The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1893-03-31
THE TREATMENT OF CRIMINALS
The Social Science Club Discuss the
Above Question i'm their rieet=
ing Last Evening.

There was a good attendance at the
regular meeting of the Social Science
Club last evening, at which the Ques-
ton of "The Treatment of Criminals
was considered. Prof. M. V. O'Shea,
of the Normal school, read an inter-
esting paper on the above subject In
which it's various phases were ably
treated. He pointed out the growth
of intelligence in treating the subject
of crime and how it is only in the last
few years that it's relation to the &C
tion of the mind has been fully COM
pretended and that the question
which now engages the attention of
public authorities is not so much one
of punishment as it is that OF refor-
nation. He reviewed the work which
is being done at the state refOrmatory
at Elmira, N. Y, and also at st. Cloud
in this state, and the good effects
of such treatment upon those
who are confined therein. He
showed the necessity which exists for
the improvement of the local jail sys-
TEN, by. which those offenders who
are incarcerated for the first time
should be kept entirely separate from
the more hardened criminals, and the
jails kept from being the schools of
crime they too often now are.
In his opinion the indeterminate
sentence and the parole system are
important features in helping to solve
the problem In fact he regarded it
as the only humane way. No judge
or jury, he said, had any way of tell
ing how long criminal should stay
in prison to reform him. This could
only be determined by those who have
charge of thesreformatory who have
made close study of the subject and
will also closely examine the inmate
and watch the effect of the treatment
upon him.a Wherever the indetermi-
nate sentence and parole system have
been used, he said it had been accom-
panied by good results.
He also referred to measures for the
prevention of crime, and believed ed
ucation to be one of the most import
ant factors. He believed that
there should bets provision for the re-
mOval of children from homes where
they would be bred toward criminal
tendencies. He also believed that
charitable: organizations could do a
great deal toward the prevention of
cyime byslooking to the proper care
of the young of those classes which
naturally drift toward crime, because
of their surroundings.
J. A.ssFlittie, in opening the discus
sion of the paper, STATED that as it
has been fully, demonstrated that
there was bothIgood and evil in man,
crime was simply'the result of dis
eased imagination, and therefore bar
barous punishment was not the prop
er treatment; itsneeded to be treated
as any other disease of the human
SYSTEM sandsthat any barbarous pun
ishment like hanging only aggravates
the trouble instead of helping to pre-
vent it. Q He.believed that in the case
of life imprisonment for the crime of
murder, the. pardoning power should
be entirely withdrawn, except of
course, in cases where the innocence
of the prisoner was afterwards estab-
lished. AEconfirmed criminal, in his
opinion, should forever be restrained
his freedom in society.
In the further discussion which fol-
lowed it, was brought out that only
one murderer in fifty in this country
was punished for his crime, and that
the states which inflicted ca pital pun
ishment did not enjoy any immunity
from murders over those states which
do not inflict capital punishment. The
need of "a better and more thorough
education, which would bear more
upon the moral side of life was strong
ly advocated, and that while the
churchrand the schools were doing
much to improve matters, they were
not doing enough, though rapidly ap-
preciating the gravity of the situa-
tion. 1t was strongly urged that
something must be done to reach the
young whose associations are con-
stantly with vice, and lift them up,
and if possible improve their home
life.