St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-06-20

L ITO luueleTUlilldte Seuteuce IL Ill tuil
accord with the modern view OF crime
and with all the results of modern
prison science touching the reformation
of the criminal. Indeed, 4 reformatory
system of prison discipline and train.
ing. tending to rehabilitate the convict
and furnishing reliable test of his adj
vancement, is the necessary couple
ment of the indetermlnate sentence.
We have to do only with the results,
and these have actually proved that
very large percentage (prO6a5ly not less
than 50 per cent? of all convictS can
with certainty be reclaimed from a life
of crime. In evidence of this statement.
which will seem startling only to those
not familiar with the subject. l can but
refer to what has been really accom-
maier in Munich. by Montesinos in
Spain, by Capt. Macorochie at Norfolk
island, by Sir Walter Crofton in Ireland,
by Wichern at the Rauhe In Germany,
and by Brockway at Detroit and Ell
mira. These results are so striking
that the scientific methods which have
prodused them are bound in the end to
secure universal adoption; and the time
is surely coming when every prison will
become reformatory.
it is the crowning virtue of the inde-
terminate sentence that it applies a
rational rule to determine the duration
of Imprisonment instead of the arbitrary
ana haphaZard sentence of the penal
codes. To condemn a convict to fixed
term of Imprisonment is not less IRA
tional than to send lunatic to an aSy-
lum for just three years or smallpox
|. patient to a hospital for just three
weeks; and then. when the preor-
dained period has expired, TO thrust
forth the patient, though in acute mania,
and to turn out the patient. though too
enfeebled to stand alone. The indeter-
inmate sentence, with the reformatory
discipline which is its necessary COM
plement. retains the prisoner until be
is cured; and experience has proved that
the reforulative methods Of modern
prison science yield test OF the con-
vict's moral progress as accurate and
reliable as the physicians diagnosis of
a patients recovery from physical dis
ease.
There will always be reSiduum Of
convicts who can not be reclaimed by
| any human agency. These incorrigible
criminals must he confined for life; the
public safety demands it, and will adj
nit no remedy less drastic. The inde-
terminate sentence, moreover, is not a
panacea; it is not applicable to all
crimes. Those offenses kno sn as capl.
tai are beyond its scope and must be
| excepted from Its operation. The com.
mission of such an otfense is public
| injury so profound and irremediabie
that the perpetrator. when once con-
victed, should never again be let loose.
| The danger of a possible repetition of
the crime may we'll be computed TO out
balance any evidence of probable
| reformation.
The public will soon demand that
prison discipline shall be made thera-
peutlc. and not vindictive: that cure
snail set the limit to the duration of i'm
prisonment; that the incurable shall be
confined for life; that no prisoner shall
ever be turned loose without reason
able assurance that he will not renew
his depredationS upon the community
| that every prison shall be made a re-
formatory. and shall demonstrate the
scientific value of its discipline by the
reformed life of its inmates after their
discharge. The old system has wholly
| failed to repreSS crime; it has fOStered
| crime; it has made its discharged con-
victs the most dangerous class in the
| community; it has proved as ruinous in
| practice as it is false in theory. The
new prison SCIENCE is the hope of the
| future.
Judge Willis report was enthusiastic
ally received and adopted. Judge Fol
lett, of Marietta, Ohio. disappearing of
some of the points brought out. Rev.
| spoke in approval of the entire re-
| port.
The last paper of the morning was one
intended for the work today, the report
| of the committee on the police force in
| cities. Cnief of Police Crowley, of San
Francisco, had prepared an able paper
on the subject, and as he was not able
to be present. it was read by Maj. Nc
Claughry. of Pontiac. ILL.,, another mem,
Der of the committee. Ex-Chief of
Police Garvin. of st. Paul, is the third
member. Chief Crowley's paper was
full of crystaliZed nuggets of thought,
some of which were as follows:
Officers of police are neither legisla-
tors nor magistrates: they are the in
struments by which conformity to the
rules of the commonwealth is obtained.
The police force should bear the same
relation 10 the people of its municipality
as does the Federal army to the people
of the United States.
"The governing power OF the police
department for cities should be vested
in board of police commissioners OF
not less than four, non-partiSan, and
should hold Office during good behavior.
L hey should be freeholders and pay
taxes OH not less than 100000. and have
resided in the municipality not less
than five years. and should not he less
than forty-hve years of age.
IA police officer who has been ap-
pointed by the alderman of his ward
cannot be expected to render that
prompt obedience to the head of the de.
partment as one who owes his appoint
ment to the board of police commits
sloners after having passed civil
service examination.
Police magistrates frequently permit
criminal to go free upon a bail bond
that the magistrate himself would mol
loan IS upon, thus exercising a baIefu
Influence upon the force. 1t would be
good policy to make the magistrate re.
sponsible on his official snreties or il
some other way for defective or straw
bail bonds,
''The sale of whisky in bar rooms at
tached to grocery stores should be abso
lutely prohibited for the reason that
women with a tendency to drink are
here very easy victims. In New York
there is l licensed drinking saloon
to about every 206 persons, or to every
40 voters. In San Franciscoso. owing
to low license, there is to every 1Os
peiooho' vi ~ NoteiS. nigh LICENSE
the best method, in the opinion of youl
committee, for the control and repres.
sion Of drunkenness.
The police system is body of per
sons in relation to the state enfor GINS
obedience to The criminal law, the pre-
vention and detection of crime and tn,
preservation of order over a defined
area, generally divided and subdividee
for the purpose of description and i'm
mediate government of the force, bu
having one jurisdiction throughout.
"All promotions should be made from
one grade to the next above, avoidin!
skipping over grades, and should bl
for merit. ignoring personal friend
ship"
Chief Crowley has been chief of polio,
for twenty years. and his long and ex
cellent report was cordially received