The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-01-16
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 other place we know of. Especially is this true of its Professors, who seem to be continually on the watch for something that no one anywhere else would think of. It has reached the stage where we can almost invariably locate any Professor who promulsates a new and strange theory.
 The latest bidder for fame Is one pr. G. Frank Lydston, who has writ ten a book on 'The Diseases of Soci- ety." The very title of the work would opens up a wide range of inves- tigation, which would include the an- tics of Harry Lehr and his kind, but the particular point the Doctor makes is that punishment as a preventive of crime is failure" and therefore the remedy for crime must be directed to | the prevention Of criminals In short, his argument seems to be that we must cease to punish criminals and direct all our attention to an effort to prevent crime and 10 the more inn portant work of preventing the people from becoming criminals.
 To certain extent we can heartily agree with his theory, for we think | much good might be done and much wrong be prevented if it were possi- ble to, get down to the real root of the evil and commence the work at the bottom. In all the large cities of the | country there Is an under stratum of criminality always present In the slums and dark alleys. and in many of the crowded tenement houses there are at all times to be found swarms of children of both sexes who are liter ally being brought up and educated in schools of vice and lawlessness. Their surroundings indicate viciousness, and the example of the people around them lead only towards criminality. It is rare that they see or hear anything that encourages desire for better things or points the way to a higher existence.
 With these children lying and steal l ing. drunkenness and blasphemy, and 1 all the other sins are taught both by l precept and example. The children.
 
 cradle. are taught that lying is vir- tue, that stealing is a desirable accom- plishment, that swearing is proper and cornmendable, and that drunkenness, gambling and gratification of lustfuI desires are all necessary and branches of education. These schools of vice and crime are never without their full quota of apt and willing pupils.
 Is it any wonder that these schools are continually sending out thousands of graduates in every species of crime? Can we feel Surprise that such sur- roundings, such examples and such teachings produce full crops of crim- inals of every grade and of all de- Rrees of viciousness, from the petty thief to the brutal thug and assassin |? Rather would 1t be cause for wonder if 1t were otherwise. 4m the words of Milton:
 The childhood shows the man
 As morning shows the day,
 and wadsworth tells us that the child Is father of the man." and Pope gives us the other familiar line: Just as the twig is bent the trees inclined ." Tn short, it is the almost universal rule that vicious and criminal children produce greater criminals in manhood and womanhood. That there are ex- captions does not prove the rule with out force.
 It is here. if we understand the posi- tion of Dr. Lydston, that the real work of eradicating crime must begin. and in this view we can bear him company. If the real philanthropists, the advocates of a better life, and the believers in a higher and nobler citi- zenship can get down into these seeth- ing masses of embryo criminality, re- move the little pupils from their vi cious and corrupting surroundings and they will be doing a work of which angels themselves might be, proud, for humanity can have no higher or nobler mission than saving the children and uplifting the fallen ones who are pow erless to elevate themselves from the mire of their inheritance.
 So far we agree with Dr. Lydston but when he argues against the pun ishment of criminals we must decline to follow him. If all the good people in the world would set themselves to work 10 save and elevate the children of crime, and to avoid the birth oi criminals, it would still be a slow and tedious work, and if ever successful il would only be after the lapse of many long years. In the meantime crime will go on and criminals must be pun ished in some way. Those who break the law must sufeer by the law and to do away with legal punishments would send us back to the days of savagery when every man would execute justice or vengeance as he saw best. That part of the theory will not stand Whether we execute the murderer oi imprison him for life we arc punish. ing him. and whether the minor crim. inal is sent to hard labor or shut ur in prison he is punished. In some form we must continue. to punish those who do wrong, both because they de. serve 1t and because 1t may serve as a warning to others. Prevention anc reformation where possible. and pun. ishment when necessary seems to bS the only way.