The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-07-13
BREEDING CONTEMPT FOR LAW.

The recent agitation concerning the
moving of the red light district brings
| forth clearly the utter inadequacy of
istence of such places. The punish
ment is merely fine, and statutes pro-
viding for fines as punishment for Of
lenses must be presumed To aim at the
prevention and not the licensing of the
offense they prohibit. But the practical
effect i'm this and other cases is differ
| ent.
The purpose of all punishment of pub
lie offenses should be chiefly, if not
entirely. to prevent the violation of the
law. The idea of retribution in punish
ment finds popular expression in many
cases where fragrant outrages of public
decency or safety are committed But
ia calmer moments men generally rec
ogniZe the fact that human justice can
not properly proceed on the theory that
il Will measure out punishment for sin
or apportion penalties of crime accord
ing TO the moral faults of the criminal
II this element enters into the case at
all il is because of its influence on the
minds of criminals and the public as
effecting the prevention of crime Ref
| ormation of criminals often called
the real purpose of punishment. but
that again is only incidental to the
larger purpose of protecting society
against crime The license that the
women of the underworld pay TO ply
their nefarious trade neither reforms
nor protects.
1t seems obvious. therefore, that i'm
every statute which prohibits an Of
Tense and provides a punishment for IL
the real purpose of the punishment is
to deter persons from committing the
offense. If that is true, the punish
ments provided at resent for vari-
Gus offenses are entirely inadequate
and serve little purpose except to bring
the law into contempt.
Carrying dangerous weapons has be-
come so prolific a cause of murder that
in some localities. at least. the public is
awakening to realize the danger. But
In most cases the laws provide. or the
judges impose. so small a penalty for
conviction that the practice goes on I'M
checked.
Automobiles have multiplied until
there are almost countless powerful ma
chimes. with the speed of railroad
trains, at large on the roads and streets.
Almost every day the press has tales
of accidents and deaths resulting from
collisions, and several serious affairs
have recently occurred in Salt Lake.
OF the great number of those who run
automobiles. most. no doubt, manage
them carefully and safely. but incom-
petent. intoxicated or reckless drivers
have become numerous enough to con-
stitute a serious peril The penalties
prescribed or imposed for violating the
law are usually too insignificant to be
dreaded. The paltry fines are often
paid with smile Men who have an
important business engagement to keep,
or who are out for some exhilarating
sport, care nothing for the fine which
they may incur. The fines, in fact,
amount only TO a license fee for reck-
less drivers. which they have to pay
only if they get caught.
These are only some instances of
what is true of various other viola
tons for which the punishments inn
posed are utterly ineffective to compel
obedience TO the laws. 1t may he de-
batable whether il would not be better
20 have no penalties and no laws on
the subject than 10 have penalties
which do not deter and which merely
bring the laws into contempt.