Morning journal and courier., 1881-12-01
COMMUNICATIONS.
Evidence Against a Theory

sEvidencc Against Theory.''
 To the Editor Qf the JOURNAL AND COURIER:
 Your editorial article quoting from a recent investigation in the case of the Pennsylvania prisons is surely liable to mislead. The sub ject is of very grave importance, and I beg that you will allow me to correct the erro- neous impression which the unintentional misuse of terms in your article conveys to minimizing and possibly to thinking minds alike.
 wide distinction should be and is made by the ablest authorities on this subject be- tween instruction and education. You con- found the terms and use one as synony- nous with the other. The failure to make such necessary distinc- tion was the fault of MT. Alison in his History of Europe, " when he asserted of the most highly educated countries in Europe, it is at the same time one of the most criminal" This highly reputable au- thority further says that the proportion of persons at school Gin Prussia) to the entire population was one to seven, the proportion of crime to the inhabitants twelve times greater than in France, where 1t was one to twenty three. And in France he charges that without single exception in the whole 34 departments the amount of crime 'Sis in the inverse ratio of the number of persons ceceiving instruction" The compulsory sys-
 
 a system not inaptly termed a ''State engine" but in spite of the forcible abduc- tion of children and youth from the household to the national school room the ratio of crime in Prussia is not abated, in fact 1t has in creased, according to the best authorities. In his work on "Crime'' Mr. Hill says that the great majority of criminals coming under bis own observation Gin England) have been found to have been greatly neglected in childhood. and either grossly ignorant, or at least possess parrot like and undigested knowledge of little real value" My mean ing will be apparent by these two brief refer ences That sort of education which merely lnstructs is no hindrance, even if not, as is resolutely claimed, an additional facility to criminal development, but that broad and sound system of secular and religious educa- tion which actually educes the faculties of the mind, as a counteractlng agency to the mere instincts, is in no wise claimed to be fruitless in diminishing crime. Herein lies the true rule of analysis in this much per plexing controversy The natural instincts of men are not the least approached by system of mere instruction in knowledge. On the contrary, the criminal mind is in fact lifted into a broader and more fertile field for it's more subtitle manifesto tions. The criminal genius keeps pace with the advance of science. The distance is only d relative one between criminal progress and moral progress. Perhaps no better testlmo
 nv to the value of the distinction of the terms used can be found than is afforded by fresh contribution in the present December AtL17stic on the origin of crime The con- clusions of the writer may be unique, and too far in advance for the public mind to more than regard them with curious intent But the facts arrayed are irrefutable, and the ar gument, stoutly materialistic, is likely to be convincing The writer explodes the idea that prison punishment, or even hanging, de. al Ina nf primitive system is to act upon the fears of the criminal class through the reflective fac- ulties, while these are the very least developed of any in this class of people. Experience shows that the major criminal cares less for life itself than for the things for which he lives He follows the universal law of all human conduct, takes the chances according to a natural calculation of the probabilities, and is always contriving to elude the penal ties, and believing that he will. It is not the fear of consequences that predominates, but the certainty of escape. He puts himself precisely in the position of body of sol diers on a forlorn hope, or of him who risks his last dollar on lottery prize Here is just the point where the test comes in to the value of criminal statistics in their relation to education. It is not that the figures are wrong in respect to the Pennsylvania pris- ons, as published by you, but the premises are wrong. The question is not what pro- portion of these convicts are high school graduates, but what was the early education each received in high schools or out. A knowledge of advanced mathematics is no check upon the career of forger, nor will high standing in chemistry suffice to keep man from killing his neighbor. There is lit tie doubt that taking this view as 8 basis for investigation into the relation of crime to ed- ucation,it will be found that in Pennsylvania, and Connecticut also, mere instruction is no safeguard against crime, and that illiteracy is an unsafe standard by which to measure the possibilities of it's increase. A.