The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-12-22

ut may be accepted as a rule that
no man with brains sufficient to make
him truly eminent in crime will be
without sufficient sense to show him
the unWisdOm of choosing Such a
course. There is something wrong
with every habitual criminal. The
reason why we are so prone to believe
criminals brilliant persons is that we
put stupid men upon police forces
and Judges benches to cope with
them.
Even casual study of facts (not
rOmanCe) will prove that there has
been almost no such thing in history
as a criminal genius, save in instances
in which men of ability have used
their great power unscrupulOusly to
accomplish large ambitions, as has &C.
CURED in nance rather frequently.
But the predatory f%inancier is not a
criminal in the sense in which l am
using the word in this talk; he is a
man who loses moral restraint
through the excitement of the game
which he is playing.
"Criminals-the ruck of men and
women who come into antagOnistic
contact with the law-are under-nOr-
NAL human beings. Usually investi-
cation will show hat they have bad
family histories. There is no crimi-
nal type. We have had various
III oACSy ouoIA CS lIdl 1dlliCI GU ny l.
broso, who discovered definite GRIM
inal types and set them forth in de-
tail, but all of these long since have
gone by the board.
"There have been criminals who
have had ill-shaped heads, but three
have been those with magnificent
skulls. Some criminals have had
crowded teeth, but many have had
perfect teeth. After LOmbrOso's the
DRY had been thoroughly thrashed out
all that his followers could say vas
that criminals are different but
they could not say that there is any
definite criminal trye.'
AbnOrmality the Chief Danger.
"It is now generally admitted that
the normal physical individual is most
likely to be the normal moral individ-
ual. and that, therefore, society's chief
dangers lie among her abnormal mem
berS. There are fewer of them thar
there used to be, although we Ore
l uncovering more of them and shall
uncover still more before We begin tc
uncover lie IS. Humanity is not de-
generating; it is improving. hest
: measurements and weight have beer
: found to be the most significant signs
, and they indicate a betterment.
! "It is astonishing, but true, that We
! pay small attention to good signs
! while usually getting very much ex
/ cited Offer bad ones. At the time O.
the BOer war there was much tall
4 about an alleged degeneration of tn
Englishman, and a commission mad,
an investigation.
. "This commission worked hard TO
two years, but when it's report wa
n issued few Of those who had read tn,
doleful vaporings of the theorists tool
the trouble to give it any study.
" have read every word Of it and I ca
> find there no signs of any physica
y degeneration among British fighting
men.
a "As a matter of fact the modern
h civilized human being is the best hu
mar being from every standpoint
that the world yer has known, nc
20 only mentally and morally, but phys
icaliy. Perhaps l shall seem to be say
4 ing a startling thing when l declar
~ that any average regiment in tn
present European war could lick tWiC
10 it's weight in average men from tn
regiments of Caesars armies, an
4 could lick three times it's weight {
the best savages the world ever IA
known, arms and training in their us
"a being made as nearly equal as pos
~ sible.
"a 18th developed man is the be.
g man. Interesting comparisons of ply
al steal merit and condition were mad
"A of various group in London FiI
no hundred men were weighed, measure,
tested in various ways. Of these tn
IA members of the Royal Society easil
proved their general superiority, eve
over the members Of the London pt
On lice force, who had been seleCte
90 largely because of their especial phi.
steal fitness.
rr business men came next in ord
nd of high average, while Slum dwellel
GO ShOWed marked physical inferiority
hnDa on1 chou-o pnnrly<
h lneIu ana EflIiiliidiS Si1o"eu MARKS
physical inferiority to non-crimin
Slum dWellers.
"It is interesting to note that Il
leS criminals averaged fully thirty-fv
pounds less in weight than the men
he hars of the ROYAL Society apd oyo
up aped az inches less in height
mi seems to me that that alone tells q
e: most all Of a very significant story.
re while. unfortunately, full ties
were not made. the conclusions we
Il I &ho%