The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1896-11-12

&arkits NhC <12AC tSak Al va
twas imprisoned for shop-lifting in Lon
dor. Perhaps the most painful feature
of these is the sn~obbishness which they
exhibit.
The favorite theory of the present day
is that all crime is a product of patho-
logical conditions, inherited or acquired;
In other words, the advanced criminolo-
gist holds that crime is a disease, and the
method of treatment most scientifically
advocated is curative in character instead
of punitive. 1t must be admitted that
this theory. of which Lombroso is the
high priest, finds less favor in England
than anywhere else; but even English
law and English opinion consent to the
proposition that much crime is due to
mental disease. In America, however,
where the m on the Castle case
are more severe and more foolish, as a
rule. than those of the British press, the
pathological theory has many advocates,
none more strenuous as a rule thar the
editors themselves, and our treatment of
criminals in the more advanced States is
gradually shaping itself to accord with
the idea.
Under these conditions, 1t is peculiarly
provoking to see the American news
papers, n after another, go off on the
confrar fanL IN Tho ooea - nfn~ ra.&r.
praise the e-venhandedness of English
Justice" and speak Of the l~eniency shown
to the unhappy woman as a concession
to her wealth n social position. This
appears to us to be not only Illogical
humbug but snobbery of the grossest
kind.
The pathological aspects of Mrs. Cas-
ties case appear to be beyond all doubt
Ing. The expert medical evidence is am
pie to settle the matter; but ever reject
Ing 1t on the vulgar claim of suborna-
ton, which some lamentabie people make,
the facts on their very face establish
mental responsibility on the part of
Mrs. Castle.
Mr.. Labouchere, in his usual sensa-
sfonal a institutes a contrast between
her case and that of a poor governess
b was caught stealing a fur boa. and
who was sentenced to several months at
hard labor for 1t. Now. we know moth
ing about the case of the governess. It
may be one of hardship: but the distinc-
ton between it and Mrs. Castles case
is obvious even on the crudest statement
Of the facts. Thu theft of an
article of dress by a poor governess is.
ten chance to one, a mere ordinary
yielding to temptation to steal for the
sake Of the enjoyment of the products of
the theft. 1t may be a case of klepto-
mania, of course, but there is nothing
IN the facts as Mr.. Labouchere states
them to suggest it, even remotely.
But when a rich woman. who can buy
anything she pleases n is, therefore.
subjected to no temptation whatever of
the ordinary kind, steals a more or less
miscellaneous collection of articles, MANY
OF them useless and all of them supereu-
Gus as respects her needs, when she
theh, instead of mingling them with her
general effects and using them. hides
them all together in one trunk as a
maybe hides the articles it steals, as
suredly the proceeding is not a rational
one. not a sane one, not the act of a
responsible person, and all the editorials
that ever were written or all the rulings
or judgments Of all the courts in Great
Britain cannot make 1t look rational or
SANE or essentially criminal in the ewes
OF an impartial c-ommonsensical observer.
But If the act is not one of sanity. If
u - the unreasonable and inexplicable
product of ascertained conditions OF un-
sound health, why should the unfortu-
nate woman who commit 1t be punished.
WIFI should the sad calamity with which
Providence has visited her be exagger
ated through the stupidity and cold
FHL
hooded cruelty OF mankind? we do no (
know what degree of sympathy the gov
erness may or may not deserve, but as
suredly there is room in the case Of the
rich woman, whose wealth and social
position are now her special curse. for
all the pity that one is capable of.
Mr. Labouchere seems to think It a
hardship not only that Mrs. Castle was
released but also that she was not sem
fenced to hard labor. This is also a
jaundiced and nobbish view of the case.
The fact OF the matter is. Mrs. Castle. in
the mere fact Of her arrest. incurred a
penalty Of unspeakable severity. and even
II she had been guilty in the fullest sense,
the imposition of hard labor would simply
have been an Improbable cruelty akin
to the exposure in the pillory and whip
ping which used to go with nearly every
penitentiary sentence Il Germany and
sene other countries Is ~recently IL forty