El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-09-29

|
| mer months.
| both in the prison and out of it, that
number of states have copied the idea
The majority of life sentences are
for murder in the second degree 1t
| is thought that a record of from 10
| to % years of good behavior inside
prison walls is sufficient evidence that
these men would be excellent citizens
| if liberated The objection to the pa
role of life prisoners comes mainly
from states in which there is no cap
ital Furnishing and where the jury
| awards favor life Imprisonment rather
than death.
Crime Is Inherited.
That crime and feeble mindedness
arises from hereditary faint is well IL
! lustrated by information gathered in
Pennsylvania penal institutions. 1t
was found in the investigation
that no less than 154 feeble minded
people were being supported by the
state, all OF whom were the offspring
of one marriage four generations
back. The statistics of criminal life
are little less striking, In many in
stances there being chains of crimi-
! nails covering five and six generations
OF family. 1t has been shown that
81 per cent of all crime in the United
States is due to three causes, all OF
source Drunkenness represents %
percent of the causes of crime in the
United States, vagrangy 20, and disor-
derby conduct II percent Vagrancy
usually arises from drunkenness, and
disorderly conduct most often springs
from the same source, so that IL is
fair to assume that the majority of all
crimes are the direct or indirect re-
suits OF drunkenness. Seventy per-
cent of all criminals in the United
States come from defective homes, and
20 percent of these from homes where
husband and wife are separated
There are more than 10000 prison
ers in the jails. reformatories. and pen
itentiaries of the United States. Ap-
proximateiy 10000 Of these are there
for homicide in one form or another.
More than 5000 Of those serving terms
for homicide are life prisoners 1t is
estimated that the cost OF crime in the
United States is more than billion
dollars a year Some writer's have as
serted that it is as much as five bill
lion dollars year, but such figures
are not supported by the more con-
servatiye authorities. A full half bill
lion dollars has been invested in plans,
buildings and equipment of the various
penal institutions of the country More
than million men are engaged, in
one capacity or another, in combating
crime OF It's
Discussion of Crime.
Considerable debate has been waged
among prison authorities as to wheth-
er or not crime is on the increase. 1t
is not contended that there are fewer
yiolatOrs of the law today than there
were years ago, but the increase in vi
olations is chargeabIe to the fact that
there are more things for which men
may be penalized- For instance, 20
years ago no one was convicted OF
adulterating food, for the simple rea-
son that there was no law making such
adulteratiOn a crime. 1t is only in re-
cent years that men could be punished
for automobile speeding or joy riding,
since there were no automobiles IN
which, to speed and joy ride. in years
gone by Relating, now q criminal Of
tense. once was looked upon without
disfavor, even by the government
President Taft declared in an address
delivered not long ago, that he be-
lieved throughout the country the ad-
ministratiOn of criminal law and the
prosecuting of crime constitute a dis
grace to our civilization One Of the
things he had in mind was the compar-
ative immunity of the rich from the
operation Of the criminal law, while
the poor feel all of the bitterness of
its enforcement. preacher once de-
clared that If q man stole SO they
sent him TO jail, and If he stole $10.-
600 they sent him to congress. OF
course this was an exaggeration. but
1t illustrates a tendency lamented by
Mr.. Taft and all other devotees of the
public good.
Chief Aim of Workers.
The chief aim Of prison reforme-s
today is to prevent the unfortunate
youth Of the nation from gravitating
into a hardened career of crime. IN
der old conditions the wayward boy
was sent to Jail, where he could con-
sort with none but those hardened in
crime and where he was almost sure
to absorb the nature of criminality.
AT present the Juvenile court and the
probation officer are trying 10 make
the unfortunate boys and girls who
get into the tolls of the law feel that
there Is hope for them and If they will
join IN the effort, they may be recon-
structed into good. useful and honor
able citizens. The same attitude is dis
played on the part of the keepers OF
adult prisoners, and no force has Ia
bored so long or so effectively for the
regeneration of the prison world as the
American Prison congress