The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1897-08-28
PREVIOUS GOOD CHARACTER.
No Guarantee That Man VIII NOT
Commit a Criminal Act.

Lately. when judge was about TO
pronounce sentence upon couple OF
men who had been convicted of getting
money from the city of Boston by false
pretenses, counsel for the prisoners elo-
quently pleaded for light sentences on
the ground that their clients were men
OF good repute in the communities
where they resided and had neither OF
them ever before been accused OF crime
Witnesses were produced who, them
selves men ofgood standing among their
neighbors, testified in the strongest
terms 20 the previous good character or
the men about TO receive sentences. IL
was shown by this evidence, and indeed
common repute fully bears IL out, that
not only were the convicts free. up TO
the time OF their arrest on the charges
in question, from criminal records or
accusations, but they were in many
principal respects exemplary mem-
bers of society. They were sober, in
dustrious, peaceable, charitable, pune
tual in the payment of pecuniary obli-
cations, straightforward and trust
worthy in the ordinary business affairs
OF life; and, besides, were good neigh
bors, free from habits of personal vice,
and possessed domestic virtues.
Cases such as these are common. IL
they were not common we should not
think IL worth while 10 make special
comment on them. Being common they
help 20 prove the existence of n highly
important class of facts relating 10 the
science of criminology. They tend TO
show that the possession of what Is
called IA good moral character" is no
guarantee at all that man will not
commit n criminal act. All that such q
| character, as ordinarily defined and I'M
| derstood, guarantees is that he will not,
in all probability, do any of the things
/ forbidden by the particular social or
commercial code 10 which he is in the
habit OF conforming. Thus IL is reason
ably certain that man who Is habitu-
ally sober will not get drunk; that
man whose reputation for honest deal
ing is based upon long acquaintance
with him will not steal; that peace
able, kind-hearted citizen will not stir
up q street brawl; that n man whose
word is as good as his bond and whose
bond is as good as the bank, will not
defraud his creditors; that the man
who prefers the society OF his wife and
children TO that OF the club, or of some
less reputable resort, viii not become
the correspondent in divorce suit.
But such Is the inconsistency of hui
man nature that none of these things
can be at all trusted as proving or
strongly tending 10 prove that such n
man. IL elected 70 the legislature, will
not take bride; or IL he speculates on
the stock exchange, will not connive at
the circulation OF false rumors affect
ing the price OF shares; or that, IL he
controls u manufacturing industry, he
viii not take advantage OF the hard
times 10 compel his employees 10 accept
n ten per cent reduction from their al
ready starvation wages, while he him
self manages 20 secure an addition OF
20 per cent. TO his already opulent sal
airy.
Few things are moro perplexing and
discouraging TO the sincere moralist
who is also q social philosopher than
this division Of human nature on its
moral side into sections and strata that
seem to be strangely disconnected one
from another and each from the whole.
There have been theories, some OF which
still find wide acceptance, that are an
tagonistic TO these facts. Some theo-
logical conceptions refuse 10 take ac-
count OF this contradictoriness of hui
man nature. The claim Is made that
character is one warp and one wool
throughout the whole fabric. Some
Scripture texts are cited in support of
the theory OF uniformity. Some at
tempt Is made TO prove IL by facts. But
the facts viii not bear investigation,
and tho texts are perverted by false
Interpretation.
For the moralist and for the religious
teacher the only safety Is In symmetry.
II will not do 10 depend upon any
cure-all for the soul any more than for
the body. There is no panacea. The
religious or moral quack who pretends
he has found IL Is as dangerous 20 tho
social and moral health as Is themedical
quack 10 the bodily health. 10 Is only
by attacking sin at every point and by
guarding against IL at every point that
the citadel OF the souls life can be kept
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