The weekly Iberian. (New Iberia, La.) 1894-1946, 1915-10-16
MANUFACTURING
CRIMINALS,

"The greatest crime in tn
United States is the wb0lesal
manufacture of criminals" say
Heuery b. Hyde in The Chicag'
Tribune, writing of the grea
number Of useless laws passed by
state legislatures and city coun
ellis each year. And to suppor
his Indictment Mr.. Hyde mar
shals an array of facts which tic
tion cannot match.
Commenting editorIally on Mr.
Hyde's charges, The Tribune
says: obviously, what Mr.
Hyde calls the Wholesale manu-
facture Of criminals" is one oil
the unexpected results of our un.
critical reliance upon leg islatior
as q cure all. When the Ameri
can sees anything he doesn''
like, his first impulse il TO pass q
law sgainst 1t. If there are nc
statutes against gravitation en-
acted at the vociferous bebest of
Americans who have slipped un
on winters day, il is an over
sight which will be corrected I'D
due time.
This is an American failing
which is often commented on.
Less often do we ponder the nor
NAL phase of the American habit
of passing laws.
"Undoubtedly we have been
passing through period of acute
social self consciousness. Many
thugs which were ignored by our
fathers we understand or think
we understand the evil Of, and IN
attempting to express our new
sense of responsibility and cor
rect the newly discovered faults
by our favorite method of law
making we have not only far out.
stripped our capacity for the
mo d flicult task of admiDistra
tion, but we have developed q
taste for correcting what seem to
be our neighbors errors which
bids fair in turn to include every
thing from his choice of neckties
to his religious creed.
"This taste for censorship is
not discriminating. What seen 9
to the great mass Of given com.
munity as at worst harmless or
ncuntidefable seems to some mo-
raj specialists heinous and deeply
demOraIiz,Dg. In no country of
the world today, we believe, are
there 80 many good people who
happen to be passioDately eDer
gized over some particular fact
of our fallible human nature
The United States is one huge
example Of Herbert Spencer's
simile on reform. Is a titanic
sheet of metal on which the
dinges are being turiously beaten
down with the inevitable result
that with almost every blow of
our laundering hammers q new
dinge is made as the old one dis
appears.
In this period Of IAN awakened
social conscience" we show col.
lectively q tendency to neuras
thenia IN reform, and individual.
iy supersensitlveLess as to
OF her peoples errors. 1fa good
many Of our efforts at bettering
the world overnight could be
treated with a dose of humor and
sense Of proportion, a deal Of un-
necessary suffering could be
avoided and some very serious
social reactions escaped.
uBut more is needed even than
the perfectiDg of law enforce.
ment and administratloD-a
thing more difficult to attain.
We need q check upon our grow
lug tendency to force our neigh
bors into compliance with our
own special standards. If we
are to accept sterner aud more
detailed social discipline, let US
at least see that IL is shaped by
the common conscience and based
on the broad and settled convic
tions Of the community. Let us
no longer subject the individual
to the heterogeneous tyranny of
innumerable minorilies. Too
much OF our penal law is made
under the cover Of public indif'
ference by that species Of man
and woman who would have US
all run into the mold OF his or
her own conviction"
a a