Sunday Washington globe., 1902-03-09
PART III.
FoRrY-FwTH PAPER.


The greatest study of mankind is man,
believe that the best results toward re-
forming the criminal and fitting him for
restoration to society can be achieved as
we'll as ascertained by consulting the tastes
Of the criminal and catering to his emotions.
Can this be safely done and further degra-
dation of his moral nature prevented /
think so. criminal is a human being
whose moral nature has been perverted per
se but he is still endowed with attributes
not possessed by any other living or breath
ing thing but MAN. The perversion of ones
moral nature may be Of the vulgar or crimi-
nal quality, or it may be Of the agnostic or
cynical kind Men are social beings, how
ever, more than intellectual creatures. The
greatest intellect becomes visionary If de-
prived of responsive association.
The greatest intellectual power may exist
without a particle Of magnanimity. The
latter comes from the highest power in
mans mind-conscience, and from the
highest faculty, reason, and capable of ap
pretending more than the senses supply
1t is this which makes man reasonable
creature--more than a mere animal. Mr.
Darwin has truly said
That the motives Of conscience, as con
nected with repentance and the feelings of
duty, are the most important differences
which separate man from the animal.
Now, the worst criminal has motives
of conscience" in other words, human
thoughts and human reflections, which,
IL we can direct them in a social and
congregate channel, can be developed,
trained and guided into higher and reforms
atory convictions calculated to elevate him
to the plane OF receptive and tractable
human being But if we repress these
natural and God-endowed emotions or long
ing for reciprocal fellowship, and turn
such attributes inwardly upon dry and
uncharneled solitude, we make Of the in
tellectual human being visionary and of
his more animal fellow brute.
The separate or cellular system forces as
sociation with ones self and numbs the
social instincts, aud the social instincts are
the animal if you please but, nevertheless,
the human failings which have been uti-
liked to eivilize mankind and made possible
the determination of the savage. The most
intellectual at least the most spiritually
gifted of mankind, have marked tie cen
turies by the failure of all, but the vision
airy and the eccentric, to lead lives OF self
communion and separation from their fel-
lows. The origination of the monk was the
failure of the hermit to live alone, and the
erection of the palatial monastery was as
much human longing for animal assOcia-
ton as 1t was a spiritual desire for sanity
perfection IF, then, the worlds centuries
teach anything more specific than another,
of mankind it is the immortal and imperish-
able, while life lasts, desire for companion
A. cfv awigfc
it is because of this human attribute which
made man tractable to laws depriving him
of natural rights, that he might enjoy the
eompanionship of his kind, even under the
restrictions imposed by this society or civil
lization. We remember the boastful OPEN
ing Of Alex nder Selkirk's reflections on
the island / Juan Fernandez:
] am mOnarch Of all ! survey,
Ny rights there are none to dispute
From the center all round to the sea
am lord over fowl and of brute.
But as he proceeds with these reflections
he mournfully exclaims
o, Solitued! where are the charms
Which sages have seen in thy face2
Better dwell in the midst Of alarms
Than reign in this horrible place.
The poet properly expressed Selkirk's s
hnman yearnings and the horror Of solitude
or separation from ones fellows. We all ad-
init and admire the instincts of the lower
animals, the loves of the feathered tribe,
the mating aud fellowship of sexes. The
community of birds of beasts, Of fishes, are
all after the order of Nature, and the instinct
for association and communal, if may use
the word, fellowship, is the most masterfuL
Of their instincts. We do not seek in their
eases to alter the laws of Nature-of their
being aud if it is done, the result is fatal.
II is true a bird will live in a cage and an
animal thrive In captivity, but If given op-
portunity they will seek the society of their
species If. then, instinct in the lower order
Of creation is so strong and masterful that
we cannot misdirect il without a violation
Of natural laws, what must we expect from
an attempt to unnaturally control that
higher faculty-human reason-by viola
tion of the social attributes in manf And is
II reasonable to assume that reformation
and improvement will be the result? 1t
must be admitted, that separation is punish
ment If 1t were only punishment IL
might be accepted as a part Of the
expiation, provided that punishment be the
object and remedy for crime. But it is
more than physical punishment, it is mental
torture and paralysis
If we protect society by the incarceration
Of prisoners behind stone walls, we fulfill
the FIRST and primary duty towards the
honest world. Indeed, it Is not too much
70 assert, that the great body Of society,
after its 6rst command is obeyed, and It
hnds itself safe from the depredations
Of the criminal BY his incarceration, troubles
itself 20 more about him. II is not then
subversive Of society, nor discipline, nor
humanity, to consult the prisoners feelings
as to his mode og expiation. The feelings
of the prisoner must be in harmony with
the interests of society. the discipline of
the prison, and why not also with the de.
mands Of humanity Tile nearer we move