The Sunday globe., 1901-08-04


of his family was killed, Pardoned hIlet elghl
years Imprisonment he proposes IN Ine
columns Of the Globe 10 tel "a pam, i un " H.
nished tale" OF life In modern pehl'en''"IS'
--EDITURl
FolIowing out the criticisms in
dulged in last week on the complaints
of an unthinking and unlhlorIheu
press. touching the equal treatment OF
all prisoners in the penitenuary' we
desire to state to prevent mlsunuer'
standing that we are, perhaps, pelter
aware of the fact than those we cllll'
cised. that there are intellectual de-
generates, so-called, or men whose IN
tellectual superiority predlsposes theu
TO the commission Of crime, Ihey are
the few. the very few, however, ana,
notwithstanding our acquaintance WIN
some types Of this character, we sui
adhere to the policy, wisdom ana Hu'
manity of treating them in prison ID
conformity with the rules or common
sense. That is to say in manner
which recognizes their intellectual su,
neriority over their fellows of the Bill
sykes stamp. While prison officials,
as a general proposition, are anything
but theorists or criminologists, they
deyelop a practical knowledge of hui
man nature, as exhibited in prison,
and they can be safely entrusted with
tbe administration of prison discipline
10 harmonic the conflicting disposi-
tions and variation in character,
breeding and intellect of the men en-
trusted TO them for punishment and
reformation OF course it would be de-
sirable. in every case, to have the dis,
culinary officers Of prison thooretlcal
criminologists of the humane type ana
modern humanitarians abreast OF Lhe
advanced thought and effort being put
forth TO diminish crime and save or re-
form fair per cent of the errlng ana
fallen. But we are doing fairly well,
at least in all our Northern prisons,
with the material at present selected
The advanced penologist is increas-
TO carry out the behests of society'
ing and multiplying with benehclal re-
suits to the cause of prison reform ana
To the safeguarding of society. IL is
almost a certainty that the criminal,
like the prostitute, will always be WIN
ms and it is. therefore, not alone hu-
name but. indeed, wise in the extreme
to recognize the status OF the one WIN
tbe other. Crime in the male is a
species of prostitution OF the natural
faculties, and is as nSch social eyll
as the sexual prostitution Of the Ie-
male And while we are willing TO au-
mit that society, to some extent, is
safeguarded in the preservation OF VII
tue bv the escapement Of the per cent
of yiciousness which the latter AFFORDS
II must not be ignored that this unpun-
ishable offense in the prostitute is as
degrading, degenerate and criminal as
tbe majority of offenses or crimes COM
nitted by the male professional Grim
inal for which he is immured and pun
isbed with varying terms of imprison-
ment,
What the majority of prison reform
ers and prisoner philanthropists are
too often deceived by is the large pre-
nonderance of the male over the fe-
male prisoners, and the deductory IN
ference of the more debased ana GRIM.
inal character of the male. very
little thought would convince tne
thoughtful student that there is no sex
i'm crime, and that the outlet prostltu'
tion affords the female degenerate not
alone caters to the safety or preserVa
ton of virtue in society, but also 70
the immunity of the prostitute hersell
from the application of the criminal
statutes in her case with the same Sc
verify as they are applied to the male
degenerate or criminal. Crime is q
sin, whether it is prostitution or burg
larry with this difference, that the SIN
of prostitution in the female is not
punishable with imprisonment in the
penitentiary while the sin of burglary
in the male very properly incurs the
penalty of immurement IN prison
The one sin is charitably held to be
natural and unavoidable, the other a
voluntary and cultivated profession tc
rob ones neighbor, but, as will be seen
in a little study of the matter, it Is
the point Of view from which the indi
yidual looks at the question. And We
confess that mankind in the mass re
CARDS much more seriously the tilchinl
or robbery Of Chattels than it does the
virtue, or rather debasement, of the
human female form divine The form
er must be punished, and the latter
well. the latter must be tolerated! Fine
reasoning this. and an admirable start
ing point for the student who wishes
to follow Pope's immortal advice;
"The greatest study Of mankind Is
man"
Passing this subject for the present
and permitting the reader to digest
at leisure, the perhaps new thought
aroused, we Y uld correct another
false impressiC 1 which, indeed, Is toe
general to inspire any hope in the
writer of being able to oyertake, cor
rect or kill It off, and that is, the alb
surd belief that all conyicts or prison
ers. or the vast body of such, belong
TO the lowest ranks of society in fact
graduates of the slums. IL may startlt
the criminologist, and il certainly viii
the ordinary reader to be informed
that there is q less per cent of the
slum graduates I'm prison than there Is
of the respectable and non-crimina
classes. And this is simply and easily
accounted for, The large army Of tho
slums, or the dregs OF society furnish
the prisons with it's quota, of course
so IL does the houses of PrOuuuon
hut. besides the latter unpunishablt
(by law) career Of criminality, the
graduates Of the slums escape the
meshes of the law by their superior
training in crime i'm a greater ratio
than the unpractised, and we may be
permitted to use the expression, unso
phisticated, members Of the non-crim
inal and respectable classes, The
slums are raised with an intimate
knowledge of policemen, detectives
and guardians of the law, their habits
weaknesses and foibles. The courts
police, detectives and administrator
of law are from one branch or the
other Of the respectable and non.crim
inal classes, and are no match for the
cunning and matchless depravity OF
the slums For the one member of the
slum class landed in the penitentiary
the police, detectives and courts nee
Ill I,p1 n dOvnn pnpun hers Of tD(