The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1866-1891, 1873-07-10
PUNISHMENT AND PREVENTION.
From the ChYrchman.


trutb is to them the denial, apparently, o
every thing. They cannot have too much
of GOOD thing, and but one thing at once
ever is good in their eyes Because quinin(
is GOOD in chills and fevers, they would ad
minister it for a broken limb, or to a baby
in the first troubles Of dentition. 1t is minds
Of this class which have fallen into such
manifest error in the matter of criminal le
cislation. In attempting to mitigate the
evils of all inAictons of legal penalty, they
have lost sight of the object Of inficting the
nenalty. There is no question that there
are serious difficulties in all forms of punish
ment. if the purpose is taken to be merely
the cform of the criminal. Thus, if man
is hunc. he is useless to the community,
save so IA, as he furnishes the anatomlst
with subject. If he is imprisoned FOR liie
he is available only for such labor as may be
done in a prison; and his labor must not be
allowed to compete injuriously, with that OF
those who have done nothing to deserve I'M.
prisonment If solitary confinement is tried.
it reduces most subjects of it to lmbeclllty
or something very like it. If associated Ia
bor it is almost impossible to prevent the
corrupting effects of prison companionship
If the prison is made too comfortable, IT
loses its terrors. If it it is made too un-
comfortable it brutalzes. If criminals are
reformed successfully, this involves the CIV
inc of them fresh start in life when the
prison doors are opened, and the removal Of
every disability The thief, the burglar:
the man slayer are to be placed at the end
of their term precisely where the honest and
peaceable are Otherwise, the reform Will
not be lasting.
This seems to us a serious consideration
IN those schemes Of prison discipline when
provide for diminution Of sentence to be
earned BY good conduct in prison. Push
this to its full development, and 1t amounts
to something very like premium on crime.
1t would certainly operate as discourage
ment to honest endeavor. If the State Is
too severely let alone its citizens so long as
they behave themselves, leaving them to
struggle on against all trials and depressing
influence, but takes up the criminal, gives
him healthy treatment, instruction, good
trade, and a remission of half his sentence;
and if with this advantage he is to step forth
into certainty of employment and active be-
frending because he has broken the law OF
God and man, the average mind will be very
likely to reason in favor of law-breaking.-
TO do otherwise will require greater de-
gree of moral fortitude, than is, we fear the
characteristic of the greater part of the COM
munity.
What now deters men from crime! First.
the inward sense of right and wrong,-im
perfect. confused and weak. as we all know
it to be in general TO reinforce this comes
the dread of penalty in the shape of loss OF
liberty and comfort Furthermore, there Is
the sense Of disgrace attending these intlic-
tions. The question then is, how TAR Will 1t
do to balance the first named effect OF penal
" by other advantages, and to remove the
last named altogether. The last is by tar
the most powerful preventive. Take the
case of political offences under an arbitrary
government The higher mans sense OF
honor and love of virtue, the more surely he
will disregard the mere perils Of imprlson-
ment. or even death when these only eXalt
him to the place Of the martyr and the hero
in the ewes of his fellow men. The degra-
dation Of the criminal is an idea inseparable
from the true idea Of penalty Remove that
and punishment is nothing more than the
simple risk which more or less attaches to
every undertaking.
Many man undertakes a business which
he is surely will shorten his life by term OF
years, because it is profitable and attractive
DR.. johnson said, No man would 90 to sea
who had the wit to get into jail ; and II 60
inr to iail were no more disreputablc than
going to sea, We should find many agreeing
with the doctor But if the diSrepute Is to
cease with the Imprisonment, 1t will inevitably
fail 70 cover the imprisonment. And We
confess that We do not see how these plans oi
prison reformation are to succeed, unless
the disrepute is to cease when the prisoner Is
DISCHARGED. He is either marked man, be
cause he has been in prison, or he is not.
If he *, then has not the chance OF future
success If he is not, then crime Is no DIS
o1acc There was Il time III Scotland when
il was held that ante -nuptial traity was
otoned for by marriage The consequence
was that Welding to temptation was very com
mon. Nothing but the strict rule Of ecclesl-
astical discipline kept license within bounds
The advocates of prison reform, 1t seems
70 IL. are often overlooking the fact that
LEGAL penalty is the outward and visible sign
Of the moral scnsc of the public against
crime. In the case ofthc young 1t Is different
There Is the natural and on the whole
salutarv feeling that the very young may be
led into the outward forms of crime without
a corruption of the moral nature; IN o'her
words, that they do not commit the offence
that Is. commit it in body and soul, but
only in body; and, AGAIN, that very often
by reason of immaturity, assisted by vicious
training, they are not wholly responsible. n
child mav XII another child without beng