The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1911-12-06
CRIME IN VERMONT.
1t Is in Every Community and Cross
roads, Said Supt Barss.


roads, Said Supt. Barss.
Over four hundred men OF Barre and
vicinity gathered in the opera house last
evening to greet John S. Barss, superin.
tendent of the state industrial school
at Vergennes, who spoke on "In the Big
ger. Better and Buster Vermont, Is There
TO BE a Place for the Manufacture of
Crimep The audience was thoroughly
representative Of the interest which peo-
pie in the community are taking in the
"better Vermont" movement and no
gathering Of men and boys could have
given Mr. Barss a more hearty indorse
ment than that which was given him
by the audience last night From the
time he stepped to the platform until
the close, the applause was loud and
frequent.
The speaker was introduced by Rev.
w. j. NJ. Beattie at s o'clock and from
that time until $3.50 the audience fol-
lowed Mr.. Barss' remarks with rapt at
tention. In opening his discourse, the
speaker attacked the antiquated notion
that "a criminal is criminal because
he is a criminal According to Mr..
Barss, If a criminal is the outcome o.
inevitable result of some natural ten
dency, il is our duty to see that sucn
tendency is overcome. If he is the
result of some fixed process, ii is om
mission to ferret out and correct such a
process. The first question which nat
urally presents itself to a discerning
mind is, "W'ho is the criminall"
he fhata lad n AN
tion number Of specific cases to show
that criminals estate does not become
fact eoincident with the apprehension
of his crime, or at the moment of his
detention for the offense. There is in
yariably some underlying cause, which
may under proper conditions be rene
died. Crime, in its inception, the EN-
vironment and the inherited traits of
the criminal cause us to wonder who OF
us are not criminals,
In the life of man there are two in.
nuenees, heredity and environment
Crime in all of its phases can always
be traced either to the hereditary trans
mission of the physical and psychical
characteristics Of the parents TO the of
spring or to the peculiar surroundings
which influence or modify the develop
ment of the criminal. Nature perpetu-
ates certain dominating characteristics
in every generation and environment
places her imprint upon every man.
Back here in Vermont. said the speaker
these two influences have combined to
produce some Of the most shocking cases
OF degeneracy to be found anywhere
The awful solitude of the crossroads
is Just as conducive to crime as the
crowded streets of the cities. Every
town or city of any size in Vermont
has its own district where crime finds
a breeding place 1t is for us to rise
as one and stamp out these fostering
places of vice The criminal is here As
much as in the industrial school, the
house OF correction and the county Jail
The panaeea for social ills should start
at the roots
During his discourse, Mr.. Barss dwelt
at some length on some of the things
which are making for the increase of
crime within the confines of our own
state. He spoke OF his observations
during recent tours through many of the
largest prisons and incidentally paid a
glowing tribute to the work which Sher-
iff Tracy is doing right here in Wash
ington county. He touched upon the
bancful part which liquor is playing in
the criminal history of the state and said
that thus far every plan for the restric
tion and abolishing of the liquor traffic
has failed to work out successfully. He
deplored the sad lack OF business hon
esty which is everywhere prevalent, say
ing that business integrity had come to
lose much of its former significance in
our everyday life.
To counteract some of the tendencies
which our modern method of living have
invited, Mr. Barss advocated some pretty
drastic measures, which may be cohsid
cred. nevertheless, extremely necessary.
He urged the creation of commission
which would inquire into the causes of
crime and to formulate plans for its
He favored more liberal
exercise of the parole privilege through
the medium of such a commission and
said that the people of Vermont had
right to know more about what her in
stitutions are doing in the way of re-
forming criminals and preventing crime
The juvenile court came in for his en-
approval and he spoke highly
in favor of establishing such a system
in Vermont.
After calling attention to some of the
rapid strides which other states have
made in the method Of treating its pris
oners. Mr.. Barss said that Vermont had
made commendable showing the past
few years and urged that the good work
be allowed to 60 on even more vigor-
ouslv. In closing his remarks, the super
told something of the work
which is being accomplished at the in
lustrial school in Vergennes and of the
splendid results which have been reached
Seated on the stage with Superinten-
dent Barss were six local clergymen.
chiefly through whose efforts the speaker
was secured. At the end of the speak
,r's remarks, the chairman called for
rising vote of thanks for the speech, as
we'll as the work which the superinten-
lent is carrying on for the state. Rev
]. w Barnett later issued general
invitation for all men to be present at
meeting to be held in the UniversalisS
,hurch vestry next Tuesday evening for
the purpose of considering plans tor put
ting into practice some of the sugges-
l;ons ,nada hv the sneaker