San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-10-27
A VExED QUESTION.

presents itself under some one OF its
peculiar aspects at nearly every turn
of the road. 1t Is ever before the
mind of the thoughtful as question
of morals, a question in social ethics,
a question of finance, of reformation
or of punishment. AS to its solution,
we do not seem to be much nearer
that today than we were at the begin
ming of the century. The church, the
philanthropists, the state, have none
of them succeeded in satisfying them
selves with the advance they have
made in the method of treating the
criminal classes, or of being sure that
they have not made matters worse in
stead of better. Certain it is that
many of the petty criminal class in
the large cities make business of be-
ing convicted and sent up for thirty,
sixty, ninety days, or six months, as
a means of securing comfortable
shelter, decent food and some semb-
lance Of the comforts of life, which in
a condition of freedom they do not Sc
cure. These habitual criminals are
not deferred from this course by any
sense of shame or disgrace attaching
to their sentence, for this disappears
after the first or second Incarceration,
and they live while out of Jail so
largely in the company of those no
better than themselves that the con-
seriousness of disgrace is lost, and no
sense of departed self-respect is lett
to work possible reformation in
character. The humanitarianism of the
day protests, and rightly, against any
undue harshness in the treatment of
criminals, but it is very much to
be questioned if such conditions of
imprisonment as render conviction a
thing to be desired are either wise or
best. If the treatment accorded
short time criminals is such as to
make their imprisonment something
to be desired instead of avoided, then
does it become in fact reward of mer-
it for crime and defeats every purpose
for which it was instituted.
This view of the case cannot apply to
the longer time criminals who are
sent to the penitentaries and put to
work, but it does apply to the short
term criminals, the petty class, more
vagabond than actually vicious, but
who are h great burden upon the
state and great concern to the phil
anthropist. Naturally, the first
thing that suggests itself is to sur
round the short term criminals with
such restraints and subject them to
such conditions as will make their
Imprisonment thing to be dreaded
not desired but how to do this with
out over stepping the bounds allotted
to justice by wise humanitarianism
is not easy. Here in Texas the solu-
ton Of this part of the problem, so far
as male criminals are concerned, and
they form the bulk OF our lawless
classes, is to be found in retaining
these convicts within the counties
where sentenced and placing them,
under proper guard, at work upon
the public highways. The criminals
sentenced for less than two years
form the bulk of those who come
under the ban of the law. 1t does
not pay to send up criminal to the
penitentiary for few months, and il
there 1t would not pay to attempt
TO learn HIM trade for the
short time he would remain
By providing for the employment
of short term criminals upon the
highways the county jails would bt
relieved of the....idle vagabonds who
are wintering at the expense of the
state and doing nothing to meet thu
expenses of their maintenance, sut
fering nothing to deter them from
re. entering Jail as soon as supplies
fail outside. The solution of tn,
rest of the problem, the treatmen
of the more dangerous and les
numerous class, the long time con
victs, would be very materially sim
plified by wedding out the shor
term criminals and RELOCATING then
to the counties for employment an
punishment. Once real work, ever,
day, is required of all criminals &C
tually convicted and sentenced, Tn
vagabond classes who accept ninet