Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1900-10-13

increased 81 per cent, while the insane
Increased IS per cent. Civilization
and progress are costly blessings. The
demands of modern life are growing
more exacting and more complex. That
many break down under the strain Is
not surprising 1t Is the merciless proc.
ess Of natural selection. The fittcst
survive, and In the end the race Is i'm.
proved bodily and mentally. But this
does not comfort those who, failing,
now, In other times and other condi-
lions might be approved and selected
us the ntttest.
Italy has set an example of swift pun
ishment tempered with mercy worthy
Of imitation by the most stable ana in
telligent governments of Europe.
Bresci, the anarchist, assassinated
King Humbert. One month later to IL
day Bresci was found guilty, after n
deliberate ana fair trial. anu was SEN
fenced to life Imprisonment. Although
llumbert was popular sovereign, there
were no outbreaks at the trial, no mobs
interviewed to take the assassin out OF
the hands of justice. and there was an
entire absence Of any hysterical dis
turbance Of the peace. No Anglo.SaXon
court could have proceeded with more
dignity to an impartial verdict. The
fact that the people are apparently sat
Isfled with the verdict Of life imprison-
ment occasions surprise. Somehow
Western thought has identified modern
Italy with bloodthirstiness. We are
accustomed to think Of the Italians as
Of their cousins, the French, as q mer-
curinl people. demanding life for life,
given to demonstration and uprislngs
on the slightest prOvocatlOn. The dig
nifty Of Bresci's trial and the judicial
temper Of the people gives one q new
and surprising conception Of the italian
chara cter.
Heredity ana the microbe theory
have been getting some hard knocks
during the past decade. The micrObe
Is still holding his own us the primary
disturbance In certain classes OF hu-
man ailments, although the physicians
have now reached point In bacterlOl.
ogy sufficiently advanced to enable
them to confidently assert that the ba-
GILL are not responsible for every dis
ease that flesh Is heir to. At the recent
international medican congress held In
Paris one Of the most renowned Of
medical authorities warned the younger
members Of the profession against the
danger Of ascribing every human ali-
ment to bacterial influence. But "her-
edity" as an excuse for all sorts of alb
normal mental manifestations aud
moral delinquencje3 has been almost
completely dislOdged by scientists. The
time Ii gone by when the drunkard can
hide behind his inebriated great. great
grandfather. Heredlty can no longer
be urged us sufficient cause for the
moral degeneracy that leads man to
appropriate that which belongs to 9th
ers. Low-brOwed men may come from
lOw.browed ancestors, but statistics
tend to prove that under proper envi.
rOnment and Influences the lOw.brOwed
strong and most credltable member of
society In spite Of his prOgenitOrs. In
an address before the national prison
ut Cleveland George Torrance,
of the Illinois State
placed the portion OF
crime that Is due to heredity at less
than 10 per cent. He maintained what
Is now the commonly accepted view of
the sOciOlOgigists and criminologlsts
that crime IL due to environment. 1t
follows, therefore, that great major
ity OF criminals can be saved II prop
erly handled and placed under proper
environment. Said Mr.. Torrance: II
have no hesitation In asserting that at
least So per cent OF all young men and
boys who have committed crimes, II
taken charge Of In time and subjected
to proper treatment, will become good
citizens. Ninety per cent Of the young
convicted of crimes would not become
criminals with proper surroundings,
proper companions and proper atten-
IiOn." The sooner the ancient notions
about "heredity" are exploded the bet
ter for society and the state. The idea
hat alcoholism or consumption among
! mans ancestors predestines him to
he same fate Is most pernicious doe
rine, and is sometimes appalling in its
1t not only excuses
crime but superlnduces a condition of
that Is all the more pit
able because unfOunded. Heredity has
lad many centuries of moral derellc.
Ion and mental despair to answer for.
It Is time that the light of science was
1t o" Its burdens. The new
science teaches that man Is largely re-
'ponsible for what he Is; that his moral
Ind mental shortcomings cannot be-
charged uD against his DrOpenitors