emphatically "NO." This office, although
underpaid, is one of the most important offices in the state.:
No man has a greater opportunity to do good, real good, than has
this chaplain; no one has greater opportunity to build up character
than has he; no one can tear down character and destroy discipline
more than he can, if he is thus inclined. To make a success, he
should go hand in hand with the warden, and sustain him, no matter
what is the religion of the warden. If the chaplain works underhandedly
against the warden, my advice to the warden is to go and take out
some life insurance, and do so quickly, for it means good-bye to
discipline and leaves the road open to murder and riot. The chaplain
should visit ALL the boys on Sunday afternoon, and not spend hours
with one or two notorious, murderous desperadoes. He need not talk
to them in modulated voice for there is no secret to religion,
and to religion only should he confine himself. He should not worry
over the funds or
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the condition of the funds and of the books, for
there are clerks to keep them and a warden to check the clerks,
and again a state auditor to check the warden. Nor should he worry
how much each individual inmate has on deposit, for they have earned
it in the sweat of their brows and it is theirs and theirs only.
Should he discover any error on the part of the warden, would it
not be best for him to go direct to the warden, and talk it over,
face to face, man to man, instead of going around town and secretly,
underhandedly advertise some grievance or some imaginary grievance?
To make a long story short, he should remember that he is there
as chaplain, not as warden. He should attend to his own business
only.
The first chaplain that I knew at Lancaster was the Reverend James
Huff, who served under Warden Smith. The warden was a Catholic
and the chaplain a Mormon, yet they worked hand in hand and got
along nicely. Good old Chaplain Huff was loved
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