Wilmington daily commercial. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1866-1877, 1873-06-07
fHR bury OF SOCIETY TO ITS INDIVIDUAL
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6 Tile example OF 0hrist--which even the un-
q believer sannot diseredit or eontemn -wss that
OF one who went about Z" doing good" However
sWise,or. su6eAssful any other course Of huInEn
action may for 9 time seem TO be, It must ulti-
mately prove vastly inferior miserably deficient,
D. when compated with the Christian rule 1t was
the cry Of the old dispensatioR for bood-4sn eye
for an eye, and tooth for tooth-butA Christ
taught by better preOepts, and the world will be
better the more nearly it follows them.
Approaching the subject in this way, no one
can fail to come to Just and correct conclusion
in reference to the question OF punishments
for crime. II it be the object to do good to all
men, the unfortunate wretch who has done
wrong is in the greatest degree the object of eff
fort, We say unfortunate" advisedly, for
crime is in great majority Of cases the direct
product Of causes that lie deeper than the sur
face. ''In by far the greater proportion Of cases
crime 10 hereditary" declares DR.. Thompson
q resident surgeon Of the general convict prison
of scotland, speaking after an intimate and
" daily experience for many years among crimi-
nAls," Andhe adds that this hereditary ten
. denoy is in most cases associated with q bodily
defect 'such spinal de6rmities, stammering,
imperfect organs OF speech club-foot, cleft
palate, harelips, oongenital blindness, paralysis,
epilepsy, and scrofula." DIR. Grey, physician to
the celebrated Millbank prison, in England, af-
ter preparing statistics for thirty years,
cludes that 1.-THE criminal population contains
Z much larger proportion of insane members than
y. the community at large" The juvenile crimi-
malls in the 4Parkhnrst, Englsh) prison have
been reported as deficient in physical organi-
zston-a large number weak in body and mind. +"
DR.. Wilson, another eminent authority on the
subject, says that moral imbecility is the rule
with hAbitual criminals "ferty per cent. of all
convicts are invalids more or less and among
, professional thieves tina. percentage is largely
increased"
Lack Of space confines us to these authorities
in support OF the proposition that crime is the
product Of causes which as they affect the Grim
ins command our sympathy for him, and in the
observation Of the Christian rule OF fe claim
y for him the community's earnest effort. ID
And associated with this, it is truly tsught that
the interests OF Society are never antsgonstic to
the welfare Of the individual Whatever may be
his character or his conduct, this remains true.
Did No social ostracism can change the law. Disre-
gard Of it is to bring disaster in some form.
The legaizsd degradation says Mr. g. r.
Brockwsy, of the Detroit House OF Correction, in
admirable esssy upon " The Ideal of True
49, Prison System for a State - the legalized
degradation of any class or any criminal iniiots
injury upon the whole social organism directly.o
rshexively Ohile efforts for the highest and best
toeL(are Of any persoa or any portion Of society
promote ase general good"
And here We have come, again, to the prem
Uses with which We set out-thAt the Christian
$500 OnSTstran community must be the betterment OF
it, individual members, and not their legal.
lied degradation" This is illogical consequence
- ofothsr reasoning, also; it must be our obj cot
toimprove and benefit even the criminal, or
otherwise it would be natural and at to punish
all crimes by doath II the preparation OF crime
proves nature wholly bad, and incapable of
bstterment, upon it as evidence, society would
certainly be warranted in removing the perpe-
traitor forever from it's community and that we
neither dare nor wish to do this testhes our be-
lief that the great majority OF offenders are not
wholly bad, but contain elements of good And
for the culture of these, Christianity demands
oUr efforts