A Walla Walla Pastor Defends the Prison's Sunday 'Boxing Bouts'

WALLA WALLA, Sept. 19, 1894.

To the Editor: I wish to supplement the telegram sent you Sunday at the solicitation of Warden Coblenz, although that wire was dictated and written entirely by myself, under the tersely expressed wish of the warden that I should 'tell anything I know,' by the following communication, which has been suggested or solicited by nobody but myself.

My sole interest in the Washington state penitentiary, located here, is that which naturally arises in connection with the religious services which I hold each Sunday afternoon at 2 o'clock, in which I am assisted by members of my vested downtown church choir, numbering from ten to twenty-five persons. These services are carried on without hope or expectation of pecuniary reward, as this state does not provide for chaplaincies or religious services in its prisons or asylums. Although I have two and sometimes three other services and sermons besides the service and sermon at the prison, the interest of the prisoners in their service has become so kindly and so general that we gladly endure the fatigue of a fourth service and sermon for the sake of bringing the comforts of the Gospel to them. It must be borne in mind that the prisoners' attendance upon these services is purely voluntary. The necessity is therefore placed upon us of gaining their interest and good-will in every way possible. To this end I have distributed among them the past year from 12,000 to 15,000 secular papers, magazines, illustrated and religious papers, most of which have been procured from the church ladies of Boston, Philadelphia and New York city, through the agency of the Church Periodical Club. We have also given them the finest music which my excellent choir can furnish, the musical services usually measuring fully up to those in St. Paul's church, which latter have gained no little local celebrity. And in the further pursuit of this one aim to gain the kindly good-will of the prisoners without individual visitation, which neither my time nor the rules of the prison would conveniently permit on sufficiently large scale to reach 600 prisoners, I have attended their performances, which in many respects are really meritorious, as some of the prisoners are college and university graduates. Not only have I attended these performances myself, but I have organized 'choir parties,' consisting of the members of the choir and their friends to the number of fifty or 100 people, who have gone out to hear the prisoners' programme, kindly repeated at my request by the warden.

Furthermore, at the time our Episcopal convocation met here in June, I again requested the warden to allow the prisoners to give us a 'show,' which, upon the joint invitation of the warden and myself, was attended by the bishop, clergy and large numbers of my choir and church people and their friends.

That these efforts to gain the good-will and interest of the prisoners has been largely successful may be seen from their voluntarily crowding the dining room at the services on Sunday; in their hearty participation in the prayers and psalter; in their reverently kneeling during the prayers; in the gusto with which they sing the matchless hymns of the church, at times actually drowning the voices of my most efficient choristers, and in the streaming tears of numbers of them as some solo or description or favorite hymn or Scripture lesson finds its way into their hearts. And when I see these strong men, these brickmakers, jute spinners and weavers, coming to spend an hour of their precious day of rest with the services of the church, and at almost every service see some of them, as I did last Sunday, vainly trying to stay their tears by brushing them away on the striped sleeve of ignominy, only to have them return afresh, I know that scores of these men are not bad at heart, but have been caught in their one mistake or temptation, and in that respect only differ from thousands who are outside. And I want nothing to happen which shall endanger the continuance of these services in the Washington penitentiary. The warden is not a religious man and there is a danger that he may feel that the preachers have added to his troubles, no matter how indirectly it may have come or how innocent soever the preacher may be. The warden's good-will and assistance are absolutely necessary in a state which makes no provision for religious services among its prisoners.

There has been no proper excuse, it seems to me, for even indirectly bringing Bishop Wells or his clergy into this political contention. They are taking no part in politics, and the fact that upon my invitation they attended these entertainments given by the prisoners, in which there were no prize fights or anything more brutal and blameworthy than the old district school pastime of 'cuffing off each other's hats,' the participants meanwhile laughing and joking, cannot by any possibility be justly twisted into anything improper on the part of either clergy or warden. I could, if necessary, bring the written testimonials of scores of the best ladies and gentlemen of Walla Walla to prove that these glove contests at the prison were neither brutal nor destructive of temper among the participants. I do not believe that any of the puff-ball blows that I saw given would break pullets' eggs. At least I should dislike to wait for my breakfast until my poached eggs were cracked in that way. For myself I do not approve of boys learning to use the gloves, for it makes them saucy in degree to their proficiency, and thus invites the very assaults which their proficiency in boxing is supposed to protect them from. The same time devoted to cultivating the graces of a Christian gentleman, together with the law, will afford all reasonable protection to any man. And as for exercise, I know of none which is so sure to leave the swagger and impudent air of the town 'tough' upon a boy as persistently cultivating the gloves. Holding these views, I think I should be as quick as anyone else to see brutality or damage in such contests between our prisoners. In perhaps upwards of a dozen of these boxing bouts which I have seen from time to time at the penitentiary I never saw a man stagger or fall. It is my candid opinion that there is 'poor picking' in these prisoners' programmes for the political and personal enemies of Warden Coblenz. I have never had, all told, perhaps, more than three hours of conversation with Warden Coblenz. His religious views, while good-natured and tolerant, are inclined to be a little shocking to a clergyman. But justice is justice. Everything that I ever saw about the Walla Walla penitentiary during the weekly visits of the past year suggests that the present warden is pre-eminently the 'right man in the right place'; and yet, I suppose a man can be mistaken in his most settled and cherished convictions. If I am thus mistaken about Mr. Coblenz's adaptability for the position of warden in a great prison, I feel sure that I am duller this year than last.

As to criminal trials, etc., I know nothing, of course. What I am anxious for is to have the religious phase, small as it is, dropped entirely from the contention, for it and these prisoners' programmes are positively the wrong lead to follow in trying to harm Mr. Coblenz.

W. LAW, Rector St. Paul's church, Walla Walla.