brown, T. Wistar, Davis, Edward T., Harding, Mrs. W. W.,
Biddle, Samuel, Detwiler, Isaac L., Hallowell, William S.,
Barnes, Rev. R. Heber, Detwiler, Walter L., Heller, Clyde A.,
Burnham, William, D’Invillier, Charles E., Hodges, Miss C. V.,
Baird, John E., Dallett, Alfred M., Hayes, J. H. M.,
Baker, Rev. Lewis C., Dean, Agnes, M. D., Haupt, Rev. A. J. D.,
Boies, Ethel M., Denniston, Mrs. E. C., Hastings, Charles P.,
Boies, David, Daniel, Gustav, Hoffman, Jacob D.,
Boies, Helen M., Emlen, Samuel, Hampton, John D.,
Bartlett, J. Henry, Elkinton, Joseph, Hensell, Mrs. George W.,
Booth, Henry D., Eisenlohr, Otto, Holmes, Jesse H.,
Biddle, Catharine C., Engle, Rev. Solomon G., Jester, William T. W.,
Beatty, Robert L., Fleisher, B. W., Kennard, William,
Benze, Rev. C. Theodore, Fullerton, Spencer, Koelle, William,
Buckler, Arthur, Fricke, Esther, Kennedy, Harry,
Biddle, Hannah S., Fassett, Mrs. Horace, Kemp, Agnes, M. D.,
Bradford, Elizabeth, Franklin, Melvin M., M. D., Koons, J. Albert,
Belfield, T. Broom, Fernberger, Henry, Lovett, Louisa D.,
Bright, Mrs. Robert S., Garrett, Sylvester, Lytle, John J.,
Bradford, Robert P. P., Grafley, D. W., Leeds, Deborah C.,
Barakat, Layvah, Garrett, Elizabeth N., LeFevre, Charles H.,
Conderman, Ethel, Grant, Mrs. W. S., Jr., Lawrence, Mrs. P. W.,
Converse, John H., Gilbert, W. H., Latimer, Rebecca P.,
Clark, Mrs. E. W., Grubb, Mrs. C. L., Latimer, George A., Jr.,
Colton, S. W., Jr., Garrigues, Samuel B., Lewis, Theodore J.,
Colton, Mrs. S. W., Jr., Gerstley, Mrs. Louis, Lewis, Mary,
Clark, Miss F., Gerhard, Luther, Lamerdin, Rev. Philip,
Collins, Henry H., Galenbeck, Louis, Longshore, Frank H.,
Clark, E. W., Jr., Gerhard, Arthur, Layton, Mrs. S. W.,
Callahan, John, Gerhard, Mrs. Arthur, Liveright, Benjamin K.,
Clemmer, Jonas G., Gormly, Mrs. E. W., Mason, Mrs. M. A.,
Cassel, Henry C., Green, Sallie H., Miller, Isaac P.,
Morton, Charles M., Rosenberg, Marie, Tomkins, Rev. Floyd W.,
Martin, Hon. J. Willis, Robinson, Anthony W., Tatum, William E.,
Mayer, Mrs. Henry C., Reeves, Francis B., Unger, Mrs. J. F.,
Meloney, George R., Randolph, Mrs. Evan, Uhler, G. H. S.,
McHenry, Rev. H. Cresson, Randolph, Mary, Vaux, George,
McDole, Charles, Riehlé, Mrs. M. B., Votaw, Albert H.,
Mewes, Mrs. L. M., Senft, Rev. F. H., White, Elias H.,
Meyer, Rev. H. E., Spellissy, P. H., Wentz, Catharine A.,
Maier, Paul D. I., Scattergood, William, Whelen, Emily,
Noblit, Joseph C., Stokes, Dr. William C., Warren, William C.,
Nicholson, Robert P., Schwarz, G. A., Wetherell, Mary S.,
Overman, William F., Snellenburg, Samuel, Wetherell, George S.,
Ohl, Rev. J. F., Snellenburg, Mrs. Samuel, Walton, Harrison,
Oetinger, Albert, Starr, Frank H., Wilbur, Henry,
Pooley, Frederick J., Schafger, R. C., Young, Jos. H.,
Platt, Laura N., Stillwell, Mrs. E., Wright, A. J.,
Platt, Miss L. N., Smallzell, John, Yardley, C. C.,
Parker, George F., Thomas, Augustus, Ziegler, J. W.,
Rosengarten, Joseph G., Thomas, Mrs. George C., Zimmerman, E. M.,
Reger, George J., Thomas, Augusta, Zimmerman, Mrs. E. M.

