St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-01-22
CRIME AND ITS CURE.
Pope Bob Ingersoll Enumer-
ates Some Of the Crimes
Against Criminals.
They Should Not Be Punished
Any More Than Men Phys
ically Deformed.
Torture and Imprisonment
Impotent to Do Away
With Vice.
educate Man to Support Him.
self Honestly and Crime
Will Decrease.

ALBANY. N. - Jan. Gil ue StdLe
bar association met here to-day. Presi-
dent AdnouX addressed the convention.
He was followed by Col. +. G. Ingersoll.
Col. Ingersol's address was on Grimes
Against Criminals" In his most elo-
quent vein the colonel recounted the
cruel treatment of criminals in past
times, and drew attention 10 the fact
that the more severe the punishment,
the greater the increase i'll crime,
He attributed TINS TO the bru-
talization of the people through
the intiiction and contemplation of such
punishment. He then suggested the
inquiry why men should commit crimes
at the risk of torture or death or de-
graduation. His answer was that mems
minds and natures may be so deformed
that it is Just as impossible for them to
do god as it is impossible for some men
to be sculpt0rs or philosophers. The
criminals should not be punished
detOrmed. But society must pro-
tect itself against criminals, though
it should not punish them. Here Col.
IngerSoll gave some statistics showing
that while in 1850. with population of
2S,0O0,U00. we had between 5000 and
1000 prisoners, in 1880, with 50,000,00
population, we had $4,000 prisoners. III
1850 we had 1900 insane: in 1880 we
had 81, 900 insane. This shows that our
system Of punishment is not
PREVENTING CRIME AND INSANITY
from increasing faster than the increase
in population. In 1880, TOO, there were
$1,000 homeless children, and $1,000
paupers in almshouses. Was there any
connection between this fact and the
number of prisoners? The speaker,
after arguing that degradation of prlS-
OnerS is almost certain to prevent refor-
nation. went on to say: For hundreds
of years the world has endeavored to
destroy the good by force. 1t was impoS-
sible TO destroy the longing in the heart
of man for liberty and truth. Is IL
not possible that brute force and cruelty
and revenge, imprisonment, torture and
death are as impOtent to do away with
vice as to destroy virtue? To me it has
always been mystery how the average
man, knowing something of the weak
ness of human nature, something OF the
temptations TO which he himself has
been eXpoSed-rememberin the evil of
his life, the things he would
have done had there been OPP
pOrtunity, had he absolutely
known that discovery would be
npOSSlUl6-SnOulu nave leelllISS VI
hatred toward the imprisoned. 1t is
possible that the average man assaults
the criminal in spirit OF Self-defense.
Does he wish to convince his neighbors
that the evil thought and impulse were
never in his mind? Are his words
shield that he uses to protect himself
from suspicion? For my part, | Sympa-
thiZe sincerely with all failures: with
the victims of society; with those who
have fallen; with the imprisoned; with
the hopeless; with those who have been
stained by verdicts of guilty, and with
those in the moment of passion have
destroyed, as with a blow. the future OF
their lives. How perilOuS, after all, is
the state of man. 1t is the work of
life to build great and splendid char
acter. 1t is the work of moment to
destroy it utterly, from turret to fOun-
datiOn stone.
HOW CRUEL HYPOCRISY Is.
Is there any remedy? Can anything
be done for the reformation of the GRIM
inal? He should be treated with kind.
ness. Every right should be given
him consistent with the safety of Soci-
ETY.. He should be neither degraded
nor robbed" After portraying the pit
liable condition of the eX-cOnvict in his
struggle TO get work and live an honest
life, and picturing the usual result
exposure, discharge, renewal of
crime, and return TO prison
the speaker asked: wv by should
the state take without compensation
the labor of these men; and why should
they, after having been imprisoned for
years, be turned out without the means
OF support? Would it not be far better,
far more economical. to pay these men
for their laeOr. so that when released
4 Il
dollars of his own, enough to make it
possible for him to commence business
on his own account, enough TO
keep the wolf of crime from
the door of his heart? Suppose
the convict comes out with $500. This
would form breastwork; fortress be-
hind which the man could fight tempta-
ton. If this were done, thousands of
convicts would think of the peniten-
tiary as the place in which they were
saved. They would think that the yer
dict of guilty rescued them from the
abyss of crime. The heart of the poor
convict. instead of being filled
with malice, would overflow with
gratitude. He would feel the bene-
fits of this course, and the
result would be good, not only to him,
but to the nation. If the convict worked
for himself, he would do the best he
could, and the wares produced in the
penitentiarieS would not cheaper the
labor of other men There are, how
ever, men who pursue
CRIME AS A VOCATION,
as a profession. What shall be done
with these men and women? Put LOCO
hardened thieves on an island, compel
them to produce what they eat and use.
Those who worked would not permit
those who did not 10 steal the result of
their labor. Such a community would
be self.supporting. Let women of
theSame class be put by themselves.
Those who are beyond the
power of reformation should not
have the liberty to reproduce
themselves. They should dwell
apart, and dying should leave no heirs.''
Col. IngersOll then argued against the
death penalty for murdererS, and gave
striking instances showing that judicial
killing not only does not deter from
murder, but inspires tn further muir
ders. He also remarked that such kill
ing encourages mob violence, as the
mob reasons that the criminal should
be killed any way, and might as well
be killed without trial as with.
Returning to the question of reforming
criminals, the orator said: IF we are
TO change the conduct of men we must
change their conditions. Extreme pow
erty and crime 90 hand in hand. AS
long as children are raised in the tene-
ment and gutter, the prisons will grow
full. The gulf between the rich and
the poor will grow wider and wider.
One will depend on cunning, the other
on force. 1t is great question whether
he who lives in luxury can afford to
allow others to exist in want.
The value of property depends not
Oh the prosperity of the few, but on the
prosperity of a very large majority.
The poverty of the many is perpetual
menace, If we expect prosperous and
peaceful country, the
CITIZENS MUST HAVE HOMES.
The more homes. the more patriots.
the more virtue, and the more security
q IL fhnA liz - h