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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/28632-8.txt b/28632-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b492af6 --- /dev/null +++ b/28632-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5039 @@ +Project Gutenberg's A Plea for the Criminal, by James Leslie Allan Kayll + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Plea for the Criminal + Being a reply to Dr. Chapple's work: 'The Fertility of the + Unfit', and an Attempt to explain the leading principles + of Criminological and Reformatory Science + +Author: James Leslie Allan Kayll + +Release Date: April 29, 2009 [EBook #28632] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A PLEA FOR THE CRIMINAL *** + + + + +Produced by Jonathan Ah Kit, Barbara Kosker, Mark C. Orton, +Victoria University of Wellington College of Education +(Gender and Women's Studies Programme) and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + + + DEDICATED + TO MANY KIND FRIENDS. + + + + + A PLEA + FOR THE CRIMINAL. + + + + + BEING A REPLY TO DR. CHAPPLE'S WORK: + "THE FERTILITY OF THE UNFIT," + + AND + + AN ATTEMPT TO EXPLAIN THE LEADING + PRINCIPLES OF CRIMINOLOGICAL & + REFORMATORY SCIENCE. + + + + + By + + THE REV. J. L. A. KAYLL, + + CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE HOWARD + ASSOCIATION. + + + + + INVERCARGILL! + W. Smith, Commercial Printer, Temple Chambers, Esk Street. + MCMV. + + + + +AUTHORITIES CONSULTED IN THE PREPARATION OF THIS VOLUME. + + Brockway, Z. R. Elmira. + Corre, Dr A. Paris. + Drill, Dimitri. Moscow. + Du Cane, Sir E. England. + Dugdale, R. L. America. + Ellis, Havelock England. + Ferri, Prof. E. Rome. + Garofalo, (Baron) Prof. Naples. + Kidd, Benjamin England. + Von. Krafft-Ebing, Prof. Vienna. + Lacassagne, Prof. Lyons. + MacDonald, Dr. A. Washington, U.S.A. + Mercier, Chas. M. B. England. + Morrison, Rev. W. D. England. + Manouvrier, Dr. Paris. + Moleschott, Prof. Rome. + Orano, Giuseppe Rome. + Ribot, Th. France. + Rylands, L. Gordon England. + Salomon, Otto Nääs. (Sweden.) + Scott, Jos. Elmira. + Spitska, Dr. E. C. New York. + Tallack, Wm. England. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + PAGE. + + CHAPTER I. + Introductory 9 + + CHAPTER II. + The Criminal 14 + + CHAPTER III. + The Causes of Crime 28 + + CHAPTER IV. + The Methods and Philosophy of Punishment 61 + + CHAPTER V. + Elimination--Dr. Chapple's Proposal 87 + + CHAPTER VI. + The Obligations of Society Towards the Weak 120 + + CHAPTER VII. + The New Penology 133 + + CHAPTER VIII. + The Prevention of Crime 138 + + CHAPTER IX. + Some American Experiments--Elmira 155 + + CHAPTER X. + Conclusion 188 + + + + +Chapter I. + +INTRODUCTION. + + +This little book presents an appeal to society to consider its criminals +with greater charity and with more intelligent compassion. No other plea +is advanced than that the public mind should rid itself of all prejudices +and misunderstandings, and should make an honest endeavour to understand +what the criminal is, why he is a criminal and what, notwithstanding, are +his chances in social life. + +The criminal has a claim to be understood just as well as any other +creature. It is not necessary that his sympathisers should shut their +eyes to the fact that he is capable of shocking crime, that he is often +an ungrateful wretch that will bite the hand that feeds him and that +among his ranks are to be found the most depraved specimens of humanity +that the mind can conceive. A failure to recognize these facts is +actually a failure to do justice to his cause. Notwithstanding the +hideous history that he may have to unfold, he does ask to be +understood. + +The majority of people take a most prejudiced view of the criminal's +case. They will read the account of some fearful outrage or the details +of a disgraceful divorce suit with absolutely no interest what ever in +the persons concerned but only for the sake of the morbid satisfaction +which such reading gives them. A glance at the sentence will draw forth +from them the exclamation that the wretch got no more than he deserved +or that he didn't get half enough. This simply indicates that society as +a whole has made very little real progress in the manner in which it +regards its criminals. The old barbaric idea of revenge is still the +dominant one and any scheme for the betterment of the criminal, even if +it should give unmistakeable signs that it will accomplish his absolute +reform, is carefully investigated to see whether it provides for a +sufficient degree of penal suffering. Suffering which is of an entirely +penal nature, has very little deterrent value and absolutely no +reformative value whatever. And yet our refined and educated men and +women will read the accounts of crimes and, in their own minds, sentence +the actors to five, ten, fourteen or twenty years; even death, as if +criminals were so used to this sort of thing that they thought no more +of it than their self-chosen judges would if deprived of a day's sport +or disappointed over a ball. + +"But," as an ex-member of the Justice Department said to me, "do you +know what the wretch has done?" Yes, I do know what he has done, and I +know him personally and well, and I know of what he is capable and such +knowledge brings with it the conviction that society commits a greater +crime than that which he has committed when it undertakes to punish him +for his offence upon a principle of pure vengeance. + +"Vengeance is mine," saith the Almighty, "I will repay." Society is not +God any more than is the individual, so that by acting in the collective +capacity no additional plea of justification may be advanced. + +The endeavour of this book will be to show that the best interests of +society are not served by the infliction of punishments which are +essentially penal but by the accomplishment of the reform of the +criminal. This latter process is for the criminal himself, infinitely +more severe than the former, but it inflicts a pain which raises the man +to a higher level; it is purgatorial, and not one which, being penal, +leaves him a greater enemy to mankind than ever. + +The criminal is not excused for his wrong-doing, he is not regarded as +an automaton, but simply as a creature of capabilities and possibilities +which require the intelligent sympathy of his fellows in order that they +may be properly developed. + +There are many persons who regard the reform of the criminal as an +absolutely hopeless task and a waste of time to think over; they +advocate his extermination. They would fling back to the Creator His own +work as having, in their judgment, proved worthless, even mischievous. + +Dr Chapple is astounded that the existence, or at least the birth, of +defectives should be allowed. It is, he says, due in a large measure to +the tide of Christian sentiment which is to-day in full flood. The +Christian does at least recognize that of every defective God says, +"take this child and nurse it for Me," but to speak of Christian +sentiment being at its flood-tide to-day is surely not the speech of one +who professes much belief in the future of Christianity. + +Dr Chapple preaches a Gospel for the defective, and his banner is the +skull and cross-bones! Christian sentiment when at its flood-tide will +have swept away all such emblems. In replying to Dr Chapple, I have +endeavoured to show that his proposal touches but the fringe of the +problem, and even there after an unscientific and immoral manner. There +is room for a measure of surprise that Dr Chapple should have undertaken +to write his book with such a scant knowledge of the facts as they +really are. + +In presenting this little book to the public, the author does so with +the hope that it may tend to restore the confidence in human nature that +Dr Chapple has somewhat weakened, but also in some measure to inspire +society towards greater collective ameliorative effort, in which our +full confidence may unhesitatingly be placed. The author hopes that the +criminal, a subject of patient study for the last ten years, will be +seen in a somewhat new light. Criminologists declare the criminal to be +seven-eighths of an average man. May society find in itself the ability +and good-will to contribute the other eighth! + +Small as this volume is, it has required many communications with the +old world, and the author's thanks are due to many students engaged upon +the study of this science in England and in the United States, and who +have rendered him valuable assistance. Also, the assistance of many kind +friends in New Zealand is gratefully acknowledged, and particularly that +of Mr Alfred Grant, without whose aid the preparation of these sheets +for the press would have been an almost impossible task. + + + + +Chapter II. + +THE CRIMINAL. + + +The popular mind draws little or no distinction between criminals. In it +there exists the idea of a criminal caste, all the members of which are +prepared to commit any and every act of a criminal nature. In the +popular mind, although it is just a question whether a man is bad enough +to commit the greater crimes, yet thieves, violators, swindlers, forgers +and murderers are all assumed to fall into the same category. In one +sense they do, that is, that they are all anti-social beings, or rather +they all possess certain anti-social qualities; but as soon as we +proceed further we find that there exists a very great distinction in +criminals. Criminals are first classified according to the motive of +their crime. This classication ranges them under five different +headings, the political criminal, the occasional criminal, the criminal +of passion, the instinctive criminal, and the habitual criminal or +recidivist. + +Again they are classified, according to the nature of their crime, into +thieves, robbers, violators, assassins, murderers, swindlers, etc. These +again are sub-classified, e.g., thieves are classified as housebreakers, +those who rob with violence, those who use weapons, those who rob from +the person, and those who break safes. Murderers may also be classified +according to the nature of their murderous instinct, illustrated by the +instrument of destruction that they employ, whether it be the knife, +firearms, poisons or other means, and again a classification exists +between those who commit murder themselves and those who employ agents. +All these classifications are entirely different, and although some +criminals may range under more than one heading, yet it is generally the +case that a criminal adopts both a certain form of crime and also a +particular method for carrying it into execution. + +=The Political Criminal.=--This man's offence is not against morality +but against the governmental institutions of the country. He holds +advanced ideas upon matters of government and upon the constitution of +society, and in his attempt to propagate these he becomes a political +criminal. The political criminal, as distinguished from all other +criminals, never commits violence, his morals may even approach +perfection; but he holds "ideas," ideas which are not acceptable to the +government under which he lives. + +The despotic rule of the Oriental countries is most favourable to the +production of the political criminal: Russia and Germany are not without +their representatives. Occasionally bands of political criminals are +formed, and then, in the midst of demonstrations, unpremeditated +violence may be committed. The Stundists and the Young Turkish Party are +examples. + +=The Occasional Criminal.=--"Economic conditions are generally +responsible for the production of the occasional criminal. His crime is +committed in order to satisfy his present wants. In him the sensual +instincts may not be stronger than usual, and the social element, though +weaker than usual, need not be absent. Weakness is the chief +characteristic of the occasional criminal. When circumstances are not +quite favourable he succumbs to temptation." (The Criminal, p. 18.) The +occasional criminal is clearly a subject for educational treatment. He +needs to cultivate greater power of self-control, to strengthen his +moral sense, and above all to be thoroughly equipped for the battle of +life. Imprisonment will frequently ruin him and be the cause of his +becoming a confirmed or habitual criminal. + +=The Criminal of Passion.=--He is generally of considerable culture and +of keen moral sensibility. His crime proceeds from a sense of righteous +indignation which, for the moment, completely blinds him. Personal +insults cannot disturb his calm, but the sight of a child being abused +or a defenceless one being attacked, will so infuriate him that he may +even commit murder. Premeditation is never present, he acts under the +powerful inspiration of the moment, and his crime is an isolated event +quite unconnected with his conduct in general. + +=The Insane Criminal=.--Insane persons who commit criminal acts, show +rather a variation of insanity than of criminality. It would be more +exact to describe them as "criminal lunatics" than as "insane +criminals." Two classes exist, a fact which is often overlooked, for +there are both criminal-lunatics and insane-criminals. In the first +case, criminality is the product of insanity, but in the second case +insanity is the product of criminality. Not an hereditary product in +either case, but a product resulting from a cause within the person's +mental or moral self. + +The pronounced lunatic, the incapable, irresponsible person whose +actions are beyond his power to understand or control, is regarded by +society as a being too dangerous to be at large. Of him we do not here +speak to any extent, he is too well recognized. It should always be +borne in mind, however, that he commits crime because he is a lunatic, +and that although his confinement is absolutely necessary, yet there is +no warrant whatever that it should be made penal in character. + +Although it is not possible in a work of this kind to deal largely with +the subject, the writer would urge upon the notice of society and upon +the special notice of jurists that there are a number of persons whose +crimes should excite for them the greatest sympathy instead of, as is +the case, the greatest detestation. Men there are who, perfectly sane in +the ordinarily accepted sense, and who have not only a clear conception +of the immorality of their conduct, but also an intense abhorrence and +shame for it, find themselves performing the most revolting acts under +influences that are absolutely irresistible. The sensualist has no +justification, but our laws are excessively cruel in their dealings with +this class to which allusion is made. To be brief, no man charged with +sadism (lust-murder) pederasty or the related crimes, should have his +case made public until a most complete diagnostic examination (including +his family and personal history) has been made by competent persons. + +A careful study of Krafft-Ebing's monumental work upon the subject +should convince our lawyers that they could not proceed in these cases +without the assistance of the alienist and of those who are experts in +the diagnosis of the various forms of patho-sexualism. The cases of +insane criminals, that is, of the criminals whose vice is the cause of +their insanity, is also divisible into two classes. There is that +uninteresting class who on account of their irregular, immoral and +excitable life become insane, and there is another class. These latter +frequently escape the penalty of their crimes. Insanity is disclosed and +they have no criminal record, therefore they are discharged. It would be +a nice point to decide whether and to what degree, if any, +responsibility exists. To give an example not altogether uncommon--a man +who will not brook opposition or hindrance of any sort. On every such +occasion he cherishes most spiteful, even murderous, feelings towards +his opponent. He would do him any injury, even go to the length of +killing him, but he dare not. + +He will storm, abuse and threaten, but he dare not go further. He is +avoided by his neighbours as being a most cantankerous fellow; he is +always being involved in disputes. This man is undoubtedly criminal at +heart and is cherishing anti-social feelings which are steadily growing +in their intensity. Revenge becomes the almost dominating influence over +his mind, but it is held in check by fear. At last fear gives way and +there is no further restriction to the emotion of revenge, which then +becomes supreme. At this climax insanity occurs and murder is committed +synchronically. Morally the act was committed years previously, and it +was by his own conduct in goading himself on to the climax that made it +an actual fact. Subsequently, almost immediately, he may become rational +again and retain consciousness of the deed and thoroughly understands +its outrageous nature. He will not then express any regrets but will +declare that his deed was perfectly moral. This man is as near a monster +as we dare call any man, and should never be allowed to have his liberty +restored to him. + +=Instinctive Criminal.