Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-12-26

tude of society towards the treat- ment of crime. IL has encouraged
 the study of the criminal himself, as
 well as of the law and the act which
 together make him lawbreaker, 1t has studied heredity, environment, alcoholism and crime: the structure of codes, the administration of courts, the treatment of the offender
 without Imprisonment. It has re-
 vealed and emphasized the social
 conditions which produce crime; 1t
 has exended a protecting hand over
 childhood and motherhood. Economic
 questions such as prison labor, the
 assignment to the prisoner of q por-
 ton of his earnings; questions of | probation and conditional liberation; questions of jurisdiction and extra dltlon involving problems in Inter- ! national comity and international law have all come within the field of l research and discussion.
 Though the United States called
 this congress together it was deemed
 advisable to hold its first meeting in
 London rather than in the United l ntdltS. I Ht part oul
 took in its creation was recognized
 by making Dr Wines its first pres-
 dent The meeting was a brilliant
 success. It was fostered by the gov
 ernment. patronized by the nobility,
 and attended by jurists, prison direc-
 tors and students of social science.
 The second congress was held six
 years later at Stockholm under the
 patronage of that benign and royal philanthropst, Oscar II. Then it
 was decided to have permanent or
 ganization and that meetings of the
 congress should be held once every
 five years. An executive council,
 called the international prison com
 mission, was formed, composed of
 one official representative from each
 government. The adhering nations
 engaged also to pay a small annual
 subscription based on population.
 Thus organized the congress has
 held quinquennial meetings in Rome,
 St Petersburg, Paris, Brussels and
 Budapest, making with those held at
 London and Stockholm seven inter-
 national congresses. Always held
 under the patronage of the govern-
 ments at whose capitals they met,
 their meetings have been distin-
 guished by royal elegance and digni- ty, brilliant discussions and new im-
 pulses toward social improvement.
 The proceedings have furnished a valuable literary library of penologi-
 cal literature.
 The duty and the opportunity of
 the United States in this respect were
 first officially presented to the depart ment of state by the American com missioner, Hon Samuel J. Barrows,
 eX-member of the fifty-fifth congress.
 Secretary Hay communicated 1t to congress with his cordial recommen- dations. By joint resolution of the
 senate and house of representatives approved March 3, 1905, the presi- dent was authorized and requested to invite the international prison con-
 gress to hold its eighth meeting in the United States. With great en- thusiasm the invitation was accepted at Budapest, and the meeting will be held in Washington some time in 1910.
 In these nearly forty years the , United States has made some inter- esting and important contributions to psychological science. It has intro- duced the inderterminate sentence, l developed reformatory system for 8 adults, shown through suspended : sentence and probation the possibility of correcting many thousands of off, , lenders without Imprisonment. Q Finally 1t has crowned all by the F establishment of chldren's courts, a . Chicago idea, which is rapidly spread = ing over the United States and Eu- rope.
 The programme of questions for Washington, while dealing with mat ;, ters of worldwide interest, will be e especially attractive to Americans. A , prominent feature will be the atten- f ton devoted to preventive and child l. saving agencies.
 - Now that the United States has the F cooperation of European govern q ments in this congress, Secretary
 Root is seeking to secure the cooper o ation of the Central and South Amer = ican republics. Under the plans the z secretary and the American commis- n sioner have made for the congress it ;, will be wisely spent in ways which 4 will give European representatives s some ideas of the best things achieved n in the United States within the scope . of the congress, and the American ~ people will have to modestly admit V that there are some things which they can learn from abroad.
 The hospitality of the government a will be greatly reinforced by that of s- the American Prison association, d which will merge it's meetings with n that of the congress. It has appoint 't ed a committee, of which Prof J. Charles R. Henderson of the Uniycr- al sity of Chicago is chairman, to co. e operate with the government. fi CannibaI Cows.