“There is not, and in the nature of things there cannot be, any aid to a truly reformatory discipline like that afforded by the indeterminate sentence. Every prison official can testify to the dissatisfaction and unrest caused by the palpable inequality of sentences; an inequality which neither the legislature nor the courts can avoid or correct. The only equal sentence is the indeterminate sentence, with an identical maximum for all who violate a given section of the code, coupled with identical conditions by which to reduce it to the minimum _prescribed by law_. Its imposition removes all ground for complaint on this score. It also puts an end to the fallacious hope of an unconditional pardon. The prisoner is given to understand that the date of his release on parole depends entirely upon himself. The authorities desire his release and will help him to earn it; they are not his enemies, but his friends. This disarms him of his hostility to them. He is in a favorable state of mind to receive treatment, and is disposed to yield obedience to them, if they keep their promise to him. This leads to coöperation in the effort made for his restoration, without which a cure cannot be effected. The hope of an early release sustains him under the depressing influence of prison life and stimulates him to exert himself to avoid losing whatever he has gained by diligence and good conduct. He is aided to form habits of industry and obedience, which tend to become fixed. He is trained and transformed. “Under the indeterminate sentence the prison itself undergoes a gradual process of transformation. The moment that reformation rather than punishment becomes the watchword of the administration, a new spirit takes possession of it. The governor chooses better and abler men to govern it--men imbued with reformatory ideas and qualified to exert a reformatory influence; men of higher education, purer moral character, broader culture, loftier aims in life, greater devotion to their work. These wardens of the new school grow stronger with the passing years; their habit of opposition to everything that is low or crooked or mean or vile lifts them to higher and still higher levels. Failure to show reformatory results means failure in their chosen profession. They have a new responsibility, and they rise to meet it. They are open to every suggestion that can be of service to them in the accomplishment of their difficult task, a task from which an angel might shrink, and in which an angel might rejoice.”