The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1873-06-21
Proper Punishment.
From the New Orleans Times.

lEIbHi Ll6 NEW OTICdilS IL1eS.J
The object of punishment by society
is twO-fOld: First, to- protect the
honest; and second, to deter from trans
erosion by making the way of the trans
gressOr hard. Our penitentiary system
vanced humanity and enlightened
craftsmanship. It was expected to re-
form offenders; to wean them from the
evil tenor of their ways, and return
them to society as useful members,
ready and willing to a their bread
by the sweat of their face, and to build
up a reputation on which they might
stand, as on q monument, in after years.
Unfortunately these high hopes have
by no means been realized. The re-
leased convict, in nine cases out of ten,
returns to his evil doings as soOn as an
opportunity offers, and his last case is
not unfrequently worse than the first.
There are doubtless instances in which
convicted criminals, possessed of strong
minds. determine to reform and adhere
to their determination. In other in
stances the unpleasant experiences
within penitentiary walls serve as a
hangman's whip to hold the wretch in
order.
But to the average criminal, the peni-
Tertiary and the ~leat1ess tree are regard
ed simply as things to be avoided; they
are by no means sufficient objects of
dread to deter from crime, or make vice
a monster to be hated.
Possibly the right way has not yet
been discovered whereby penitentiarieS
can effectually make their inmates peni-
tent. Human nature is prone to evil,
and when once a taste for felOnious ac-
QUESTION is acquired, it is almost as
hard to change it as it is to change the
spots of the leopard or the skin of the
Ethiope.
Though it is admitted that our peni-
tentiaries have proved failures as re-
fOrmatOry schools, yet they are still
used as places Of confinement andpuniSh-
ment to offenders against the laws Of
deem, they still hold in check. They
are the instruments by which society
shields itself to some extent from it's
Own unworthy Outcasts, and the prompt
ing motives by which confinement and
punishment are insisted on are found
far more III material than in moral con-
sideratiOns.
Nevertheless, physical punishment as
grown out of fashion. The humanita-
rians set their faces against it, and
point with fingers of indignant scOrn at
little Delaware, because she retains the
whipping post. as a State institution
and makes use of it too when she finds
rascals who will yield to no milder form
of suasiOn,
The experience of States that have
abolished the whipping-pOst by no
means proves the wisdom of the act.
Indeed there is quite a large class of
offences against the decenCies and pro-
r7Io41nr of Iifn which NON Ln n4Ro aArvn 1I-
stopped only by a punishment at once
painful and degrading. A large pro-
portion Of ~penitentiary criminals find
no effective restraint in the terrOrs of
confinement or of forced labor for a
brief term. They always expect a par
don, or are looking out for a chance of
escape, and sometimes are anxious for a
period of confinement in order to re-
cruit their failing health, and to learn
the latest improvements in arts felO-
NOUS. Proper subjects for the whip
ping-pOSt would not remain long in the
vicinity of such an institution. One
whipping would serve them.
Society should have in view the pre-
v~ention of offences as well as the pun
ishment of offenders. "When a pro-
fessional thief, known to the police as
such, is found under circumstances
WHICH I6lluet III pEODdDIe IudC l6 is HI
tending to engage in his vocation, there
is no reason why it should not be taken
for granted that he is mingling with
the crowd for mischievOus purposes.
No overt act is necessary to Justify the
law in interfering. The offender is
guilty before the offense. He has picked
pockets by presumption, and must be
punished accordingly. He has thrown
away a good character if he ever had
it, and he has acquired a bad one; and
consequently he must be restrained O.
his liberty for a time sufficient to prove
that he has reformed, and is honestly
supporting himself.n Unless he fur,
nishes this proof he must he placed IN.
der such effective restraint as will pre.
vent those depredatiOns on society by
which alone he lives.
We are glad to find that here as vel
as at New York, new checks are beins
provided against the Entertainments o.
professional criminals. The tenderness.
of the law should no longer shield them