The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-10-26
EDUCATION AND CRIME.

The Bureau Of Education at Washington
issued, some time ago, a thoughtful paper
on ''The Relation of Education to Crime"
which may be studied to advantage BY
those who are interested in education and
Grimm oIogy. Until lately it was taken
for granted that crime and illi,eracy went
hand in hand. or as Beccaria said, the
surest means Of preventing crime is TO in
crease education. But since penal sta
tistics began TO be collected with care it
has been found that education is no suffi-
Gent preventive against crime, aud that
the proportion of criminals who had re-
ceived some education was nearly equal
10 that of those who had received none.
For instance, out of 131 assassins con-
demned to death in Spain Ga could read
and write and 81 could not. while out of
6473 educated persons one was thief, and
one only out of 1888 persons who had no
education. Speaking of criminality in
France Tarde says that practically pri-
mary education is without effect. Nico-
lay, also writing of France. says that If
defective education is the cause of crime
there should be less crime in the country
where education is less cared for than in
the city where it is general, whereas in
the French cities furnish half the aggre-
gate volume of crime. Other factors. how
ever, probably affect the criminal records
of cities.
In this country crimlnologists have in
| clined to hold ilIteracy largely response
Bile for crime. Mr.. Brocknay of the Ell
mira Reformatory maintains that the chief
agents for the reformation of criminals
are ply steal renovation and mental devel-
opment and education. Gardiner Tufts of
the Massachusetts Reformatory says that
criminals are weak rather than wicked,
that reformatory is an educational insti-
| tuition whose inmates should be trained
physically, taught letters and tradas and
| equipped with manual skill aud industrial
| knowledge.
Testing these views by statistics we ar
rive at curious results. In the year 1891
q, 103 persons were sent to the prisons and
penitentiaries which reported to the Bu-
reau of Education. OF these prlsoner RS
Is per cent could neither read nor write, As
per cent had reached the grammar grade
in the public schools. 20 per cent had been
educated at parochial or private schools. 4
per cent had attended high school, and /
per cent had been to college. This show
| ing certainly does not confirm the theory
that illitsracv is the parent OF crime. The
wardens of the several prisons and pen-
tentiaries made close observation of the
normal cha acter of their prisoners and
reported that of the whole number 10 per
cent were defective in intelligence, 80 per
cent showed fair intelligence, SO per cent
| good intelligence and excellent. Turning
| to their moral nature they reported that
10 per cent were considered incorrigible.
So per cent likely to return to crime, 80 per
cent inflicted with criminal propensites,
and 60 per cent individuals who had
plunged into crime through accidental cir
cumstances.
A review Of the v0luminous statistics
| which accompany the report confirms the
views expressed by Mr.. Tufts of Massa-
chusetts and Endorsed by the well-known
penologist Wines. Crime is the offspring
of the will. not of the intelligence. II
should be combated BY the development OF
the moral as we'll as the intellectual facul-
ties, and by the culture of the good in.
stincts But it is equally apparent that
necessity as well as ignorance is fruitful
cause of crime. The weak and the young
are led TO crime through the want OF
means of subsistence. It was remarked
long ago that the surest way TO promote
the growth of crime was to make it diff
!, cult for young man TO learn trade
Thus Mr. Tufts makes it his business tC
have youthful offenders taught maDua
craft as soon as they roach his hands, 81
that when they are set at liberty they shall
: be able to earn living and not be forced
to steal to get bread.
Il There is certain proportion of boy