=--Called also the "born criminal" (Lombroso), or +the "criminal by nature." The term "instinctive criminal" seems to be +that growing most in popularity, possibly because there is less +likelihood of it having to be modified by the results of further +investigation. + +By the instinctive criminal is understood a man in whom the criminal +instinct has gained a supremacy over the social instinct. He is not +only anti-social in deed but also in character. (It would be a mistake +to term him anti-social in nature, for that would indicate that he was +absolutely hostile to humanity. One, anti-social in character, is +capable of betterment, and this is possible of every man.) Many causes +operate to account for his production, some of them reaching far back +into his ancestry. When this is the case some physical handicap is +always present, such as e.g. cerebral irritation and epilepsy. + +In childhood the instinctive criminal may be recognised by an excessive +vanity which will often tempt him to steal, the thefts being generally +confined to articles of personal adornment or which give an occasion to +"swagger." When accused he will deny the charge brought against him with +an effrontery which will too often create the conviction that he is +innocent. When charged he will challenge the statements of his superiors +without any hesitation whatever, but at a given moment will break down +and make a most free and perhaps disinterested confession. Frequently he +is very emotional in behavior and simulates the deepest regret, although +he is practically without any remorse whatever. He will undertake to +perform the most afflicting tasks of penance in order to expiate the +wrong and give every assurance for future good behaviour. Neither of +which is of the least value. + +Onanism and a morbid love for sweets is an important characteristic. In +the adult, laziness, debauchery and cowardice are to be noticed. His +signature is peculiar, involved and often adorned with flourishes. He +loves to be credited with the performance of great achievements, and +will tatoo medals upon his body or other symbols significant of +greatness. The instinctive criminal generally complains that he is +unfortunate, or that he has never had a chance, and that society is +always contriving to keep him down. + +=The Habitual Criminal, or the Recidivist.=--When once a man has fallen +into the clutches of the law and been incarcerated it is very difficult +for him to keep his self-respect. His first crime may present many +features to indicate that he is more the victim of circumstances than +well-defined ill-will. But having been convicted, he finds himself +shunned by all but criminal society, and together with other influences, +educational in character, he is frequently allured into a relapse. If a +prisoner endeavours to behave himself in gaol and keep aloof from evil +contagion, he is bullied by his fellow-prisoners, and even his keepers +regard him with suspicion. The one twit him with being a white-livered +coward, the other consider him to be either a sneak or a "deep fellow." +He is almost sure to fall and identify himself with the ranks of crime. +An instance that the writer has personal knowledge of is that of a man, +passionate in nature, and moved by the tears of a young woman on behalf +of her imprisoned lover, stuck up a small country gaol under arms and +gained the release of the imprisoned man. To escape the consequences he +had to take to the "bush," and for two years he lived the life of an +outlaw. He finally surrendered to the police and was condemned to death. +As no personal injury had been committed and his manner of using his +weapons shewed plainly that he did not contemplate any, his sentence was +commuted to imprisonment for fourteen years, the first three to be spent +in irons. At the end of that time the criminal habit was confirmed. For +various offences he was sentenced at different times to periods +aggregating in all to thirty years. After his last sentence had +expired--six years ago--he began a new life and has not committed crime +since. His whole career showed many redeeming points in it. This case is +well-known to the New Zealand and Australian prison authorities. + +The number of criminals who are allured into relapse is computed by +Orano to be 45 per cent of the whole. + +The distinction between the habitual criminal and the instinctive +criminal is not merely an academical one but emphatically a practical +one. Both are living the life of crime, and their acts may be, from an +objective point, of exactly the same nature; but in the one case we have +to deal with the criminal CHARACTER and in the other with the criminal +HABIT. The distinction is first seen in the different ages at which each +commences his criminal career; nextly in the different impelling causes. +Again, the emotions, ideas and methods show a distinction. All these +variations are in the aggregate of considerable practical importance, +especially in the assignment of prisoners for reformatory treatment. + + * * * * * + + +THE CRIMINAL TYPE. + +Prof. Lombroso writing the introduction to Dr Arthur's "Criminology" +says:--"This point as to the type, is scarcely recognized even by the +most respectable savants. The reasons for this are many: above all, +there are the criminals by occasion or by passion, who do not belong to +the type and should not, for in great part it is the circumstances, and +often the laws, which make them criminals and not Nature. And then some +have strange ideas concerning the type." + +No doubt if the acceptation of the idea of type is carried out in its +complete universality, it cannot be accepted; but as I have already said +in my previous writings that it is necessary to receive this idea with +the same reserve which one appreciates averages in statistics. + +When it is said that the average of life is 32 years, and that the month +least (? most) fatal to life, is December, no one understands by this +that all or almost all men should die at the age of 32 years and in the +month of December; but I am not the only one to make this restriction. +In order to show this I have to cite the definition which Monsieur +Topinard, himself the most inveterate of my adversaries, gives in his +remarkable work "The Type," says Gratiolet, "is a synthetic expression." +"The Type," says Goethe, is "the abstract and general image" which we +deduce from the observation of the common parts and from the +differences. "The type of a species," adds Isidorus St. Helaire, "never +appears before our eyes but is perceived only by the mind." "Human +types," writes Broca, "have no real existence, they are only abstract +conceptions, ideals, which come from the comparison of ethnic varieties, +and are composed of an ENSEMBLE of characters common to a +certain degree among themselves." I agree with these different points of +view. The type is indeed an ENSEMBLE of traits, but in relation +to a group which it characterises, it is also the ENSEMBLE of +its most prominent traits, and those repeating themselves, whence comes +a series of consequences which the anthropologist should never lose +sight of either in his laboratory or in the midst of the populations of +Central Africa." Manouvrier opposes Lombroso's theory and denies the +existence of the type. He argues that if it exist at all it must be +universal, whereas the peculiarities noted by Lombroso are present in +honest as well as in criminal persons, the latter having, however, the +greater proportion. + +The doctrine of Fatalism seems at first sight to be bound up in the +acceptance of Lombroso's theory: but such is not the case. Lombroso +himself declares that the type belongs to the born criminal only, and +that the born criminal can be nothing more than an epileptic; +criminality being a neurosis. It would thus seem that the type was but +the indication of an organic defect which physically or psychically +rendered the subject unable to adapt himself to the social condition; +but not that unchangeable ideas, contradicting pure morality, were +innate. Lombroso goes no further than to state definitely that the type +exists, and that there are very clear indications that a different type +will be found to correspond with the different forms of criminality. +That the peculiarities are found also in persons living honest lives, +proves nothing against his theory. For instance, there are many persons +of distinctly criminal instincts who are kept in the paths of honesty +merely by circumstances; and again, scientific investigation has not yet +completed its work, and while certain typical peculiarities may be noted +in the criminal and in the non-criminal alike, it is more than likely +that the type will be found to consist in different combinations which +will be discovered to exist in the criminal (not necessarily, the +convict) exclusively. Or the type may consist in the peculiarities plus +expression. The following typical peculiarities have been noticed by +different criminologists:-- + +=The Cranium.=--The more frequent persistence of the metopic or frontal +suture. The effacement, more or less complete, of the parietal or +parieto-occipital sutures in a large number of criminals. The notched +sutures are the most simple. The frequency of the wormian bones in the +region of the median and in the lateral posterior frontal. The backward +direction of the plane of the occipital depression. (Dr A. Corre.) + +Feeble cranial capacity; heavy and developed jaw; large orbital +capacity; projecting superciliary ridges; abnormal and assymetrical +cranium; the presence of a median occipital fossa. (Lombroso.) + +=The Face.=--Scanty beard; abundant hair, prognathism, thick lips, dull +eye, lemurian appendix to the jaw, pteleriform type of the nasal +opening, projecting ears, squinting eyes, receding forehead and deformed +nose. "Those guilty of rape (if not cretins) almost always have a +projecting eye, delicate physiognomy, large lips and eyelids, the most +of them are slender, blond and rachitic. The pederast often has feminine +elegance, long and curly hair, and even in prison garb, a certain +feminine figure, delicate skin, childish look, and abundance of glossy +hair parted in the middle. Burglars who break into houses have as a rule +woolly hair, deformed cranium, powerful jaws, and enormous zygomatic +arches, are covered with scars on the head and trunk, and are often +tatooed. Habitual homicides have a glassy, cold, immobile, sometimes +sanguinary and dejected look; often an aquiline nose, or, in other +words, a hooked one like a bird of prey, always large; the jaws are +large, ears long, hair woolly, abundant and rich (dark); beard rare, +canine teeth, very large; the lips are thin. A large number of swindlers +and forgers have an artlessness, and something clerical in their manner, +which gives confidence to their victims. Some have a haggard look, very +small eyes, crooked nose, and the face of an old woman." (Dr MacDonald, +page 40.) + +The following proverbs, collected by Lombroso, show the recognition in +the popular mind of the criminal type:--"There is nothing worse than a +scarcity of beard and no colour." "Pale face is either false or +treacherous." (Rome.) "A red-haired man and a bearded woman greet at a +distance." (Venice.) "Be thou suspicious of the woman with a man's +voice." "God preserve me from the man without a beard." (France.) "Pale +face is worse than the itch." (Piedmont.) "Bearded women and unbearded +men, salute at a distance." (Tuscan.) "Men of little beard of little +faith." "Wild look, cruel custom." "Be thou suspicious of him who +laughs, and beware of men with small twinkling eyes." (Tuscan.) + +It must be remembered that while physiognomy gives valuable hints it is +by no means absolutely certain. Further investigation may add materially +to its value. It is also to be remembered that habits play an important +part in the physiognomy. So much so is this true that it has been said +of the reformed criminals from Elmira, that their faces have changed. + + + + +Chapter III. + +THE CAUSES OF CRIME. + + +In investigating the causes of crime we have first to understand what we +mean by the word "Crime," and also what we describe by the term +"Criminal." + +Crime may be regarded both objectively and also subjectively, i.e., as +regards the deed itself and as regards the doer of the deed. In the past +it was customary to consider the crime only and to punish the doer, or +the criminal, according to the enormity of his deed. Scientific methods +require, however, that we should study the criminal and ask ourselves +"what is he?" and "of what forces is he the product?" If these questions +can be satisfactorily answered, then society is better enabled to arm +herself against his invasion, in fact having successfully diagnosed his +case she may be led on to discover the means whereby criminals may be +reduced to their irreducible minimum, both as regards number and as +regards their capacity for doing harm. + +Man has two natures, the animal and the spiritual. The animal is the +passive product of Nature, the forces of his development being guided +and restricted by the condition of the life in which he is born and +reared. To this animal nature belongs the natural appetites, passions, +faculties and senses. This nature is not sufficient in itself, and its +realisation cannot be accomplished until it is brought into complete +subordination to the higher or spiritual nature. The function of this +spiritual nature is to subordinate the animal nature by harmonising and +controlling it, and it finds its partial realisation in the institutions +of family, church and state; and its ultimate realisation in the +heavenly counterparts of these. Thus subordinating the animal nature, it +develops the