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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 are 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 officials 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 
calls 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- 
liarities. 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 
Si ates, though they naturally form only a small percentage of the 
