As he proceeded in his discussion of these problems it became more and more evident that to the commissioner prison service ought to be a life work, a professional occupation, to which men should give their lives, just as they go into law or medicine, and that this should be the case with the guards as well as with the wardens and the heads of the penal system of States. This appeared in his discussion of the warden’s influence on the granting of pardons. “I myself got caught by my ignorance of one of the kinks in the laws of the country some years ago,” he said. “It was this way. Out in Minnesota there was an Indian boy in prison who was dying of tuberculosis. I investigated his case, saw the proper parties, and went to the executive with a plea for pardon that the lad might go where there was a chance for the recovery of his health. I had the influence of senators and prominent men. And at the last minute I found that I could not get anything done because my name appeared upon the petition. “You see, it is assumed that it is not wise for the guard or the warden to be in any way friendly with his prisoners and at the same time to have influence for the securing of pardons. He might try to use his influence for the advantage of his favorites, and give them their liberty, not because they were ready for it, but out of personal reasons. That was the old thinking on the subject. “But the new thinking is better. If you have the right kind of warden there will be no danger of the abuse of any such power. He will be so sincere a friend of each and every prisoner that he will not use his influence to free a man until he is sure the convict is ready to return to society with safety to himself and to his fellowmen. When you have that kind of warden his opinion will be the very best that it is possible to have. “The same point applies in the case of the guard. The old theory is that the guard must not talk with a prisoner except on matters of discipline. He might become interested in a prisoner and that would be bad for discipline. The new and better idea is that we should have guards who mean to make penology a serious professional occupation, a life career, and then their attitude toward a prisoner changes entirely, and the danger of favoritism disappears. “In most cases when a man applies for a place as guard we look him over and tell him to put on a uniform if he bears scrutiny. He may pass some simple tests in a civil service examination. But what about his temperamental fitness for the responsibility of the care of prisoners? That is, perhaps, the most important qualification. As it is, we have no means of determining it.