62 BULLETIlSr 414, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGEICULTUEE. 



to escape is almost irresistible to the man who has the prospect of a 

 long term of imprisonment to face. Yet the experience of the 

 majority of officials is that the long-term man is not much more 

 likely to attempt escape than the short-term man, and there ate on 

 record innumerable instances of the escape of prisoners with only a 

 few days left to serve, whereas "lifers" are to be found serving 

 faithfully and well in many honor camps. The character of the 

 offense committed is considered by some oflBicials in the selection of 

 their honor men, preference being given usually to prisoners con- 

 victed of impulsive crimes where it can be found that the commission 

 of the criminal act was surrounded by extenuating circumstances. 

 Many prisoners serving sentences for murder, manslaughter, assault, 

 and grand larceny are found to be absolutely trustworthy when 

 placed on honor. But, in general, there is considerable hesitancy in 

 trusting to the honor of the sneak thief, the pickpocket, the burglar, 

 or any prisoner convicted of a petty crime against property. 



The physical environment in which the convict will be placed on 

 honor also should exercise an influence upon the selection of the 

 honor men. The presence of a city or town near the honor camp 

 oaUs for the use of greater discrimination in the selection of the camp 

 inmates than is necessary in manning a camp which is located remote 

 from a center of population. The trusted convict should not be 

 subjected to temptation greater than he is capable of withstanding. 

 Therefore, in proportion as the location of the camp affords greater 

 or less opportunity for escape a higher or lower standard of trust- 

 worthiness must be set for its inmates. 



That the honor system can not be applied successfully to negroes 

 is asserted by many experienced prison officials. Their opinions 

 are based upon long experience with negro character and its pecu- 

 Harities. They point out that the majority of attempts to escape 

 from the southern chain gangs are made by negro trusties. How- 

 ever, the positions of the chain-gang trusty and the honor man are 

 not comparable. It has been already stated that the former is 

 trusted as a matter of convenience only. Off the work he is accorded 

 much the same treatment and is governed by the same rigorous dis- 

 cipline as the "gunmen." On the other hand, when the honor man 

 returns to camp after his day's work is done he is accorded many 

 small liberties and privileges which have the effect of convincing 

 him that he is in fact, as well as in name, a trusted man, and tend to 

 promote his self-respect and the desire to merit the respect of others, 

 in addition to rendering the lure of the free life around him a little 

 less hard to resist. That the negro criminal may be safely employed 

 under the honor system has fortunately been demonstrated by actual 

 experience in a number of States. In Colorado and the other Western 

 States, though they naturally form only a small percentage of the 



