Evening star., 1918-02-16
PLEA FOR INSTITUTION
TO REFORM 1NEBR|ATES
Judge Mullowny, Addressing Local
Society, Urges Severe Penalties
for Professional Criminals.

/ judge, was the principal speaker at the
annual meeting Of the Prisoners Aid Soci-
| ETY. last night at the residence Of Mrs. W
B. Noble. 1861 n street. He made a strong
plea for the establishment Of a place fol-
! the treatment and reformation of inebri-
ates and advocated severe punishment for
| professional criminals.
For the professional criminal we have
| no mercy" said the judge. He should
perhaps be shut up for life"
Judge Mullowny told his hearers it is
humilating to confess that after 1000
| years of Christianity the people are liv-
| ing in a state OF siege under police pro-
| lection against constantly reviving crowd
of lawbreakers, and il is a problem, per
manent in character, to determine what is
the best method to adopt to safeguard the
community against such persons.
Tells Result of Experiment.
He added:
I'VE have found by actual expert
ment that severe penalties and a strict
/ ly enforced law do not prevent repe-
| tion of the offenSe. nor does it decrease
| the number of cases. Previous to 1913
public intoxication was not an offense
| in this jurisdiction. There were on an
average some 1000 persons arrested
yearly for being intoxicated. carried to
the station houses and released when
sober When in 1918 public intoNica-
tion became an offense, and knowing e
the large number that had been arrest
ed, we determined to strictly enforce
the statute. in the hope that such ac-
tion would become generally known
and decrease the number of cases, but
I they only increased. In the first month
of the law there were 44I cases, the
next month 5S5. the next 9t1. until at
the end of the year there were S,662
cases of public intoxication. We soon
recognized we were assuming a very
grave responsibility in being the in
strument of sending SO many persons.
especially SO many first offenders, to
Jail for such an offense simply because
they were unfortunate in lacking suf-
fcient money to pay their fines. We
then commenced to parole all first Of
tenders when the facts justified such
action"
Judge Mullowny lauded the probation
system and told of the good work done
about the courts by the Prisoners Aid
Society. He said there were not enough
officers properly to look after the work.
With SO small force. he said, prac-
tically no constructive work can be
done.
Institutions Needed.
I'm this Jurisdiction" he said. I'VE
have no inebriate nor industrial farms
where persons may be sent for treat
ment and reformation such as are being
conducted so successfully and are self
supporting in many OF the states. All
persons convicted, except in a very
few cases, are sent to Jail in default
of the payment of fines and are thep
transferred to our penal institution To-
Gated in the state of Virginia at Deco
guam.
I'VE do not wish to be understood as
advocating that judges should not have
the discretion of imposing severe pen
alties
Society requires punishment for its
deterrent effect in the prevention of
crime. Jails and penitentiaries are nee
essary: but what we contend is, that
the fear of being detected. the fear Of
exposure and the thought of the dis
grace Of being confined in such insti-
tutions does more to prevent crime
than the actual Imprisonment. For the
professional criminal we have no mercy.
| He should perhaps be shut up for life.
I'VE believe the second and third Of
fenses. especially for certain crimes.
should be punished by Imprisonment:
but at the same time the point should
not be lost .sight of that the offender
is a man not to be needlessly degraded
and that there should be means and
agencies at hand to investigate the
cause of his downfall and assist him
in making a new start upon his re-
lease. This is the work of a board of
parole under an indeterminate sentence
Of Particular Interest.
Unfortunately, we have no law Of
this character at present There is a
crying need of one. But what is Of
particular interest to this society, as
well as the public. are the 1856 per-
sons who were sent to Jail in default of
fines. The majority of these persons
were committed for petty offenses aris-
ing from impulse, from a careless use
of language. often from an uninten-
tlonal use of too much alcohol.
We can well call these persons ac-
cidental offenders who in the interest
of the peace and order OF the city were
necessarily arrested and charged with
an ofense. Among such persons there
! is charitable and reformatory work
well worthy of the best efforts of this
society"