powers of man's natural inheritance along their true line +of advance and brings him steadily nearer the goal of perfect manhood. + +When, however, the spiritual influence is not exercised and man resigns +himself to the uncontrolled influences which spring from his lower +nature, he rapidly degenerates. Socially, this degeneracy is noticed by +its process of gradually loosening, and finally severing the ties which +bind man to his race. He becomes an unsocial being and ceases to +contribute to the wealth, peace or establishment of society. His desire +for society is regulated by his capacity to draw from it the +satisfaction of the abnormal appetite of unregulated passion. In this +mood he totally disregards the laws of society and seizes every +opportunity that presents itself to prey upon it and he thus becomes an +anti-social being. Through all ages up to the present, society has at +the cost of much effort and suffering been progressing, stage by stage, +towards a higher order. Each advance purchased at such a price, becomes +a free gift, by inheritance, to the next generation, and from this +inheritance still further progress may be made. It is quite possible +that in a dissolute age retrogression may set in and the ground be lost, +in which case its recovery becomes the arduous task of a succeeding +regenerate age. + +With each advance that it makes society embodies in its institution the +principles of social life such as it has been able to discover them. +These principles being finally accepted, we must assume that they are +eternal or else we are compelled to admit that society may be for ever +at fault, that its development does not correspond with the true +development of man, and that this present life is in no wise preparatory +for a future. Though we declare that the principles of society are +eternal, the social institutions which embody them are merely temporal, +and may change with time and circumstances. They are, nevertheless, +binding upon our allegiance, and any attempt to overthrow them becomes +the anti-social act of the criminal and is a punishable offence. The +criminal is an enemy to social advance. He profanes that which society +holds sacred, he scatters that which society, at great cost has +acquired, and he attacks society at its most vulnerable points. + +What, then it may be asked, are the causes that produce this anti-social +being? In the case of the sane criminal, an immoral basis underlies all +causes, and without this they would each and all be impotent. Some +causes, as e.g. alcoholism, are the result of the individual's +immorality; others again are independent. + +The principal causes are:--A bad ancestry (heredity), bad domestic and +social conditions, alcoholism, imitation, and stress of circumstances. + +=Heredity.=--Among unscientific people there are many extravagant +theories held, some even affirming that from the moment of conception a +child's character may be determined as criminal, as if character +underlay habit instead of habit evolving character. + +It is therefore necessary that we should endeavour to discover if +possible how far the influence of heredity extends, and especially to +disclose its powers as a factor influencing conduct. A man may be seen +to have the same peculiar carriage and gait as his father; but to argue +from that, that he will in obedience to a naturally transmitted impulse, +follow in his father's footsteps as a thief or a forger is to step +entirely out of the bounds of science. Gait and carriage belong to a +different sphere altogether from morals and conduct. But let it be at +once acknowledged that the morals and conduct of any given ancestry show +a tendency to be reproduced in the posterity. The drunkard is the father +of drunkards; the suicide is the father of suicides, and the parent's +crime is repeated by the child. Not in all cases is this by any means a +fact: but in a sufficient number to exclude the possibility of +coincidence accounting for them all, and to demonstrate conclusively +that some influence must be at work connecting the deeds of the +progenitor with those of his offspring. What is this influence? Can it +be at once declared to be the influence of heredity? The most usual way +of determining this question is by the process of exclusion. If +environment, education, imitation and other causes do not account for +the phenomena, then heredity must. Heredity thus becomes a convenient +name by which to denominate the insolvable. Sometimes the denomination +is correct and sometimes incorrect, and very often, even when correct, +it conveys a wrong impression. The impression being that the influence +of heredity is altogether irresistible and also ineradicable. + +Now, whatever the influence of heredity may be, it must be determined +scientifically and not merely guessed at. Nor must the failure to find +an adequate cause for a certain crime be a sufficient reason for +accounting heredity as responsible. Heredity has limits to its range of +influence as well as any other cause for crime, and it may be found that +there are certain fears which it can never invade. For instance, one +sphere wherein its influence is manifestly great, is in the structure of +the nervous, osseous, muscular, circulatory and vascular systems. Again, +what is more common than to find intellectual ability running in +families? Ribot, in his work on heredity, gives long lists of the +world's most famous poets, artists, musicians, statesmen and soldiers, +all showing the tendency of ability, in these various directions, to be +transmitted from one generation to another. Not always to the generation +immediately succeeding, for sometimes these various qualities disappear +in the son to reappear in the grandson or great-grandson. However, +convincing the evidence for transmission in these cases may be, it gives +no warrant whatever for the conclusion that heredity may exercise an +influence upon the MORAL conduct of man. + +Let it here be observed that the Moral Law is fundamental to all law. No +laws in Nature ever contradict the Moral Law, but are always found +acting in obedience to it. All the works of God are in accord with this +Law; God is the Moral Governor of the Universe. Therefore whatever may +hold good with all other laws, does not necessarily hold good with this +Law. That a man should inherit his father's intellectual qualities is +then no argument that he should also inherit his father's immorality. +Nothing less will suffice than distinct evidence that he HAS inherited +his father's immorality. + +A further observation is necessary, and that is, that morality is not +absolute but relative. Strictly speaking, no man is moral. God alone is +absolutely moral. Nor can we compare the morality of one man with the +average morality of mankind in general. To estimate a certain man's +morality of conduct we must compare his conduct with the degree of the +sense of responsibility which exists within him, and also his power of +control over his conduct. The murderous act of a lunatic for instance is +an immoral act, because we compare the act with morality in the +abstract; but it would be a mistake to call the lunatic an immoral man, +for the simple reason that he had no control over his conduct and was +therefore not responsible for it. + +Take the case of the drunkard. A certain drunken father has several +drunken sons. The influence of environment, of education, or of +imitation, we will suppose to be excluded. Is heredity the cause, and if +so, has it invaded the moral sphere? The influence of the father's +drunkenness is first made manifest in his own nervous system. The nerve +centres become clogged and poisoned and fail to discharge their +functions with the same healthy activity as formerly. The nervous system +degenerates, and the consequence of this degeneracy is the production of +that form of irritation within the system which we call the craving for +drink, and which requires alcohol for its immediate satisfaction. The +man will admit that he has no liking for the taste of drink; but +declares that he is in a certain state of unsettlement which can only be +overcome by the use of liquor. A temporary calm is induced, only to be +followed by a more intense irritation or unsettlement afterwards, and +thus a circle of cause and effect is at once described. + +This is then the degenerate state of the father's nervous system. Now, +it is undoubted that he may transmit this same degenerate nervous system +to his offspring and thus as his children grow up it is not to be +wondered at if the same craving for drink is to be found in them as was +existing in their parent. The influence of heredity has been at work +upon the nervous system. Has its influence been restricted to this +system, or has it invaded the moral sphere? The children's conduct is +immoral, for no amount of argument can determine drunkenness to be +anything else: but are the children themselves immoral? They are not +immoral so far as they are acting in obedience to an impulse which is +irresistible. The drunkard who is himself responsible for his habit, is, +strictly speaking, an alcoholic and is vicious and degraded. The +drunkard who drinks in spite of himself is, strictly speaking, a +dipsomaniac, and is diseased and insane. The alcoholic may become the +dipsomaniac; but the child who is the victim of a transmitted taint is +without doubt a dipsomaniac and not an alcoholic. He is insane. It may +not be an incurable form of insanity; nor need it be a very acute form; +but insanity it is, and therefore he cannot be called an immoral man +because he drinks, although he is guilty of immoral conduct. Heredity +has not invaded the moral sphere. It has given the man a diseased +nervous system, which, while weakening his will, has not perverted it. +Thus it is seen then that if any effort is to be made for the reform of +the dipsomaniac, the direct influence of heredity must be overcome by a +course of treatment which would be addressed to the nervous system. +Treatment which shall draw out the alcoholic poison and which shall +quicken and invigorate the nerve centres. When the influence of heredity +is discovered to be restricted within these limits, the case of the +hereditary dipsomaniac becomes far less hopeless than it appeared at +first sight, and it is for this reason that the causes of crime should +be thoroughly investigated. To moralise to the dipsomanic is but lost +effort, one may as well abuse a driver for not stopping his bolting +horses. Some reformatory schemes have trusted entirely to moral +agencies, and their failure has been quoted as evidence that all such +schemes are futile. But their failure has been due to an entirely wrong +conception of the cause of crime. The primary cause is undoubtedly a +reprobate will: but this cause is not found in every case. Where the +consequences of the parent's conduct has been inherited we find not the +primary, but a secondary cause, such as e.g. a diseased nervous system. +Sometimes both the primary and the secondary causes exist side by side, +and then treatment must be addressed to both the will and to the +physical system. In fact whatever methods of treatment are employed, the +moral temperament must not be neglected, for even if the will be not +perverted, it is considerably weakened and needs strengthening. + +The case of the sensualist is somewhat similar to that of the drunkard. +Ribot quoting Prosper Lucas, gives the example of a "man cook, of great +talent in his calling, has had all his life, and has still at the age of +sixty years, a passion for women. To this he adds unnatural crime. One +of his natural sons living apart from him does not even know his father, +and though not yet quite nineteen, has from his childhood given all the +signs of extreme lust, and strange to say, he, like his father, is +equally addicted to either sex." (Ribot; Heredity p. 89.) + +The fact that this son imitated his father's vices at an early age, is +not sufficient in itself to assign the cause to heredity. Nor does the +fact that he was separated from his father's influence or example, +strengthen the assignment beyond dispute. The causes for such conduct +are so common that very few men escape from their influence, and +whosever does not resist them, falls and becomes a victim. But probably +this was a case in which an inherited influence pressed itself so +strongly upon him as to become irresistible. What, we ask was inherited? +A perverted will? That is absolutely impossible. A perverted will is the +outcome of a deliberate choice of evil when the choice of virtue is +equally possible. A weakened will, or a will subject to heavy stress is +a different thing. There must be some stress upon the will. What is it? +It is a well known fact that the exercise of the members of our body +results in a great facility of movement being attained. The pianist can, +after long practice, execute rapid and complex performances of +fingering, which in the early stages of education were absolutely +impossible. It is because the nerve centres controlling the muscles +employed have been brought to such a high state of activity that they +operate almost independently of the will. The nerve centres controlling +certain of our functions DO operate independently of the will. Breathing +is an example, and although an effort of the will is required to +correct bad breathing, yet when once the habit of correct breathing is +established, the directing influence of the mind ceases, and the nerve +centres discharge their functions automatically. + +In the normal man the sexual instinct is inherited but the passion is +submissive to the control of the will. The will is supreme and +self-restraint is always possible. The immoral man has refused to +exercise this restraining power, he has, in fact, by his immoral +thoughts, lent his mind to the strengthening of the passion until it has +gained an ascendancy. Continual sexual excitement has resulted in the +nervous centres controlling the sexual organs becoming so powerfully +developed as to act almost automatically, and independently of the will. +In the normal man, sexual excitement results upon the mental vision; in +the sensualist the excitement precedes the vision. Another effect is +noticed in the physiognomy which changes in accordance with the +development of the nerve centres and presents all the appearances of the +typical sensualist or prostitute. + +In some cases the sensualist transmits this highly organised or +disordered nervous system to his descendants, and consequently when they +arrive at a certain age they find their bodies invaded by a passion over +which they have small, and sometimes no, control. It is distinctly a +case of functional insanity with them. Their will power is weak because +of undue stress, but it has not been perverted. Perversion may follow; +but may also be avoided, and even the will sufficiently strengthened so +that it may re-assume control and subject the passion to control. The +influence of heredity is here also confined to the nervous system. That +is, the direct influence, the influence which was first felt and before +it received any support which the mind of the victim may give it. The +cases of hereditary suicides, murderers and assassins afford a very +large field for investigation, and we cannot do more than suggest some +causes which seem to give strong evidence of their existence. These +causes if their existence