OSBORNE ON PRISON REFORM

Thomas Mott Osborne '84, warden of Sing Sing state prison, Ossining, N. Y., will speak on his prison reform work to all those interested, in Emerson J Monday afternoon at 4.30 o'clock. The talk will be under the auspices of the Political Science Club.

Mr. Osborne has been twice elected mayor of Auburn, N. Y., and at one time was chairman of the New York State Democratic Committee. Two years ago he was appointed chairman of the State Prison Commission, and, wishing to learn of the existing conditions, served a voluntary term of six days in the Auburn Prison. During this time he lived exactly as the convicts in every detail of then life. This gave him experience which in was later able to use to good purpose. His recent appointment to the wardenship of Sing Sing gave him his opportunity, and since his assumption of the duties of the position he has made many radical changes for the better. He has consulted the prisoners on methods of treatment, and has even gone so far as to institute a court in which convicts try their fellows for minor infractions of the rules. Working with great understanding of his "prison-going friends," as he calls them, he is well on the way towards turning what was once one of the country's worst penal institutions into one of its best.