The Washington weekly post., 1899-11-21

stituticn. and IL be would only take care
OF IL ne might 1--we 20 a good old age.
When he nsars his thirticth year. how
ever. his strength and vic0r begin %
taii tim b that time ne mas Served
number OF terms in prison. and e IS this
existence that drags him down. In the
open he seems to be able 10 endure a
great deal and still keep his health. but
behind the bars. care for him as the pen
ologiSt wIn he weakens and withers
away. This side OF his life has scarcely
received the attention it deserves from
the investigators who find the criminal
diseased. That he becomes diseased must
readily be admitted, bui, ss rule, Il is
only after society has shut him uD in its
penal institutions. stand. for instance. at
the door OF one OF these institutions when
a ten~year convict is released and see how
he looks. did this, and a worse wreck OF
g formerly healthy man / have never er-
countered-a being ruined in both bO5y
and mind. a victim Of passions which ia
the open he would have abhOrred There
is no better proof that Il IS the prison and
not his lille and business that make the
criminal diseased than that furnished by
trsnps. These men live almost entirely
IN the open, and. as "a general rule. have
harder life than the criminal: vet
they are about the beolthiest people in the
world. In the United States Il Is one OF
their supeTstitions that they simply can
hot die ike other men-Of Glseaso-hut
have 10 be killed. This is what happens
to great many OF them They fall from
freight trains at night OF are found
starved TO death. locked fast in 4 box
car on some distant sidetrack
In closing his chapter on criminals, Mr..
''If / have studied the criminal 10 any
purpose. il is with the resulting cOnvic-
ton that he is physically. mentally and
morally responsible and that. lhouch un-
happy in his birth and environment, the
very energy which has enabled him 20 get
away from his poverty Is the promise OF
potency OF better life. And human hope
looks forward to a day when. in the .e-
generation of his class. he shall be born
into 8 better thing than crime"
In speaking OF the natiOnaittes OF crimi-
mails, Mr.. Flynt makes q statement which
Is sure 10 cause criticism and argument.
He says: Concerning their nationalities.
I must say that most Of them are indigen-
Gus TO the countries in which they I've. In
this country IL Is often said that foreign
ers are the main offenders, and great
deal has been written about the dumping
OF European criminals on American
shores; but the main offenders, in the
open at least, are natives, and are gener-
ally of Irish-American parentage. In
England unfD4NeQ DiOOG Is z uLtle more
noticeable. Ireland is said to be the least
criminal land In all Europe, and this may
be the case so far as local crime is con-
cerned, but more criminals trace their
ancestry back TO that country than TO any
other where English is spoken. Indeed,
in America II is considered something
quite out of the ordinary Il the criminal
cannot attach himself i'm some way 10 the
Emerald Isle,' and nothing has hindered
me more in my intercourse with him than
the fact that my own connection with 1t
is very slight" -.-..-....
Mr. Flyat says that there is no class in
which Difference to age and mature Opin-
ion is more insisted upon than In the
criminal class, and that should the Grim
inal be won over 10 decent living he is
sure to be conservative rather than TSd-
iCal in the affairs of state.
OF how he came to make his investiga-
tons and explorations Mr.. Fiynt says:
During my university studies In Berlin
saw my fellOw-students working In scien-
tific Laboratories 10 discover the minUtest
parasitic forms of life and later publish
ing their discoveries in book form as valu-
able contributions TO knowledge. In writ
ing what l nave learned c6nceraing hu-
man parasites. by an experience which
may be called scientific in so far as It
deals with the subject on its own ground
and I'm It's peculiar conditions and envi-
rOnments, | seem to myself 10 be doing a
similar work for like purpose"