Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1881-01-01

III.
But it is necessary to distinguish clearly
between crime and morals. A great many
people fail to draw this distinction, and so
perplex themselves. 1t must be realized that
crime is not necessarily immortality, and that
immortality is not necessarily criminal. Crime
in fact is neither more nor less than what the
law prohibits. and Is is evident that the law
may prohibit, and Of. en- has prohibited many
things which are not immoral. The law
itsalf has not less frequently ordained things
| which, from the present standpoint of civili-
cation, are held to have been immoral Thus
our definition and classification of criminals
are restricted to those who disobey the law,
and because this is so cannot comprehend the
class of offenders against morality who often
| produce far more mischievous effects upon
| Society than all the inmates of penitentiary
put together. In bu mess transactions, in
manufacturing, in speculation, things are
! done every day the principle of which is as
| compile civ immoral as the worst specimens
| of what the law calls cries, and not seldom
| the infamy of these customary transactions
| far exceeds any crime known to the law.
| For example, certain wealthy Spectator In
| San Francisco had brother, and while this
brother was poor the capitalist ignored him.
But he made a few thousand dollars, and
then the speculator sent for him, offered
| to give him ''points, reproached him tor hit
long absence and so won his confidence thas
he Invested every dollar he possessed on his
brothers advice. He was ruined, as his
brother had intended he should be, and hav-
ing been ruined, he was first laughed at and
then spurned But the ineffable scoundrel
who perpetrated this infamy still walks the
streets of San Francisco with erect front,
and still retains the confidence, or at any
rate the external esteem and approval, OF the
community We have cited this case simply
as an illustration, and it is necessary to state
that it is not an exceptional instance. I'M
moralities fully as fragrant have been, nay
are daily committed in business circles, and
even when, as in the case of swindlmg
ideals in the stock market, thousands are
ruined by the grossest dishonesty, tAe law IS
blind and deaf, and Society has no frowns or
penalties for the offenders. 1t will be seen,
therefore, that not only is criminallty mat
ter of convention, but morality also. The
world is not and never has been governed by
the standard of morals it affects to have ac-
cepted; or rather, it may be said, that every
man Judges his neighbor by the Christian
standard, and himself by the secular standard.
Such as the law OF criminality is, however,
it must be observed, and we must endeavor
to conform our treatment OF criminals TO 1t.
If we wish to reform them, nevertheless, we
must realize that it is necessary to give them
distaste for their old pursuits, and desire
for more orderly and lawful ones. Now IN
the mistake has been made of employing
labor as a punishment. The irrationality OF
this ought to be at once percepuble. what
is it we wish to do with the criminal? We
wish to persuade him to live by honest work
when his time is out. Yet we think it posi-
BILE to lead him to this change OF view by
forcing him to work all the time he Is IN
prison, and by presenting this forced lapor 10
him in the most odious form, namely, as
unpaid toll. Is it probable that man so
introduced to labor, and so familiarized
with it will embrace it gladly when he
leaves prison? On the contrary, he will say
to himself, 81 always had an impression that
"honest industry was a terrible bore and
"now I know it to be so;" and he will
eargerly accede to the first proposition to
"erack " somebody's " crib"
IF It is expected to reform the criminal, 1t
will be necessary to make labor voluntary
with him. and to induce him to seek it, in
stead of forcing it upon him. We do not
mean to propose that convicts should be
given the broad option between complete
understand that while they will not be COM
PEELED to work, neither is the State COM
pelIed to do more than keep them alive if
thew prefer idleness. In word, they
should be given the mere necessaries of life so
long as they refused to work, and on the
other hand they should be permitted to i'm
prove their own condition by steady in
dustry. as in the Irish prison system.
A comprehension of the conditions un-
der which criminals are developed, and
of the conditions to which they return from
prison, is requisite to any intelligent scheme
of reform. however. The prevention of crime
is usually,easier than the reform OF criminals,
and the prevention of crime Is quite largely a
matter Of sanitary science. The tenement
80 70 al
atmosphere. Filth and foul air, bad food and
vile liquors. insufficient clothing and pro1nis-
cuous herding in close apartments, are each
and all direct accessories to crime but they
are beyond the reach of the penologist:,
Another consideration which calls for
serious attention is the transmission OF crlml-
nal tendencies. We have spoken Of the class
of habitual and hereditary criminals. This
class we have declared to be ihcorrigible.
It is indeed as hopeless to expect the reform
of these persons as to look for the eradlca-
ton of the insane neurosls from the victims
of inherited mania. As has been shown IN
the remarkable instances published under the
name Of "the Jukes," criminal proclIvltles
of the most pronounced character are ire
uuently passed on through several genera
TONS 1t is useless to reason with such
offenders. They are of an entirely different
nature from the world around them. They
have savage ethics of their own.
They are insensible to argument, deaf
to religious appeals careless OF the kind OF
self.interest which influences law abiding
men. They are in fact beasts of prey, and
as such they should be treated. There is
only one way to deal with them in the pres
ent state Of civilization, and that is to i'm
prison them for life. Society, in justice to
itself, should prevent them from procreating
their species 1t is for the welfare of the
community that this breed should die out
as speedily as possible, and it is as much Tor
the general interest that habitual criminals
should be prevented from transmitting their
Qualities to their offspring as that they them
selves shall be hindered from pursuing their
brutal and vicious careers at the expense OF
the public. A..
California prison system, because it IL IN an
embryotic condition. 1t is, in fact, strug-
Cling out of the state Of political misman-
agement into which the pestilent spolIs sJs-
TEN plunged it. Under the present manage
ment satisfactory evidence has been furnished
of a disposition to do the best that is possible,
and il is unouestionable that the discipline and
economy Of the State Prison are better to-
day than they have ever been. But TOR all
this. we have no serious attempt at REFORM
atorv system. and it is unfortunately notori-
ous that our convicts return to their vicious
habits almost Immediately upon the ex-
n;ration of their imprisonment. There is less
omen vice in the prison itself 1t Il less
ike the lazarettos described by Howard than
If has ever been. But it is so arranged that
no Warden under existing laws can introduce
radical improvements, and the weight of such
public attention as mas been given to it hith.
erto has been concerned with the question of
criminal competition with free labor, as
viewed from the standpoint of the Sand-lots.
OF course SO long as the people of California
do not demand penal reform there will not be
any, Yet it might be thought that the people
of California had some interest in the ques-
ton. for the manufacture of habitual GRIM
inals is on tie increase, and the slums Of San
Francisco are annually turning out hundreds
of youths who will graduate at San Quen-
tin, and cost the State heavily thenceforth so
long as they live. Penal reform is largely
a question of taxation, and this the general
public do not seem to have sufficiently real
lied. Experience and sociological science
however prove that this question must be
treated coincdently with those Of drainage,
sanitary building adulteration OF food and
drink, educ alton, and insanity. Some day
thelsane and civilized classes will be forced to
realize that it is cheaper to prevent crime
even by great expenditures in the publication
of thehabitations and bodies and minds of the
masses than to maintain ever-crowded peni-
tentiaries and jails in perpetuity, and even
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