The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-12-27


 pr. Wines was warmly received in Great
 Britain and the continent, not only by government officials and crowned heads, but by leaders in philanthropy and pen
 ology, and by learned jurists. Here was the opportunity for a new international
 alliance, which did not concern questions
 of boundary, territory or markets-an in- ternational alliance for a war against crime. The distinguished leaders of
 thought and action representing their
 countries in this alliance knew well
 enough that this war could not be car
 rled on merely with the old instruments
 of repression, merely by drastic instru- ments of torture, such as fill the museum at Nuremberg. They knew that it meant something more than simply better pris- ons; they knew that it meant better laws, a reconstruction of criminal codes, bet ter police, and a strengthening of every form of social defence. Yet this move l ment meant something even more. It Is useless to stay the flood of crime by dikes at the mouth of the stream; it must be filtered at its source. Intelll- gent penology like intelligent forestry, does not consist merely in cutting down
 crooked trees; 1t means work in the nur- sery, the protecting of the growing plants.
 Of course the new association did con- cern itself about the improvement of prison construction and prison discipline. It turned houses of punishment into houses of correction. All over Europe the
 pathway of this congress can be seen
 from Sweden to Italy, from France to
 Russia, In 8 newer and better type of prison. But its work is just as distinctly recorded in a more practical and more philosophic attitude of society towards the treatment of crime. It has en-
 couraged the study of the criminal him
 self, as well as of the law and the act which together make him a lawbreaker;
 1t has studied heredty, environment, all
 coholism and crime, the structure of
 codes, the administration of courts, the
 treatment of the offender without impris-
 onment. It has revealed and emphasized
 the social conditions which produce
 crime; it has extended a protecting hand
 over childhood and motherhood. Econom-
 ic questions such as prison labor the as-
 signment to the prisoner of portion of
 his earnings; questions of probation and
 conditional liberation: questions of juris-
 diction and extradition involving prob
 lems in international comity and interna-
 tional law have all come within the field
 of research and discussion.
 Though the United States called this congress together 1t was deemed advisa- ble to hold it's first meeting in London rather than in the United States. The part our government took in its creation
 was recognized by making pr. Wines its
 first president. It was fostered by the
 government patronized by the nobility, and attended by jurists, prison directors,
 and students of social science.
 The second congress was held six years later at Stockholm under the patronage of that benign and royal philanthropist, Oscar II. Then it was decided to have a
 permanent organization and that meet ings of the congress should be held once
 every five years. An executive council, called the International Prison Commis-
 sion. was formed, composed of one offc- jal representative from each government.
 The adhering nations engaged also to pay
 a small annual subscription based on pop
 ulation Thus organized, the congress
 was held quinquennial, meetings in Rome,
 St. Petersburg Paris. Brussels and Buda-
 pest. making with those held In London and Stockholm, seven international con gresses. Always held under the patron- age of the governments at whose capitals
 they met. their meetings have been dis tinguished by royal elegance and dignity, brilliant discussions, and new impulses to- ward social improvement The proceed 1 ings have furnished a valuable literary | library of penologlcal nlerature.
 The duty and the opportunity of the
 United States in this respect were first
 officially presented to the Department of l State by the American commissioner, l Hon. Samuel J. Barrows, eX-member of 1 the Fifty-fifth Congress. Secretary Hay | communicated 1t to Congress with h,s
 cordial recommendations. By joint | resolution of the Senate and House oi l Representatives, approved March 3, 1905 l the President was authorized and re- l ouested to invite the International Prison l Congress to hold Its eigth meeting in the l United States. With great enthusiasm 1 the invitation was accepted at Budapest l and the meeting will be held in Wash 1 ington sometime In 1910.
 l In these nearly forty years, the United l States has made some interesting and l important contributions to psychological l science. It has introduced the indetermi- nate sentence, developed a reformatory l system for adults, shown through sus- pRESENTS FOR CHRISTMAS