The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1910-11-16
Judge Trexler Tells What Causes
Crime

Crime.
Judge Trexler Allentown, in re-
cent address in that city spoke upon
THE Prevalent Causes and Preven-
tion of Crime" Among other things
he said:
Criminal men are men who COM
nit crimes, who transgress either
human or divine law. The whole
world realizes that upon the question
of criminaiity the world has much
to learn. Men of affairs realize that
our entire criminal system is wrong
That it is better than in the years
and ages gone by is, however, known
and acknowledged.
who are the criminals?" That
requires some thought. A criminal
is man who is not properly aware
OF his contract with society. He has
not learned the lesson of obedience.
We must all admit that we are all
criminals in the eyes of the law
of man? How many men who smoke
have not violated the anti-spitting
ordinance of the city, not so much
by day as by night? How many au-
tomobiles are strict conformers to
the statutes? There is tendency
among people to rebel against con-
stituted authority. Concerning Sun
day laws a prevalence of criminality
might be brought home to a good
many church people.
How are criminals made? Some
ascribe the cause to heredity, and
quote Scriptures to substantiate their
belief and assertions. The modern
idea is, however, getting away from
the heredity idea. The children of
man mentally deficient may not be
strong enough to resist temptation.
Statistics show that but a small pro-
portion of criminals can be traced to
an hereditary taint, and very often
men thus mentally and morally def
cient are not criminals but lunatics.
Environment is admitted by all
the greatest cause of criminality.
Take child from the best of par
ents, and place him in a family sur
rounded by evil influences and you
will find an evil man as the result,
but take a child and place it in
good family and the chances are i'm
mensely in favor of good man.
My heart bleeds for the meagre
chance often afforded for children to
grow up and become useful and law
abiding men and women. 1t is often
a miracle how they attain manhood
and womanhood with their morals
not more seriously shattered and i'm
paired. There is nothing so seri-
ous as the evil influences of home
life.
According to the report of COM
mittee on the matter, one-third of
those confined to jails had drinking
parents, and fifty-one per cent. had
either a father or mother who used
drink. The death of a parent before
the child is sixteen years of age, and
the unpleasant home surroundings
due to step-parent, are quite prom
inent causes of criminality in the
child. There have been quite num-
Der of such cases in Lehigh county,
where the step-mother wanted the
child removed to some institution.
One-third of the delinquent children
were found to use cigarettes. In my
experience ninety per cent. of the
boys brought before me said they
used cigarettes. The experience of
Judge Lindsay and my own has been
that there is some direct connection
between the cigarette and criminal
Two-thirds of the criminals of this
country have used liquor, and three
tifths of them had never learned a
trade. More than one-half of them
went to work before they were four
teen years of age, before the charac-
ter had been formed well enough to
withstand temptations. One-fourth
of the criminals had street trades.
New York state has just passed a law
that no child shall be employed as a
telegraph messenger after ten o'clock
at night. Telegraph boys have often
been produced as witnesses in cases
against houses of i'll repute.
Our criminal system is faulty. If
you concede that environment is such
a problematic cause of criminality
then the criminal is not entirely at
fault as criminal. If environment
is such an evil then society owes it
that that should be remedied as much
as possible. In the prevention of
crime first attack environment. Some
one has said that in order to educate
boy, you must begin with his grand
father. The difference of parents is
remarkable. Many parents would
rather continue their wayward chill
dren i'll the mills so as to enjoy their
wages, than have the children con-
fined in some institution for reform. 1"