The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1912-02-17

ltlll
80 Lomborso takes anything which
by the mere sound suggests crime and
stirs it in with other materials sim
ilarly collected into a common brot1,
seasoned with the Lombroso spice of
scientific romance-or romancing sci
ence-cal it what you will
The communists and anarchists pre-
sent, according to Lombroso, the Grim
inal type; that is, they talk slang, and,
! like the German Emperor and little
Willie in the Kinks own they show
| those characteristic stigmata of GRIM
Iinality-tatoo marks. Singular differ
ences are noted in this respect. Com
munists show the 'tipo' in twelve per
cent, anarchists in one per cent, of
the cases.
"If Lombroso keeps at it long
enough, a consistent extension of his
principles and methods may enable
him to establish the Deculiarities
which doom this man to be hard-shell
Baptist, that other pan a typical Quak-
er or Methodist, and such a one an
'Agnostico.
Now, as to this theory that the
crimes of~violence are usually commit
ted by big, muscular men.
your cablegram from Paris says
that DR.. Marie bases his conclusion
upon his study of the records of sixty
one men. l can only answer that sixty
one individuals are a ridiculously
small number on which to base a
scientific conclusion.
"Bue even if we accept these sixty
one men as proper number on which
to base a scientific conclusion, then
the very important question arises:
From what prison or prisons did DR..
Marie get his records? Were these
prisons in a district where tall men.
are in the majority?
From my own observation of Grim
inals, which runs over many years, I
say that I do not believe that it is
mits crimes of violence.
"Of course, if you are going to Sc
lect as crimes of Violence, atrocities
like the White Chapel murders, in
which the bodies of the victims were
fearfully mutilated, why it goes with
out saying that the murderer was
man of great physical prowess.
Il once saw and 4alked with the
man who comitted those murders. He
was built like a gorilla-long, power
full arms, overhanging shoulders, and
powerful muscles.
But | do not think that the mutila-
ton of the victims body, is the proper
test to determine what is crime of
violence
Judging from my experience with
criminals, should say that murderers
are usually men below the average
height. Big men are apt to be easy
going good-natured, magnanimous.
Small men are quicker; their pulse
rate is higher they are more passion
ate.
In saying that, | want you to re-
member that l believe that most Grim
inals become such through circum-
stances, environment, and opportunity,
1t is not that the short man has any
inherent tendency to CONT crimes of
violence. 1t is simply that he is more
apt to yield to proVocation to fly into
fit of passion.
There is. of course. a degenerate
type which is found in our iails-mis-
shapen persons afflicted with various
deformities that show a defective de-
velopment, birth, and Growth. But |
do not believe that any of these de-
tormities constitute label by which
you can arbitrarily put man into the
criminal type
1T would be found that these people
are suffering from some hereditary or
congenital defect, defect which shows
itself in faulty organization of the
higher centers of the nervous system.
Free these people from environ.
ment and it may be discovered that
some of them are as normal as you
and |.
You know it is a very interesting
question as to just what a normal per.
son is. 1t you figure it out very fine,
there is no normal person. I've often
testified that men are insane, but |
have never yet testified that a man is
sane.
But Lombroso and others of his
school have no such difficulties or
doubts, They unhesitatingly label this
man normal another one abnormal
this man criminal another one non
criminal"
Why, Lombroso went so far as to
say that criminals have specific odor
This is an excellent example of the
- alacrity with which he jumps from