The Brinkley argus., 1910-11-18
Vo 7yn 6~s E.--
Habitual Criminal Is Like Con-
 firmed Invalid.
should Be Treated Same as Epilepsy, Neurasthenia or Any Other Illness, and Doctor Points
 Out HIs Theories.

Charlestown, Mass Contendins that thousands of the acts for which men are sentenced to prison are not crimes, and protesting that cr;mo is always deed committed by an indi- yidual when in a diseased state. Dr. Joseph l. Mclaughlin, physician to the state prison at Charlestown, who has had as much experience with criminals as any physician in Boston, declares that the disease called crime Is destined to be treated like epi- lepsy or neurasthenia, or any other disease. and the doctor goes on to bear out his theories by reference to a surprising catalogue of cases with which he has come in contact
 | This record includes not only crimes which sent men to the chair or to pro tracted Imprisonment in the state pris- on, but also those which have been committed within the prison walls, misdeeds which would seem impos- sible could take place under the very eyes of watchful wardens.
 Crimes ranging from the darkest felony to the most untoward depravity are cited in his list Dr. Mclaughlin presents for one example, the produc- ton of counterfeit money by convicts who use the Jail as their workshops. and who utilize the equipment of the prison for the carrying on of their handiwork. He says:
 Both of these acts may be classed as crimes, except that in the second instance of counterfeiting the mis- creant was somewhat unbalanced. and on this account could not be blamed for the dede, even in accordance with the accepted treatment of criminals. He had since been sent back to the in. sane asylum, from which he came.
 But it is unfair to generalize about the misdeeds which take place in the state prison, and to call them all crimes. The individuals point of view must be considered.
 "In the accepted sense a crime, aft CT all is nothing but that which the law happens to call wrong. But in a large number of cases the criminal does not know. or does not realize, that he is R criminal. It is, therefore, quite to be expected that a man who has spent his whole life in one occu- patton, which Is known as criminal to the world at large, such as counter feiting or burglary, should turn natur- ally to that occupation when he has been in jail.
 It is not fair to say that a man Is . hardened criminal because he does the things fin prison which he was ac. customed to do when he was free. It Is natural for him to turn to his occu- patton when he has lost his freedom The present system of occupying the attention of the prisoners with some elevating pursuit of study or recrea ton has done much to improve this condition, and many men have be gun doing untold good by serving s term in prison.
 It is no longer radical to hold thal crime is disease. It has been es abolished that drunkenness is a dis ease. This was until short time agt accounted crime. | sec no reason why the misdeeds of a man who Is { ; victim of alcohol should be palliateC any more than those of man who has done some act under the stress of an analogous disorder.
 As for the treatment of crime as 6 disease. so much depends upon the personal equation of the Individual ir question that it is hard to generalize about it. In treating case of crime 1t is essential to take into consider ation the stress under which the per son committed the act for which he is being judged, and the conditions of life which he has been living under and the motives which prompted him Many other factors will also enter the diagnosis, if we may call it that. vary ing with every case. The element of home training is one Of the most i'm portant.'
 Dr. Mclaughlin says it is curious fact that among the prisoners at the state prison he has found a very small percentage of cases of illness, con- victs being, as rule. q remarkably healthy set of men.