THE AMERICAN PRISON ASSOCIATION

The American Prison Association met in annual convention in the city of Richmond, Va., November 14-19, 1908, with an attendance of five hundred and twenty registered members and visitors. All but ten States of the Union were represented, together with the District of Columbia, Canada and Cuba. Pennsylvania had thirty-nine representatives to its credit, ten of whom were members of The Pennsylvania Prison Society, including its President, Vice President and the Secretary of its Acting Committee.

The sessions began on Saturday evening in the auditorium of the Jefferson Hotel. After the invocation by the Rev. Russell Cecil, pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church, addresses of welcome were made by the Hon. D. C. Richardson, Mayor of Richmond, and the Hon. Claude A. Swanson, Governor of Virginia. These were followed by a brief response by Prof. Charles R. Henderson and the address of the President of the Association, the Rev. Dr. J. L. Milligan.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15

At 3:30 P. M. the conference sermon was preached in the First Baptist Church by its pastor, the Rev. George W. McDaniel, D. D. It made a profound impression, and is here reproduced in full.

SERMON

“He hath sent me to proclaim release to the captives.”--Isaiah
61:1-3; Luke 4:18.

The eminent theorists and practical exponents of enlightened prison administration composing this national congress are arousing public sentiment to a necessity for an improvement of the physical and moral conditions in prisons and creating a growing interest in discharged prisoners.

Their philosophic conception and wise application of penological principles are hastening the abolition of cruel punishments, the substitution of reformatory for retributive systems, and the adoption of preventive instead of punitive measures.

The fruits of their labors are seen in the establishment of juvenile courts, the appointment of police matrons, the separation of the sexes and also of new from old, and incidental from habitual offenders; the humane treatment of the criminally insane; the study of the criminal, his history and environment; probation without imprisonment for first offenders, with friendly surveillance; the recognition of labor as a disciplinary and reformatory agent; the indeterminate sentence of the prisoner and his commitment to salutary influences; the abolition of public executions and the substitution of electrocution for hanging, and the establishment of higher standards of prison construction and administration.

An organization rendering such unselfish, valuable and abiding service to the delinquents of the country brings the entire nation under a sense of obligation, and deserves the gratitude and coöperation of all people. To have its members as the guests of our city is an honor of which we are pardonably proud, and to be invited to preach their annual sermon is a privilege for which I make most grateful and humble acknowledgment. Leaving the technical discussion to appointed specialists--though to invade their province is a temptation--I shall bring you a message from the Book of books, which I pray and hope may be becoming this occasion, may be blessed to your spiritual enrichment, and may be pleasing to Him whose we are and whom we serve.

The greatest of the Old Testament prophets was Isaiah. No other climbed so high the mountain peaks of prophecy or saw so clearly as he coming events. His anointed vision beheld unfolded in panorama the program of the Messiah’s kingdom, and his purified tongue described the inner mission and the external glory of the Messiah’s reign.

In the olden times of which Isaiah told, Jehovah glorified his people in the building and adornment of the temple, but in the coming days which he foretold, Jehovah was to be glorified by the binding of broken hearts and the beautifying of soiled lives.

