El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-10-10
INSANE OFTEN
GO To PRISON
Expert Pleads For Medical
Examinations; War is
Causing Crime.

Buffalo. Y. Y, Oct 1O-The medi-
cal examination of all prisoners by
court physicians at the time OF trial
vas advocated by Dr. Paul z. Bowers.
medical superintendent Of the Indian
hospitals for insane criminals. in an
address before the American Prison
association today.
The culpable practice OF punish
ing the mentally sick should cease"
he said. Society is being poorly pro-
tected when II sends insane and men
tally detected individuals 10 penal in
situations and then releases them from
custody. uncured. merely because their
sentences have expired
I'm a recent study that 7 made on
100 persons. each Of whom had been
convicted not less than four times
u OF them were insane. . were feeble
minded. 10 were epileptic- and in each
Instance the mental effectiveness bore
a direct causal relation to their crimes
Under no circumsta noes should there
he any attempt to abridge the right
Of trial; nor should the court physl-
clan he permitted TO uSurp the au-
thOrity Of Judge or jurors Neverthe-
less. the court should be supplied with
scientific data concerning the alleged
criminal
Says @Let Lawyers Howl
at is well understood that such
protest from the legal fraternity, but
when We reflect the real purpose or
the law is justice and truth, and not
the preservation OF hair splitting
technicalities. we cannot hold these
opinions to be of great worth.
The medical examination OF prison
ers would correct in large measure.
the evils that attend the employment
of medical experts The physicians are
hired by the plaintiff and the defend
ant and pitted against one another in
a wordy battle for the display Of wits
by lawyers who are skilled rhetori-
fully. by the use Of dialectics. sup
press medical facts dangerous to their
own purposes and lay undue stress on
nonessentials If they can thereby gain
any advantage over their opponents
The court should appoint a physi-
clan who is qualified by training and
experience in the science and prac-
lice OF psychiatry- This physician
should be a part Of the personnel Of
the court. and il should be his duty TO
sociologically. physically and mentally
examine every prisoner at the time Of
his arrest and trial"
War Causes Crime Increase.
Crime is increasing. as is shown
by overcrowded prisons throughout the
country. and the fact may be traced
in large part 10 the influence OF the
European war. according TO the report
of the committee on discharged prison
ers. presented by T. Emory Lyon,
chairman
Until the past two years. as = mat
ter OF fact there was little. IL any.
evidence that crime was increasing
faster than the natural increase in
I-oulation.~ said he. but within these
two years. nearly every prison Of the
country has become crowded One
state in the middle west has 1000 more
felons today than II had two
years ago The prison population Of
other states and of the federal instltU-
rna.-T
a large contributing factor is found
In the Intermittent employment and
limited wages available 10 the average
lnSkilled workman. Worse still is the
-hronfc condition Of unemployment .
.-hfch has prevailed until within a few
months
How War Causes Crime.
a still more striking cause OF the
Increase in crime. in the view Of many.
s 10 be found in the great war. With
dozen nations at each others threats.
destroying life and property at an
Unprecedented rate. can there be any
,ther result than the lessening Of the
sense of the sacredness of human life. I
md indifference as to the importance
Il material values2 II the average
accounts of human slaughter, what
Il the slightly less than normal. more
.asily influenced. and less alive TO the
higher sensibilities and unframed in
s.hical standards
The var. therefore. with all its
1ther burdens. is doubtless bringing
IS harvest Of crime in all countries.
and this harvest viii continue beyond
he present generation