The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-12-29
PLEAS FOR CRIMINALS.

series of articles by Julian Hawthorne
entitled "'Behind Prison Walls Z
They are valuable TO students of crime
aud its punishment, who can make al
lowancc for the defiant bitterness which
Mr. Hawthorne, in common With SO
mspy Others, brings from his prison ex-
perience.
Pleading the cause of the criminal,
Nr. Hawthorne adopts the familiar at
titude of the crring man or woman
Everybody is bad, vicious, criminal
behind prison walls or in dcns Of vice,
we of the .subterrancaD> brotherhood
or sis;erhood throw of the veil OF hy'
pocrisy; we are voiceless, but we cbai-
lencc mankind. we endure every indig-
nifty and outrage, but an account VIII
be REQUIRED OF those responsible for
il. Those out in the world arc rs
stecped in sin aud crime as we, but
they wear the mask of hypocrisy and
assume TO punish US because they have
concealed their crimes and escaped the
law"
Mr.. Hawthorne displays much con.
fusion of thought. After pointing out
tba; all of US are about on dead
level of baduess, ne forgets his logic
aud tells us how much good there Is
iu the men Of the 'subterrapesu
brotherhood - In prison men arc
d. miugling of bad and good. but are
siucere; out of prison men are just as
bad. but are hypocritcs, is his line Of
thought.
When this noted writer finds occa
SOP to present the arguments for i'm.
prisoumeut of criminals, be miuimizcs
the most important We quote:
Prison. in short. more couvlncingy
fhan ans abstract argument. demon
ates lts OWE futility ss a means of
either taking revenge upon the prls
oner, or OF inducing him 10 late
crime and to turn 70 good Revenge;
OF course. Is ofncislly discredited
nowadays. though II Is practiced as
actively as ever under 2uises moNe or
less Civilized; bu, the pretense OF
moral reform by penal imprisonment
is becoming too preposterous TO be
tolerated much longer On the con
trary, prison renders the great sg-
gregate OF prisoners collectively self
conscious; the. goats Ind themselves,
and are forced into anita coniSm with
the sheep not only as individuals.
but BODY. They make common
cause together. and in obscure WAYS
a. "a
They learn 10 regard the community
not as better than themselves. but a
more successful pensioners Of fortune;
they fear them because the advantage
Of numbers is ON their side. but they
hate them because they feel. either
Justly or unjustly. that they have suf
fered Injustice at their hands and
they vii, prey upon them when op
original motive OF physical neeo out
from the additional and more spis-
ter one, bred I'm prison, OF retaliation
for the wrong done them.
1t will be observed that Mr Haw.
thorne has scarcely indicated in this
passage that lawhreakers arc i'm
prisoned for the protection Of society.
BY inference, however, he aIludes to
the argument when he says that prison
only makes men worse by confirming
them in crime. On tho other hand. he
fails to point ont that it is the fear
Of prison that keeps many from crime
and thus furnishes protection TO So
ciety.
Let us take Mr. Hawthorne own
case. When he formed mis- get.reh.
quick scheme and swiudled his friends
and the public in general. he expected
10 escape the Ian. Had he foreseen
his disgrace and a period in prison. VIC
may be sure that he would have avoid.
cd crime.
But Mr.. Hawthorne would argue:
You kill mau-slsyer and yet homicide
is increasing; you imprisop the swind-
Ter, the thief and the highwaymau. and
yet instead of reducing the percentage
of crime in the United States, YOU in
crease it, II is well TO ask. however.
whether this situation is not due TO
the fact that the slayer, the thief
the swindlcr and cmbezzIer too often
escape punishment. Is il not ascrb.
able TO the laxity of the law in this
couptryf In a country such as Eng.
land, where there is not so much maud
lin seutimept about eonvicts and where
the criminal laws are enforced moro
consistently than in the United States,
the percentage Of crime is far lower
than here. Some sociologsts are writ.
ing in the magazines to prove that the
great increase Of crime in this country
is due 10 tho ignorant foreigner. Mr..
Hawthorne, however, is not ignorant
and is not foreigner.
In the nature of things. society must
content it.elf with nuni.hinm nrcrt