be allowed, and we see every reason that it +should, will restrict the influence of heredity to a much narrower +sphere than is popularly supposed. The old story of the devil preaching +upon the horrors of hell serves somewhat to illustrate our meaning. When +the abbot enquired whether it was not contrary to his interests to draw +so vivid and terrible a picture he replied in the negative and gave as +his reason that the man who contemplated the horrors of hell was the man +who was bound to find his way there. + +The contemplation of criminal acts effects a strange fascination upon +the mind and very often induces imitation of the same acts. When a +suicide or murder, in fact any crime, is committed by a member of a +family the other members either, according to their moral disposition, +experience a greater or lesser repulsion for the deed than they formerly +possessed. The enormity of the deed is either stronger or lesser in +their eyes than before. In the latter case, murder or suicide does not +seem nearly so heinous a crime when it is brought so closely under their +notice. The very knowledge that a father or uncle or any other near +relative, or even friends for that matter, committed suicide, makes the +act appear far less terrible, and also far less impossible for +themselves. Most men have at some time or another an impulse to destroy +themselves, it may not be very strong; but if it is felt at a time when +the circumstances of life are unfavourable and, if added to this, there +is presented the example of a suicide very near at home, the impulse is +undoubtedly strengthened. The whole chain of circumstances seem to +direct the vision upon the rash act of the friend or relative, until at +last the vision becomes fascinating, and the act is imitated. To use a +concise expression one may call this the "hypnotic power of +circumstances." It is not an absolute cause in itself; but, strictly +speaking, may we call any cause absolute? It is not a cause which would +influence a man of strong will or of sound morality. But a sentimental +person, one of morbid ideas, weak will, or overcome by the thought of +detection, or the fear of misfortune, might easily fall a victim to its +influences. It will not account for all the cases of hereditary suicide, +for a mental disease may be transmitted which would account for the +suicide of both father and son or whatever the combination may be. It, +however, does account, we believe, for the majority of the cases, and +the similarity of the method employed strengthens this belief, for it +indicates that the mind is dwelling upon the actual vision of the +relative's suicide, and is not merely contemplating suicide in the +abstract. This theory would imply that any case of suicide, upon which +the mind would dwell and concentrate itself, would exercise the same +influence, and this is the case. A few years ago in Dunedin an +accountant who was involved in financial difficulties, shot himself with +a pistol. His executor, against the advice of friends, took charge of +the pistol. Becoming involved in financial difficulties himself, he too +committed suicide by shooting himself with the same weapon! Almost, +without a doubt, we may say that the circumstances of the first suicide +exerted upon the mind of the trustee a hypnotic influence which combined +with and gave the final impulse to the other contributing causes of his +act. + +Another instance is that of a young man who, contemplating suicide, +carried a revolver about with him for a whole day. He spoke of suicide +to his friends, occasionally discharged shots into the ground, and +finally, during the evening, blew his brains out. That he contemplated +suicide was evident from his conversation, but that his mind was not +made up, is also evident from the delay he occasioned. In fact, his +whole behaviour indicates a faint desire to cling to something stronger +than himself in order to brace himself against his haunting fears. The +revolver fascinated him. He dallied with it, made up his mind, changed +it again, and finally the influence became supreme for a moment, and he +fired the fatal shot. Throughout the day, he very probably thought of +the grief of his relatives and of the young woman he was soon to marry, +he pictured the consternation of his friends, read the newspaper +accounts of his act, saw his funeral, and let his mind run altogether in +morbid channels. Thus it was that the vision of his own act exerted an +hypnotic influence upon him which became at the critical moment supreme +and irresistible. + +When the picture is real and not imaginary, and when the circumstances +of a parent's or brother's or friend's suicide may easily be recalled +and the mind allowed to dwell upon them, how much greater would the +influence become, especially when the same example has served to +diminish the idea of the enormity of the act. Where persons lend +themselves to the idea that an hereditary influence exists and may +spring upon them at any moment, they are almost sure either to destroy +themselves or else to develop some form of insanity. There are cases of +murder and assassination (apparently hereditary crime) where the +conditions are so similar that the hypnotic power of circumstances may +likewise be urged as sufficient cause. + +So far, an attempt has been made to show that whatever the influence of +heredity may be, it is restricted outside the sphere of morality. It +cannot transmit an IMMORAL IDEA. So far as certain forms of +vice and crime are concerned it most probably is limited entirely to its +effect upon the physical structure of man. Combined with family +tradition and working upon a diseased, or weakened will, it accounts for +similarities of conduct. Suicides, murderers and assassins do not then +receive by transmission from their ancestry any taint or tendency which +may be called the direct cause of their crime. Another factor is +present, a hypnotising power, and this is the final and directing power. +It is a different influence to imitation, although its first result is +the same, viz: the lowering of the moral idea. But crimes where the act +is the imitation of another person's act are generally committed from +the desire to become notorious and to be the centre of observation. The +spirit of vanity, very strong in the low type, is appealed to and +aroused. Or perhaps, the example of another's crime affords a suggestion +for the method of accomplishing a certain desired end. On the other +hand, the ancestral example, after having broken down the moral barrier +depends entirely upon its power to fascinate. Those of weak will or +guilty conscience, alone succumb to its influence. If we consider the +cases of thieves, vagabonds and paupers we find their crimes and vices +likewise running in families. It is nevertheless quite a mistake to jump +at the conclusion that heredity accounts for all these coincidencies. +Exempting all cases of transmitted mental alienation and observing only +those who are quite responsible for their action, it is impossible to +suppose that there is, somewhere in their organism, a power which will +direct their lives into the channels of vice or crime just as +irresistibly as the influence which makes the hair grow on the crown of +their heads. It is unthinkable. It supposes a responsible person who +cannot control himself. Which is a contradiction. + +M. Moleschott, at the International Congress of Criminal Anthropology +held in Paris in 1889, "mentioned an influence towards crime that had +not been noticed, to wit, the hereditary social influence, or that is, +the tradition which is instilled into the mind of every child before he +knows the difference between right and wrong, that by which he obtains +the rudiments of his knowledge of right and wrong. Whether it be correct +or not it is the child's standard. He gets it not from any knowledge of +theory of justice, but from the tradition of his own neighbourhood, as +it is taught by his parents and associates by the people, and as is +believed by them." (Criminal Anthropology; the Smithsonian Report for +1891.) + +It will be understood that the influences of which M. Moleschott speaks +are not of an hereditary nature, that is, they are not transmitted +through the blood; but they are influences which are present from the +first moment of consciousness. They are quite sufficient to account for +the criminal type being found in the physiognomy of a person born and +reared among such surroundings. It is a very popular error to suppose +that a person's physiognomy never changes, and therefore that if the +criminal cast of countenance is seen it must be a faithful witness to +some innate depravity transmitted from an ancestry. The expression plays +such an important part in the moulding of the countenance, that of two +brothers very much alike in youth, one, afterwards given to crime, will +still retain his resemblance to his brother; but will display the +criminal type as well. It is thus that we have the different types in +murderers, assassins, thieves, swindlers and sensualists. They are all +criminal or vicious but their forms of criminality and vice are so +diverse that a different expression results from the different kinds of +thought passing through their minds. In their theories, few people +acknowledge that the symmetry of the facial features may change, and yet +it is a matter of common observance that they do. In the cases of +persons becoming insane or persons who have suffered from long and +painful illnesses it is very remarkable. Likewise in the case of the man +who has fallen into crime, it is also most noticeable. Of course there +are limits to the changes which the expression may produce, but these +changes are nevertheless very great and sufficiently so, not perhaps to +produce Lombroso's type in any given face, but to give that face at +least a distinctly criminal cast. + +The appearance then of this criminal cast upon the features is not +sufficient evidence to account for an inherited tendency towards crime. +Dr Manouvrier insists that Lombroso's theory that the criminal is born +and not made is based upon the exploded science of phrenology, and +declares that all the anatomical distinctions and physicological +characteristics quoted by Lombroso are to be found among honest men as +well as among criminals. The fact that a greater proportion are found +among criminals to his mind proves nothing. + +[There is not vast difference between normal and abnormal persons +possessing these peculiarities. In Lombroso's work "The Female Offender" +he notices:-- + + Normal Women Criminal Women + Receding foreheads 8 per cent. 11 per cent. + Enormous lower jaws 9 " 15 " + Projecting cheek bones 14 " 19.9 " + Murderesses 30 " + " ears 6 " 9.2 " + Flat nose 40 " Thieves 20 " + +Gradenigo (quoted by Lombroso) gives the following table showing the +peculiarities of the ears of 245 criminals as compared with 14,000 +normal women:-- + + Normal Criminal + Regular external ear 65 per cent. 54 per cent. + Sessile ear 12 " 20 " + Scaphoid fossa prolonged + to lobe 8.2 " 21.2 " + Projecting ears 3.1 " 5.3 " + Prominent anti-helix 11.5 " 14.2 " + Darwin's tubercle 3 " 2.9 " + +Other anthropometrists notice different proportions.] + +If Lombroso's theory, that a man was born a criminal, was to be taken as +the rule, Manouvrier declares that it must then be universal, and that +men thus born must inevitably commit crime. If it be a rule then it must +operate in all classes, and since it does not so operate, proof is given +that it is not the rule. Manouvrier declares that the man possessed of +characteristics the very opposite of Lombroso's criminal, if subjected +to the conditions, influences, and temptations, which lead to crime +would as likely commit crime as he who possessed all the characteristics +which Lombroso describes as typical. Manouvrier regards the social life +of a person from childhood as being the most important factor in +moulding character. He emphatically denies that there is in the embryo a +predisposition to crime. Dr Magnan likewise refuses his assent to this +theory. + +It may be rather daring to suggest a theory which would reconcile the +differences between these eminent men: but as the facts presented by +each side are indisputable, some such reconciliation must exist. +Possibly if we interpret Lombroso's phrase, "inherited tendency towards +crime" or "predisposition towards crime" in the same way as we interpret +the term ("predisposition towards disease") when speaking of tubercular +persons (or, as Mercier speaks of the insane), that is as persons, who +in a given favourable environment, are more likely to commit crime than +persons without that inherited tendency, we may find these theories to +be more in accord with one another. Lombroso insists that there must be +an inherited tendency, Manouvrier insists that there must be +environment. As in the case of tubercular persons (of tubercular +ancestry) these two causes are complementary, may it not be also the +case with criminals of criminal ancestry? The INHERITED IMMORAL +IDEA seems to be really what Manouvrier rejects. A vicious +conception of life which makes the man inevitably, incurably, and +irresistibly a criminal, is apparently the interpretation he puts on +Lombroso's theory. But from Lombroso's works and speeches, the +interpretation does not appear to be at all a necessary one. The +transmission of a disordered nervous system with its consequences, as +one cause, the "hypnotic influence of circumstances" as another cause, +and these two causes acting sometimes separately and sometimes +conjointly, will very possibly account for the phenomena Lombroso +observes. A most important factor, and one which cannot be disregarded, +compels the acceptance of some such theory. This factor is the success +resulting from reformatory effort. It is not only Lombroso and +Manouvrier that need to be reconciled, but Lombroso, Manouvrier and +Brockway. This latter gentleman is the founder of the famous Elmira +Reformatory which has reformed 82 per cent. of 12,000 felons which have +been committed to it for treatment. + +We come then to this conclusion that heredity plays an important part in +the production of the criminal; but that there are other very important +factors which are often confused with it and when separated from it +reduce the popular estimate of its influence to the scientific one, +which is considerably the lesser one. Furthermore, as a consequence of +this investigation, the true foundations upon which reformatory science +is to be built are clearly indicated. + +This statement, that heredity plays an important part in the production +of the criminal, needs to be carefully guarded. It means precisely this +and nothing more:--That where an hereditary influence (such as above +described) making crime easier, has been transmitted, there that +influence is an important factor in the production of the criminal. It +does NOT mean that this influence is invariably transmitted by the +criminal parent, neither does it mean that the majority of criminals are +"born" criminals. + +The following is an extract from a letter upon this subject which the +author has received from Dr. Arthur MacDonald, one of the leading +criminologists of to-day:--"There is no proof of any scientific value +that criminality is inherited." By criminality we understand "the moral +basis of crime." + +The famous "Jukes" family that lived