The evening times., 1896-04-16
MEDICINES FOR CRIMINALS.
Stealing AS a Disease, Diversified by
the Form of Object Stolen.
Written TOJ. The Times by II X M,,nE;ftrick.

bTuteH JOT ne ltHteS Oy N. n. IHuHHtUfic6'
II isnow the opinion OF many experts that
SIN should III no sense be classed under the
mead or Crime iDasmuch as sin is disease
which Will probably be epidemic for some
time TO come At "a remote period 1t was
called a sin to steal a pin, but now, accord
ing 10 the latest theory, this deviation from
the path OF rectitude is a form OF sickness.
Ii the said theory be a sound one, il should
mean that every sinner viii soon be- in the
hands OF the doctor and that the court
room viii take the place OF the lookup.
The judges will, of course, be men of
emnence in the medical profession ca pabis
or deciding whether the overcoat thief
should be sentenced TO the tunlor pavilion,
the tonsilifis baZar or the appendicitis
rotunda. man who would appear before
this medical body charged with purlOining
and appropriating a yellow book from
booksellers counter woui1 probably be
regarded a a living poster and sent TO the
nightmare ward with a large dose OF anti
bilious pills pla wing marbles in his stomach.
Ii sin be Il disease then Ethiopian chicken
stealing, being sin. i also Il disease. Con-
sequently the negro going forth into tie
slvery moonlight with malice aforethought
in the fricassce is not thief pure and sinh
pie. but one suffering from an acute attack Of
chicken stealing, which Is, according to the
recDnditc arguments Of the metaphysician.
encurosus, which l., so to speak. sing OF
whistle, brother inlaw OF epilepsy Drink
ing : sin especially drinking much OF the
liquor whose dishonest label or false face is
the vcDder's fortune. but the result OF ex-
ceSsive drinking is disease which supplies
the sufferer with an abnormal ina gina ion,
which watts hinialofi into a realm Of ieering
serpents which only give him pleasure if he
happens TO be snake charmer.
IL the theft of diamond pin or the theft
of the plot or a dramatic reduction but
nh or nj A sn
should we send for a doctor when we dis
cover that burglars are in the dinn. room
preparing to ny into the night with all our
| goods that are portable and may bc hy-
| pothecated. Are we TO assume that they
didn't enter the house OF their own yolifiOn,
but through the genCy of mental locGmojor
ataxia? The proposition that sin is a dis
ease seems logical one. iDasmuch as pro-
pensity for sinnn. Is Inherited Ike the
tendency to certain disorders.
Yetif sin is disease 1t seems but re sonable
To conclude on the same line OF reasoning
that disease is sin. If a man takes an
umbrella that is the property of another
to have and to hold over his head. that is
il ne takes il not wisely but too well, it
cannot be moral scarlet fever or the
equivalent OF it. The sin of stealing may
be hereditary. although scarlet fever is not,
in the sense that badness is. Yet 10 argue
that stealing umbrella is moral scarlet
not stealing an umbrella is about as worthy
OF Epictctus or Aristophanes as it would
be TO take the ground that all iackasses
being quadrupeds, il naturally follows that
all quadrupeds must he jackasSes.
All culpFiIs would then be alluded 10 as
iuvalils or persons on the sick list. A
man with u diseased mind would be re
garded as one who is constantly Matching
some kind OF dcviltry and yaletudinarlan
would be looked upon as one who. having
been convicted OF stealing a goat and dis
infected for psychologist dlphtheria was
finally put upon his feet The Chinese
doctor who is pa i'll by his clients whenthey
are we'll TO attend them aud prevent sick
NESS would naturally conclude that he is
| keeping crime down and gradually erIdi-
| eating il with medicine Fancy Il iUan who
| takes quinine pills for malaria, which in
| reality is not malaria as he Supposes. but
\ a weakness for raising checks by hand.
| Physicians and psychologists should
| make careful list OF all sins and the dis
eases to which they correspond, So that
! if stealing horse is the equivalent of the
| fell disease known as the pie habit the
| medical treatment for the latter disease
| would cure the former. Just as hanging for
horse stealing would emancipate the Serf
| from the CALLING fettcrs of pie. Patent
medicines for crime would become popular
| so that it would be possible for the hum
| blest to lead yrtuoUs lives and shake orr
| thoughts of all sorts and conditions or
| mendacity. Because these patent medicines
| would be guaranteed to cure person or
| every possible criminal propensity, from
| that for shopliftinS to that for bigamy-