The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-03-09
BY DIR. EDWARD WALLACE LEE.

| sand dollars are sfent every year i'll this
| country in caring for the criminal classes
whom stern justice has landed s'ieiy pc
| hind bars. Untold millions are spent by
society in general for self protection against
such as are now at large. and to prevent
as far as possible the making of more
criminals.
Science is just beginning to regard the
| criminal from a pathological standpoint first
and 4 criminal standpoint afterwards Be
hind every criminal act we are discovering
a physiological law. In other words. the
greater share Of crime IL proven TO be cori-
| mitted by men in some wise deficient. IN
| some particular sick, in some degree IRE
sponsible.
And yet | believe that there are moments
in the history of the most responsible and
normal lives when the Individual Is ahso-
lutely irresponsible. Sudden and temporary
alteration. resulting directly from some
! physical stress that produces abnormal
| pressure upon the brain. accounts Tor many
extraordinary phenomena. aIbconscioUs
acts. even hy the most temperate ana we'll
balance minds. are not at all improbable.
Automatic ccreb-atiOn. independent from
the conscious VIII: notwithstanding through
excessive joy. grief or other cerebral ex-
element. are common to society through
all classes. These moments of semiinsanity
are subjects OF the Psychologists first and
the criminologists afterwards.
Case Of CzoIgosz.
The case of Czolsosz. the late Presidents
assassin. offered a subject of controversy
among criminologistS and aiienists. So far
as may be judged. after most careful exam
nation. the murderer was found 10 be in a
state of comparative physical and mental
soundness-this. of course. some weeks after
committing his rash act. 1t does not appear
that the assassin was the victim OF a sud-
den and uneNplainable hallucinat.on. but
was the creature of physical suggestion.
The fact that physical Indications gave
evidence of normality some weeks after
the crime was committed does not. unfo-td- I
nateiy. explain the condition of mini the
ASSASSIN must have been in at the time 81
firing the fatal shot, and during the previ-
Gus days. when ne was scouting about the
exposition grounds for an opportunity TO
accomplish his ptrpoSe. ror does a mere au- !
topsy account for the continued irritation
OF the brain cells. which kept alive during
all this period of suspense. the insane en- |
thusiasm and the lust fo- hloodshed.
Shall We not some day conn. into a closer !
knowledge of just such battling phenomena
As the criminal attitude OF Czolcosz toward
society and the ~coHardly deed that was the
outcome of this abnormaiity of mind. and I
while in no wise .Stcnuating. yet offer TO |
the linking world somewhat of Il reasnna-
BILE solution for such phenomena. n thing !
that science has hitherto failed to do?
Epflcptic ~PsychicaI State.
that man is CAPABLE of lapsins into an cpl
leptic psychical state. wherein he IL per- |
fectly irresponsible. These are questions of !
PHYSIOLOGY which begin where physiology l
ends in the search for the absolute. but it I
proves the original premises namely. that
too little attention is paid 10 the bodily |
condition of criminals in our various State |
Institutions. the physical shortcomings that |
are responsible in a large measure for the
mental alteration that occasioned the lapse
into moral turpitude. I
A few years ago a young lady of refine
ment and wealth committed murder in one
of these states of psychical irresporsibil!ty
directly caused by bodily i'll. She was sem
fenced to a few hours of Imprisonment and
taken by kindly hands into a retreat.
where. after years of expert nursing. she
was restored 10 normal physical and men,
tai well being. Had she been the daughter
of poor and unlettered parents. without in
huence and money, she would stin be he
hind the bars. with no attention paid to her
ailments. mental or physical. Instances
or murder. theft. arson and other crimes
committed under temporary stress due to !
physical ills are known among the wealthy
and influential as with the lowly, but IN