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THE PRISON
PUBLISHED MONTHLY, BY THE STATE
VOL. V
THE STATE’S PRISON, RALEIGH. N.
Miss Carrie L. Broughton
В
x 771
Al GUST 1, 1931
No. S
A PROSECUTOR S OPINION
In Agenda for July
By Thomas J. Walsh
“Above all other liberties,” said Milton,
"give me liberty to know, to utter and to
argue freely according to conscience.” And
on this, its thirteenth birthday, Agenda is
glad to strengthen or at least extend that
■thought while at the same time bowing its
modest head as a hardy perennial on the
field of prison literature.
It cannot be asserted too strongly that
it is not the policy of the prison periodical
either to verify or negate the beliefs of ex¬
tremists on either side of the question.
Even to the casual observer, it should be
obvious that the ink of adversity runs more
to attitudes than it does to credoes: and an
attitude, even of entreaty, may put to shame
a callous credo when it has “unmasked some
vain pretense, cut folly to the quick, or
raised some doubt of wide significance.”
Victor Hugo tells us that “adversity
. makes men and prosperity makes monsters.”
This is aptly illustrated by the horde
I of self-created moralists now holding the
stage. Many of them have never even slipped
on a banana peel, yet they put forward more
“curses” for ailing humanity, more salty
safety devices against the accidents of mor¬
ality, ;.han all of the seasoned campaigners
v. ho h we gone before.
The question naturally arises: How may
these careless, ill-informed, or malicious
writeis be cried down? One thing is cer¬
tain: they cannot be answered on their own
ground, as they have the floor rights on all
the catch-penny literature of the times. We
have waded through reams of their syndi¬
cated and hydrated hyperbole and have yet
to stub our toe on an original thought. With
egotistical detail they squander gallons of
ink on the cost of crime and include their
own in the final audit. And they write in¬
finity on what causes crime . . . while ig¬
noring the premise of the cause of crime.
So, the above mentioned question cannot
be fully answered, but our chief consolation
springs from the gaps these writers leave
opt n for debate. Felicity of expression re-
enforted with mob oratory as an appeal
leaves no room for answers, and local or
isolate d denial is at best a paltry weapon to
use against a mass attack of paid-for pala¬
ver. Pope aptly exclaims, “In every work
regard the writer’s end,” and we must be¬
lieve that the blind malignancy now the
mode 's the means to one end, only: that the
STATE SHERIFFS HONOR
SUPERINTENDENT POU
Convention in Rutherford County
MONUMENTS IN RALEIGH
RECALL EVENTS OF WARS
The State Convention of Sheriffs was
held in the Rutherford County Court House,
on the afternoon of August 11. Former
Sheriff W. C. Hardin presided and former
Sheriff
О.
E. Glover, of Wilson, acted as
secretary. The visitors were welcomed by
attorney N. L. Edwards, of the local bar.
Following the address of welcome Ex-
Senator D. F. Giles, of McDowell county,
and Judge Phillip Cocke, of Asheville were
presented and made addresses.
A resolution offered by Sheriff Fowler,
of Harnett county and unanimously adopted
by rising vote, George Ross Pou, Superin¬
tendent of State’s Prison, was made an
honorary life member of the association and
also honorary vice-president.
The resolution set forth that Mr. Pou
had, “encouraged this association in its
aims and purposes, taken a continuous in¬
terest in its welfare, and in addition, shown
deep personal interest in the work devolving
upon the sheriffs in their respective coun¬
ties.”
PRISON NEWS EDITOR
EXTENDED CLEMENCY
Rids Good-bye to Associates
(Continued on pun three)
With sad hearts anti tear filled eyes the
personnel of the prison print shop bids the
editor of the Prison Xnvs good-bye, fol¬
lowing bis commutation of time granted by
Governor Gardner on August 12.
The Xeivs editor was also foreman of the
Prison Print shop and with association of
more than three years with the shop force
he greatly endeared himself to all his fel¬
low workmen.
Starting by writing copy to till space for
the Prison Xeivs, his “Random Comments”
gained State-wide repute.
Those interested in prison problems, and
penal committees in various sections of the
United States, were anxious to receive
copies of the* North Carolina prison paper.
And thru his ability of giving the prisoner’s
view-point, copies of the News have been
requested by many institutions in different
parts of the country.
The Xeivs editor carries with him the
very best wishes of every one here, and all
are betting that he makes good with a
“whoop.”
By Col. Fred A. Olds
When the city of Raleigh was laid off, in
the year 1792, great good sense was shown
by the commissioners appointed by the State
in providing for the system of public parks
and for streets of equal width, all straight
and with due regard for extensions. The
State capitol stands in the center of Union
Square, really a natural park of nearly
eight acres, in which are many magnificent
oaks. During the past thirty years nearly
twenty-five of them have been blown or cut
down. At the west entrance to the square
and some 200 feet from the west portico of
the capitol is the Confederate monument,
which was erected in -1894-5, and is regarded
as one of the handsomest in the country.
It cost $25,000, of which nearly a third was
raised by the Confederate Monument Asso¬
ciation. composed of ladies, who spent sev¬
eral years in raising the money.
The legislature then stepped in and com¬
pleted the work. The monument is of North
Carolina granite from quarries at Mt. Airy.
The stone is of tine quality. Upon the base
is the following inscription: "North Caro¬
lina to her Confederate Dead. First at
Bethel. Last at Appomatox.” Flanking
inscription stand cavalry and artillery sold¬
iers in bronze in striking attitudes, the can¬
noneer with rammer in hand, the cavalry¬
man dismounted and in the act of advanc¬
ing and drawing his sword. The shaft is
in one piece, 29 feet in height and weighing
nearly (50,000 pounds. The surmounting fig¬
ure is that of an infantry soldier standing
at ease looking out upon the world with
quiet calmness. All the figures are in the
simple field costume of the Confederate ser¬
vice. There is a handsome bronze medallion
of the great seal of the Confederacy, which
was made in 186-1 by William Wyon, who,
was the maker of the English seals and
medals at the royal mint. There is also in
bronze the monogram “C. S. A.”
Flanking the monument and set in l>eds
of granite are two cannon, each weighing
10,000 pounds, which have much historical
interest. When the United States evacuated
the navy yard at Norfolk, or rather at Gos¬
port which is a suburb of Portsmouth, Va.,
in June, 1861, «fter having set fire to build¬
ings and vessels and endeavored to destroy
or disable many of the cannon, nearly 1,400
cannon were found uninjured by the Con¬
federate forces, which at once took posses¬
sion. and these cannon were used in all
(Continued on
раке
four.)
