retched and degenerate, that there must
be some seed of righteousness, some spirit of manhood still left
which only needs the proper nourishment to bring it into life.
Punishment has been tried for centuries, and has failed. The doctrine
of kindness and brotherly feeling as set forth by you will, I am
sure, succeed; and I wish that you would plead our cause and lay
before the proper authorities the importance of continuing the work.

A spirit of hope has sprung up in our hearts. Is this to be crushed
and turned to despair? Are we to see the efforts of your Commission
defeated at this time? God forbid.

I do not plead for myself. I plead for the wives and the innocent
babes of some of our unfortunates. For their sakes, if for no other
reason, this work should continue. I know that the prisoners here
will show by their conduct, not only now but in the future, that they
have been influenced to do good and to do right, by the efforts which
you have made and are making in their behalf.

I am one of those dyed deep with crime, in the opinion of society. I
have been in several prisons, but I still feel that I have a chance,
that there is still hope; and this feeling has been strengthened
within the past month by your act of self-sacrifice; and I see around
me 1,300 other men whose lives are worth something to society--worth
the effort which your Commission is making for their uplift.

Very truly yours,
L. RICHARDS, No. 31--.

It may be urged that Richards is a man of very considerable literary
ability, which is obvious, and that his case is an exceptional one.

Let us, therefore, take a man of entirely different caliber, of but little
education, one whose experience has been a rough one. Following is a
letter from a man who is as unlike Richards mentally and physically as one
man can very well be from another.

135 State St., Auburn, N. Y.
Oct. 5, 1913.

Mr. Thomas M. Osborne.

Honorable Sir: It affords me great pleasure to write you these few
lines. I really do not know how to begin to express myself as I have
not got a very good education. But I hope you will understand that my
motive in writing you this letter is to congratulate you for your
good work. I fully realize the fact that it was no easy task for you
to come down here and live here in