The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-07-02
II Rev Code
QutStiOa Brought Out bg
the BCV IilHrderer.

the case Of John Kornstadt.
John Kornstadt is the boy who at
tempted rape on his cousin, beat her head
against a tree and then threw her
Enangled body into an abandoned well
"A mob was feared at Anthony and he
was brought to Wichita for safe-keeping.
A close study has since been made OF
Korne tadt. His normal temperature Is
far below that Of ordinary individuals.
His skin feels cold and clammy. His sense
of touch and sensation of feeling are feeble
He knows no bodily pain except sore
ness in the muscles Of the inside of his
right leg. His ears are heavy, and slight
ly misformed, although his sense of hear
ing is very acute indeed. His eyes ap-
pear clear, but his sense Of sight is not
first class. There is no malfOrmatioR OF
the skull. Sexually the boy is an abnor-
mality, details being uncomfortable.
Close experiments with him find in him
no emotion except fear, and that is more
of an animal fear than Of the nervous
system excited by the usual mental ac-
tivity. Since his Incarceration he has re-
clined most Of the time and has shown no
energy, no industry, no curiosity or any
known TO him so far as any one may
see and he has recounted the story of his
crime again and again with the same
calm, Indifferent and apparently brutal
recital Of horrible detail.
He Is simply an animal, abnormal men,
tally and anonymous physically. His hair
is abundant. blonde, fine and well sup
piled with the natural hirsute oils.
A careful inquiry into his ancestry
shows that the anonymous formation Of
the creature is not hereditary. in fact
could not be, but is peculiar TO him alone,
- and in no physiological works at hand is
there mention Of case paralleling his.
Kornstadts case AiH come w before
Judge Gillett Of the judicial district lying
west OF Wichita, and on account Of its
popularity will attract the attention OF
the nation.
There IS no provision in the statutes of
Kansas for the punishment of murder in
the first degree for anyone under six
teen years of age, that, through some
oversight, having been unprovioed for, but
there is no question but that this dam
gerous creature will be sequestered from
society. despite this legal defect.
Probably the most interested man in
Wichita in the case is Mr.. II. Simpson,
who. at. the University Of Turin. Italy,
was a student under Cesar Lombroso, the
famous criminologist, and at the Univer-
sity Of Paris, also a student under Pro-
fessor Magnan; whose fame is hardly sub.
ordinate TO that of Lombroso, If not
greater on the continent.
Mr. QffunrSon no afud{ad
Paris. Turin, and Is u graduate of Col
smbia in this country. Few men in the
nation are better informed in all nationa
codes than he. He Is at present engaged
in making an English edition of modern
Roman law. as it exists in European
countries today for a large publishing
house.
Yesterday Mr.. Simpson said that In his
belief the criminal code in this country
in the next fifty years would be changed.
He believes that from a classification of
crimes we will pass to a classification of
criminals; that whereas we are now on
the basis established centuries ago on an
ecclesiastical conception, the basis that
men are OF free VIII and crime Is Of malice
hforethought. we will come to hold that
crime is partly subjective in the criminal.
Rnad that all crimes cannot be judged
from the same viewpoint.
He believes that some day criminals
will be classified, not crimes.
For instance, today a man who steals
once is guilty Of larceny. A man who
steals twice. thrice. many times. is guilty
of larceny. The man who in a passion
kills his fellow man is a murderer. Sc
also is the man who deliberately kills his
fellow man.
Mr.. Simpson is convinced that the GRIM
inal code will be changed so that Grimm
ais will be classified under three heads as
"a the occasional criminal ~ the habitual
criminal. go the born criminal. a similar
system is at present in vogue in Italy
France is trending In this direction. while
Germany now has under discussion a new
ccde Of similar construction.
Suppose. as in the case of Jean Val.
jean. man through the press of necessity
steals a loaf Of bread. Under the law he
IS guilty. Under the classification OF
crimes as we now have it, he is a Crimi-
nal. Under the new code he would be
ian occasional criminal" TO use the easy
phrase of the classification of criminals
1t is a common feeling with humanity that
this man should not be punished The
plan, under the new code, Is TO admonish
him.
But suppose a man becomes n common
thief. shirks all industry and steals from
day to day. Necessity has not driven him
TO steal. He is an enemy II society. He
is an habitual criminal. Under the new
code he would be punished as severely As
under the present code
But suppose a man is born maiformcd
mentally. or. as seems to be the case OF
Kronstadt. physically amorphous to IN,
point that he Is mentally Irresponsible
Then he is a born criminal and he is tC
be not punished, but sequestered from
society.
The argument in this Is readily seen. A
born criminal making an assault which
would give him few years In the peui-
Tertiary would he at the end Of his sen.
tenCe again turned loose on society. as r.
responsible as ever. and as dangerous a,
he ever was. None of the reporters OF
others who have seen Kronstadt. and Won
dercd over his total lack of emotion. be
lieves for a moment that any length 81
Incarceration. o. any punishment. outside
actual surgical change, would remove his
tendencies or render him less dangerous.
The present code tries 10 reach out and
meet this popular demand by leaving &c
the judge with certain limitations the Sc
verify of punishment. and by providing
different degrees of crime.
But It does not reach the occasional
criminal, the man who BY necessity Z.
forced into an act for which ne must pay
a penalty as heavy as that suffered BY
the man who was ha5itual in his mora
perversity. The man who commits crime
Ynalirfors1y CONT1v with p~epa,se e -,