in the State of New York, afford +one of the most interesting studies in heredity to be found in the +annals of criminology. Of this numerous family (some 709 persons of +which were clearly traced in five generations) the elder sons took to +crime and the younger sons to vagabondage. There was indeed a proportion +of honest and industrious persons among them. Of the women 52 per cent. +were prostitutes. That a proportion of honest men among the sons, and a +fair number of virtuous women among the daughters is recorded, clearly +proves that an hereditary taint is not, in all cases, necessarily +transmitted from parent to child. Latency in one generation, with +activity in the next, is frequently observed in the transmission of +disease; but in the case of crime, as distinguished from vice, this is +rarely so. + +That the younger sons of the "Jukes" family fell into habits of +vagabondage (leaving it to the elder sons to carry on the criminal +traditions of the family) is also worthy of notice. It serves to show +that whatever the influence of heredity may be, as a factor disposing +towards crime, it cannot be an independent and final factor. In families +living after a primitive manner of life, as this family did, the elder +sons are invariably the companions of their fathers and accompany them +on their depredatory raids. The younger sons are left to the milder +environment of their mother's society. Thus from a criminal point of +view, the environment of the elder sons is more intense than that of the +younger sons. The difference in environment accounts for the difference +in character formed; the more intense environment accounting for +criminals and the milder environment for vagabonds. Sometimes the +influence of environment is overcome, and we noticed that among the +"Jukes" a proportion of the family was honest and industrious. +Acknowledging the transmission of a physical defect from a criminal +ancestry, we must bear in mind that the conditions of the criminal's +life are such as are calculated to produce in himself that defect which +he transmits. His body becomes weakened, his nervous system disordered, +and the physical substratum of his mind diseased. These defects he +transmits to his offspring and thus handicaps them in the effort that is +required from the individual to adapt himself to the conditions of +society. + +This is the criminal "taint" or handicap that makes it more likely that +the individual should fall into crime than the normal man. Although +society regards this hereditary criminal as a monster, it has been made +clear that he is really more deserving of compassion than one not so +handicapped. To secure society from his injurious acts, our courts +frequently take the illogical and unjust course of imposing a more +severe punishment upon him. This is in itself a clear evidence of the +demand that exists for penological reform. + +=Environment.=--By environment we understand bad homes, bad +associations, and generally bad conditions. + +Of the condition of the 12,000 persons who passed through the Elmira +Reformatory between the years 1876-1902, only 1.47 per cent. came from +good homes and 37.4 per cent. from fair homes. Of the character of the +men's associations, 56.6 per cent. was positively bad; 41.9 per cent. +was "not good;" .9 per cent. was doubtful, and 1.6 per cent. was good. + +It is scarcely necessary from a practical point of view to enquire into +the actual amount of crime which results from a bad environment, for it +is only too obvious that none but those of the strongest wills and of +the highest morality can resist the influence of bad surroundings when +these are constant. Our enquiry should rather be directed to ascertain +what constitutes a bad environment and what are the causes that produce +it. It should also seek to discover by what means its evil influence may +be checked and how to eradicate these influences when present. The +attitude of our law-courts towards the criminal is practically +this:--"You have been reared amidst evil surroundings whose influence +you could not resist, you are a criminal, an outcast from society, you +must be punished by being locked up in a school of crime in the hope +that it may inspire you to live a better life. The sentence of the court +is ..." And society endorses this attitude! + +The evil influence of bad surroundings is well exemplified by an +instance recorded by Viscount D'Haussonville in his work "L'Enfance a +Paris":--"Some years ago a band of criminals were brought before the +jury of the Seine charged with a terrible crime, the assassination of an +aged widow, with details of ferocity which the pen refuses to describe. +The president of the court having asked the principal, Maillot, called +'the yellow,' how he had been brought to commit such a crime, he +replied:--What do you wish that I should tell you Mr President? Since +the age of seven years I have been found only on the streets of Paris. I +have never met anyone who was interested in me. When a child, I was +abandoned to every vicissitude--and I am lost. I have always been +unfortunate. My life has been passed in prisons and gaols. That is all. +It is my fate. I have reached--you know where. I will not say that I +have committed the crime under circumstances independent of my own will, +but finally--(here the voice of Maillot trembled) I never had a person +to advise me. I had in view only robbery. I committed robbery but I +ended with murder." + +The following description of the manner in which parents may defeat the +work of the juvenile reformatory or industrial school was given by +Senator Roussel at the Fourth International Prison Congress:--"The +pernicious influence of parents relative to minors is manifest in two +ways and at two periods of the child's life. First in extreme youth, +when he is only a burden, his parents neglect him. He is left without +proper care, often without proper food and subjected to all the hazards +of the streets; he is forced to be a vagabond and a beggar, and this +situation continues until a violation of the law places the little +unfortunate in the hands of justice. Later, everything is changed. When +by maturity of age and good effects of penitentiary education, the child +instead of being a burden can be a source of profit, we see those same +parents, who had abandoned him in his infancy, and apparently had +forgotten him altogether, go to him and win him back to them by their +entreaties, and finally on his discharge regain him by virtue of +parental authority. This indiscretion of evil parents ... is the way +that the first-fruits of correctional or charitable education are +corrupted and that a great many minors who would have become useful +members of society, are definitely lost to it." + +It may be heresy to criticise our public school system but it is more +than an open question whether we are not producing a generation of badly +educated people who are not aware of their own ignorance, who see no +dignity in labour and who prefer to make their living by speculation +rather than by work. The fault largely consists in estimating the +efficiency of a school or a teacher solely by the results obtained at +examination and making the children work for this end and this end only. +Their memories are taxed to the uttermost but no attempt is made to +develop them into reasoning, enquiring and labour loving beings. The +difficulty with which children in the sixth and seventh standards follow +the simplest arguments is simply amazing. The teachers, moreover, have +no opportunity for cultivating the art of pedagogy. Their whole time is +taken up preparing matter to pour into the child's mind. The bad +salaries that are paid can also have but one result, viz., the depriving +the State of the services of the most manly and most noble teachers and +having the work committed to those of the genus prig. + +Bad homes, bad schools and playgrounds only once removed from cattle +yards, will be, in this country, the most potent factors in producing +crime. + +=Alcohol.=--The influence of alcohol in the commission of crime is both +direct and indirect. We see its direct influence in those crimes which +are committed whilst the culprit is either in a state of intoxication or +else just recovering from such a state. To detect and trace its indirect +influence a much closer study is required. The inconsequent, lazy and +thriftless life of the criminal demands some sort of stimulant, and this +is found readily at hand in alcohol. Alcohol is not the cause of the +crimes of these people but it is closely associated with such cause. The +man who stabs another in a saloon is not then guilty of his first crime. +Under the influence of intoxication he has lost his power of +self-control and he commits a deed for which he may in a sober moment +have still a degree of moral abhorrence or be perhaps too much of a +coward to perform. + +Many criminals, whose crime requires a certain amount of nerve and +calculation, as e.g. assassinations, murders, robberies, swindlings, +etc., will not touch alcohol until their crime has been completed and +they have satisfied themselves that they covered up all trace of it. +They then often indulge in a debauch. + +In the lower courts, offenders will frequently plead as an extenuation +that they were intoxicated at the time when they committed their +offence. This is often done in order to escape the full penalty, and +such pleas are not to be relied upon in estimating the real influence of +alcohol. In the higher courts, for the same reason, criminals often +feign insanity, and in not a few of such cases they become their own +dupes by actually losing the possession of their senses. Drunkenness and +crime go together, although the increase in the consumption of alcohol +does not necessarily mean that crime has increased. Neither does the +reverse hold good. When crime appears first it is not long before all +forms of animal indulgence follow. Sometimes drunkeness appears first, +and when the home has been reduced to beggary, crime results. + +Under the immediate influence of drink, the crimes most commonly +committed are those against morality and the person. In countries where +the saloon is an institution, it is invariably the home of criminals and +the scene of many murders and deeds of blood. In France, e.g. out of +10,000 murders committed, 2,374 occurred in saloons. The indirect +influence of alcohol is perhaps more terrible than its direct influence. +There is this sad feature about it also that the greatest sufferers are +the victims, not of their own abuse, but of that of others. Many a +criminal tells the story, which is easily corroborated, of the days of +his childhood when his father came home drunk and the children for very +fear had to hide themselves or run out into the streets, often to sleep +wherever they could, and perhaps steal to satisfy the pangs of hunger. +Such children are quickly absorbed, the girls into the ranks of +prostitution, the boys into those of crime. Many too, by reason of their +parents' intemperance, are weaklings and unable to take their stand in +the ranks of honest labourers. Unless they are rescued by philanthropic +effort they very soon take to crime, and physically and psychically +present all the features of the "instinctive criminal." + +Of 12,000 criminals at Elmira, in nearly 36 per cent, was a drunken +ancestry to be clearly traced. + +To state exactly the influence of alcohol as a cause of crime will, from +the nature of the case, never be possible; but this much is certain, +that EVERY cause finds in it a strengthening contributary of +considerable potentiality. + +=Imitation.=--One of the principal characteristics of the criminal is +his excessive vanity. His great ambition is to gain notoriety and to be +talked about by the public. Almost every criminal has his hero in crime +whose deed he tries to emulate as nearly as possible; or, better still, +to outshine. Thus we find, that when some daring deed has been +perpetrated, there are not wanting others who quickly make an attempt to +imitate it. A prisoner tried to kill his comrade because a third man, +who was standing his trial for murder, was receiving in his estimation +too much attention from the public and especially "too many bouquets." A +murderer in New Zealand declared that the notorious bushranger Ned Kelly +was his ideal of a man. A certain priest, beloved by all, was found +murdered. None could account for the crime; afterwards it was discovered +to have been the act of a young criminal who performed it merely as an +act of bravado. Instances of this sort might be multiplied all tending +to show that the vanity of the criminal leads him, as far as his courage +will permit, to imitate the most daring deeds in crime. The witnessing +of executions and reading the accounts of fictitious and real crimes +often leads many into crime. As a deterrent to crime, it was once the +custom in England to conduct executions in public. Lombroso records it +as being his conviction that such publicity does, by the law of +imitation, lead more into crime than it turns from it. This he considers +is one of the most powerful arguments in favour of abolishing the death +penalty. Out of 167 persons condemned to death in England, 164 had been +present at executions. The reading of sensational novels or the +descriptive accounts of great crimes has a most alarming effect upon +those who are of an impressionable nature. These persons are to +themselves the heroes of an imaginary world. They will put on an air of +bravado, adopt a "swagger" style of attire, carry sharp knives and pose +before their companions as dare-devils. If not sufficiently courageous +to perform deeds of daring they will constantly be recounting imaginary +ones for which they will claim the authorship; or else they will be for +ever threatening to do something of a staggering nature. The more +courageous of these frequently become dangerous criminals while the +more timid descend into sneak thieves, or the assaulters and violators +of the persons of the defenceless. This inflammatory reading matter also +exerts an hypnotic influence over some which is almost irresistible. Dr +MacDonald ("Criminology" p. 131), gives the instance of a woman who +after having read of the dreadful crime of a Parisian mother, came to Dr +Esquirol and pleaded with him to admit her into his hospital, declaring +that since reading of this crime she was tormented by the devil to kill +her youngest child. Reading of the crime and vividly picturing to +herself the details of it, had resulted in the woman's mind being laid +hold of by a fascinating power which continually prompted her to kill +her own child. Her wish was granted and she recovered. + +In this case we have another instance of the "hypnotic influence of +circumstances." Firstly, the picture is deeply impressed on the mind; +next the moral sensibilities are hardened, and lastly the overt act is +committed. Tropmann who murdered a whole family of eight, confessed that +his demoralisation was due to the reading of sensational novels. The +publication of the details of crimes and the circulation of inflammatory +fiction is a most fruitful cause of further crime. One of the most +efficient safe-guards against crime and scandal is a sensitive public +moral tone. This is undoubtedly hardened by the publicity given to +sordid and gruesome details. One fails to see what good purpose can +possibly be served. Knowledge is power, but in this case, it is a power +for evil. The weak-willed readily obey the law of imitation, the +criminal is gratified at seeing the big headlines in the newspapers and +impelled to further crime, and some neurotics are positively hypnotised. + +Any serious attempt to suppress the increase of crime must take these +matters into consideration, and it will unquestionably prove abortive +unless a much stricter censorship is exercised over the publication of +the gruesome details of crimes and scandals and also over the sale of +the type of literature referred to. + + + + +Chapter IV. + +THE MANNER AND PHILOSOPHY OF PUNISHMENT. + + +The various punishments which are inflicted upon our law breakers are +fines, imprisonment, flogging, and death. + +=Fines= produce a very useful means of dealing with persons whose +offences show a tendency to crime rather than to actual criminality. In +many cases the self-respect of the offender has not been sacrificed, and +while under arrest the sense of shame is deeply aroused. The shock from +being brought face to face with the law is often sufficient in these +persons to check any further tendency towards crime. The imposition of a +fine will satisfy the claims of justice and inflict that degree of +punishment necessary to fix the idea of abhorrence towards crime in the +mind of the offender. In the case of boys charged with petty offences +fining is often a most valuable means of punishment. To dismiss with a +caution may lead to nothing; to imprison is invariably a most disastrous +course to pursue; to flog within a gaol may be too severe but to fine is +an excellent method. The parent has to pay the fine, and as the child's +offence is generally due to the want of parental control and discipline, +the punishment reaches right home and better control for the future +generally results. Where parental control is non-existent, and there +remains no possibility of creating it, other measures must be taken +which will supply a substitute for the discipline of home life. + +In some case of theft, minor assault, disturbing the peace, and other +offences which indicate a momentary and not very serious lapse of +self-control, or perhaps a somewhat vague conception of the supremacy of +the law, fines serve all the purposes of justice. A four-fold +restitution for all damage done might be taken as a standard to be +increased or diminished in exceptional cases. In all these instances the +culprit should be made to pay the fine himself even though it should +require a fairly lengthy period in which to liquidate it. Section 16 of +The New Zealand Criminal Code provides that the Court may exercise its +own discretion in imposing a fine upon any person whose offence rendered +them liable to a term of imprisonment. There are many cases, however, +even of first offenders, in which fining is quite useless. + +=Imprisonment.=--So much has been written describing the various prison +systems in vogue in different parts of the world that it is unnecessary +to do much more than briefly outline them here. + +(1). The congregate system. In which the prisoners are associated +together by day or by night or by both. Were the object to convert the +prison into a school of crime, no better system could be devised. The +standard of the lowest is the standard which must prevail under the +congregate system. + +(2). The solitary system. The extreme opposite of the congregate system. +The prisoners are allowed to have practically no communication with +anyone whomsoever. In some countries this system is made indescribably +cruel. At Santiago in Chili in one part of the prison the inmates are +employed upon useful work under most humane conditions, and yet in +another part of the very same building a most barbarous system exists. +Mr F. B. Ward (quoted in Penological and Preventive Principles) +describes what he saw in 1893:--"In this splendid model institution +there are noisome, slimy cells, where daylight never enters, in which +human beings are literally buried alive. Under the massive arches of +enormously thick walls, where even in the outside rooms perpetual +twilight reigns, are inner cells, two feet wide by six feet long, and +destitute of a single article of furniture. Until recently, those +confined in them were walled in, the bricks being cemented in places +over the living tomb. Now there is a thick iron door, which is securely +nailed up and then fastened all around with huge clamps, exactly as the +vaults are closed in Santiago Cemetery, and over all the great red seal +of the Government is placed--not to be removed until the man is dead, or +his sentence has expired. The tiny grated window is covered by several +thicknesses of closely-woven wire netting, making dense darkness inside, +so that the prisoners cannot tell night from day. There is no +ventilation except through this netting, and no opening whatever to +admit outside air into the tomb. Low down in the iron door, close to the +ground, is a tiny sliding panel a foot long by a few inches wide +arranged like a double drawer, so that food and water may be slipped in +on shallow pans and the refuse removed. Twice in every twenty-four hours +this panel is operated, and if the food remains untouched a given number +of days, it is known to a certainty that the man is dead, and only then +can the door be unsealed, unless his time is up. If the food is not +touched for two or three days no attention is paid to it, for the +prisoner may be shamming; but beyond a certain length of time he cannot +live without eating. Not the faintest sound nor glimmer of light +penetrates those awful walls. In the same clothes he wears on entering, +unwashed, uncombed, without even a blanket or handful of straw to lie +upon he languishes in sickness, lives or dies with no means of making +his condition known to those outside. He may count the lagging hours, +sleep, rave, curse, pray, long for death, dash his brains out, go mad if +he likes--nobody knows it. He is dead to the world and buried though +living. They told us that only one man has ever survived a year's +sentence there. Those that survive six months are almost invariably +drivelling idiots or raving maniacs." + +It was under similar conditions to these that the assassin of King +Humbert of Italy was incarcerated. Such a system shows a cruel +vindictive rage towards the criminal. Terrible as the offender's crime +may be, society must deal calmly and not lose self-control or give such +an exhibition of its own criminal ferocity. + +=The Separate System.=--Under which the prisoners are not allowed to +associate with each other, but receive frequent visits from gaolers, +warders, chaplains, and other persons who are likely to bring beneficial +influence to bear upon them. Each man has his own cell, in which he +sleeps and works. His exercise is conducted in such a manner as to +prevent contact with other prisoners. He is allowed books and given +daily instruction. Under this system perhaps the best results are +obtained. + +=The Silent System.=--A system under which the prisoners associate with +one another but are forbidden to communicate. This system cannot be +strictly enforced, and as it converts trifling matters into serious +offences, it makes the prison life a state of petty persecution. + +=The Combined System.=--A system which the prisoners are kept apart +during the night but work together during the day. This system has been +adopted in New Zealand, and in the following description of the value of +imprisonment it will be understood that it is to this system that +reference is made. + +A man is sent to prison because he has proved himself unfit to be at +liberty. His attack upon society was evidence of this, and society +punishes him by taking away the liberty which he has thus abused. His +dread of the prison increases as he comes under the shadow of its grim +walls, and, once having passed within, a feeling of remorse and +desperation seizes him. Its intensity or weakness will depend upon his +temperament. He is soon told in the most emphatic manner that he is to +regard himself as a felon; that he is to live with felons as a felon and +observe the habits of a felon. He is given a uniform coarse in texture +clumsy and grotesque in appearance and branded over with the broad-arrow +and with his prison number. In this garb it is impossible for a man to +preserve his sense of self-respect. If he should not be amenable to the +prison discipline he may be held up to ridicule by being compelled to +wear a parti-coloured uniform. However can a man be expected to reform +who is held up to the ridicule of felons? It matters not from which +class of life he is drawn, what his age is, or the nature of his +offence, he is thrown into the company of the worst criminals in the +land. If he were a cultured man, or a man who had known no associates in +his crime, or if his æsthetic taste was considerably developed it +matters not; he must do the same work and mix in the same company as the +most ignorant and most brutal. To utterly disregard these qualities is +to ignore the wide-open channels along which the most powerful +reformative influences may be transmitted. If his recovery is to be +considered these are most substantial assets. They are, as it were, "the +general health" of the patient suffering from a local lesion. Yet our +prison system not only ignores them but patiently sets to work to +destroy them, as if their possession were an additional offence on the +part of the criminal. Prisoners who try to keep aloof from their +associates may often be made to suffer very considerably for it. Others, +craving for some association, soon fall in with men whom they would have +regarded, a few days previously, as impossible companions. The almost +entire absence of elevating influences makes it easy for the +concentrated power of evil to become irresistible. The gloom of the +prison rises, the fear of the law vanishes and the new born tendency to +crime becomes a confirmed habit. A man needs either a very strong will +indeed, or else to be supported by powerful social traditions to enable +him to resist the evil influences of prison life. A few men do resist +and maintain their sense of self-respect in spite of all indignities and +bad influences. Some sink as under a torture; some sink and are enticed +and absorbed into felony. These last will plan their future crimes while +they are serving their first sentence. Henceforth the prison is their +home. + +What purpose is thus served? Why should a man who has lost self-respect +be continually reminded of it? If a man is diseased he is not placed +amongst filthy conditions and the emblems of sickness and death crowded +upon him. His removal from all unhealthy surroundings is the first +essential necessary for his recovery, and the same should be observed +with the criminal. He should be entirely removed from criminal +surroundings and efforts made to eradicate the criminality which has +expressed itself. Society has not the right to degrade a man, much less +to school him in crime. If he prove absolutely incorrigible (a very +difficult matter to ascertain) he should be banished from society for +all time either by life-long imprisonment or by death. If not, the +carrying out of his punishment must be performed with a very sacred +sense of responsibility. All manner of means are taken to relieve and +cure the physically sick; much greater surely should be the means +employed to heal the morally and socially sick. + +Another matter wherein our prison system might be justly criticised is +the scale of diet provided for the prisoners. No one asks that they +should be given luxuries, but it might at least be recognised even in +prison that one man's food is another man's poison, that one fattens +where another starves, and that variety is essential to good health. A +prisoner who was serving a very long sentence once said to the author, +"fancy having the same dinner every day of your life." Let one fancy it, +boiled beef every day except Sunday, when roast beef is provided. The +same meal every day, the same clothes to wear every day and all day, and +the same routine to go through. What wonder is it that in the confirmed +criminal many faculties appear to have atrophied. They have obeyed a law +of nature. The popular comment is no doubt--"what else do you expect? +They deserve it all, they have brought it upon themselves." We expect +that our criminals should at least be treated like the by-products of +our mills and factories, i.e. made the most of. Bitter prejudices must +give way to the dictates of reason and humanity. + +Practically the "combined system" produces no good results. It satisfies +neither justice, humanity, nor economy. Neither is it efficient to +afford protection to society. It satisfies prejudice and vengeance +alone. The only system of imprisonment which is of any value and which +the State ought to consider is one which converts the gaol in every +essential into a "crime-hospital." + +Concerning life imprisonment much apprehension exists in the public +mind. The prevailing idea is that this sentence implies incarceration +for a period of twenty years. This is due perhaps to the fact that in +England the sentences of "lifers" are reconsidered at the end of that +period, and in the majority of cases a pardon is granted. The New +Zealand prison regulations contain this section (116) "No rule for the +remission of life sentences will be laid down. Such sentences are passed +on persons guilty of the very gravest offences; and the Governor will +only extend the royal prerogative of mercy to such persons in +exceptional cases." Under certain conditions life imprisonment is the +only way of dealing with criminals who refuse to reform. Those +conditions do not exist in our New Zealand prisons, and a life sentence +served within their walls is the most cruel form of punishment our laws +allow. The prisoner enters the gaol with a long, dark, hopeless future +before him. As the years roll by not one ray of light brightens his lot. +He can never better himself. He suffers, he is meant to suffer, the loss +of all he holds dear (and even a murderer holds some things dear). This +absolute loss, this complete severance of all ties, produces a most +agonising mental state and afflicts the poor wretch with untold horrors. +He is made to drag out an existence under most unnatural conditions, +conditions in which every effort he makes towards self-improvement is a +useless one, every aspiration is routed, the natural affections crave in +vain for an object to fasten upon, and where an artificial atavistic +process is set in motion so powerful as to defy the resistance of all in +time. This is no imaginary picture, a man is a man, and one of the +cruellest tortures to submit him to is to deprive him absolutely of hope +and make good his evil because it requires an effort which is useless, +and evil his good because it is easier and costs the loss of nothing. +Perhaps the majority of lifers are those whose sentences have been +commuted from the death penalty. Such a sentence is in reality the death +penalty carried out under slow process extending over many years. +Gradually remorse and despair do their work upon the natural instincts, +the mind and the body. The man becomes brutalised, insane and dies. An +exception here and there may be pointed out; but given twenty men of +same age and good