The Roanoke times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1897-1977, 1897-05-15
OUR NEW YORK LETTER.
Medicine and the Law-Dr. Flint on Ed
ucation and Crime Tho Graphic
phone Not O Witness.
Especial Correspondence

tin Flint have never been questioned,
but he has peculiar ideas sometimes,
and being an outspokcn man he does
not hesitate to air them, without any
reference to the manner in which they
may be received by the community. Ho
recently spoke before the Quill club ut
the Windsor hotel Oil the subject of cap
ital punishment. Among other things
the eminent doctor said:
The physician should never countc-
nance judicial murder, for it is
murder 10 fake human life. -
Tho exact subject under discussion
WAS Disease and Crime" DR.. Flint,
who is member Of the executive com
mittcc of the Prison association, treat
ed the subject from medical stand
point, and Charlton Il. Lewis, president
of the association, talked of the legal
aspect of it.
Medical Adviser and Judge.
DR.. Flint said that law and legal acu-
men i'll our courts have been busy look
ing for preccdents to justify the most
glaring offenses, and so criminal law
has not made progress. Eve shall new
or have Il thoroughly intelligent dag
nosis of criminal from the bench" he
declared, until we have seated with
the judge Il medical adviser, who shall
bring to bear his wisdom and methods
upon the case"
This was all right. for while every
one does not agree with the doctor in
these views there is unquestionably
very large section of tho community
which is i'll thorough sympathy with
him. But when he enunciated the the
Dry that tho prevention of crime, or at
any rate its decrease could be accom-
plishcd by Withholding from children
Of the poor an education in the higher
branches ho started hornets nest
which is apt to cause very lively buzz
ing i'll his ears for long time to come.
His idea is that if these youngsters arc
well educated they will have ambitions
lnculcated which are unlikely of attain
mcnt, and that they are likely cvcntu-
ally to drift into crime as means of
gratifying tho tastes for luxury which
their natural abilities arc unable to pro-
vide.
The Great Of Humble Origin.
One well known student of the sub
Ject delivered himself very forcibly OIL
the matter. He said: eff DR.. Flint be
correct, then tho whole theory of our
public schools is wrong. Even the gen
JUS OF our republican form of govern
ment is inherently incorrect AS have
understood it, the desire is that each
generation should OH the average be su-
pcrior mentally to its predecessor This
can only be accomplished through tho
medium of education. That is the diff
ference between civilization and barba-
rlsm. If we were satisfied to stand still,
DIR. Flint's theory would be ali right
but it is history that we are race of 20
ahead people. Furthermore. some of the
greatest benefactors Of the human race
have sprung from humble sources
Where, under DR.. Flint's plan, would
have been Andrew jackson, Abraham
Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, Andrew
Johnson, Thomas A. Edison, George
Westinghouse and host of others who
might easily be mentioned? No. DR..
Flint is simply airing one of his pet
hobbies, which is as wrong as anything
that could be imagined, as no will soon
find out when tho people Of New York
have had the opportunity to make them
selves heard''
The Graphophono Not Witness.
The graphophOno has been held to be
not competent witncss-at least not
III Justice TruaX's court An attempt to
introduce was summarily squelchcd by
the justice i'll special term of the su-
preme court recently. The case OH trial
when the ruling was made was that of
Sauer against tho New York Central
railroad.
MIR. Sauer is q member Of the Park
Avenue Property Owners association,
which comprises 90 per cent of the own
ers of property on that avenue between
Ono Hundred and Sixteenth street and
the Harlem river His suit is a test case
involving about 60 more suits. He
claims damages from the railroad COM
pany on the allegation that his proper
ty has deprecated III value by reason of
the construction of elevated tracks from
One Hundred and Sixteenth street to
Harlem river, which shut out light and
air and produce an unbearablc noise.
Unknown to the officials of tho com
pany the property owners of Park ave
nue. had number of graphophone re-
celvers erected ut various points along
upper Park avenue. The receivers were
planted at the Ono Hundred and Twen-
ty-fifth street station upon the avenue
and Ill tho houses owned by tho associa-
ton
Ordered Out of Court.
Before the case was called the graph