Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1907-06-20
TREATMENT OF The
PRISON CRIMINAL
PUNISHMENT SHOULD NOT BE
BASIC PRINCIPLE.
CORRECTION Is THE OBJECT
Congenitals and Habituals Cannot Be
Greatly Benefited - Incipients,
Which Represent the Great Bulk
May Be Cured and Restored to
UusefuI Membership in Society.

Minneapolis, June 19.-Before the
thirty-fourth annual session of the
National Conference Of Charities and
Corrections Mr. Joseph f. Scott,
chairman of the committee on prisons
and police made the report for his
committee giving the collective
, thought of the members of that COM
mittee on the broad subject of the
treatment of the offenders against the
law Mr. Scott is superintendent of
the Elmira reformatory at Elmira, New
York, one Of the model institutions of
its kind in the world. He has lived
for twenty-five years among criminals
and he said in his report that this
residence had served to dissipate most
Of his theories concerning them He
pointed out the popular misunder-
standing of the criminal, saying, that
it is supposed by many that criminals
are readily recognized by certain phys
ical stigmata While many prisoners
do show these characteristics and
their corresponding physical defects
the great majority do not lie said
that while the expert in criminology
might be able to predict with degree
of certainty the particular class of
crime which the individual under OBJ
servation would commit, he could not
positively determine by examining a
man whether he was a criminal or
not
The speaker arraigned society for
its lack Of intelligence in dealing with
crime and criminals. He character
lied modern treatment of the sick, in
sane and defective as rational. The
report emphasizes the proposition that
punishment should not be the basic
principle in dealing with the criminal
any more than it should be in dealing
with the sick. or the insane or any
other class of detectives, but that in
all of these cases the principle should
be corrective.
The committee pleads that this view
may be adopted and shared alike by
the police in detecting the criminal,
by the courts in sentencing the Grim
inal and by the prison authorities in
dealing with him.
Just as the physician is able to di-
vide diseases into three groups: the
congenital the acute and chronic dis
eases, so the criminologist with equal
certainty may divide criminals into
three classes: the congenital, the in
cipient and the habitual criminal. In
the matter of treatment, following out
the comparison, the prison authorities
and society generally understand that
cOngenital and habitual criminals will
remain criminals through life. They
may in a degree benefit by proper
treatment, and the incipient criminal
who represents the great bulk Of the
present population, may be cured of
his criminality and be restored a use
full meber Of society. Society incar-
cerates the criminal primarily for it's
own protection and not for the Grim
inaPs punishment or reformation eX-
cept as such punishment means the
future protection of society. The com
mittee urges that the best means of
protecting society is the continued
Imprisonment of the cOngenital and
Z habitual and the reformation of the
| incipient. The committee claims that
the function of imposing a term of i'm
prisonment should be taken away
from the courts and the criminal
treated just as the insane person is
! treated. The function Of the court
being to find whether or not he is 2
criminal and then leaving 1t to the
prison authorities to judge when he
should be restored to free society just
as the insane hospital authorities
Judge when one of their patients ought
to be discharged.
The committee recommends the gen
eral adoption of indeterminate SEN
tence laws without maximum limit
and the expansion of the probation
system to such a degree that prison
ers may be paroled to go to work un-
der the supervision of probation Of
ficer who may collect a sufficient por-
ton of the prisoners wages to salts
Ify the mans fine
The report also deals with the
treatment of the criminal in prison
and sets a high standard Of efficiency
for prison officials. The committee
ALSO recommends that the Rertillon or
some other system of Identification
should be so general and thoroughly
established through a bureau Of the
national government that re-arresteo
criminal any where in the union
Eshou1d be unable to pass unidentified
COURT HEADS VEREIN
| OF GERMAN SOLDIERS