New Britain herald., 1925-10-21
MALTBIE IN favor
OF stern Justice
Judges Should Be Cold and
Hard, He Declares
SCOFFS AT SENTIMENTALIIY
Young Women Send Flowers TO
Prisoner in Whose Company She
Would Not Re Safe Supreme
Court Justice Says,

Court Justice Says,
The theory OF law enforcement is
the fear Of punishment, according to
Judge William NJ. Maltbie. justice
of the supreme court Of errors. who
spoke at the meeting OF the KiWanis
club at the Burritt hotel today.
Justice Maltbie spoke on THE
| Administration OF Criminal Law"
He said Every lay man should
show an interest In the way In
which criminal law is administered. "
He said no man lives who is not
! reasonably amenable to honest
! praise and who is not helped by
honest, sincere criticism. He re-
ferred to newspaper editorials OF
himself saying they were reasonably
fair but not always intelligent.
According to Justice Maltbie there
is no court which is so important in
the administration of justice as the
/ police court The police court, he
! pointed out. gets the young offender
and the first offender at a stage
whore it lies to n large extent with
the court whether to make or break
them. The police court also comes
in contact With a large element OF
the foreign population which gets
its first conception of American
| laws.
He took his hearers back into an
Cient history where the world was
populated simply by individuals,
when there was no society and no
law and quoted the origin Of law as
follows: "A rule governing the re-
! latlons OF one man to another,
adopted by the will OF the COM
munity and having back of 1t two
forces. the opinion OF the conf
nunity and the force of the COM
munity."
| He said law Is the way in which
society shall make effective its rules
against those who will not of their
own accord obey them. He said
there are two situations which con.
front the judge on the bench, that
which has TO do with punishment
OF the individual and the suffering OF
| those who are depending upon him
and that which has TO do with the
protection OF te community. These
! two situations often clash.
Judge Should BE Cold and Hard.
He explained that while every
! judge. being human. must feel sym
pathy for the wives and children
| who suffer from the evil dotngs OF
the criminal, theoretically he should
| be cold and hard. If he tries and
fails" he asked. who is there &c
blame him II he leans a little toe
much on the side Of mercy? Judges
are only human"
Referring TO different types o!
criminals and to the inadvisability
of too much sympathy, Justice Malt
bic said, What a picture. Of a
young woman sending flowers to q
man in jail, in whose presence she
would not be safe for moment Il
| he had had her to himself"
He said that when bank officials
cover up a defalcation on the part
of younger clerks because of SYM
pathy for unfortunate sufferers, they
are being swayed by sentimentality
when their duty for the protection
Of others lies the other way,
I'VE must not forget that a prison
! is a place of punishment, not placs
where a man can spend the winter
! months in peace and comfort he
added.
As to Pathology
/ He spoke of a group of men who
/ look upon the criminal as a path
ological subject and added, Il hope
in their labors lies the solution OF
the problem which confronts us
but too much of the standards they
use are the standards of intelli.
genCe. Mental deficiency and mora
strength do not stand on the same
plane and they cannot be meas.
ured by the same standards.
THE very standards which they
adopt If carried to their end prove
that the subject is permanently un.
safe TO mingle with the genera
public and should be permanently
segregated from human society.
What we are after is TO pre-.
vent or forestall the commission OF
crime by the man who is free In
the community and has a bent fol
the commission of evil.
Beyond the influence Of religion
and beyond the persuasive force OF
morality lies a field where there is
evil intent against society. Only
one force can reach that field, that
is the for e Of fear.
Fear is one of the greatest forces
Of human life. We fear the. opin.
ion of our neighbors. We fear The
upbraiding of our own consciences
The mentally deficient is the man
whom fear often attacks. Punish
mcnt is only the use of fear tc
bring about certain ends"
Baxter and Whipping Post
! Speaking Of William G. Baxter
whom lie said has given his life tC
the welfare of the criminal. he said
Mr.. Baxter had advocated the
whipping post in certain cases, but
that the gentlemen in the sanctum
sanctorum of some of our leading
newspapers did not agree" "Mr
Baxter realizes that there is a type
Of man who can be ruled only by
fear the man who beats his de-
fcnscless wife into insensibility ol
who sends his daughter out on tht
streets 10 earn her living by a lift
Of shame,
Continuing, he said: The force
(Contiuued on PAGE Fivel