Los Angeles herald., 1909-08-22

the famous fOWers of the musical
world, lacking the depth and dramatic
power to handle operate interpreta-
ton. She has deceived even her closest
friends and most enthusiastic admirers
in this regard.
The complete program for the moon
to us that he voiced the scientific posi-
| tion when he told his followers: ut
must needs be that offenses come, hut
woe unto them by whom they come"
As a modern scientist would put it:
| IF we persist in maintaining condi-
tions that generate crime we shall be
punished by having criminals"
Early Prison Reformers
All the early prison reformers were
profoundly religious Christians John
Howard, who in the latter part of the
eighteenth century gave the first great
| impetus, is the most notable example.
| The Quakers and other deeply religious
| sects have a most honorable record in
this connection, and the clergy figure
| largely today among those societies
that render aid to prisoners and dis
! charged convicts.
But toward the elimination of crime
they contribute practically nothing and,
as class, their work is confined main
| ly at present to the spurious form of
charlty which may cover temporarily
but ultimately creates a multitude Of
| sins.
! With the strenuous thought which
seizes on crime as a social phenome-
non, tears it to pieces and puts it un-
der the microscope, that it may be
seen as it actually is and removed
permanently as a social disease, they
apparently have, as a profession, not
even bowling acquaintance.
| Since the scientific school forged to
the front and forced the consideration
of this question much has been done
that is of value, because it puts into
operation vital principles. The adop-
tion of such measures as probation and
| the indeterminate sentence are not
mere palliatives; they are assertions
of the sound, scientific principle that
| societys effort should be directed not
to vengeance but to self-protection In
this work scientists laymen and many
lawyers, conservative though that pro-
fession naturally is, have borne an ac-
tive part They have thought out and
eXpounded the principles that COM
PEELED action.
Where Do They stand7
Almost without exception the scien-
lists have been in favor of the aboli-
ton of capital punishment, because it
does not protect; violence, as in the
southern states, being most frequent
| where the methods of attempted sup
preston have been most violent. Those
who confine their attention to facts
are we'll aware of this. But we fear
that a poll of the clergy would find a
large percentage in favor of the death
penalty and taking refuge behind the
Mosaic law. We ourselves pointed out
recently that the last report to congress
on this subject gave list Of AIS lead
ing works that the committee had con-
suited and that 391 of these favored
the abolition of capital punishment as
against only twenty-seven that urged
its retention. Twelve of these latter
had been written by clergymen or had
appeared in clerical magazines.
Quite recently the Presbyterian
Standard Of Charlotte, N. c., declared
that it must "rejoice at the restora-
tion of the guillotine" in France, and
added: apart from the gospel, moth
ing would work more for the saliva
ton of the country than a gOodly num-
Der of ell-conduCted, well-consd-
cred and Well-timed hangings." This
month there appears in a California
magazine the following by a well
known Los Angeles clergyman: Il
have always viewed with some sus-
picion the entire removal of capital
punishment I have no sympathy with
the idea that the community shall take
vengeance upon the offender, but have
not felt sure that the community could
check lawlessness without it. I be-
lieVe the state has a right to all our
lives, and particularly the life of an
offender who threatens it's stability"
We are of the opinion that this last
sentence is one of the most eXtraOr-
binary the pen of a Protestant minis
ter could have written. 1t should be
of the essence of his religion that
every immortal soul is of inestimable
value-entirely beyond mortal ken-and
| il was the QuintessenCe of the ProteS-
tant reformation, to the triumph of
which this gentleman owes the cx-
iatence Of his church, that the soul, the
conscience Of each individual belongs
to himself, and not TO any other who
shall dominate it's exercise or use. The
doctrine enunciated belongs to the pre-
reformation period and Is the divine
right Of kings plea by which they
force conscripts into military service.
1t justifies all despotism.
Lawyers Have Been Active
There are very many instances we
might adduce as proof that in this
question Of the treatment of crime and
criminals the church is not abreast
with the times. Lawyers-one thinks
at the moment Of such men as Judge
! Gaynor of New York and former Gov
ernor Johnson of Missouri-haVe done
|
| serious menace that underlies the
! growing tendency of the police to arrest
without warrant and to administer the
| third degree. We have not noticed
that the church has raised its voice.
! Even politicians have given free utter
ance to their opinion that the entire
administration of our criminal law is
corrupted by the party politics with
which it is saturated from head to
! foot If the church has one function
| it is that of social publication, and yet
! it is silent.
Would it not be to the interest Of
the church itself to push to the front