FRIEND TO CONVICTS

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 73, 27 March 1930, Page 22

FRIEND TO CONVICTS

AMERICAN'S LIFE WORK

SAMARITAN AT PRISON DOOR

"lii Cleveland is a man who lias made a. fortune several times, aud given it all lo chanties. Seventy-three yeais old, he piefcis to live iv comparative obscurity. Sam S. Williams it. a private citizen. But that does not stop him from helping Uncle Sam deduce hia £60,000,000 aunual crime bill," says the "Christian Science Monitor." "lie docs it by helping ex-convicts gain a new start iv society. He finds them jobs, puts them on theii feet again. In this way bo has rebuilt thousands of homes. 'God & university Lourbo for me,' he calls it. He does not charge for his services. In his office, closely filled files take up a great deal of space.- Strange tales are wrapped therein—tales told with throbbing hearts and.tears. 'They come evexy day—those; heart-breaking letters,' he related. 'Pleas from mothers, wives, sisters, and sweethearts, whose loved ones are paying the penalty society exacts. Can I get them out? They all think I can. It rests with the authorities. But when I see a man is. trying in earnest to come back on to the straight road, when I see a mo.ther striving hard to keep her family going, I will fight for her and the children. AN ILLUSION. " 'When we send a man to prison we say that society is punishing him for his wrong-doing. We think that confinement will make him repentant, and when he comes out he will be a better man and more fit to live among us. But many come out physical wrecks! Many are more intent to rob and kill! " 'I have no theories about crimes and criminals,' he said. 'But I think they should be treated as one treats a sick person, so when they come out they will be in better condition, mentally and physically. Even a convicted criminal has a sense of honour. Usually, if you give him a chance to go straight he will not disappoint' you. Only three of the 7000 paroled to me in more than h*lf a .century broke their pledge.' " 'But it is a risk?' I asked. " 'Yes,' he admitted, with a twinkle of sincerity iv his eye, 'there is a risk. If they do not make good they come back to me for help. The first time I see them, I talk to them as a father to his children. I appeal to their reason and sense of fair play.' " 'Do not the authorities do the same thing?' I interrupted. KINDNESS, NOT FORCE. '"He said that they did. 'They appeal with a club in one hand. That does not do. I put the whole matter up to them, and do not bother them. They always do their part and live up to it.' "It was in Chicago's stockyards he got interested in ex-convicts. As he watched them app'y for jobs, they would be turned down to walk the streets again—starved, dirty-looking, and ready to steal and kill. "Tired of seeing them refused every day, Williams walked boldly into the executive officers of Swift and Co., and requested Mr. Swift to employ some of them on his (Williams') responsibility. Mr. Swift took a few. The result was satisfactory, and from that time on Williams has been busy vouching for ex-prisoners. He has been doing it for fifty years. "It is .the sincerity of this man that has won him countless friends and Bupporters. What ho haß done speaks for itself."