The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1896-05-07

Read at the meeting Of the Chicag'
Medico-Legal society, January II, 1896
revised and enlarged and read before thu
Texas State Medical association, at 1T
Twenty-eighth annual meeting ut For
Worth, Texas, April - 1896, and before
the Section of Medical Jurisprudence anc
Psychology, American Medical ass0cla
ton, at Atlanta, Ga, May q, 1S96.I
Reprint from Texas Medical Journa
for May, 1896.
In light of the rapid and alarming III
crease of crime and criminals in TINS
country, presently to be demonstrated II
is evident not only that there is some
ahing radically and fundamentally WRONG
in our system of criminal Jurisprudence
and that our penal methods are failure
of the ostensibe ends sought, but that
reform has become an imperative, press
ing and immediate necessity. 1t Is de-
manded by every consideration OF sa1ety
to society, public morals. public economy
and especially duty TO taxpayers, VINO
hear the burden not only of this, but OF
every other class of detectives, leaving
ont of consideration the higher ground OF
humanity to the unfortunate victims Oh
beredity and environment (for such are
criminals for the most part), ana ONT
ting all reference TO the claims OF pos
terity to protection. what tnat Durueh
is may be family estimated when we re-
fleet upon the expense lncldehtal 10 lne
detection. arrest prosecution ana PUNISH
ment of the vast hordes of criminals, to-
pcther with the pay of the army OF CON
stabulary. police detectives, law oihcers,
judiciary and prison officials, and the
maintenance of prisoners; and an ldca OF
the magnitude of the danger threatened
and constantly augmented may be gain
cred from statistics.
According to the last United States cen
sus $500 there were: in lS5o, 800
prisoners i'm the United States, or one TO
every 3442 of the population. In 1870
there were S2,329 prisoners, or one to
every 757 of population. In other
words, while the population of the United
States has, in four decades, increased ~
per cent, the prisoners have increased 40
per cent And these were prisoners-in
custody or under sentence, or awaiting
trial. The number of criminals at large,
evading arrest or unknown, Is TO be
added to this-something impossible to
estimate, but very large per cent, no
doubt. At the present ratio of increase
it will be matter of very short time
when the criminal will outnumber all
other elements of population.
Nothing could testify more cmphatlcally
to the inadequacy of our system to meet
the requirements than these figures,
nor appeal more forcibly for re-
form; nor could anything illustrate
more fully the needs of prophylaXls
against hereditary criminals.
With such facts before us, it behooves
A.. inf. thn
that lead to such disastrous results; to
ascertain wherein lie the defects in our
system of jurisprudence whereby these
things are made possible; to ask what are
the factors concerned in this production
and great and rapid multiplication OF this
evil, and to seek, by every legitimate
means, to arrest it,
Beyond doubt. hereditary and environ
ment are responsible for large share of
it; the laws regulating marriage are sadly
deficient, and licensing the sale of liquor
as source of revenue to the state. is an
other evil next in order of consequence
and potency; and believe il can be shown
also that the execution of our penal meth
DDS operates to contribute To me
ever swelling hordes of criminals rather |
than to checking or diminishing it, as |
will presently cndcavot to show.
The system of criminal Jurisprudence |
in this free and enlightened country APP |
pears to he founded on the sole idea of re- |
yenge and punishment to be the end and |
object of all penal statutes. And this too |
under the claim and prctcXt that 1t is JUS |
tee. oh, Justice, how many cruel wrongs |
are committed in thy name; to pnraphraSc
Madame De Stacl's apostrophe to lib |
erty. | can not see that there is the re- |
hottest connection between punishment
for crime. and Justice: there is not an |
element of justice in it. If man STAY
you, in what way are the demands of JUS |
tice satisfied by his execution? What |
satisfaction is it to the widow and chill |
iircn left destitute by your deathI Or |
if man fire my house, wherein is Jus |
tice" satisfied by sending him to prison |
to labor? In either case it is not justice
it is revenge, and who gave the state the |
right to take vengeance? Nor is Jus |
ticc" the aggricved party, it is Or your
should be satisfied. Justice
and equity are Synonymous and contcm-
plate restitution, TO make evcn-amends;
and the ends of justice would be better
served were the murderer or incendiary
vtrpped of his possessions for my bene-
vt. or the benefit of those robbed by his
hand And where the state metes out
to-caled justice by Furnishing man for
Hquor. it is worse than farce to call 1t
justice. 1t is the rankcst kind OF injus-
ticc. The state licenses the sale of liquor, |
deriving revenue thereby. 1t thus aids
md abets the saloon keeper to tempt the
young, the weak, the reckless and the
nnwary to put that into their stomach
which robs them of reason for the time
being. and deprives them OF the power to
resist an evil impulse. Murders have
been committed unconsciously by young
men under the mania of their first intox-
ication. The state hangs or imprisons
that man, robs his wife and children-de-
prives them of their bread-winner and Of
bread-and overwhelms them with dis
grace-maybe brings them on the hands
of the tax payer-as inmates of the poor
farm. and calls ii justice! What cruel
wrong! What burlesque on justice!
The justice in this case would seem to de-
mand restitution to the imprisoned man
for the destruction of his worldly pros
poets, for blighting his life, and the state
is accessory before the fact-and the one
SO put to death-the state should make
restitution to his widow and orphans.
The evil of the day and generation is the
saloon.
Under the existing system, in order that
crime may be appropriately punished. !,
crimes are classified and penalty affixed
to each. One great difficulty is that GRIM
inals are not classified also. The fact
that n murder, for instance. was a first
~