Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1878-11-21
ELM GROVE RAILROAD.
Our Punishment For Crime.

Horatio seymour In December Harpers
While governor of this state, learned
that the suffering for crime. as a rule
fell not upon the offender, but upon his
family. When looked over our penal
laws, their title. to my mind, read be-
tween their lines. "4cts to punish pon,en
and children of those tchO rioldte their
terms.' was constantly appealed to
to pardon conyicts for these reasons,
and in some cases by the wives of those
who made the complaints upon which
the wrdng-doer was convicted. When
this was told to them, their answer was,
that while that was true. yet when the
husbands were in Jail, where they were
fed and warmed. their wives and chill
dren were left to starve and freeze for
want OF support.
There is no perfect way OF dealing
with crime, but there is no worse way
than the system of this state. Some years
ago a leading lawyer of New York travelled
through Egypt. He met the chief Of a
wandering tribe OF the desert, and among
other things he told this wild ruler OF
orr laws and the way We dealt with
crime. He was heard with establishment,
and for the first time he himself was
struck with their absurdities. After his
return he used to say that he was never
SD thoroughly ashamed Of his country as
when he was telling his supplemented
auditor what laws we had upon these
subjects and how they were enforced.
While We may not frame perfect sys
TENS, much can be done to make bet
ter state of things-to simplify justice,
and to break up the the tendency to
disorderly conduct and to vagrancy.
We cannot hope to make any marked
improvement i'll our jails Each coun-
ty must have one, and population will
determine the character OF its place Of
confinement. Those in charge of them
will be frequently changed, and save in
the large cities the number and charac
ter of the inmates will not admit of
classification, etc,
The first change should be one that
will allow our judges to impose punish
ments other thon sending the offenders
to these common schools of vice.
AS nothing can be worse than our
present laws, there can be no harm in
irving new plans. We must have jails,
dS llltIt dTt tu~tS W liSI SuNts W
society makes it necessary to lock men
up. But, Us a rule, other restraints can
be used which will check, not teach,
crime. Our laws only allow two pun
.ishments to be inflicted for minor Of
fences-fnes or imprisOnments-and
these must be imposed without regard
to age, sex, condition or circumstances.
The law demands these, it matters not
what moral or materiel mischief they
NAV do. As rule, fines intlict distress
on families and friends, while jails are
gateway to a course OF wickedness which
leads to the state-prisons. For these
reasons no punishments are inflicted
until the offenders have grown into
hardened criminals who excite no SYM
pathy. There is no power to deal i'll a
right way with the first step in crime,
with acts of mingled error and wrong
doing. 1t has been my duty to look
into great number of such cases, and
have given much thought and study to
our statutes with regard to them. Next
to moral and religious influences We
must rely upon the wisdom OF our laws
with regard to youthful offenders. 1t
is comparatively an easy matter to deal
with grave crimes.
The first step toward reform is to
give magistrates right, within certain
limits, to direct such punishments rs
they shall see are best fitted to reform
wrong-doers. They have all the facts
before them, and best know what is
Just and right in each case. This will
not give them uneue powers, but it will
take away pretexts for not doing their
duty. Now they must fine, or i'm
prison, or discharge. In many CASES
either of these courses is unsuitable,
and many wrong-doers 20 free, for to
enforce law would only make things
worse.
This state of thinks is full of evil. ii
magistrates could bud them out to do
work. or direct the minors to he chas-
tised by parents or guardians or suitable
persons, many would be saved from the
moral leprosy which infects our jails.
Such or like punishments would be in
fiicted, and there would be no excuse
for letting offenders escape.
Magistrates should have in addition to
their present powers the same right of
control over Migrants, disorderly persons,
and habitual offenders which parents or
guardians have over their children or
wards. The fact that they belong to
these classes should be judicially decided
after a certain number of convictions.
When they are thus enrolled in these
classes, they should have no right Ia
vote at any election. As our laws now
stand, notorious offenders who do no
honest work, who can only live III inn
moral ways, are held to be innocent per
sons, when they are arrested, until the
formal, technical, and sometimes ex-
pensiye proofs are furnished that they
are guilty of practices which there is a
moral certainty they indulge in. This
is right when they are accused Of grave
crimes. But there Is no hardship In
putting such persons into that state of
warilship in which the law places all
persons who are under the age OF p
years, or who are afflicted with disordered
minds. Should disor,ierly morals be
more lsniently dealt with than disordere,i
intellects?
There is no danger in giving magis-
trates the power over habitual offenders
which parents and guardians have over
minors that of making them work, OF
binding them out, and of locking them
up; and, in the case OF children, having
them chastised rather than sent to jails.
There is no reason TO fear that this
punishment will he used too often or too
harshly. 1t would rarely be applied,
but should not be made illegal. as it
would give magistrates great control and
would do much To put an end to the
brayado and swagger OF disorderiy boys
which are 20 much admired by their
weak or youthful companions.
THERE is a real difference between "A
solid South" and "a solid North" The