Los Angeles herald., 1909-07-18


voices break the silence with indignant
protests, but as a whole the south
contributes nothing to the vast liter
ature that has formed elsewhere ana
is pleading cloquently for more sell
entifc. rational and humane treatment
of crime and criminals. on this great
question it is still asleep.
Unfortunately other states are round
in this primitive class and it is to be
noted that they are the very ones in
which it is proverbial that life is cheap.
They lie in the lately settled west,
where everything has been in the
rough and men have been mainly intent
on speculation and the rapid acquisl-
tion of fortunes. Montana and Arizona,
for instance, seem to have adopted as
vet none of the modern changes, but it
is to be said that in the west there is,
at least, much discussion of the sub
iect and that the National Prison aSso-
citation has selected Seattle for its con-
gress to be held in August Of this year.
Make Trlfling Advance
Next to the primitive class described
above comes one in which some atten-
tion is given to the subject of parole
since its grant is made the business of
a special board, acting usually with the
approval of the governor of the state.
Nevada, Idaho, North Dakota and Utah
are in this class, as are also the south
ern states of Kentucky, Virginia ana
West Virginia. California has emerged
from it only recently, having adopted
the probation principle in 1903 ana
made provision at the last session of
her legislature for the employment of
DISCHARGED convcts. The parole priv
ilege also was extended to recidivists.
One of the incongruities that have
marked the progress Of prison reform Is
l. T-1, t1rrh hp
longing geograp aphically to the advanced
New England group, still fingers in this
backward class. 1t was, however, one
of the first states to abolish capital
Maine also occupies pc
culiar position. Although 1t did away
with the death penalty years ago it
still cings to the penitentiary and the
definite sentence, and has adopted the
probation system in only one county.
The political conditions of both states
are peculiar
In reality the adoption of the inde-
terminate sentence is the crucial test
of the advance made by a state along
the lines of modern thought for the
advocacy of the indeterminate SEN
tence proceeds invariably along the
lines that the business Of the state is
not to revenge but to protect itself,
while endeavoring to bring about such
reform of the individual as shall cause
him to leave his place of detention a
better man than when he entered 1t. A |
system of probation cannot be operated
successfully, it is true, without the ap-
plication of the indeterminate sentence,
but the basic fact is that the state
which declares for the indeterminate
sentence thereby announces to the
world that it has abandoned the time
honored philosophy of revenge as futile
and out of date. To be logical it should
Immediately follow the lead of the five
states that have abolished capital pun
Still in the Vanguard
Our last letter gave a list of the fif-
teen states that have adopted the in
sentence. The list in
cludes three-Kansas, Michigan and
have abolished capital
These states, therefore,
have remained true to their conception
that revenge should be eliminated from
the treatment of crime, while it is evil
dent that Rhode Island, which abol-
ished capital punishment in 1852, and
Maine, which did away with it in 1876
restored it in 1888 and finally abolished
1t in 1887, have not understood the logic
of their previous course.
Apart from these considerations,
however. we desire to emphasize, as a
that the states that for years past
have occupied the most advanced po-
sition, are endeavoring to divorce
themselves from revenge and devote
themselves to protection and reform,
are those that figure in the official re-
turns as fTeest from murder and
crimes of violence. They are the states
Of the central division and New Eng
land, to which must be added, despite
the notoriously corrupt government of
the metropolis, the name of New
York. These are also the states that
are putting out more and more a liter
ature that teens with facts and argu-
ments in favor Of the modern and
humane school
Leaders in Homicide
New York and Chicago are the two
largest cities in the country, with a
most cosmopolitan population. large
percentage of which is always on the
ragged edge of destitutlon. Nine per-
sons out of ten would guess that they
lead in the statistics of homicide, but
we showed in our letter of June 20
that the first five in the list were all
southern cities, and that then came
san Francisco and Los Angeles, the
two leading cities of California, a
state notorious for the severity with
which 1t has punished crime in such
Folsom.
Both the states of New York and I'LL
nois doubtless saved themselves from
being at the head of the column by
the prison reforms they introduced.
New York was the first state in the
Union to enact the inldeterminate SEN
tence, and the probation system there
has been in the most extensive vogue.
1t has established reformatories and
has endea vOred constantly to keep
abreast with modern thought, as is
shown by the fact that 1t has now un-
der consideration, largely at the in
stance of the WOmen's Prison asso-
citation. the segregation Of habitual Of
Tenders and the treatment, under IN
determinate sentences. of chronic
druukards, for whose permanent cure
short sentences and ordinary prison
conditions are entirely Intellectual.
Similarly in Chicago, and especially
since the administration of the late
Governor Altgeld who was an untir-
ing worker along these lines, there has
been a constant striving for improved
methods. All Illinois penal institu-
tions work under the indeterminate
sentence, and the remarkable results
achieved i'm the municipality court of
Chicago by Nick emile Cleland have
been noted in our previous letters. Hi
rois. which has taken the lead in the
formation Of national probation
league is apparently on the verge Of
following her philosophy to its logical
conclusion and abolishng capital pun
ishment
Michigan Wisconsin and Kansas
have all proved true to the instinct
that prompted them to abolish capital
punishment and have established
various reform institutions but it is
to be regretted that the first named
has not yet adopted the indeterminate
rnntnncn rs the nthere haNa lnne with