The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1909-03-24

criminal i at fsuTr-,-
This criminal finally arrives Al the
peal institution. after having tesn
hardened IN the school OF experience.
with z premature knowledge OF the
world. WIKI Z sUperzbundz1c OF Grim
mai ego With malice in his heart tn
ward society, and IS enrolled as can
didate for reformation Can ne be re-
formed Have criminals ever been re-
formed in q penal r=foTnatory? No
one but the criminal himself can an
sEer this question.
PenoIogists claim. and hare demon
strated. that many OF those who are
classed as criminals can he benefited
By systematic and scientific treatment
and training, such as IS advocated By
students OF the American Prison Sys-
tenn The essential rules OF this sys-
TEN are: 1. A rigid discipline that
compels obedience 10 the rules and
regulations Of the institution 2 4
scientific physical development 3 4
development OF the intellectual facuI-
ties under competent instructors I.
An Industrial training that viii fl the
criminal for useful labor WIEN dis
charged ). A rigid system OF econ
ony which VIII demonstrate the
value Of proper accumulation. None
OF these essentials contemplate or nee
essitate sentimentalism or puerile
sympathy in their operation. They
are but the agencies which give the
criminal an opportunity to help him
self, and this Is ali society can do Or
should attempt to do.
TIE question OF criminal retorma-
ton is certainly a hypothetical one.
and too much should not be assumed
or expected in the way OF results In
making ingots of gold from the drosz
and refuse OF society there is sure TO
be some refractory ore which will
defy skiliful treatment. The convert
ing OF raw material into finished
product requires the utmost exertion
and ability Of the skilled workman.
and the reformation OF the criminal
requires the supervision OF a trained,
experienced and persistent student of
the science of penoIogy and the Amer
fcaa Prison System of reformation.
The criminal. as rule, is a stranger
TO good home environments and has
never known restraint only that which
the law imposes. He has no well de-
fined sense of honor. and in the ma
iority of cases is moved and controlled
by impulse-which is a very unstable
thing, and to make clean, honorable.
high-minded citizen out OF him. citi-
zen who will love his country and
cheerfuily obey its laws, who viii
stand for the right and scorn an I'M
truth and who would prove beneficial
to a community, by placing him under
the control Of one who has never had
any training or experience with this
element Of society and who believes
that the criminal can be transformed
by simply appealing TO his honor IS
10 perform miracle as startling as
any that was every performed BY the
master.
The cheapest and most effective
method of protecting society is to
accord the criminal humanitarian
treatment and give him an opportun-
ity to reform There is no element in
society demanding a return to the an
Gent and barbarous methods OF the
lex talionis code but it is time TO feel
concerned when those in charge Of
criminals lose sight of the rights of
society; when justice ceases to be the
standard of right; when the crime is
forgotten and the criminal pampered;
when a superintendent of a penal in
stitution openly wages war on society
in behalf of the criminal; when a
politician seeks the suffrage OF the
voters because Of having been success
full in securing the release of life
convict; when discipline is farce and
crime is increasing: and when certain
well meaning individuals are seeking
fame and notoriety by championing
the cause Of the criminal, and acting
as if it WIS the noblest work in life
to be instrumental in securing the re.
lease Of some incarcerated criminal.
Crime is waging war against all
civil and moral laws. all governments
and against civilization itself All
our interests in life are at stake and
all depends upon the forces which
keep crime under. Crime is now work.
ing with the same fierce activity that
1t has ever shown from the beginning
+ sentimentalism gathers momentum
as times goes on in proportion to what
it has in the past ten years. the bar
riers which hold crime in check viii
be broken down, history will again re-
peat itself and this glorious nation
OF ours will be doomed to destruction
as certain as were the civilizations of
ancient history-because in every in
stance where crime and vice have
gained the ascendency-the vitality Of
the people have been Slapped, their
energies weakened, their moral in
stincts blighted, their power of resis-
lance enfeebled and their downfall
inevitable.
The problem with which society Ii
now confronted is not altogether the
one Of controlling crime and the Grim.