health, and sentence ten to twenty years, and ten to +life imprisonment, and the chances are that (under reasonable +conditions) the ten with the defined sentence will survive it, whereas +of the lifers the majority will be insane within twelve years. The +following testimony will, however, be of greater weight:-- + +The Directors of the State Prison in Wisconsin in their report for 1881 +add:-- + +"The condition of most of our life prisoners is deplorable in the last +degree. Not a few of them are hopelessly insane; but insanity, even, +brings them no surcease of sorrow. However wild their delusions may be +on other subjects, they never fail to appreciate the fact that they are +prisoners. Others, not yet classed as insane, as year by year goes by, +give only too conclusive evidence that reason is becoming unsettled. The +terribleness of a life sentence must be seen to be appreciated; seen, +too, not for a day or a week, but for a term of years. Quite a number of +young men have been committed to this prison in recent years under +sentence for life. Past experience leads us to expect that some of them +will become insane in less than ten years; and all of them, who live, in +less than twenty. Many of them will, doubtless, live much longer than +twenty years, strong and vigorous in body perhaps, but complete wrecks +in mind. May it, therefore, not be worthy of legislative consideration +whether life sentences should not be abolished and long but definite +terms substituted, and thus leave some faint glimmer of hope even for +the greatest criminals?" + +Sir E. Du Cane stated in 1878 before the Royal Commission on Penal +Servitude Acts:-- + +"I myself do not think much of life sentences at all. I would rather +have a long fixed term. I think all the effect on the public outside +would be gained by a shorter period." + +Mr W. Tallack, late Secretary of the Howard Association, writes in his +"Penelogical and Preventive principles":-- + +"Of life imprisonment it may be conclusively pronounced very bad in even +the best form of it. Years of enquiry and observation have increasingly +forced this conviction upon the writer.... A fixed limit of twenty years +would greatly aid the discipline of its subjects. And what is of more +importance so far as the public are concerned, it would, in most cases, +avail to practically incapacitate or effectually deter the persons who +pass through it from any repetition of their crime. The mere natural +operation of age, decay, and disease would tend towards this result; and +not only so, but it would, in a considerable proportion of cases, render +the limit of twenty years a virtual sentence in perpetuity by the +intervention of death. But meanwhile the elements of hope and other +desirable influences would be largely present, notwithstanding." + +To say the least of it our criminals have a claim for humane treatment, +and no sentence should have a greater duration than twenty years. The +term also should be fixed when the sentence is imposed. + +=Flogging.=--This is an extremely unpopular form of punishment, owing to +its abuse in the old convict stations and in the army and navy. Yet +there is a great deal to be said in its favour. In 1898 the Howard +Association instituted an enquiry among the most competent authorities +as to what were the best methods of dealing with juvenile offenders. +Nearly 40 replies were sent in answer to their circular of enquiry, and +with but one or two exceptions these replies advocated whipping as the +most expedient method. The Chief Constable of Liverpool +stated:--"Whipping has been found a most efficient and HUMANE +punishment. During the last FIVE YEARS 489 boys were once +whipped. Of these, only 135 have been again convicted. Of the 135, 44 +were whipped for the second time. Of the 44 only 10 were convicted a +third time, and 2 only for a fourth time. No other punishment can show +such a record...." + +Our Criminal Code describes a whipping as being a punishment of not more +than 25 strokes with the cat-o'-nine-tails inflicted upon a person of +not more than 16 years of age. A flogging is limited to not more than 50 +strokes and not less than 25 inflicted upon a person of over 16 years. +Three floggings at intervals for one offence is the maximum amount of +castigation allowed. + +A description of the "cat" may not be out of place. The handle is round +and of uniform diameter of one inch. It is about 30 inches in length and +is light as cork. The "tails" (nine in number) are made of cord similar +to fishing cord, about an eighth of an inch in diameter and 33 inches in +length. In each tail a strand is taken out, wound round and put back, +thus making a bob. There are 27 of these bobs in all. A flogging with +such an instrument would no doubt be very severe, but it need not draw +blood nor leave marks for all time. A flogging properly administered +should produce sharp stinging pain and leave no bad results whatever. +Then it becomes a very useful punishment to use upon such men as those +whose crimes are characterised by cruelty. Men who violate, torture, or +frighten women, who are cruel to children or take advantage of the weak, +imbecile or defenceless might well be punished with a flogging. In fact +it is questionable whether any punishment is so effective. These men are +cowards one and all; they do not dread the lazy life of the prison, but +a flogging has great terrors for them, and its moral value is +considerable. In bygone years men who were flogged were often worse than +before. The flogging had demoralised them. These floggings were, +however, shockingly cruel. Nothing is to be admitted but the sharp +swishing and this, when properly carried out, is totally without any +objectionable feature. + +There seems no necessity to combine a flogging and a long term of +imprisonment under one sentence. The maximum punishment of three +floggings might be given within a period of two months, and the culprit +then in most cases discharged. As to the advisability of ordering more +than one flogging a great deal might be said. Fifty lashes and the man +discharged within a week would be sufficient for the majority of cases. +For a very brutal crime or for a second offence of the same nature, a +second flogging after a period of days might be thought necessary. The +very greatest care, however, must be exercised in the administration of +this punishment. The crimes of brutality rightly arouse the indignation +of the public, but there is no need to show a brute that society can be +a greater brute than what he is. Being a brute, leniency invariably +fails, but unimpressionable to these methods as his moral and humane +instincts are, his skin remains sensitive, and through it his instincts +may be appealed to and quickened. Flogging makes him consider that the +practice of brutality is in direct variance to his own personal +interests and comfort. From this he may be led to moralise further. + +Gangs of boys who are becoming a nuisance to the neighbourhood they +infest are quickly broken up if their ring-leader is treated to a dozen +strokes that he will not feel inclined to boast about. The mercifulness +of this punishment is seen in its power in thus effectively stopping the +tendency to crime. Larrikins, unnatural husbands and fathers, brutes and +torturers, cattle maimers and stack burners, all see their personal +interests lying in a very different direction to that which leads to the +"cat." + +=Capital Punishment.=--The authority to take the life of a fellow-man is +based on God's word to Noah, "whoso sheddeth man's blood by man shall +his blood be shed;" and upon the abstract idea of justice "a life for a +life." These words in no sense contain a command to us of this century +to execute all murderers without exception. For the present state of +civilisation a new principle has been evolved which is, that when a man +shows himself to be unchangeably hostile to society then his life may be +forfeited. As the methods of dealing with criminals improve so the word +LIBERTY is being substituted for the word LIFE. The sin on the +man's soul may be left to God; all that men has to deal with is his +anti-social attitude. If impossible to change this attitude then either +death or life imprisonment must result. This very question of +possibility is so uncertain that few modern criminologists care to +adjudicate, and most regard the death sentence as anticipating too much. +Life-imprisonment, under the highest moral influences, becomes life-long +by and only by the continued resistance of the criminal. It is not the +objectionable form of punishment previously described for it encourages +the man to put forth his best effort to improve, and substantially +rewards these efforts, even to granting him his liberty if he persevere +with them. Punishment by death is becoming more and more unpopular. The +dislike of juries to bring in a verdict of "guilty" in a murder case is +sufficient testimony to this. In the crowds who sign petitions for the +reprieve of the condemned, the hysterical element is too prominent to +make any other estimate possible. But the reaction is steady, and it +will not be long before capital punishment becomes a thing of the past. +To abolish it before a suitable substitute were provided would be +mistake. + +Gradually society is awakening to the fact that the condition of the +criminal ought to be ameliorated, and that there can be no real +amelioration which does not make definite efforts for the prisoner's +reform. The aim should be to assist every man to recover by his own +effort the place in society from which he has fallen. No man is +incapable of improvement, and under a wise systematic discipline most +men do improve. A remarkable witness is found in the experience of Dr +Browning who was engaged as Surgeon-superintendent of convict ships +between 1831 and 1848. Of one voyage from Norfolk Island to Tasmania he +was in charge of 346 "old hands." These men had agreed to take terrible +revenge upon some of their comrades who had been employed as constables +over the others. Under Dr Browning's instruction and discipline their +purpose was abandoned. He landed the men in Tasmania without having +inflicted a single punishment upon the voyage. He remarks:--"The men +were given to me in double irons; I debarked them without an iron +clanking among them. I am told that this is the first and only instance +of convicts removed from Norfolk Island having had their fetters struck +off during the voyage, and being landed totally unfettered. They were +almost uniformly double-cross-ironed and chained down to the deck, +everybody being afraid of them. I was among them at all hours and the +prison doors were never once shut during the day. To God be all the +glory." Three Governors of Tasmania expressed their high opinion of Dr +Browning's system and of its subsequent effects upon their behaviour. +(Vide "Christianity amongst Prisoners." Howard Ass.:) + +In the famous Dartmoor prison and at Borstal in Kent experiments are +being made to secure a greater number of reformations among the younger +convicts. It is too early to estimate the value of the systems being +tried, but they are being watched with much hope and expectation. In +America there is a decided tendency to substitute State reformatories +for prisons, especially in the case of the young. The Elmira Reformatory +has been established for more than a quarter of a century, and its +claims to have reformed 82 per cent. of the men committed to it has been +upheld by the special enquiry instituted in 1890. + +If these different systems were more closely studied there would result +a great awakening as to the possibilities of the criminal, and society +would discover that its best interests were served by reforming its +offenders and making them moral and industrious servants of the State, +instead of by committing them to institutions where they were brought +into contact with consecrated villainy and where the unwholesome +influence is calculated to confirm them in criminal habits and make +them a constant menace and expense to the community. That our criminal +population is on the increase, and that the proportion of recidivists +grows larger every year, is scarcely to be wondered at in the midst of +such influences. Notwithstanding all that has been done to improve the +state of prisons from what they were even fifty years ago, yet the motto +"once a criminal always a criminal" is often too sadly true. The report +of the English commissioners of prisons shows that amongst those who +have been convicted during the year 1902, 51.9 per cent. of the men and +70.6 per cent. of the women had been previously convicted. In the past +these results were regarded as inevitable. Now they are regarded with +much disquietude. Formerly they were supposed to point to a defect in +the criminal, now they are understood to prove a defect in the penal +system. The reason for this defect lies in having regarded certain +objects as primary which are in reality only secondary. These objects +have been defined to be the deterrence of crime by the example of +punishing criminals; the repression of crime by the infliction of +punishment, and the protection of society as a consequence. The +deterrent value of the penal system has been greatly reduced by the +small amount of dread which it excites in the criminally disposed. The +representative value is of a minus quantity. Crime is assisted more than +it is crippled. The protection of society is secured only during the +period of incarceration. At the end of that period the criminal must be +discharged and he goes forth often a more skilful criminal than before +and with a vow to take vengeance upon society. + +Regarding these objects as secondary the reformation of the offender has +been acknowledged as primary by criminologists, and they turned their +attention to study the criminal pathologically, to enquire into the +causes of crime and also to make trial of the best methods for securing +reformation. "Punishment the principle and reformation the incident," +was the theory of the old school. The New school reverses the order to +"Reformation the principle and punishment the incident." Obviously this +course renounces the old principle of retaliation and vengeance and +embraces that indicated by Christ in his precept "bear ye one another's +burdens." + +=The Philosophy of Punishment.