Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1912-11-20

ceded BY ali. The first law that
God gave to man was ths law Of
obedience. It u the first law that
the child receives from its
mother, and there II no parent
So neglectful of the welfare Of
his child that he does not seek to (
impress upon the child life, In some
manner or other, the necessity
for obedience to constituted au-
thority. That there must be
obedience to parental authority.
to school authority and to other
public and constituted authorities
is conceded by all normal peo-
pie. Obedience to higher author
ity IL ono Of the fundamental
principles Of success in life, and
every child should learn II, not
simply in words. but in actual
practice, and II he has not
Learned 1t before he enters the
institution he should learn It
there.
Proper discipline IL necessary also
in order to protect children who have
been sent to the institution and who
are themselves comparatively free Of
vicious habits and of criminal or
downward tendencies against the in
fluence Of those who have such habits
or tendencies strongly developed. It
would. indeed. be an objectionable
crime to maintain at the Institution q
discipline that, because of It's lax
ness, would permit the example Of a
boy with a defiant of rebellious tenn
permanent to drag down others sus-
ceptible to such influences, but who
would, under proper environment, be
we'll behaved.
Proper discipline 10 also necessary
to protect the property Of the state
at the institution against destruction
1t is not an uncommon thing at in
situations of this kind to have prop
erty of great value totally destroyed
during some riot or mutiny led by
leader who has not been properly con-
trolled.
Recognize Corporal Punishment.
1.-THE evidence shows in this case
that much of the punishment Of
which complaint has been made was
administered for the very purpose of
checking plots to escape, or attempts
to destroy buildings or other property
at the institution.
During the last few months have
investigated the matter Of discipline
at other similar institutions in some
Is or 20 states, and the great pre-
ponderance of the opinions of the
superintendent of such institutions Is
to the effect that they cannot be
properly maintained and do their full
duty to the state and to the inmates
without some kind Of physical pun
ishment. In few states corporal
punishment has been prohibited by
law, but they have in nearly every
case substituted other methods Of
punishment much more barbarous,
and in fact detrimental to the childs
health. They have usually substi-
tuted confinement In cells for long
periods, or drilling or standing for
child out physically. The best con-
Quoted institutions OF this kind recog-
nize the necessity for corporal pun
ishment, as that term is usually I'M
derstood.
DIR. Charles Richmond Henderson,
professor Of sociology in the Univer-
sty of Chicago, has given this sub
iect much study, and, in recent arti-
Gle entitled Rational Justice he says:
1.-THE worst enemy Of real improve
ment is the sentimentalist; that 10,
the person who is swayed by, emotion
and is ignorant Of remote conse-
quences. There are two groups Of
sentimentalists-thos who are moved
by pity, and the others who are swept
by revenge. Law cannot rest on
either compassion or blood thirst, only
on calm justice and reason The
man who has violated law ought to be
willing to suffer pain, since experience
has shown that lawlessness cannot be
prevented without the use Of fear
What Experts Say.
Arthur Mcdonald Of Washington,
d. c., author of Juvenile Crime and
Reformation and other works along
this line, some of which have been
published as public or official docu-
ments by the United States govern
ment. in a recent article on the refor-
nation Of children. says:
In vicious and criminal children
the cause of their degeneracy can
often be traced to hereditary ante
cedents, yet In some cases careful but
severe treatment will save them,
where otherwise their bad instincts
would lead them to destruction. II,
however, SUCH treatment through neg
lect of parents or others, be delayed
until the child is somewhat grown, 1t
will In most instances fail, for crimi-
nal faint has had opportunity to de-
velop and permeate the character
MANY people, otherwise we'll bal
anced. seem to jump at conclusions
in matters of this kind and substitute
sentiment for sense. They seem to
forget that the children were in many
cases committed here because they
could not be controlled Ivy normal
means or not at all by their own par
ents or by the authorities Of the COM
iGunities from which they were COM
mitted. l am convinced from an ex-
animation of the authorities on this
subject. and from personal confer
ences with and reports from superin-
tcndents Of other institutions OF this