Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1873-02-26


public mind which shakes off spas
medically its customary indifference
and fierely demands conviction Of
those who happen at such times to be
charged with crime, and thus make
popular clamor take the place Of judi.
cial calmncss and impartiality. No
one feels that there is in this country
a clear, strong, even flow of admins
tration Of criminal law. The mood of
the popular mind has too much to do
with judicial proceedings. The evils
connected with the administration of
justice in our land arc due in a good
degree to the swift changes in the ma.
terial condition Of our country. An
increase OF our numbers Of more than
n 100000 each ayear, Of more than
$500 each day, of more than 100 each
hour; explains many Of the causes of
our now terribly overburdencd system
Of penal laws. Framed for different
state of society, our perplcxitics are
increased by the fact that more than
onc-quarter Of this daily addition 10
our population is made up Of those
who come from other countries stran-
gers to our customs and laws, and in
many instances ignorant Of our Ian
guage. History gives no account Of
such vast increase of the numbers of
any country by constant peaceful ac-
ton. Conquest rarely makes Ms many
prisoners Of war as we make captves
to the peaceful advantages of our con-
tinent. They bring us wealth and
power. They also bring us many
problems to solve. British laws deal
with British subjects. French courts
decide upon the guilt or innocence of
Frenchmen. Germany keeps by its
usages and customs the ideas of right
and wrong in the minds Of the Teu-
tonic race. But we In America have
20 deal with and act upon all nation
alities, all phases of civilization. While
these facts palliate the defects of our
penal laws and their administration,
they certainly make more clear and
urgent the duty that we keep pace
with the swift changes going on around
u.s. More than this it enable rs 10
take lead in the great work of reform
as we deal with more plastic material
than are found in the fixed conditions
of older nations. Here, too, We have
broader field filed with men of va
ried phases and aspects of different
civilization, in which we can study
the wants and the weaknesses, the
virtues and the vices of the human
race.
For series of years nearly 100000
emigrants are annually landed at the
harbor of New York. Disorder and
crime are always active along the
line of march Of great armies. be-
lieve there is no instance in history,
of a movement of the human race so
vast and long continued. l am glad
TO state fact which in some degree
palliatcs the disgrace which attaches
to the administration ofjustico and the
conduct Of public affairs in that great
city, but | should fall short of telling
the truth if did not also say that the
discredit of the great city mainly
springs from the sad fact, that its men
of wealth as u body lack that genuine
self-respect, which leads to faithful,
high minded performance of tho duties
each citizen owes to the public. Is
there any other basis upon which we
can found this great work Of patriot.
ism and philanthropy than the one
contemplated by this Association
1t may at first view seem to be
limited to q small class, but it opens
up into broad field Of bipartisan, un
sectarian labor. The objects we have
in view, although they mako oul
prisons their staring point, arc 81
wide in their bearing that they brough
together at tho London international
Association, in the interests of oul
common humanity, men of the bes
minds of most countries of Europ,
and America. These in spite o
the difference of religion, language
and form of civilization, could act il
accord in devising measures to lit ~
the fallen and to spread the principle
oi mv,a".y -"d Jso,iVs auiVng .h'
peoples of tho world 1t is founC
that craftsmanship, like true religion
begins with visiting the prisoners an'
helping the poor. 1t is certain, tha
in our own country, Edward Livings
ton, the public man who ranks high il
European regard for intellectual abil
ity, gained his position by his grea
work on tho penal laws Of Louisiana.
When it was the fashion in thu
scientific world to hold that men ant
animals were dwarfed on this CONT
mont, this work was brought forwar,
by friends in Europe, as proof tha
craftsmanship was full grown here
1t is a remarkable fact, that an abl
foreign writer selected the Louisiana
code aud the proclamation of Genera
jackson against the doctrine of seces
sion, as the ,so ablcst productions o
the American mind, not knowing tha
they both came from Ito same pen
An exposition of Mr.. Livingsicn's ha