Custer County Republican. (Broken Bow, Neb.) 1882-1921, 1902-04-17
METHODS Of REtOnA.
MODERN MEANS OF RECLAlMlNG
CRIMINALS.
Severity Was Ancientiy Supposed to
BE the Only Logical Way, but Fear
is Not Effectively indness and Close
Supervision Are Best.

There Is probably no subject Of great
err Importance to organized society tnan
the problem OF how to deal with the
criminal classes, so as TO reduce Their
number and thereby prevent crime.
Criminals there always VIII be, ana
hence some crime HOW to minimize
both deserves the best thought OF the
hour.
Crime Is largely matter OF heredlty
and environment Men seldom become
:rimlnals unaided. A few acts OF crime
are committed under stress or extreme
necessity: but the men by whom these
are committed should not be ranked
with the criminal classes.
1t is often said that crime Is on the
Increase. 1t would be truer to say that
what constitutes crime is constantly
being increased by legislation. our
state Legislatures at every session pas
one or more statutes making certain
acts misdemeanOrs which were not so
before Real crime and actual Grim
jnals are not on the Increase. Profes-
sional criminals are rapidly fading
away before the advancing Light o. civ
tlization and education.
Punishment for crime has much to
do with making criminals. This state
ment seems paradoXical. but it is an IN.
disputable fact. Hundreds may be
saved from life of CRIME 10y the p. ope,
administration of the criminal laws. Ii
used to be thought that severity of pun
lshment was the wise course, indeed
the only method, to prevent crime
Fear, no doubt, deters many; but 1t is nc
fear that must be chiefly relied ,upoI
to save men from crime. Crime exist
ed when men were drawn and quar-
tered and when death was the penalty
not only for murder but for many
death penalty was inflicted in public
places and when the plucking out of an
eye, the cutting of of the hand ana
various other kinds Of torture were
common punlshments. No man was
ever made better by being put In the
stocks. Severity Is useful only in cases
In which reformation Is hopeless and
In which absolute removal from all So
cial intercourse Is therefore necessary
We are rapidly coming to believe that
kindness and close supervision are the
best preyentives of crime. There Is no
more cruel, inhuman or unwise provis-
on, says ]. Franklin Fort in the Folu
than that of the New York constitution
which requires the judge to impose for
a second offense double the penalty
fixed by law for the crime Of which the
offender is convicted. 1t simply sub
stltutes brute force for reason and
righteousness. Criminals and penal
ties must both be graded. Time has
demonstrated the wisdom Of so doing
Until within few years-say fifteen as
the greatest perlod-all the States con
fined convicted persons, whatever their
age OF offense, In the same prison, and
the penalty imposed had to be served
by all inmates alike for the term i'm
posed. Such is still the case In many
States. But gradually there ha'
grown up as first step in crimlna
reformation a system of reduction Of
time for good behavior. This was es
tablished at first largely as measure
to assist prison discipline. 1t was
found to be successful In it's operation
and it has led up naturally to two othel
systems now existing in several State!
namely, conditional pardon and par
ole.