The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1916-03-19
The Unfortunates.


to lawbreakers. He thinks it is maudlin. He
says that some of US apply it to the most yiciou.
people in the world to the professional criminals
TO those who persistently make society their prey
When commits crime and goes up fol-
sentence, instead of taking his punishment like
a man, he borrows the word from the sentimen.
talists and says he is unfortunate" On every side
we hear about "the unfortunate" They are a
nuisance.
After thinking the matter over have come to
the conclusion, somewhat regretfully, that the
word unfortunate" has been overworked II has
fallen into the class of words that through care
less USE have degenerated into can't Then, too
IT expresses kind of whining And when sym.
pathy breaks into a whine, it is odious. 1t is
really the suggestion of whine conveyed by the
word unfortunate" | believe, that bothers my
friend. He is himself man of action. straight
forward and forceful. He hates weaknesses He
knows that they never make for constructive
work. No wonder, then that he is repealed by the
sentmentalizing that goes with so much OF our
criticism. In the battle of life he has been a
valiant soldier. II he had gone down he would
not have whined. He would have taken his de-
feat like man. The only mistake that he makes
is in expecting people different from himself to be
like him.
There is another point of view in regard to
this matter, however. When the word "unfortu-
nate was first applied to lawbreakers it had a
distinct meaning. Behind its use there was a
philosophical truth. In the first place, to be a
lawbreaker was, unquestionably, a misfortune. 1t
meant that on being caught, one was likely to
ptsbn 80
tence to prison or through public disgrace. Now
most OF us, though VIC enjoy giving punishment,
hate to get it. We know perfectly we'll that we
often commit offenses, that, judged by strict
code like the law, ought to bring retrbution But
though we think the punishment is good for other
people, when it seems to be heading our way the
sowest of us and the stupidest develop agility and
skill. We achieve feats of atheletics If we are
caught we feel ourselves to be indeed unfortunate.
Seldom in life do hear OF man or even of
woman who stands up and says, 81 have brought
this penalty on myself. I will bear it patiently.
gladly, for the sake of justice and for my own
good"
There is another point of view that ought to
be borne in mind. Those who have the word "un-
fortunate" so often on their lips are likely to be
W
call criminality. They know something about the
criminal life including the hardships, the going
for long journeys brake beams and on ton of
box cars, the struggle against extremes of weather
IN killing heat and in cold that almost freezes the
marrow. l have myself listened to stories told me
by criminals as jokes that made me wonder how
any sane people could go on with the criminal
game The stories alone would convince me that
CRIMINALS were not sane even if scientific investi-
CATION did not supply plenty OF other evidence,
Not that | think that, rpder such circumstances
they suffer as you would | would used as
we are to comfort. They are among the adven
turers in our social system. They are the wild
birds. But the wild birds have feelings
They need food. There is limit to their power Of
endurance.
10 be wild bird must be ACKNOWLEDGED as a
misfortune. AS birds go, the wild birds are SURELY
at disadvantage. We are continually urging the
wild birds to change their nature for their own
good as we'll as for socety's In many cases il ;s
like calling upon the leopard to change his Spots
Here is where the practical people and the sent;
mentalists agree. And here too, is where thew
part. The practical people would cage all the wild
birds under conditions that cause more anguish
and more harm.
The sentmentalists, on the other hand saw.
Don't blame the birds for being wild If thew
had any sense they would rather be tame They
would have MUCH better time Caging them. in
stead OF making them tame, makes them more Diff
hcult to control The moment they get OH, Of
their cages they show that they are even wilder
than they before. Is it not possible that we
may find better way of training these unfor
Inmates: Suppose, by methods that they will un
derstand, show them the advantages of being
tame. Some Of them will respond All of them
by being protected from the more embtterinp
punishment, will be less hostile to society. In
other words, by methods less cruel society will
have not less protection but more At present
we make prisoners think that at heart we arc as
wild as they arc themselves Our assertions Of
tameness they consider hypocrisy. No wonder
that, in dealing with them, we fail so niiscrablv"
In spite of all this reasoning, however, | wish