The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1912-09-01

~. Louis, In place OF Z sentence AMI
hne for drunkards.
Judge PaxNlI y am innovator wht
doss- not mind bsinE laughed at Wines
he first put drnnkard on parole ter
ysary Ako the cid hands OF the courl
could not contain their -deriaion
hstt they said, ..iet an offender
on on giving d promise which 4,
II sure to break before the day is OUT!
Sentimental tomfooiery.'
But the t0mfooiery has now lasted
for ten years. II has been applied
70 over 5000 persons by Judge Pol.
tafe htmneif. Its principle has beer
embodied Ia our own probation OF OF.
renderr act and In the legislation Of
Victoria, Australia. Mr.. Pl0wden ha:
copied 1t. though not on the whole.
some plan OF his American friend
shApositions of the system have besr
translated into German and Swedish
and widely circulated
Judge Pollard has explained how h.
/ came to start his plan.
A countryman, good, honest fel.
low. came to live In st. Louis with
his wife and children, and worked
himself up to an official position. TIL
aiiursments Of The city were too much
Tor him. and he took TO Iife.' One
lently assaulted his wife. and a po-
uceman saw him do it. 1t was a sc
rious offense, and ! was obliged te
fine him $40 and costa with impris.
onment In default.
His wife pleaded 80 hard for him
and he looked 80 penitent that de-
cided to give him another chance.
told him that II no would sign pieds
Of total absttnence for twelve months
i would suspend the execution Of pc n
tence for that period. But 4 you
fail to keep your word / said, you
will be brought before mo and 60 to
break rock In the workhouse tprisont
At once. He readily agreed and sign
ed the pledge
Il made II a condition That he
should report to me at my residence
periodically. He kept his understand
ing. He has been good father and
good citizen even since, And that
has happened In the case OF IS per
cent OF the people who have taken the
police court pledge
At the International Congress on
Alcoholism at London. England. Judge
Pollard said.
T shall speak OF the victim of In
temperance who 10 net thoroughly
poisoned by the virus OF drink. be-
iev6 IN reformation as against pun
tshment--in the pledge parole for the
victims Of drink az against the jail
in protecting the innocent helpless
wife. mother and children instead OF
making them suffer for the drunk
enness OF the breadwinner, who, IL
incarcerated. brings distress to those
depending upon him.
X shall not forget the poor hasieuaf
a h n x,1ax t<-tE
not police Judge. 1t has been said,
1t is about as hopeless to fine and
imprison fnebriates into sobriety As
to prosecute lunatics into sanity and
self-controli' The sots should be
treated as their addiction demands by
being In care of physicians OF placed
upon a farm where they can provide
for themselves and improve their con-
dition.
"A judge OF court should exhaust
every means to reform a Ntm Of
drink before he sends him to Jail.
Sending him to jail as a. rule aids in
his destruction and frequently de-
stroys the family circle and entails
suffering upon the helpless and un-
offending whose cause / would advo-
the hayward and his innocent victims.
especially In view OF the fact that the
sale OF Intoxicating liquors In licensed
nearly everywhere.
TN the police court OF the city OF
ST Louis. Missouri. several years ago
I began the plan Of releasing those
OF drunkenness upon their
signing a total abstinence honor pledge
In open court and requiring them to
keep It Or suffer tho penalty. This
plan gave the offender an opportunity
to work out his own salvation and to
reform himseh--and gave the State a
sober and better citizen and protected
an innocent family.
Il required the defendant TO report
to me at my residence after working
hours. and 80 acted az my own pro-
baton officer.
II was enabled by this plan to save
per cent OF those put on
pledge parole. III any Of this ninety
Re per cent RETURNED to drink. they
did 1t 20 adroitiy and moderately as
not again to disturb the public peace
or that OF their family. and in this
respect / won a victory.
Signing a pledge by a defendant
Is visible evidence Of his promise to
be sober. 1t serves the double pur-
pose Of moral stimulant and a le-
gal restraint. because Of the punish
mHnt that witt follow II The pledge Is
broken.
Police courts have. as 4 rule. iuris-
diction over cases of drunkenness and
petty ofyenses. Therefore we should
begin AZ the beginning The effort
to reform the first offender should
before he becomek an ha-
bttual drunkard or hardened crimi-
nal; far this reason l advocate sala
ried probation officers for all police
courts.
As a judge. l want to knew more
about the defendant than the mere
charge on the docket. and to discover
The moving cause Of his arrest and
remove 1t. II possible.
Il beg you to advocate on your re-
turn home that the IeAs demofalixed
shonId not be fnprfsonsd. but be re-
leased on their signing pledge not to
drink and to be put on probation for
! stated period"
We have great-minded men In our
land today who are doing all in their
power TO abolish the old Middle Age
customs OF punishment for human
IraiIty. and to substitute medical and
methods instead. The
prison parole system Id growing every
das. where the convict 10 no longer
placed in cell to brood over his
WrAtchsd condition and to dwell on
thoughts Of hatred and revenge and
despair. but 10 given work to do In
the open. and placed on honor to
ho worthy Of such consideration.
And little by little and day by day
he II led to think Of better ways Of
lie than those wherein he has gone