Perhaps he is taken out to be hanged--the last act that society can do
for him, or the convicted man is sent to prison for a long or shorter
term. His head is shaved and he is placed in prison garb; he is
carefully measured and photographed in his prison clothes, so that if
he should ever get back to the world he will forever be under suspicion.
Even a change of name cannot help him. While in prison he works and
lives under lock and key, like a wild animal, eager to escape. On
certain days he is allowed to sit at a long table with other
unfortunates like himself, and visit for an hour with mother or father
or wife or son or daughter or friend on the other side. Other prisoners,
so far as he can associate with them, are as helpless and hopeless and
rebellious as he. How they will get out, and when, are their chief
concerns. Many of their guards are very humane. Probably no one seeks to
torture him, but the system and the psychology are fatal. He sees almost
no one who approaches him with friendship and trust and a desire to
help, except his family, his closest friends and his companions in
misery. He knows that the length of his term is entirely dependent upon
officials whom he cannot see or make understand his case. He snatches at
the slightest ray of hope. He is in despair from the beginning to the
end. No prison has the trained men who, with intelligence and sympathy,
should know and watch and help him in his plight. No state would spend
the money necessary to employ enough attendants and aids with the
learning and skill necessary to build him up. Money is freely spent on
the prosecution from the beginning to the end, but no effort is made to
help or save. The motto of the state is: "Millions for offense, but not
one cent for reclamation."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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