great need of some one's
making a study at first hand--some one sympathetic but not sentimental--of
the thoughts and habits of the men whom the state holds in confinement. It
is easy to read a textbook on civil government and then fancy we know
exactly how the administration of a state is conducted; but the actual
facts of practical politics are often miles asunder from the textbook
theory. In the same way "the Criminal" has been extensively studied, and
deductions as to his instincts, habits and character drawn from the
measurements of his ears and nose; but I wanted to get acquainted with the
man himself, the man behind the statistics.

So the idea of some day entering prison and actually living the life of a
convict first occurred to me more than three years ago. Talking with a
friend, after his release from prison, concerning his own experience and
the need of changes in the System, I brought forward the idea that it was
impossible for those of us on the outside to deal in full sympathy and
understanding with the man within the walls until we had come in close
personal contact with him, and had had something like a physical
experience of similar conditions. We discussed how the thing could be done
in case the circumstances ever came about so that it would become
desirable for me to do it. He agreed as to the general proposition; but
nevertheless shook his head somewhat doubtfully. "There is no question but
that you'd learn a lot," he said; then added, "but I think you'd find it
rather a tough experience." He made the suggestion that if ever the plan
were carried out autumn would be the best season, as the cells would be
least uncomfortable at that time of year.

Time passed, and while I continued to have an interest in the Prison
Problem, the interest was a passive rather than an active one. Then on a
red-letter day in the summer of 1912, being confined to the house by a
slight illness, I read Donald Lowrie's book, "My Life in Prison." That
vivid picture of prison conditions, written so simply yet with such power
and such complete and evident sincerity, stirred me to the depths. It made
me feel that I had no right any longer to be silent or indifferent; I must
do my share to remove the foulest blot upon our social system.

Thereafter when called upon to speak in public, I usually made Prison
Reform the subject of my talk, advancing certain ideas gathered from my
experience with the boys of the Junior Republic, end