Los Angeles herald., 1909-08-15
VIEWS CRIME AS
SOCIAL DISEASE
MODERN SCIENCE OCCUPIES
ADVANCED GROUND
Prison Reform League Writer Gives
List of Works and Associations
Easily Accessible by
Students

Organizations, editors and others are
writing the Prison Reform league with
Increasing frequency, inquiring as to
the best works on the subjects con-
sidered in these letters. There seems
to be an impression that the literature
on this particular branch of the social
question is comparatively scarce and
hard to obtain.
This was true in the immediate past,
but is not true today. An immense lit
erature is coming into existence with
great rapidity, and 1t Is of the highest
quality. It could not be otherwise. On
every hand existing institutions are be-
ing submitted to the keenest criticism
and by no possibility could crimlnology
escape. on the contrary, it is being
recognized more and more clearly that
there is not an Objectionable feature of
our social life that does not find Its
sharpest reflection in our treatment OF
the most helpless OF all living creatures
the man or woman under lock and
key.
To this the scientific trend of modern
thought has lent a great impetus, for
scientific thought is not satisfied with
effects but insists on hunting for the
causes. Its whole inclination today Is
to regard crime as a disease, an abnor-
mality due to diseased and abnormal
conditions.
A most excellent work is w. D. Nor
rison's Crime and It's Causes" The
opening sentence is as follows; TT Is
only within the present century (tne
book was written in 189D, and in some
countries within the present generation,
that the possibility has arisen of con-
ducting the study of crime problems or
anything approaching an exact and
scientific basis" He then points out
that this depended on the previous de-
Of etc a
Mr. Morrison was connected for many
years with one of England's leading
prisons, and a study of his work Will
go far toward a clear comprehension Of
the multifarious causes of crime. He Is
too enlightened to ascribe it solely to
poverty as so many radicals glibly 90.
criminal Sociology" by Enrico
Ferri, and "The Criminal" by Have
lock Ellis, give in clear, readable forn
the view that modern science takes of
crime and criminals. These are all
comparatively small works and can be
mastered in a short time. A larger vol
ume is 1.-THE Diseases Of Society" by
DR.. G. Frank Lydston. 1t is written
to a great extent from the medical
standpoint, and gives much space to
sexual pathology, but also contains
valuable information on capital pun
ishment, probation, the tndeterminate
sentence and other practical reforms
that are being forced to the front by
the modern school.
Great Advance Made
To get a view of the distance trav-
ersed since the days of Howard, Rom
lily, Elizabeth Fry and the early school
of reformers read such a work as Pun
ishment and Reformation" by Fred
ericlk A. Wines, or perhaps better stun,
prisons, Police and Punishment by
Edward Carpenter, a well known ana
charming English author 1t gives IN
q nutshell the historical proof of the
failure of the vengeance policy, and.
incidentally information concerning
such supposedly backward countries as
Japan and Russia that will force you
to draw comparisons by no means Ia
Vorable to the United States.
Recent fiction has given us some
strong realistic pictures of prison life
as it actually is, written by men VINO
knew their subject thoroughly and
were ablaze with indignation. We have
taken constant occasion to refer to
mo. 9OO9," by James Hopper and Fred
r Bechdolt, and 1.-The Turn of the
Balance" by Brand Whitlock.
Both are we'll worth reading, and
we would add Life in Sing Sing" by
No. 1900. (Bobbs-Merril company, In
dianapons). The author started and
edited during his term of imprisonment
the well known prison journal THE
Star of Hope" and writes like an
educated, reflective man. AS sample
of his style we quote the following
passage In which he deals with the
breaking of the individual will, which
is one of the worst features of prison
life.
"I have observed" he says, that
life inside the prison is made as little
like life outside the prison as 1t ls
possible There are food and clothing,
work and rest. but all the moving I'M
pulses Of society that work for good
are taken away. a mockery on
code Of morals is set up as a standard
of good behavior, and the ordinary
wavs of advancement and livelihood to
which the released convict must revert
If he seeks an honest life, are closed.
He gets about all he can get whether
he deserves it or not l should sug-
gest that the man on entering prison
should be made to earn the very shell
ter that covers him. He should be
made to earn his fod, his clothing, his
bed, his soap and every article he
uses. not as he may be said to do now,
but in the same way a man in any
community must earn the means by
which he lives
Crimes Against Criminals
No review of the literature on this
question would be complete that omit
ted to take notice Of Col Ingersolls
celebrated speech ON "Crimes Against
Criminals" delivered in 1890, at AL
bany before the New York Bar as
sociation. 1t is doubtful if the scieut-
fic and humanitarian standpoint was
ever presented in more eloquent Ian
rt-t. l., 10, Eel i'm t11r N
form and is easily Obtainable
The infamous conditions existing in
the convict camps of the south We're
made the subject Of a special letter
recently issued by the Prison Reform
league. Poolc's index to periodical lit
erature viii give the visitor to any
public library Ihe ready opportunity
ut confirming all we said, with inf
nitelv more that lack of space pre-
vented cur saying. We have found
books on this particular subject hard
to get and doubt if "The American
Siberia" by j. o.. Powell. captain Of
the Florida convict camp, published in
1898 by the W. b. Conkey company
can be procured easily, 1t drips with
horrors and is curious as an appar-
emily straightforward account by a
professional herder and hunter of his
fellow men who was desirOus of show
ing that the leasing system was not as
bad as it had been painted.
Both for details OF reforms in oper-
alton and proposed, and for q bird S.
eye view of the extent to which mod
ern thought is supplanting autiquated
prejudice there is probably nothing
better than the reports Of he various
prison congresses, in this country and
abroad. and the publications of the
leading societies that make q speciality
of thla nnestLOn TheY laTgalV ronre-