(seq. 1)

Sunday Belchertown St. School
REFORMATORY FOR WOMEN OCT 10 1942 FRAMINGHAM[rubber stamp mark]

My dear Dr. Van Waters,

I saw Mary Cronin last Monday,
and thought about her at odd times this week, but the only
real conclusion I came to is that I myself am not
fine enough or good enough to pass any judgments
on her. However I want to give you my impressions:

I do not believe she is lying to herslf
about the offense for which she came to Framingham.
She is much too level headed for that. She probably
sees the matter in such a way that from certain
points of view she is either technically or actually
innocent. It seems to me probable also that she did
not receive for her own use any of the money she is
supposed to have appropriated.

On the other hand it seems to me
there must be certain transactions in her past life
about which she is not being frank. Very few people
are as guiltless as she makes herself out to be.
But to ask her to tell them while she is still
at Framingham may be too much to expect.
She has been so reduced in her estimate of herself
that she feels she cannot afford to lose one iota
of respect from other people; she does not realize
how very much she would gain both in her alternate
regard for herself and in the opinion of anybody
who really matters.

Her mother's suffering on her account
is very real to her and valid for its own sake.

over)