Evening star., 1926-09-16

can rectify q mans life by diSciplin-
ing him en- masse is too obviously un-
scientific to bear mention. Further
more, the idea of making the length
of mans stay in prison depend on
his conduct in the prison instead of
on his ability to adjust himself to life
outside of the prison means that we
are constantly turning out criminals
who are shrewd enough to behave
themselves inside the prison walls and
who are no more entitled to be free
men in the community than a vio-
lently insane patient.
Not Coddling Criminals.
'"The charge that is made against
social workers that they are attempt
ing to coddle the criminal is ridicu-
lous. Social workers are proposing
that criminals who are unadjustable
to normal community life be detained
in prison. if need be, for the rest of
their lives
1T is the criminal court judge who
coddles the criminal when in an at
tempt to be severe he imposes a 10
year sentence on thief who is almost
certain to continue his thieving the
moment his sentence has finished.
I'm the attempt to do proper after
care work with men who have left
prison it is hopeless to expect that
any work Of lasting effect will be done
when private agencies, hampered by
lack of funds, have to carry on as they
are now. 1t is not an unusual thing
for one man to be attempting to ad-
just the lives of $50 former prisoners
because the funds to pay adequate
salaries to properly trained men are
not at hand"
Three Causes Listed.
Capt Sheppard said:
"In my opinion the basic causes for
the recent unprecedented spread OF
crime are three in number. First,
there appears to be complete loss OF
parental recognition of their response
bility for the moral and ethical train
ing of their children.
Secondly, the loss of respect for
personal religion and the laws of God
has led to loss Of respect for the laws
Of men, And thirdly, the former fac
tors have resulted in a growing desire
to live without hard work and to pos
sess the means to secure every type
of luxury.
Life in America has almost COM
pletely changed it's character since
our civil and criminal codes We're
adopted. The overloading of the sys-
tenn and of society with q lot of use
less and unworkable laws has made
the work of criminal courts nearly
impossible to handle.
evidence is not wanting that some
Of our public servants whose sworn
duty it is to uphold law have received
bribes for the protection of crime and
criminals, and when money once has
polluted the police or the courts re-
spect for law is difficult to maintain.
Cnderpaid public servants are always
open 10 severe temptation, and If We
wish them to resist we must pay them
enough to live decently.
Anti-Gun Laws Failure.
The pistol and the gun are two of
the practical difficulties which must
be dealt with. Our anti-gun law has
failed completely in doing what was
expected Of 1t. Only the laWabiding
citizen respects it. The automobile
has afforded a new means of unl1-
cenSed adventure to the youth of to-
day. It's part in crime is known to
any one who reads the newspapers
Take away the gun and the automo-
bile and you cut crime to half
THE present generation seems to he,
beyond change. But in the future
fathers and mothers must have q last
ing vision of their responsibility for
their children. The school and the
church also have important parts 10
play. The juvenile courts, the re-
formatories and the State prisons
must be reorganized to meet present
day conditions.
1.-THE reformatories today are chiefly