XCII
Honor any requisition Clara Barton makes; she outranks me.
General B. F. Butler.
General B. F. Butler.
General B. F. Butler.
General B. F. Butler.
The Jury passing on the prisoner’s life may in the sworn twelve have a thief or two guiltier than him they try.Shakespeare.
A felon’s cell—The fittest earthly type of hell.Whittier.
A felon’s cell—The fittest earthly type of hell.Whittier.
A felon’s cell—The fittest earthly type of hell.Whittier.
A felon’s cell—
The fittest earthly type of hell.Whittier.
Prison—the living grave of Crime.Joaquin Miller.
Prison—Young Crime’s finishing school.Mrs. Bulfour.
Every penitentiary should be a real reformatory—the discipline of the average prison hardens and degrades—the criminal should be treated with kindness.R. G. Ingersoll.
Even the most obstinate yields to the rule of kindness, firmly and steadily administered.Clara Barton.
There is a woman’s prison, supported by the state at Sherborn, Massachusetts. Its condition had been unsatisfactory. Governor Ben F. Butler[11]sent for Miss Barton, and begged her to accept its superintendency. He said: “I ask it as a personal favor.” “But, if I accept, Governor, what would be required of me?” “Well, it will be necessary first for you to put up a ten thousand dollar bond.” “Would you accept a cash bond, Governor?” “Of course,” he replied. And she put up the bond.
11. At a public reception in honor of Miss Barton a few years after the Civil War, the wife of a Massachusetts Congressman, addressing General Benjamin F. Butler, said: “How wonderfully well Miss Barton looks in her evening dress! What beautiful arms and shoulders she has!” General Butler replied: “Yes, I have seen those arms red with human blood to the shoulders.”
11. At a public reception in honor of Miss Barton a few years after the Civil War, the wife of a Massachusetts Congressman, addressing General Benjamin F. Butler, said: “How wonderfully well Miss Barton looks in her evening dress! What beautiful arms and shoulders she has!” General Butler replied: “Yes, I have seen those arms red with human blood to the shoulders.”
The ten thousand dollars was not in the “coin of the realm”; it was in railroad bonds, then above par. The governor had enemies who at no time closed their eyes to his faults, real or imaginary; but he also had adherents, who were his “friends to a fault.” It was reported that the governor had accepted her personal bond. His enemies adversely criticized the waiving of the requirements of the law in her case. His friends justified the official conduct of the executive, protesting that Miss Barton’s personal bond was good anywhere. While the agitation of the public mind over the bond was at its height, the governor paid an official visit at the prison. On the issue pending the governor to Miss Barton made this comment: “If the good Lord would only protect me from my ‘fool friends,’ I could take care of my enemies myself.”
Her executive ability and methodical work soon showed results. Discipline and economy had transformed the prison. Instead of insubordination, there was obedience; instead of wastage, there was frugality. The Governor and his Council paid the institution an official visit. In a public address delivered shortly after this at Springfield, the Governor said: “I’ll tell you that thePrison Is In a Thorough Condition, and there has been inaugurated there a system of economy that will save $10,000 within a year of her administration.”