The prophet with inspired skill drew a picture of Him who was to be the liberator of the people. Seven hundred years passed, and one quiet Sabbath day, in a small town in Galilee, Jesus of Nazareth looked upon that picture and declared that He was its original. Even so did Hawthorne sketch the stone face in the mountain, which long afterwards was realized by the youth of the valley who had gazed upon it and prayed to be like it. The words of the prophecy referred directly to the period of Babylonian captivity. Israel, in exile, longed for political deliverance. Dry expositions of the Mosaic law could not satisfy captives who waited for the proclamation of their freedom. They could not sing the Lord’s song in a strange land.

They craved the assurance of the _fact_ of God’s love. Our prophecy is the communication of that fact. It meant more than political deliverance; it meant the graciousness of Jehovah’s pardon, the beauty of his love and the pathos and triumph of his passion in their behalf. “Good tidings” and “proclamation” henceforth became the classic terms for all communications from God to man.

The words “gospel” and “preaching” were first employed in a religious sense in the Greek translation of this passage. Regular preaching developed during this period and took its place with sacramental worship. Then it was that the synagogue arose with its pulpit and became no less a factor in religious life than the altar of the temple. And it was in the pulpit of a synagogue in Nazareth that Jesus reread this prophecy and affirmed the fact of its fulfillment. Thus, the first public discourse of the matchless preacher was a proclamation of the gospel.

The deepest meaning of His message was spiritual. It was to the spiritually poor and blind and bruised and imprisoned, but its historical setting suggests the improvement of temporal conditions. Indeed, the twentieth century test of Christianity is its ability to do this very thing--to produce social values.

Jesus Christ astonished His hearers by His stupendous claims. His program sounded pretentious, and it was, for one who was less than the highest type of man and the very God himself. Do you comprehend the scope of Christ’s undertaking? He himself defined it:

“To preach good tidings to the poor”--Almshouses.
“To proclaim release to captives”--Prisons.
“Recovery of sight to the blind”--Asylums.
“To set at liberty them that are bruised”--Hospitals.

He proposed a program of happiness for almshouses, health for hospitals, healing for asylums and freedom for prisons.

He announced that His presence brought the joyful year of jubilee, when liberty was proclaimed to slaves, release to debtors and the restoration of family estates to their dispossessed owners. In His mind the jubilee year typified the Messianic era, the period of the bestowment of a free, full and finished salvation. Oh! glorious era, foreseen in prophecy, inaugurated by Jesus, and drawing near through the benevolent efforts of this and similar organizations.

What then was the message and the meaning of Christ’s life as related to prisoners? I answer: He preached an evangel of emancipation. He proclaimed the privileges of the pardon. He promised a supernal splendor to the penitent.

He sanctioned punishment. Punishment is justified mainly upon three grounds: The vindication of the law, the protection of society and the reformation of the wrongdoer.

Jesus Christ sanctioned it for the same reasons. In the sublimest discourse ever delivered upon this earth he declared: “I am not come to destroy the law. I came not to destroy but to fulfil; for verily I say unto you, Until heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, until all be fulfilled.” Many of His acts were performed in order that “it might be fulfilled,” and the pendulum of His life swung through the arc of obedience. Among the elements entering into the mystery of the atonement is Christ’s vindication of that law, “The wicked shall not go unpunished,” by bearing the penalty in His own body on the tree.

Another ground for the imprisonment of the criminal is the protection of society. The Saviour’s entire life gives authority and force to that position. Did He not teach that it is better for one member to suffer than the whole body? that the commonweal should control individual conduct? and did he not leave a violent robber unpardoned on the cross, whose liberty might have disturbed the public order?

You teach that punishment is also reformatory, and with you the Scriptures agree. To be very accurate, we should say that justice is satisfied by punishment, and the wrongdoer is disciplined by chastisement. Punishment is for the good of the law, and chastisement is for the good of the sufferer. Incarceration is intended to _reform_ the prisoner as much as to punish him. While rebuking the lawless, you seek to help him back to an honorable career. This you attempt, not by a maudlin and demoralizing sentiment, which minimizes guilt or ignores wrong, but by a sympathetic and educational administration of prisons.

