Prison Work by David Paulson

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Feb 4, 1902

Prison Work.

By David Paulson

It is unfortunate that so many good people have come to the conclusion that if a man has been sentenced to prison, he must therefore be considered a hardened, depraved, and hopeless criminal, when, as a matter of fact, it is frequently the case that these men were not shrewd enough to avoid the strong arm of the law. There are thousands of men in the prisons in this land, whom the hard ordeal through which they are passing in their prison experience has made utterly sick of a life of wrong and sin. Have they not just as much a right to have an encouraging hand held out to them as has the man who comes to the front seat on a Sabbath afternoon at some of our great camp-meetings?

The accompanying cut is a photograph taken of the prisoners while attending chapel services in one of our large State prisons. Have we any responsibility toward any one of this immense number of souls?

For several successive years we have issued a special number of about fifty thousand Life Boats. We send them to prison officials all over the land, to use for the prisoners. I copy a few extracts from prison officials which show how they feel toward the work that this paper has accomplished for the men behind the bars. If there was room, we could fill page after page of the most touching and pathetic letters that have come to us from prisoners, who have been converted through the agency of this paper, but we will content ourselves with making extracts from letters we have received from prison officials, for it is an indication that God is using this paper to move on their hearts, that they thus voluntarily write us their expressions of appreciation.

The chaplain of the — State prison writes:— “The few copies of the Life Boat that have come here have had an unusually marked influence. One prisoner announces a complete turn in his life by the influence of an article in the copy he got.”

The chaplain of the — State prison writes:— “The Life Boat came duly to hand, and I am much impressed with its value, and have no doubt that such a paper will do, in the Master's name, a great deal of good among the prisoners. The few copies we have received and circulated are read with avidity, and are highly prized.”

Superintendent — woman's prison writes:— “The prisoners' number of the Life Boat received and distributed. Many of the inmates have sent letters to home friends since reading the paper.”

Warden of the — State penitentiary writes:— “Two hundred copies of the prisoners' number of the Life Boat received. We thank you very much for them, as papers of this kind are very much desired. They are eagerly read by a great number here, and we believe they will do a vast amount of good.”

Chaplain — State prison writes:— “As I passed from cell to cell last Sunday afternoon, I found many of the prisoners standing at their cell doors with the Life Boat in their hands, and eager to say something concerning it.”

We shall issue again next April from fifty to seventy-five thousand copies of the Life Boat. We do not wish to urge any one to contribute toward defraying this expense, but we do desire to give our people a glimpse of a great, neglected missionary field; and if any one should feel impressed that he ought to assist in this, his assistance will be thankfully received.

If Christ were personally to visit this earth, we can scarcely conceive that He would pass by unnoticed the more than one hundred thousand men who are in prison cells in this country. DAVID PAULSON. 28 Thirty-third Place, Chicago, Ill.