Rensselaer Republican, Volume 21, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 December 1888 — What a Convict’s Sentence Should Be. [ARTICLE]

What a Convict’s Sentence Should Be.

Ghas Dudley Warner, November Forum. A convict should be sent to prison and hard labor not for a definite arbitrary term, but until he is so changed in his habits that he is fit to take his place in the world again. If that were done, and society understood it, a released man would not find the doors of employment and sympathy shut against him as he does now, for he would come out with a certificate* of integrity, industry and intelligence. If he is so debasedasnot to be able to be changed in his habits and practices, by any discipline, however long continued, then the prison is the place fbr him for life. We shall do little to reduce the number Of the criminal class till we come to this conclusion. '* -