Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-03-08
"A NOVEL REMEDY.

w. duncan McAlm, NJ. w., OF Brook
Ign, N. Y, has, new and radical solu-
; ton for the old problem of what we
q Should do with our criminal classes.
5 In a book he has recently published,
entitled "Heredity and Human Prog
sTess,,' he sets forth his remedy.
DR.. McKim is utterly hopeless of any
good from the present go-as-you please
system of handling the lower classes
of humanity. He would have them
quickly and Systematically herded to-
sether and ''done to DEATH painlessly
to be sure, but relentlessly, by the be-
inefficient ministration of carbonic acid.
The roll of those whom his plan would
eliminate consists of such individuals
as the following, falling absolutely I'M
der the control of the state: ssIdiots,
lmbeciies, epileptics, habitua1 drunk
ards and insane criminals, the larger
number of murderers, nocturnal
shousebreakers; such criminals, what
4 ever their otfense, as might thru their
constitutional organization appear
very dangerous, and finally criminals
Who might be adjudged incorrigible.
Each individual of these classes would
undergo thoro examination, and only
by due process of law would his life
be taken from him. The painless ex-
#tinction of these lives would present
( no practical difficulty; in carbonic
Acid gas we have an agent which
would instantaneously fulfill the
need" To the advocates of perpetual
confinement for such classes DIR. Nc
Kim points out obstacles in the shape
aofs immense expense and the impossi-
bility Of getting hold of them ali. He
answers the pleaders for laissez faire
by statistics showing the vast and ter
rible multiplication by these degener-
ates of their kind. Not only do they
entail immense financial responsible
ties upon the state and individuals for
their present maintenance, but they
are spreading their kind all over the
earth, sowing evil which future gener-.
gations will have to reap. Even if they
did not reproduce their kind, the bur-
den OF supporting them would be too
great for the state to carry, and more
over it would be folly to endure it.,
when there are so many sane and SEN
sible people whom the state could
benefit b the same expenditure. But
you cannot get them into institutions,
anyhow, says DR.. McKim, and you cam
not prevent them from propagating
their kind and spreading plague over
the earth. thus retarding and hamper
ang the human race in its endeavors
TO bring about ideal conditions of hap
ipiness." Hence his remedy, complete
elimination by painless death of the
weak and vicious 'swho fall into the
hands of the state for maintenance,
reformation or punishment"
DR.. McKim does not say how he ex-
poets this remedy to work cure, ey-
en tho the state should put to death
the few unfortunates that fall into its
hands under circumscribed conditions.
BY his own admission, the great ma
Jority of these people cannot be APP
pretended until it is too late. Even
where the law permits incarceration
OF such as are deemed degenerate it
is almost an lmpossibility to carry in
r TO execution the letter of the law The
difficulty would be increased immense
~ when legal apprehension meant
death. Again, what possibility is
there, and what assurance that the
law proposed by the doctor would be
faithfully and impartially administer
ed? And il not administered with
God-like impartiality, what crimes
could not be committed in its name?
Sympathize as one might with the doc
Tors aim and the justice of his con-
tention, that evil stock should not be
allowed to spread and that it is pity
to spend vast sums in housing and
caring for worthless objects at the ex-
pense of human beings capable of i'm
provement, one fears his remedy even
more than the evil it seeks to cure. The
state has not Preached that point where
J. it can be trusted with such weapons
as DIR. McKim would put into its
hands. As yet it has not proved itself
wholly adequate for the performance
Of its present functions. Mans iudg-
1,1ent is TOO often at fault as it is and
his discretion poor.