Los Angeles herald., 1909-01-10

with the bronze lancet, and has caused
the loss of the gentleman's eye, one
shall cut off his hands,
Section PIG. IF a doctor has treated
the severe wound of a slave of poor
man. with a bronze lancet and has
caused his death he (the doctor) shall
render slave for slave"
eff a woman hates her husband and
has said Thou shalt not possess me,
one shall inquire into her past what Is
her lack, and if she has been economl-
cal and has no vice, and her husband
has gone out and greatly belittled her,
that woman has no blame; she snalI
take her marriage portion and go of
to her fathers house. But If she has
not been economical, a goer about mas
wasted her house, has belittled her'hus-
band, that woman, one shall throw her
into the waters.
Death the Main Penalty
For some thirty stated different
crimes death was the penalty. There
are many more interesting paragraphs
in this little SO-page book, but owing
to crudeness and vulgarity some are
unfit for reproduction before this
modern mixed audience.
This and other books bearing on hu-
man progress including the Bible, con-
vincingly show that IAN eye for an
eye" and "a tooth for tooth" was not
only the Mosaic law and custom during
Moses time, but long before and clear
down through the ages which followed
until the Father of Mercies appeared
on earth and taught human beings the
blessedness of mercy and the divinity
of compassion and ito love one an
other and love thy neighbor as thy
self" He showed that the Fatherhood
of God necessarily involves the Brother
hood of Man.
Notwithstanding these noble senti-
ments, barbarous and cruel laws con-
tinued to exist, and the scientific refor-
nation of criminals never legally crys-
tallized until thirty-five years ago, when
the Elmira reformatory was built.
Since then I will say that among the
most significant signs Of human prog
ress is the modern treatment of prison
ers, and especially the youthful Of
tenders, as contrasted with the barbar-
Gus and inhuman method of dealing
with them throughout the centuries.
The law establishing the Elmira re-
formatory has been in It's main fea-
lures the law adopted in several states
for the reformatories within their
bounds The same aims, methods OF
government and applications of pr1n-
ciples, with due modification and de-
fundamental points of this new peno-
logical system may be now briefly out
lined. It's bedrock is the incontrovert-
ible fact that the viOlator of law can
be reformed, and that the most effect
i've way to protect society is to reform
the criminal. Reformation, and not
retribution therefore, should be the
chief end of punishment. The indie
terminate sentence is one Of the most
J important elements in securing this
reformation. A determinate sentence
is absurd in principle and grossly
wrong and injurious in practice" TIC
bring about the results aimed at, 1t
was held that the reformatory should
furnish well ventilated and properly
heated rooms or cells, sufficient food
full educational facilities, manual
training, trade instruction, military
drills, we'll selected libraries, appro-
pirate recreation, with active and
moral religious influences. These are
actually the forces at work today in all
the reformatories Of the United States
An analysis shows that in addition to
general intellectual education more
than forty trades and industries are
taught in the several institutions un-
der consideration.
Corporal Punishment Dead
The board of manag gers of the New
there has not been a case of logging
for nearly nine years, nor putting IN
irons for nearly six years, and for the
past five years there has been no form
of corporal punishment whatever. The
board briefly explains the situation in
these words: 'It has simply gone out
of use, no apparent necessity for it
having arisen Comparing the old
with modern methods, the said board
in it's report used this language: 1--WE
| believe that the product Of the present
system is superior to the product OF
the old, in about the same proportion
that a horse trained by Rarey is bet
ter than one broken by cowboy"
| At this reformatory newcomer en-
tiers the second grade, from which, by
good records, he may advance to the
first and by bad records fall back to
| the third There have been treated
over $1,000 to date, and during the year
nearly 5000 inmates are treated, whose
ages range from 16 to 30 years. Severai
trades are taught, and in both trade
and school work great care is taken not
to give the prisoner tasks beyond his
| physical and mental capacity and equal
| care to make such tasks so as to cal
! forth the best work that is in him
: When a prisoner is said to have vio-
| lated any of the rules he is entitled
to a full and fair trial by the board OF
managers, who say in their report that
neither time nor trouble is spared tc
make these Investigations thorough
| and impartial. The accused has as
nearly an absolute square deal as
| the wisdom of the officials involved
| enables them to bring about"
| Prison laws and methods are vastly
ahead of ours in nearly all the follow
! ing states, all of them within the last
fourteen years having passed new or
added to their parole laws: Oregon,
| South Dakota, Indiana, Virginia, Ari-
iona, New York, Ohio, Massachusetts,,
| Connecticut, Kansas, Kentucky, Wash
! ington, Illinois and Idaho.
In addition to the improved condi-
tions made by the parole system in
the above named states the indetermin-
ate sentence law is now in force in
some form in all the following states:
! New Hampshire, Connecticut, Colorado,
! Illinois. Indiana, Kansas, Massachu-
setts Michigan, Minnesota, New Jer-
sey, New York, Ohio, Wisconsin and
| Pennsylvania. Moreover the modern
physical and mental training afforded
in many of the institutions in these
states, patterned mainly after Elmira,
N. Y, has not reached California yet.
Why should this be behind any state
in the line of progress?
California Far Behind
The indeterminate sentence plan en-
bodies as one of its basic principles
that the individual offender and net
the crime shall finally determine the
length of confinement or detention that
| is necessary to reform him. The prin-
ciples involved in the indeterminate