The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-03-25

| crime, environment Is the father, ana
adds
| BEYOND the field 81 predeterg-nism there. LES
! the sea Of spontauCity,' 20 which unbiased ~
| vestigation must give equal credence with tns
| hard and fast play Of arbitrary SauNsuoh anu
| ancestral law. Room must always be allowed for
the movement Of these unaccuunted forces in taxi
ing stock Of the spiritual capital, since much can
| be explained neither upon the assumption OF ao-
| soiuto free viii nor yet upon the doctrine OF un
| limited detefminisIn, but upon subtle cgmpI1-
mise between tic two,
He then calls attention to the fact that
many children born of criminal parents
are also subjected to an unfavorable cnvi-
ronment. and that habit, into which the
child falls through the influence Of others
| and the opportunity afforded for criminal
| actions. may easily become chain too
| strong to shake off. at which point the
! person ceases to be morally responsible.
! Obviously no one has the right 10 decide
absolutely whether this point has been
/ reached in any given case, but the author
| is strongly of the opinion that all except
| the worst cases have potential recuperative
| energy. which under favorable cirCum-
1 stances. may result in eventual refOrma-
ton. The trouble with most criminals is
that the circumstances in which they are
/ placed make it uphill work for them to
reform. In subsequent chapter he makes
the bold statement that Imprisonment, so
far from reforming the criminal ia most
| instances increases his evil propansities.
and says that the penitentiary is the fin
/ ishing school Of crime.
In the chapter on The Single Offender"
the author deals with the large class OF
criminals who come from respectable
/ classes Of society and asserts that in
| many cases society Is primarily responsible
for their existence, because OF the unnatu-
raj conditions which it imposes upon ITS
members. He has something to say in this
80 - nh T.. i,tc-ostf,s- fro-,, it,
[ "ieA P,'DSs. mn - i'''e e'''9 80
ouISpohth HdnHnesS'
TIL, assault, Of the weIl-to-do upon the common
INTEGRITY business sense or official fdelltv is
! fsr moro scriops shock TO the social conscience
! and goes farther toward lowering public moral
! ron, Than an ibc petty mislomeauauts that crowd
l'' 'li'ngd.. Alu li!' .i''sui = llfii. i
l, IA .srs ~ rcsnn1siIiii, nj HOS.
! Whom torr,re favors and who when tbcy turn
rohbcr. usually rob those below them in The Sc
cial and financial scale. In the conventional order
the poor rob the rich; here the rich rob the poor
| perhaps under me gnse ol trusts ana corners
any ii .' -. N "a -
| y; - - W. ,f, i-s,,-,.o 81 an -
r.rsrcd slae.uc,, pcrpctrlted under fiction Of cor
poi4tc right, which are ar,idcially and arbitrarily
set up above private rights. The war Of CONNER
- 49,. IL 80 l -, ., ,.. mn
l'."'' ""'' nv" ''l f'1" ~ " f
| Property.
One of The later chapters deals with hyp-
notisn and crime taking the ground that
| u-bflg contain, ,ri,,,as for which tho -uh
VIM. '"'4 'iiiiieS i'i "H'oA ,"
! ject had a natural propensity might be
committed under hypnotic influence. the
sub conscious fear Of consequences would
,Isl-- 49, ,,,otos
IN - h,,Ll,..il-,, ., - me
-.
These laboratory experiments prove nothing be-
,"'>' 7""' t,''t OF '"h-e "'ish''S ai"@!s remains
~ ,e' '-' 49, -, 5 ~ v,,Iis''
mon l,,,iil, f., IT,, commit ~ ,1rrirr With n rc
Of paper taan with a real dagger because. a. We
have scru Doe almost always duly rcalizrs his
real siiuS'i5t-
In the last chantpr some silggesf ions ara
offered as tn Inc reformation OF prisons
AIR Dr,bme is of the nninion rbat sevrr.
punishmepts are oi littIe use as defe-raurs
In crime but thar tho absolute cartaipr-
NJ runisb,nep, fs IN a certain avtan+ rre-
varti,e He considers ma. tba best rris-
IN systems in usa in This country are to
be found in the Eastern and some Of the
~, cor,,-il, Ieas. .,.e+s,,,' arc y,ortb orotira
in full:
The moral II not rIo economic yiciousn,,s of the
lease system hitherto so generally employed IN tA-
,gitsted ft tbe paoprs md ibis relic Of barbarism,
as illustrating the worst feature Of the slavery
l,iiil,tien NJ f.,ra7s in man irsf5Hrc. are
unspoakabie, and reflect seriously upon The civil
zation and hum1n'nc, Of Che iainesi portion Of
the land. III f'onl4 Ilpnl s1I,s 81 eghvle'9,
| ~, -
~ III ..f5lI.s, hFlr,, ri.5gr The ,,,,a,tii6r al
he coupir ,fiesrs. Leased couyjcts arc divided
INFO several classes. comurl-ng those under i'm