Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1866-04-22
MEMPHIS APPEAL.
cRIME AND
A subies. worth Considering.

% eNaA"
Prom the Cincinnati Enquirer
blanchard Foszate, formerly physician
TO the New York State Prison at Auburn,
has written a pamphlet upon the punish
ment Of crime and the management OF
the criminal. with a view 10 present isr
the contemplation Of the philosopher and
the legislator some observations on the
character and effects Of the New YORK
system Of prison discipline. His enume-
ration of the causes under the operation
az which crime has increased IN gree.er
ratio than the increase Of population, in
dicates emancipation from some of the
sentimental errors Of the times and a
penetration below that surface upon
which maudlin philanthropy does 50 love
70 eXpstiate; and We feel that We cannot
do better than copy the entire catalogue
"The cheap literature Of the day,
spread broadcast over the land, minister
ing 20 a depraved s~ensuality, or the apDe-
tile of q mere mental dissipation
THE periodical issue Of those gorgeous
plates OF fashion, which, among a people
who regard equality in outward adorn-
ment as the evidence Of social position,
stimulate 8 desire for dress, to crafty
which health, wealth and virtue are too
often sacrificed;
Hiding from public view discharged
perpetrators Of crime who, Cainlike,
should be known by all men, as a part Of
the penal p0lity practiced in some pOr-
tons Of the country, thus exposing the
innocent while shielding the guilty:
"Prisou Discipline Societies publishing
prison bills Of fare, that leaving pauper
life u~nnoticed, make ven the wel-to-d0
marvel at the grade of living furnished
the criminal thus making plenty appear
70 the destitute as the reward Of crime
"Suikes Of labor, by which time and
means are wasted and combinations VI
capital for purposes Of eEtOrtiOn, together
make the commission Of crime almost q
Necessary instrument OF selfpressrvauon
70 the INDECENT.
legislative attempts 70 advance, :
through penal enactments, reforms that
pertain 10 individual conscience oplv.
thereby goacing resistance 70 law and
order:
"Iutemperance, stimulated b. the pro-
fuse distribution Of money 50 suddenly I
among the people, IS bearing It's legiti-
mate fruits. i~mprcvidence, poverty and
crime, ia fearful abundance
q" The administration Of oaths inru-
merable, in reference 70 almost every
business transaction Of private life, has
well nigh absorbed Omulscience in the 1
person OF the revenue official, fast bar
uering their =olemnitv for lucre or immu-
mites against penal statutes:
aSeculsriZing the pulpit, making
earthly schemes instead OF heavenly as
p-irati0us the objects Of its mission, there
by losing hold on the mystic cord that
binds man 10 his Maker, and through
the tightening Of which his moral sensi-
biIity is exalted and accountability TO his .
fellow-morral and his God alone ad-
justed:
"Uprooting by physical force institu-
tons more ancient than history, anterior
70 records Of Holy Writ, as old as tradi-
tiou itself, thus changing the status Of
great populations, involving in its train Z
crimes consequent on social disiutegra-
ton
"The greed Of gain and thirst for power
which so mar this generation with their
unhallOwed enOrmiues, renderingit Cues- 1
tio1sbIe whether the doctrine Of account
ability is believed 20 be aught than 2
cunningly devised dogma:
"Aud the Free School, system based
in a-pprupriating the gains of one citizen
10 the benefit Of another, on the CUES
tionable plea Of public utility having
rendered right in property less sacred.
has stimulated q recklessness of, and i'm
parted a facility TO, the commission of
crime that 10 moral training will be
likely soon 10 eradicate
That the tendency Of most all those
measures and events which operate TO the
practical differentiation Of human life.
or 10 Lessen the sanctlty of the title of the
individual man 20 his property, is 10
loosen the bonds Of society, and increase
the quantity and hagrancy OF crime, Is a
fact OF which there are too many exem-
plifcations 70 admit Of dispute. The war
- - - - - ]
largely productive Of both these effects
aud q very great deal Of our more recent
legislation Of one Of them. He who has
been q SLAYER or g rObber by the license
Of war, is to & certain extent a demoral-
lied man; the degree Of bis demOrslizs-
ton depending uponthe degree in which
his passions get the better Of his reason
and exercise dominion owe bis conduct.
Taxation Is d Of the conditions upon
which government exists but so unequal
In their pressure are the very best sys-
TENS Of taxation which can he devised, I
that no principle, in the abstract, sppeals I
more forcibly 10 the mind Of man than
this: that the taxation shoHld be rs light, |
and the objects for which money Is raised
by taxes, Is few S. possible. Government
has It's legitimate province, within whirh
il ie generally wiser than the average in
dividuai. Whenever that province Is
transcribed il loses in wisdom IN nearly
D same ratio that il travels away from
legitimacy. Very many thoughtful men
we may say All who have studied
deeply the science Of government, with
respect 70 ius true functiOns-have come
10 the conclusion that the mission Of
what Is called educating the people is no
psrt Of its obligations. Beginning with
the white. the doctrine has been extended
70 the negro, and hence the fatuous no.
tons that, in the face Of the most con-
vincing facts, are entertained Of the inn
p~roveability Of the colored race, and the
Etiu more irrational efforts hat are being 4
made 10 enlist the General Government
in a grand, wholesale plan Of negro ele-
walton.
Assuming the fact Of a vast compare
lively recent increase Of crime in the
limited States. one thing must. on an
hands, be admitted that It has not been
without adequate cause Among the
causes, the secularzation Of the pulpit in
the ewes Of many judicious men, is enti-
tied to occupy a very prominent place In
the catalogue. 1t d. nearly half a cen
tury since the pulpit began % embark in
that course 81 party agitation which, 4
within the last six years, eliminated il
such frightfGl excuses o. deuunciati0u
and exhortation to cruelty. There have
been very inscriptions generals IN the
field there have been sub~0rdinates and
privstes as vile and regardless Of right
and decencv rs 81 Is easy 10 conceive;
but there have been p-reachersin the pull
nit and mulutudes of them, whose eE-
hortatious in the name Of God have
pointed % worse even than has been per-
formed: and whose urgent advice, had
81 been followed, would have let in the
South nothing but the ashes ofits homes
and the bleaching skeletons Of It's inbsb-
ttantF.
Here ia the place where thoughtful
men pause and ponder over the moral
problems which the times present, and
wonder where lies the truth, and what
are its elements. Is morality proteau
"A sliding scale which some are and
some are not empowered TO adjust, ac-
Oording 70 their view Of the circumstai-
ces? Is the spirit Of the Gospel the same
thing to-day that a. was yesterday, and
wiz be tomorrow -? or Is il simply what
auy one OF a body Of men who claim the
authority Of official interpreters may
choose 70 make u, under the influence Of
his temporary convictions, passions or
p~reiudices? Is q right, under any cir
cumEtances, 70 cast on tho chains from
the evil p~ropensities Of men, and lnoite
them 70 lust, rapine aud cruelty; and DO
not such indictments, and their conse-
auent indulgence, break up the sense Of
moral responsibility, and prepare the
way for abundant vice and wlckedness
IN ti-ae % come?
R3ESiggpeG GnDnoc