The daily journal. (Salem, Or.) 1899-1903, 1902-06-23
REVEREND
ELIOT
ON JAILS
Made Too Much a Pleasure
House
Leniency to First Offenders
Is Objected to

The theme of the Sunday morning
sermon of Rev. w. G.. Eliot, Jr., pastor
of the Unitarian church, was:
Thoughts Suggested by the Outbreak
from the Penitentiary."
In the course of his sermon he spoke
substantially as follows: Criminals,
I'm all but exceptional cases, should be
thought of as men like ourselves.
Heredity Is sometimes an adverse fac
tor, sometimes the dominating factor
And so of what may be more generally
termed environment or circumstances.
But we err II we do not hold the
criminal to blame. To say that the
criminal is purely the victim of cir.
cumstances Is a false sentimentality.
TO say that he is to blame is genuine
ly a tribute to him. For to blame him
Is to hold him responsible, and to ad.
init his responsibility is to admit all
the ground there is for any hope of his
betterment"
The speaker discussed the criminal
class, and the agencies by which a
reformation of that class might be ac-
complished. Any one cure was insult
ilcient. The solution of the problem
required a leyeling up all along the
line, and the exercising of every in
fluence bearing on the human soul
"The fundamental idea as TO the pur-
pose Of imprisonment is that it is for
the protection of society. Protection
of society is the primary purpose, and
this must be compassed at any cost
The prison is not for vengeance upon
the prisoner. Some men are so wicked
that society could never get even If
it tried. Nor is IL primarily for jus
tice to the criminal. II is primarily
for Justice to society
"The indeterminate sentence (under
which a prisoner Is kept so long as In
the judgment of the prison authorities
TO let him go, and let go as soon after
the minimum of time served as Is
deemed safe) is at once most just to
society and to the prisoner himself"
Education alone is not a solution.
A rogue by nature, a mans roguery Is
multiplied by education. In 1850
there was one man In Incarceration to
every 3442 Of population; In 1890 the
proportion was one man TO every 6i4.
Firstly education is not a cause Of
crime and secondly, II is not q cure
for crime. Back of education there
must be the fortifying and edifying in.
fluence of the home and the church
1T is kindness TO the prisoner and
n prudence and economy for society
II every wise and sensible means is
employed to better the prisoners NOR
al nature, and more nearly fit him for
citizenship.
There is no one cause OF crime. and
no one cure. IL is a problem OF inf
mite complexity.
There must be greater convictions
In religious morals, since happiness
and social welfare depend on virtue
The competitive system has been held
to be solely responsible for criminal
classes. Crimes due TO cupidity, how
ever. can never be avoided by a mere
change of the economic system.
Criminals should be treated as men;
the Jail and penitentiary should be
considered n social necessity. not an
instrument of public vengeance. A
prison, If II Is TO do justice to society,
should be conducted upon the prin-
ciple of indeterminate sentences, In
Justice TO society, criminals should not
be released until they deserve free
dom. The causes of crime are many,
but crime Is largely a question of en-
vironment, and, partly, hereditary.
The environment of the reform school
and the penitentiary is not good. The
jail, which is often nothing more than
a county club house for the criminal
class, Is one Of the causes of crime.
Jails should be made more like houses
OF correction. There should be re-
moved from the county jail the privi-
leges Of collusion, social life, conspir-
acy and criminal education of and
among the criminal class.
The customary practice in the courts
.of granting leinency upon convic-
tion for the first offense was severely
criticised and pronounced a weak
ness. Rather than the first Offense II
was probably the thousandth one, but
the first time the culprit had been
caught, The first conviction should
be punished with severity that would
have a permanent moral effect. Men
are not punished out of justice 10 the
criminal, but In Justice To society.