The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-07-12
WRITTEN FOR THE SUNDAY REPUBLIC.

| WRITTEN FOR THE SUNDAY REPUBLIC
| 1t cannot be denied that our prisons OF
| to-day are a miserable failure that they
| are far from fulfilling what they were in
| tended for. and that the only good they do
| Is to keep certain individuals out of harm
! as long as they are actually locked up but
| who almost invariably return to their GRIM
| inal pursuits as soon as they are allowed to
| leave their cell.
| The ideal prison should be a school: 1t
| should teach its inmates the practical value
of honesty. should develop their feelings of
moral responsibility and create within them
| the wish of becoming useful members of
! society.
They should be treated as children, whose
| faculties are not yet fully developed in
| whom all the vices of primitive man, az he
existed thousands Of years ago, have come
| to the surface.
When have tried in my articles on GRIM
| inals to show and describe the repulsive
type Of the born criminal there have always
| been people who have insisted that 1 was
exaggerating to make facts suit the theo-
ries of my brain. and that the deformed
and repusive being which 1 had described
had really no existence, but that the GRIM
inal was very little, If at all. different from
the normal human being and in most cases
could be proved to be the unfortunate vic
tim of adverse circumstances
This criticism Of my theories, though at
times very bitter and personal, has never
made me finch from my firm conviction.
but at the same time l have always re-
joiced to see men of acknowledged talent
and ability come to my assistance
How we'll 1 remember how l appreciated
the House of the Dead by Dostoiewsky,
in which the great Russian author, who
had studied the born criminal SO closely
and deeply, shows that have not erred or
exaggerated in my description
Just now, only a few weeks ago, another
most valuable book has appeared. which in
the strongest way Endorses my words
1t is written by the great Russian poet
Melkine, who, like Dostoiewsky. was con-
demned to work in the mines of Siberia
and describes to the minutest details the
character of his miserable companions.
This book Is most eloquent testimony
against our whole prison system; 1t shows
how very little Is accomplished and how
widely the born criminal differs from the
normal human being.
Our whole system is radically wrong. Its
col illusions are drawn judging the criminal
to be an ordinary human being affected in
the same way as you or by outside events.
We live In the most foolish idea that the
punishment which We mete out will In time
improve and reform these primitive natures,
who from the very day of their birth are
pervert and morally bad.
But even because they are born bad be-
cause they are as radically different from
the normal man as night from day, our
primitive measures miss the target and
have just the opposite effect from what
was intended.
The life in prison can never reform the |,
individual whose soul has not been touched |
It will only serve to increase his hypoc- |
risy, and teach him which precautions he |
must take when he commits his next crime |
The fear of the Penitentiary exists 1 have
70, nd only in men who are naturally hon
est and who have been sent to prison by |
judicial error or who have committed a !
crime in moment when they had lost con-
troll of themselves
Now, If this is SO. what good are, then,