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

L
| remarks that If heredity is the mother of
| crime, environment is the father, and
| adds:
/ '.Bcyond the field II predeterminism there lies
F.! the sea OF spontaneity,' TO which unbiased in
| vestigation must give equal credence with the
| hard and fast play Of arbitrary eausstlon anu
| ancestral law. Room must always be allowed Tor
the movement Of these unaccounted forces IN tax
ing stock Of the spiritual capital, since much can
| be explained neither upon the assumption Of alb
| solute free viii yet upon the doctrine OF IN
| limited detefminisn, but upon a subtle compfo-
! mise between the two.
He then calls attention to the fact that
many children born of criminal parents
are also subjected to an unfavorable envi-
ronment. and that habit, into which the
| child falls through the influence of others
| and the opportunity afforded for criminal
| actions. may easily become a chain too
| strong to shake off, at which point the
| person ceases to be morally responsible
| Obviously, no one has the right TO 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
! 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, in most
| instances increases his evil propensities
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
tn
raj conditions which it imposes upon its
members. He has something to say in this
chapter about the prevalence OF crime in
high places. which is interesting from its
outspoken frankness:
The assault of the well-to-do upon the common
integrity. business SENSE official fidelity Is a
far serious shock 10 the social conscience
and goes farther toward lowering public moral
| tone than all the petty msdemeauants that crowd
the Cllendar. And the reason is plain. Society Is
| warranted in imposing confidence in the intel
ligence and mature OF responsibility OF those
| whom fortune favors. and who, when they turn
| rpbbcr. usually rob those below them in the Sc
ciIl ard financial scale In the conventional order
| the poor rob the rich; here the rich rob the poor
| perhaps under the gulse Of trusts and corners
| and ''SyndCates''-a systematic form of assault
| under color of business, usually heartless 1t
| Is unjust, because at the instance of an eXag
gerated selfs.nc-s pepCtrJted under fiction of cor
porate rights which artiGcially and arbitrarily
| set up above private rights. The of CONNER
| cialism is really only change OF front from
| primitive assault upon the person to one upon
property.
one OF the later chapters deals win hyp-
notism and crime, taking the ground that
while certain crimes for which the sub
| ;act lad a natural nroranei.v MIGHT ne
| committed under hypnotic influence, the
! sub-conscious fear of consequences would
restrain him from the commission of most
grave misdemeanors. The author quotes
/ MoII's work m brnrotism I'm this copnec-
I ton.
/
These laboratory experiments prove nothing, be
cause trace OF consciousness always remains
10 tell the subject he is playing a comedy,
quenly hc viii offer siighter resistance. He VIII
more readily lay To commit murder with piece
| Of paper than with a real dagger. because.
| have seen. he almost always diiuly realizes his
! real situation.
| -, -.
IN 'ie 'ast 'iiap'ei Soiiie s"ssesNioiis d.
oHered as 10 the reformation OF pffsohH.
| Dir. brahms is OF the opinion that severe
punishments are oil little use as deterrents
/ 10 crime hut thai the "A bsolute certainty
I of punishment is 10 a certain extern pre-
| ,,ar,i,.a H. consida,s- No. ,bo bost MI
= - :. - =: - - - =.
vi s4stehs III use III inns county are 10
! De tound III the Eastern ana some OIL the
/ New England States, and his remarks on
| the convict lease system are worth quoting
! IN mil.
|
The moral If not the economic viciousncss of the
lease system hitherto so generally employed IN tbs
southerly States Is evident The subject Is beng
agliated by the people, ana thls rene oil hdrbdTlsi
IS illustrating the worst feature OF the slavery
period, l. slowly giving way TO the appliances OF
/ civilization. Its horrors IN many instances are
| zation and hunaneness Of the fair.st portion Of
| the lana. In Florida public sales OF convicts.
mostly Negroes, are common; and tue laws OF
hi7sisihi PROVIDE i9r such it4se ol Jan pllsqneIs
~ ~. "a u.''', uoIi 81, - i:., :"
M soyar,I ciesses ,,,nrri-ir., tb,s, ,,nder in,
mediate STATE supervision; in camps. or farms;
| under county and prison supervision; and direct
! y under private bidders and sub-contractors. the
latter presenting the most brutal features OF w
t s,nai'-'n III d ] - he J ,,nii, are
o,u az ored tnc,,Ler by 5s a, t
/ myht. liable TO punishment upon trifing H.
| fri y,lncnts Of rules and subject in many in
I stance TO the unrestrained brutality Of their
iaskmasters The Howard Association reports mat
! N one camp ihoIhet "at Iouiu WIN S,nen Iiui'
I'm anu p ~ g. I E,1J siot,, fr
| Tho Protection of Cbildren f,nnd infants Of
/ eleven wears Of age in these Carnus ard in one
| chain gang lie found ffty-iive men, three women,
and boy Of eleven years Of age. and reported
women uI've te t@,N' iiiiiieilI IN ''iS me-
| lion given by Mr. J. W Church an experienced
newspaper man. ana publiahed IN the 'Atianld
and biac, and rbiIdren scarce did enourt +, roam,
the streets alone compose the degrading picture
The ,noTtsIity pnder such stem s Of rorse
terrible. reaching high - to 200 per l,pj9
aiulli4' as asI'i.Si W - iEl l'V0y ihoI'A''y
''i''' ''u 81 ''''
| 1t is just possible that some OF the
! carnivals of crime reported in the