Sufficient support is found in the Bible for chastisement. Indeed, to spare the rod would more certainly harm the criminal than it would spoil the child. The rod of chastening, however, must not be held by a vindictive hand, but by one of love, and its strokes modified by a knowledge of the offender. Then it may become the saving agent in the life of the criminal, as the crosses of the thieves enabled them to see the cross of Christ.

Society writes over the convict’s Inferno, “Abandon hope, all ye that enter here.” Even Byron was more cheerful and charitable. His prisoner of Chillon, doomed to solitary despair, saw a rift in his prison walls. Dragging his chain, he climbed upward and looked through. There lay the silver lake framed in the mountains, and the blue heavens over all. As he gazed through tears for his dead brother, a bird began to sing:

A lovely bird with azure wings,
And song that said a thousand things,
And seemed to say them all for me.

The gospel sheds upon the prisoner the ray of light, uncovers to him the glad sky, thrills him with songs of redemption and inspires him with the hope of a better life. This must ever be the method of all successful prison reforms.

Reclamation is impossible except by creating self-respect and enkindling hope. To know that good behavior shortens the term incites all save the incorrigibly bad to a noble life. To sit in a dungeon of despair must make the prisoner indifferent to all the good without.

Two young women artists have painted a great picture, which should hang in every prison where all prisoners can see it. The benignant face of Jesus, full of love and compassion, stands out in glorious relief. A poor man, whom each prisoner might take to be himself, kneels with his back to the observer. The Master’s hand is stretched toward the kneeling form, and He is saying, not in rebuke, but in hope, “I condemn thee not; go and sin no more.” We decorate our libraries and public buildings with suggestive mottoes and inspiring scenes of history. We leave the prisoner to gaze through iron bars or look upon bare walls. Jesus Christ would adorn those walls with pictures of hope.

Jesus was not a reformer, but a Redeemer. He reforms man by regenerating him. His mission was not to Pharisees, but to publicans, and in his day the publicans and harlots entered in before the self-righteous.

He came to seek that which was lost. The modern church ministers mostly to the saved. Jesus showed a more excellent way. A convicted robber was the first fruit of the cross, and Gibbon records that the first Christian devotees were social outcasts.

Yes, Christ came to set the captives free--free from their old natures--by making them new creatures, free from the dominion of sin by providing them with the power of righteousness; free from the bondage of despair by enkindling a fadeless hope.

While blest with a sense of His love,
A palace a toy would appear;
And prisons would palaces prove
If Jesus would dwell with me there.

If we could completely change the nature of all prisoners in America, so that they would henceforth love good and hate evil, I venture that this congress would vote in favor of opening the jails and freeing the captives. Nothing short of that is the Gospel program.

Do you remind me that this is ideal? I grant it, but our ideals are the tides of the moon that lift the waters from the ocean of the commonplace. We shall not lower the standards to our lives, but rather raise our lives to our standards. When the decree of papal infallibility was declared there was loud and tumultuous confusion in St. Peter’s. Archbishop Manning, of England, standing upon an elevation and pale with excitement, held the decree aloft in his hands, and exclaimed: “Let the whole world go to bits, and we will reconstruct it with this paper.” To all of the pessimists and doubters, amid all the clamor and criticism of the world, we hold aloft the glorious Gospel of the Son of God, and say, “Let society go to pieces, and we will reconstruct it with this truth.”

Christ proclaimed the privileges of the pardoned. One privilege is to live without suspicion. A certain writer in a recent and readable book takes the position that when a man is sent to the penitentiary even for a year, he is sent there for life, since he will always be regarded as a convict. Therefore, he concludes that a man ought not to be sent to the penitentiary at all. The fact which he states must be admitted with regret, but to adopt his conclusion would encourage wrongdoing and subvert the moral order.