The morning journal-courier., 1908-07-30
Thursday, July 90, 1908.
THE INDETERMINATn SENTENCE.

THE INDETENMlNATE sENTENCE.
 William F. Walker the self-con. fessed embezzler of the New Britain Savings bank. is securely confined in the states prison at Wethersfield, tho guest of the state of Connecticut for g term not less than one year nor more than twenty years in accordance witt the particular lndeterminate sen. tence law which prevails in thl. state. On account of this sentence old Hartford county Is in fine state of perturbation. Public opinion there would appear to demand hotter penalty, one that would make evl disposed people sit up and take notice all on the increasingly obsolete theory that the way to lessen crime is to hi t the indulgents in 1t the hardest kint of whack whenever chance presents itself
 Former States Attorney Arthur r Eggleston is the most distinguished representative of this theory as ap' piled at least to Walker A more dis appointed man could not be found 1T . Hartford country after Judge shum. way gave his decision and sent tho prisoner to prison for not less thar { one nor more than twenty. Fl, could not accept the interpretation Walker himself placed upon the sen. tence: Its twenty years and then ( 2 pine box for me-" Mir Eggleston sait E to reporter of the Courant: T don < approve of the (indeterninate) law o the sentence" Tn his judgment an in definite sentence is mistake In judg
 ment. It is particularly mistake fl
 Judgment in this instance. It would have made a deeper impression ant
 had a far more reaching moral ef | feet had the minimum been five in { stead of one year. He also objects t'
 the warden of the prison and It's al rectors possessing the power to parol such prisoner; he would give 1t t
 the board of pardons. Practically tn
 same idea was in the mind of the res
 ident of New Britain who remarked
 when he heard the verdict: That
 the kind of law that breeds anarch
 in this country"
 There Is ground for discussion jI Mir Eggleston's contention that a min
 mum of year is not very impressv {, for It's moral effect. Likely enoug five years would have suited bette those who were looking for revenge E In condemning the indetermnat law, however, MT. Eggleston shoul be more careful to condemn the par
 ticular law which Is on the statute
 of Connecticut. Unfortunately hi
 words might be construed as con demning a real indetermnate sentenc
 
 law, and we should dislike 10 believ that he belongs to that class of publl prosecutors, which can only see 1 the enforcement of the power of tn
 state the opportunity to punish, utter
 ly regardless of the chance of Gforn A real indeterminate law would hay
 said nothing about a maximum or sent Walker to prison to stay ther
 until competent judges should decid
 that the demands of society were sa
 isfied and that the state would be rt
 lieved of its responsibility. A cloud
 sentence of that character woul
 have impressed the people mightil
 Mir. Eggleston's contention that tf
 power to parole which now rests wit
 the warden of the prison and the d
 rectors, should be transferred to tl board of pardons, will not bear inves
 tgation. We are sure that his COT clusions have not been careful thought out, and that as a matter ( fact he has been hurried to them | his personal chagrin at seeing Walkt get less than he thinks should be con ing to him. As the law now stant the men who are entrusted with u
 power of parole are peculiarly htte r to exercise 1t. Warden Garvn is man of great experience and sour Judgment in all matters relating the criminal Jurisdiction of the stat His directors by protracted experent are almost to a man trained in the a Aof rightly estimating the worth There Is no comparisC Between the particular ability, requi 1s@,d in this connection, possessed by Il
 Sboard of parole and the board of pa kdons. It would be mistake to tran
 ter the power from the one to Il