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

Tho Criminal: His Personnel end En-
vironment. is work b. August D.ahms,
! resident chaplain of the Californis State
Prison. at san Quentin. There is a brief
introduction by Cesare Lombro=o. who ex-
presses his pleasure that the authors in
restirations agree so nearly with his own
views. and endorses the work VITA con-
siderable enthusiasm
The first chapter contains general sur
vey Of the philosophy Of crime, its his
| tory and causes This is followed by dis
| cussion Of criminal identification and type,
and Of instructive and habitual criminals.
their origin, environment, and character
istics. This takes up more than half the
book. Then fellow statements as to the
increase and decrease of crime; the prob
lem of the juvenile offender is considered:
and the author touches or hypnotism, and
its relation to evil-dOing, concluding with
an expression of his views on the punish-
ment, cure, and prevention of crime.
Nothing in This age of the world, is OF
more general interest than the criminal
problem. il is only within a compare
lively recent period that it has been
studied scientifically. and the chances are
that during the next Two or three genera
tions it will receive such thorough analy
sis and thoughtful consideration that ii will
stand a chance of being practically elimi-
mated from civilized life.
To the stude;- OF these matters. espe-
cially the amateur who has not read a
whole library on the subject, Mr.. brahms
work cannot fail to prove valuable. 1t
| combines an immense amount of general
| information with suggestions and reiiec-
| tions of value. and is marked throughout,
| first, by freedom from technical language
/ which would tend to obscure the thought.
| and, second, by an attitude of mind sympa-
| thetic and humane toward the criminal,
| while free from the objection Of undue
/ sentimentality. Nothing more just. and
! at the same time more cOnsiderate, has
! lately been written on the subject of the
! treatment Of criminals, and some readers
/ will be surprised, as Lombroso evidently
was, that clerical author should write a
| book so free from theological dogma and
1 scientifically impartial in its dealings with
crime.
The chapter Oh heredity is one which Is
| likely 10 prove generally interesting. since
! the interest of the public in this subject
| has lately been awakened in degree
which may actually affect the morality and
| health of future generations. Many
! thoughtful and conscientious people having
! gotten into their heads the general idea of
+, the workings of the law of heredity. have
| become unduly pTejudiced or morbid on the
| subject, not allowing themselves to under
stand that this, like every other force in
| nature. has its counteracting force which
| must be taken into account when predicting
| results. They are TOO ready to condemn
the offspring of what they call bad stock,
not realizing that this very condemnation
may bring out inherited traits which would
] 9TH oil
ever: and they are apt TO underestimate
the value OF good training in counteracting
the influence of q bad Inheritance. Mr.
| brahms says:
In its economic value the law Of heredity may
| be termed the conserving principle OF life that
holds it true TO its ideal while it perpetuates in.
discriminatory its vices aud It's virtues, its normal
| ties and morbiditics: the former series in pro.
gressive ratio, the latter containing within
| themselves potentially their self-limitstons
Nature is chaIy OF her prerosatiye and Jealous o.
. her workmanship.
He then goes on 10 discuss the laws Of
! uniformity and diversity, atavism the in
heritance of special gifts. and other mat
tiers connected with this subject. Among
other things he calls attention to the fact,
which Is not new TO the public, but ought
| TO be more generally understood than it
is, that transverse inheritance from faith
| er to daughter and from mother to son,
is more common than the transmission In
| unilateral direction. Another fact which
he points out IS that moral degeneracy
sometimes springs from what is commonly
considered legitimate source, and gives an
instance illustrating this. young Wom-
an brought up in affiuent circumstances
married prosperous, but penurious farm
er. and. TO satisfy her intense longing for
certain articles, distracted at times guam
| titles of dairy products, which were eX-
changed for the objects OF her desire. AS
| she was denied many of the ordinary COM
forts OF life, while her husband was well
able to afford them, 1t is easy TO see how
| she might have excused this action 10
herself: but she became the mother OF
four children, every one OF whom were
born thieves. 1t may thus be seen that
what is commonly known as respectable
stock may under certain circumstances
produce criminals, in an apparently unac-
countable way.
With all this frsnkness In admitting the
inviolability OF natures laws. Mr.. Drehms
is not hopeless or pessimlstic In dealing