The Washington herald., 1915-08-19

OF StednS II cents, as well as 10 pay hnc OF S25
| The judge doubtless believed that stealing was
| stealing, matter what the amount might be-
People who argue in that way are unquestionably
right. But they sometimes go astray in their de-
ductions 1t appears that, before being sentenced,
the boy spent eighty days in JAIL waiting for trial
This circumstance may have had softenng ef-
feet on the heart of the judge Otherwise he might
| have made the sentence more severe
| Cases of this kind serve good purpose.
Though the victims might not fully relish this phi
losophy they help to make the public alive to some
of the more papable absurdities of our punitive
system. Once they would have passed unnoticcd
Now, In some quarters at any rate, they excite
wrath and they inspire protest Among other
| things, they show how expensive our punitive
methods arc. In order to punish that boy taxpay-
crs must support him for many months. During
this time, instead of becoming a better boy, he is
likely to become worse. When he gets out he will
be more ready than he was before he went in to
follow career of crime. For one thing he will
know more about crime and about opportunities
and methods. In this regard State prisons are
hne educational institutions Besides, there is
very little chance OF his coming out in frame Of
mind that would make him humble and loving
respcctcr OF the laws and Of organized way OF
living. He may be cmbitercd for life.
Something, OF course, is to be said for the point
OF view OF that judge. He believed in tho potency
OF terror. He wished not merely to punish that
boy but also to keep other boys from taking the
chance of meeting similar punishment. This use
of terror used to be very highly esteemed 1t un-
questionably did some good in the past 1t kept
from committing crimes many people who might
otherwise have fallen. But, while doing a
little good, it did great deal of HARM By relying
on fear, it helped to spread of the most weak
enng and degrading influences in the world 1t
maintained not a constructive but a destructive
control. 1t also made crime all the more appeal
ing to the reckless and adventurous spirits. In
stead OF emphasizing the attractivenesS of whole
some living, it paid altogether much attention,
not to the unwhoesomeness of the evil in its ma
ture, but to the resulting dangers and risks
There many offcnscs that most OF us could
not possibly commit. One is, for example stealing
II cents, or amounts much larger. In our social
dealings with one another VIC practically recognize
the impossibility of this kind OF wrongdoing. We
put large trust in another By means of
this trust VIC conduct social life and much OF
our business life What is the force that makes us
so honeSto Is it fear? Hardly We could all do
little pilfering here and there without running
much risk OF getting caught. The real force be-
hlud our honesty, 1t seems to me, is self-rcspect
we never think OF pllfcring for the simple reason
that we feel pllfcrinG is impossible thing. 1t is
altogether too mean, too contemptiblc too un-
thnkablc. This kind OF sentiment. which is 50
much a part OF that it is like sense exists
among most well-brought t-up-childrcn. old enough
TO think for themselves. Think OF all the chill
drcn you know. Do you happen to know anv pill
ferers OF money among them II you do they arc
interesting because they so exceptional, so
perhaps so unaccountablc
Among the very poor, this high standard does
not always prevail. In the first place the tcn1nta
tions TO pllfering strong. small sum NAV
mean great advantage. And yet. among the
poor, too, there is high standard of honcstv by
no means necessarily associated with fear Ii it !
does not always prevail among the children of ,
the poor, ii is easy to understand why The Door !
arc often unable to establish those conditions |.
where children will develop into creatures whose
honesty becomes like instinct. For it should
be borne in mind that appreciation of the rights
OF others is largely the result OF the elaborate !
training that goes with pretty high grade of
civilization, and the poor, many OF thcm through |
their poverty, may be so degraded as to be vr- |
tuay uncvilizcd. The chances are that the bov. !
who stole the cents, had no instructive honesty
1t had never been bred in him. He had never so /
to speak, brcathcd it in, the children of the ,
do. For many of our so-cacd |
virtues, it should be borne in mind exist in the
air about and OF no more credit to us than !
our speaking the language VIC have always heard
or than any OF our unconscious functionng.
"To him that hath shall be given. And from
him that hath not shall be taken away, even that /
which he hath" The saying is finding constant
today, as it has found in the past.
Those most favored by fortune, moreover. arc !
always expecting more. Those least favored by /
fortune the most heavily taxed. Shall we ever
learn bcttcro Shall learn not to punish
The people who already fearfuy penalized,
but, instead, to help them, to do what we can to
give them chance to overcome their handicaps.
OF course, if work in this way, we shall be de-
prived of some OF our pleasantest indulgences. We
shall not have the qualification of furnishing with
The sense of'moral superiority that goes with it,
the sclf-fattery and the illusion of power But
We shall have something better. We shall have !
the reward OF seeing the degraded, not more de-
graded but less degraded, and of finding that many
Of those who were once regarded most dam