The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-11-20
TIE MINNEAPOLIS JOURNAL.

tence; with the indeterminate sentence. yes to
very large degree. It is true that 1t VIII place
a. great responsibility upon those In rusted with
lts execution; but such law, bel eve. can be
administered with larger degree Of tmpartiality
ana an, with nearer approach to equal justice to
al than the system new in vogue.
~. generaiiy admitted that Imprisonment
mas fundamentally twofold object namely.
the projection OF society first, and second the
reformation Of the criminal and that all OF sr
phases Of the crime problem center around ~
must be in favor of or against the accom,,, -
ment OF this twofold purpose, - :
society claims the right Of protection against
laWlessness, and has right to demand thof
Waen one Of Its members separates himself by
by the state until 1t has become reasonably
apparent that he will become law-abiding, Then.
and not until then, shall he be allowed his
liberty and the rights and privileges that go
Present Laws Inadequate.
The administration Of our criminal laws as
states, is travesty upon justice. They do
not protect society; neither do they encourage
the reformation Of the criminal. Why? Be-
cause the criminal reasons that he can defeat
the law and the ends of Justice, and he has
GOOD reasons for this conclusion. The admins
tratfon OF the law under the; definite sentence
pan encourages him in this course Of reason
ing, and what Is the result? The gradual in.
crease of crime and the extravagant expenditure
OF the peoples money, amounting to millions
OF collars annually, to protect society from the
1nroads Of crime, :, ~ ~
The Puritanic old New England state, Massa-
chusetts, claims that she expends S. 500 OOU
annually for police protection against crime and
1or courts and prisons. Our state Is not quite
SO pad as this, for which we have reason to be
thankful. We must teach the criminal that he
must refrail from crime or remain permanently
IN prison Il we do this his course Of reason
Ing VIII soon change. Convince him that his
crime tendencies, his character. his habits al
ready acquired, or that may be acquired either
IN or out of prison, shall form the basis of
MS nnal liberation on probation, and later by
larger liberty and the rights Of citizenship, and
we We, Will have laid foundation for his reforma-
ZION, II he Is reformable, and II he is not, we
VII! have subjected him to a test--a character
belongs.
in prison one moment longer than is necessary
10 protect society adequately and secure reason
able evidence that he has reformed and will
nenceforth obey the law? I think not. While
and some of them abnormal, his methods Of rea-
soning are not unlike those pursued by the
average man with well-regulated. habits and
character He readily detects an injustice i'm
posed upon himself or others; he knows when
he is being justly punished, and his keen OBJ
servat1on and character-study of his fellows in
prison with him, made doubly sharp by the cir
eumseribed limits Of his prison world, enables
him to discover when the time Is ripe for re-
lease from prison. Delay this when 1t is
merited and society is the sufferer as we'll as
the repenting victim. Release him If still I'M
repenting, vicious, vindictive and criminal then
has also suffered an injustice, as he might have
been reformed if not prematurely released.
Indeterminate Sentence the Solution.
How then are these evils to be remedied
My answer is by the indeterminate sentence. It
Tho
you would an insane person to the hospital for
the insane to remain there until reasonable evil
dence is adduced that he is cured; but If he
cannot be cured to remain there indefinitely.
believe this can be done with reasonable
accuracy, and with comparative justice to all,
provided the prison is properly managed and Its
interest controlled by competent supervising
board before whom each prisoner shall appear
personally from time to time occasion war
rants, to be heard in his own behalf, the war
den OF the prison being required in each case
before and after conviction, together with the
result OF his observation as to the prisoners
character and ability to faithfully keep his
parole.
With the indeterminate sentence and the grad
ing and parole system in careful operation in
our prisons, controlled as I have briefly but
crudely outlined, believe that crime would de-
crease, society be more efficiently protected and
the expense Of running the criminal branch of
the government very greatly reduced.
But are we yet fully ripe for the indetermi-
nate sentence, with the broad application of its
principles, in our state prisons? We are, pro-
vided the judiciary and the good people Of this
commonwealth believe and have confidence in
it, and provided the supervisory tribunal and the
executive head Of the institution believe in it.
And provided, further, that our system Of parole
supervision and Identification can" be made more
generally effective and thoro than it is now
Otherwise, we had better go on growing grad
ually as we have been doing for some years,
until conditions are more ripe for its complete
application. 2.%;:~ = s.,,.S