New-York tribune., 1903-11-04
THE DECAY OF FLOGGING
II Spanking Machine to Supersede
the Hand Method.

ioned hand method with. it is said. the most
satisfactory results. The humiliation Of being
mt under the machine has more effect on the
children than the punishment. and it is believed
that this improvement will help much in the
discipline of the institution" as the printed
accounts put it.
The announcement Of this Improvement" is
several weeks OLD now. but it seems still not
to have created the widespread attention that
it deserves. In fact, it's significance has not
been recognized at all. A few have said.
'Humph another displacement OF hand labor
by machinery. The time for getting excited
about that passed long ago" Others, remem-
bering their youth. perhaps gave passing won
der that any machine could be found which
would in reality act so effectively and on the
exact tender spot as well welded rattan. But
the true significance of the announcement has
quite escaped attention. 1t has probably oc-
CURED to nobody to be surprised that whipping
still exists at all as punishment for the young
of this enlightened land.
And yet this is a cause for surprise. In penal
institutions alone is tradition conserved Any
boy OF the present generation who has escaped
arrest. reading Judge Shute's comical book.
''The Real Diary Of Real Boy" will tell you, if
you ask him, that the judge has set forth with
wonderful fidelity the swimming hole pleasures.
the fall and winter sports, the spring sicknesses
of boyhood. But he will add. That kid OF his
gets too many lckin's. Nobody gets spanked
that often nowadays" And your young critic
is right. For the book is a picture of man
ners. historical record punctuated with the
birch rod no Oftener than historical accuracy
demands. But the boys OF to-day have been
brought UP under a different educational regime.
and to them tie book. piece Of life, lacks
verisimilitude in inverse proportion to the num-
har If II fC nSVCnOlOCV
versus the switch. When Charles Lamb, In his
reminiscent paper on schoolboy life. tells OF his
envy Of the little cherubim who fcated about
so happily in heaven because they had no place
to be spanked on. we regard 1t as one OF the
most fantastic Of his humorous conceits. not
rejecting that in the mirth of IL was held in
solution many a bitter tear. for though God
might temper the wind. in those grim days OF
Latin verses and hoggirgs. there was no surety
that a schoolmaster would temper the rod, to
the shorn Lamb. But all that has passed We
live in a whipless age. The birch and rattan
have passed out of the national consciousness.
Therefore the real surprise in the announce
ment Of anew fogging machine is the reminder
that f1ogging still exists. though only the very
naughty share the blessing.
Go into modern kindergarten Un the roast
beef days of our grandfathers there were no
kindereartens, and men became individuals or
poets. turned loose. as they were. to react on
Nature). A young woman, correctly instruct
In "genetic psychology and other branches of
the pedagogic art, squats on the floor and hops
about, exclairning, Now we are all little bun
MES" None of the children dispute her. though
some Of them look wistfully incredulous- What
would happen If one OF them should ask her
what a real bunny looks like is problematicaL
But none Of them do ask her They all
Gods little gardens" these children. and don't
ask questions No well bred garden would do
such thing. They. too. squat and hop. and
are Dummies. And, of course, no one would think
of spanking the dear little things. 1t may be
that and then strong minded young
woman, whose notions Of "genetic psychology"
are supplemented by little Of the old fashioned
idea Of common sense, is sOrely tempted. There
are little gardens of Cod which sometimes
bear all the soil marks Of the other commanding
figure of the theoIogians But she refrains her
self in time. and at neon the bunnies become
children again. ard go home to their normal
living, unspanked.
That is the first stage. AS education
progresses the same disregard Of the first agent
Of discipline, hallowed by long use, is shown
The new psychology teaches that each child Is
an individuaI-Hesven knows this IS true. and
some of them are very satanic ones!-and should
be treated as an Individual and have his or her
moral nature appealed 70. Corporal punishment
has been banished old-fashioned and bar
barrie. SO far this means the banishment Of
fear and the substitution of interest far
as it signifies that gentleness and intelligence
have taken the place OF brute force and peda-
gogical ignorance, all is well. But does it not
sometimes mean that corporal punishment has
only given way to far more harmful thing,
piteous pleading? This is partially the result.
without doubt, Of inevitable change from
male to female in the sex of school teachers.
Your female teacher as a rule Is far less
tempted by the primeval Eve in her nature to
WELD a rod than your male teacher by his
primevaI Adam. But in truth 1t cannot be said
that her moral suasion is always so effective.
and in many cases of incompetent teachers
moral suasion becomes nothing but abject plead
ing with her pupils Ito behave" and the effect
on the tone of a schoolroom and the minds of
the pupils pleaded with is anything but edu-
cational and healthy.
In one of the famous grammar schools Of BOs-
ton where for thirty years or more new ideas
in education have been born or tested, there
ruled during all that time master who hated
corporal punishment as much as ever the
gentlest of his teachers. Long before the new
psychology had put it's pan on the rod. he had
quietly substituted other methods Of punish
ment in his school He spoke his pupils fair.
and .hey loved and obeyed him. and In after
life many of them thanked him for all that they
amounted to in the world, for his school was
in the midst of a poor part Of the city Yet
in his office in a secret drawer. there repOsed
rattan and sometimes ii was taken out Then
the young culprit who stood before the master
with the kind face knew there vas something
In store for him far more effectual than moral
suasion The culprIt mad been sent To the
master by his teacher because he had refused
IN WELD 20 her moral suasion. and the master