Americans Work for Reform of Prisoners

Manawatu Times, Volume LV, Issue 7199, 23 April 1930, Page 11

Americans Work for Reform of Prisoners

FRIEND TO CONVICTS In Cleveland is a man. who has made a- fortune -several times and given it? all to charities., ! Seventy-threo years old, ho. prefers to. live in comparative, obscurity. Sam S. 'Williams is a private citizen. But. that does not stop him from helping Uncle Sam reduce his £60,000,000 annual Crime bill, says the Christian Science Monitor. He does it -by helping ex-convicts, gain a new start .in society. Ho finds, them jobs, puts them on their feet again. In this way ho has rebuilt thousands of homes. ‘‘God’s university. course 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. Strango tales are wrapped therein—-tales told with throbbing hearts and tears. “They como every day —those heart-breaking letters,” he .related, ■ “ Pleas irbm brothers, wives, sisters and sweethearts ivhpsq loved ones are paying tho penalty society, exacts. Can I get tnem 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 tho straight road, when 1 see a mother striving hard to keep her family going, I will .fight for her and the children. .

“ 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, ahd when he comes out be will'be a better man and more fit to live among us. But many come out physical wrecks. Many arc more, intent to rob and kill. “I have no theories about crime and criminals,” he said. “But I think they should.be treated as. one treats a sick person, so that 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 givo him a chance to go straight ho will not disappoint you. Only three, of the 7000. parqlcd to me in. more than half a century broke their .pledge.”' “But 1 there is a risk?” I asked. “Yes,’’..he admitted, with a,twinkle of sincerity in his eye, ' there is a risk. If they do not make good 'they- come back ‘to mo for help. Tho first timo 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. He said.that they did. ..“.They appeal with a club in one hand. That does not do. T put tho 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 ho got interested in ex-convicts. As he watched them apply for jobs, they would bo 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 offices of Swift and Co., and requested Mr, Swift to employ some of them on his (Williams’s) responsibility. Mr. Swift took a few. The result was satisfactory, and from that timo on Williams has been busy vouching for ex-prisoners. He has been doing it for 50 years. It is the sincerity of this man that has won him countless friends and supporters. What he has done speaks for itself.