=--The threatening attitude of the +criminal towards the peace and welfare of society makes it an obvious +necessity that society should protect itself against him, otherwise he +would soon master the situation and reduce social order to barbarism. + +What are the steps which it must take? It must first remember that its +right to punish is not an inherent, but a delegated one. Though its +powers are sovereign in the sense that there is no appeal from them, yet +they must not be exercised in an arbitrary way. So far as there is a +capacity for the realisation of responsibility to God so far must that +responsibility be observed. Where this responsibility is disregarded, +society immediately becomes the greater criminal itself even though its +deeds may be done in the name of the majority of its members. As history +is not without examples of this abuse of a sacred trust neither is it +without instances of the Divine interference expressed in the +destruction of a community which had offended after this manner. This +responsibility must be acknowledged firstly--in the end to be attained; +and, secondly or subsequently--in the means by which it is attained. We +are generally informed that our penal systems exist for the purpose of +repressing crime, and that punishment is thus inflicted upon the +criminal in order that others may be deterred from following his +example. Reformation is sometimes suggested. The public, however, +concerns itself very little about its criminals and much less about the +objects which its penal system is supposed to secure for it. The +attitude of the general public towards the criminal is undoubtedly a +vindictive one. His sentence is discussed from this point of view only, +viz.:--will the suffering that he will have to undergo be sufficient to +accord with the enormity of the crime he committed? The end which is +understood is simply suffering, expiatory suffering; suffering which +neither man nor society has any right whatever to inflict upon a human +being. The old principle of an eye for an eye, while in accord with +abstract justice, was often made the occasion for abuse, and the largely +prevailing conception of justice amongst us to-day is precisely the +abuse of that same principle. Society does well in returning upon its +criminals the consequences of their acts, but the consequences should be +a natural return and not an artificial one. The criminal should see that +by his attack upon society he is excluded from all the benefits of its +system. He has isolated himself and this isolation is of itself +miserable, and will, if persisted in, become intolerable. Its final +state is Hell, a state in which society is destroyed while the social +instinct remains and craves in its unquenched agony. It is perfectly +right to show the wrong-doer the ultimate end of his chosen course, but +there is no warrant for the strenuous effort which is made to force him +towards it. A criminal's punishment should be made purgatorial and not +internal. The old penology regarded him as a hopeless individual and +proceeded with its hellish tortures without undue delay. Beneath its +system no reforms were possible, and the fact that none were ever made, +was pointed to in order to justify its horrors. Society took no interest +in them whatever while they were being pushed lower and lower down the +social scale, but met them at the lowest steps, and, halter in hand, +gravely professed the utmost concern in their future and eternal +welfare. + +So far, society has failed to recognise the end of the punishment it is +entitled to impose. In the words of Dimitri Drill, a Moscow publicist, +the new penology expresses that it "renounces entirely the law of +retaliation as end, principle, or basis of all judicial punishment. The +basis and purpose of punishment is the necessity of protecting society +against the evil consequences of crime either by the moral reclamation +of the criminal or by his separation from society; punishment is not to +satisfy vengeance." We must not jump to the hasty conclusion that herein +is meant that the criminal must be treated very gently and coaxed back +to more virtuous paths. What is meant is that his punishment should be +made purgatorial and not infernal. The process of reclamation is +accompanied by far sharper pains than those which are expiatory, but +they are the pains of a healing surgery and not those of a soul +destroying brutality. Where the means for reclamation fail then +separation from society is advocated. Separation in the midst of +influences which would always tend to awaken the desire to reform and +which would give immediate assistance to that desire when awakened. + +Thus the recognition of this fact that the authority to punish offenders +against its law has been, by God, delegated to the social institution, +brings with it a recognition of the responsibility which accompanies +such authority. + +In primitive times most offences were punished by the death penalty, not +as a vindictive measure but because the offender was hopeless and +society helpless. That is, the social state being of a very simple +order, any infraction of its laws would declare the offender a most +pronounced criminal, bitterly hostile to society and irreclaimable by +such social machinery as then existed. The death penalty when inflicted +must ever be so regarded. Not as a life for a life but as the punishment +inflicted upon one who has by his own conduct given complete evidence +that his recovery to the social state is impossible. In this century of +civilisation it is incumbent to look upon the criminal as being in a +measure a by-product of society and to deal with him accordingly. +Outside of society crime is impossible, therefore society accounts for +crime and is also in a measure responsible for it. To this measure +exactly (although the measure itself can never be determined with +exactitude) is the criminal by-product. In a large measure he is +responsible (entire responsibility is conceivable), and it is this sense +of responsibility which makes it possible to carry out his treatment. + +Large industries find that their by-products are an important asset and +to disregard them would be ruinous. Mr Frazer in his book "America at +Work" states that the expenses of the meat-packers of Chicago for 1901 +amounted to £150,244,848. The sales of meat realised £124,263,998, and +yet a net profit of £6,767,638 resulted. What appears to be a paradox is +explained by the fact that a sum of no less than £32,748,488 resulted +from the sale of by-products. All the waste must be turned to dollars. + +Commercial advance has certainly out-stripped social advance, and +apparently for the reason that whereas in commerce a pig's tail is +regarded as an important asset, in our social system the criminal and +the weakling are regarded as a heavy liability. When the point of view +is changed society will advance more rapidly. So, too, society finds +that it must utilise its by-products and to devise means which it can +bring to bear upon the criminal, so as to bring him to a state of +usefulness. The enormity of the crime and the degree of criminality are +alike impossible to estimate, therefore it is also impossible to define +a punishment which makes an attempt to recognise any of these qualities. + +It is, however, quite possible to determine within very fair limits the +continuance of the criminal habits, also the value from a reformatory +point of view, of various social influences, and further there exists +the power to apply these influences. To sum up--society possesses within +itself the power to reform its criminals (to utilise its by-products) +and to determine when they have been reformed. + +Separation from society is rendered absolutely necessary by the +criminal's own behaviour, if by his behaviour he shows that he is not +capable of using freedom profitably. But if his separation is to serve +any real purpose whatever it must be accompanied by an educational +process which will work him back to that point where he left the social +track and then so propel him forward that he may recover his lost +ground, and when restored to society be enabled to identify himself with +its progressive system. + +So far our penal system is a mistake. Whatever it may be theoretically, +practically it is only vindictive. Its failure has caused some to +despair and others to reflect. + + + + +Chapter V. + +ELIMINATION--DR. CHAPPLE'S PROPOSAL. + + +In the last chapter it was shown that capital punishment sought for its +justification in the theory that certain criminals had assumed an +attitude of permanent and aggressive hostility towards society. Their +presence in society is regarded as a menace to human life, and no moral +improvement is expected to result from their imprisonment. So hopeless +is this class of criminal regarded as being that, so it is declared, no +other policy save that of extermination can be considered. + +In primitive society criminals were less numerous than in our own time; +but those that did then exist belonged, almost all of them, to the worst +type. There being no public institutions for the administration of +justice, practically one course only remained open, and that was, that +the person wronged should seek to avenge himself as best he could, and +the death of the wrong-doer was generally the satisfaction that he +sought. As civilization has advanced, criminals have become more +numerous; but they have taken to crime by more gradual steps. Society, +too, has deprived the individual of the right of wreaking his own +vengeance, and has erected institutions for the purpose of determining +guilt and apportioning punishment. From the days of Noah, deeds of blood +and other crimes of a serious nature, have been punished by death and +from then, until this present day, the one idea underlying the +administration of justice has been that society should get rid of its +criminals as speedily as possible. Repression alone was thought to be +efficacious, reformation was scarcely thought of. + +Of late years the criminal has been more carefully studied by his +fellow-beings. Some have studied him as a monster and believed him to +have the heart of a beast; others have studied him as a man and had +faith in his possibilities. The former have noticed the failure of +repressive methods, such as flogging and other penal severities, and +have in despair been led to advocate that the only possible remedy is +that of extermination. The latter have discovered that the failure of +these repressive methods but imposes upon society the obligation of +adopting a system of an entirely different order and with an entirely +different object, viz: a system for the reformation of the criminal. + +The "exterminators" have studied the criminal objectively and have had +regard to his crimes only; the reformers have studied him subjectively +and have had regard to his possibilities. The policy of the +"exterminators" must be condemned on this ground, viz: that they have +made but a half study of their subject, and they do know, and they +refuse to listen to, of what the criminal is capable. Neither do they +estimate the capacity of the enormous social power that may be attached +to the criminal's own, but feeble, effort so as to raise him up, even +from the deepest depths of vice and villainy. The careful subjective +study--the truly humane study--of the criminal, has shown that all +theories which would declare any man to be incapable of improvement, are +to be condemned absolutely. The possibilities of reform exist in every +case, and the probabilities are never to be denied. None can gainsay +this statement nor can it be termed extravagant, for with the imperfect +machinery now in use results are being attained which justify every +syllable of it. Yet in the face of these results, the "exterminators" +still proclaim their policy. They bid us be deaf to the voice of +prejudice and follow the true light of science, ever remembering that we +are passing through a wonderful stage in social evolution! But the +policy that they adopt belies that which is indicated in all this fine +talk. They say that we must exterminate the criminal, and this is +nothing less than an acknowledgement that, to their minds, the problem +of the criminal is one of outer darkness and that we have no means of +ever penetrating it. They would take us back to a period anterior to +Adam. + +Prejudice, indeed, needs to be overcome, but it is the prejudice that +prefers vengeance to mercy. And if we follow the true light of science +it will lead us to discover that the criminal is best got rid of by +converting him into a useful citizen, or to be more exact, society's +best effort is to be directed towards separating the crime from the +criminal. + +Recently a Wellington medical gentleman (Dr Chapple) published a work +entitled "The Fertility of the Unfit." The problem which this gentleman +attempts to grapple with in his book is the disproportionate rate of +increase among the numbers of the unfit to the fit members of society. +Under the classification of the unfit he places all those persons who, +on account of mental, moral or physical defect, constitute a burden to +society. These are, principally, the epileptic, the pauper, the insane +and the criminal. These either will not, or cannot support themselves +adequately and legitimately. For their treatment support and correction, +hospitals, asylums, charitable aid boards, gaols and other institutions +have had to be established, and the upkeep of these has become a great +burden which necessarily has to be borne by the healthy, moral and +industrious section of the community. + +Dr Chapple draws attention to the undeniable fact that there is a +tendency on the part of those unfit to increase at a greater ratio than +the fit. The rate of increase during the past twenty years has been so +great and so disproportionate as to make the cost of their maintenance +become an increasingly heavier one for the individual taxpayer to bear, +and to cause for this and other reasons, a considerable amount of alarm +in the minds of those who have the welfare of society at heart. + +The Doctor believes that the cause of this proportionate rate of +increase is to be found in the methods adopted largely among certain +classes for the prevention of child-birth. + +In the conclusion of his book he states that sexual inhibition on the +part of the better classes accounts for their smaller rate of increase +as compared with the rate of the inferior classes. We cannot accept this +conclusion without more evidence. We want to know definitely whether the +natural rate of increase among the better classes is really lower than +that existing among the inferior classes. That is to say, are the ranks +of the defective being swelled by the influence of heredity or by some +extensive force recruiting from among the ranks of the fit? Another +question is this: Since the use of preventives is available to both +sections alike, the Doctor accounts for the supposed natural +disproportion by assuming that the better classes restrain themselves. +Is he right? Using the word "restrain" in its absolute sense we beg +leave for most emphatic doubt. In an enquiry such as this is, the only +factor of any real importance as accounting for a diminished birth-rate, +is the use of preventives. If this method is confined to the better +classes, we must refuse to call them any longer our "best stock," for, +if they are not producing a defective offspring, they are, as the recent +Australian Birth-Rate Commission has made abundantly plain, speedily +making defectives of themselves, besides being guilty of lowering the +social moral tone and hardening its sensibility. We are strongly of the +opinion that the diminished birth-rate does not account for the increase +in the number of criminals and defectives further than that the use of +preventives discloses a species of criminality. + +Nevertheless, Dr Chapple proposes, not so much to restore the +equilibrium as to get rid of the defective altogether. He assumes that +defectives are born and not made, and then makes enquiry into the best +possible means for the prevention of their birth. After passing several +methods in review, he accepts an operation known as tubo-ligature as +being the best from all points of view. This operation will render the +female permanently sterile without having any deleterious effect upon +her health. Absolutely no result follows, he assures us, but sterility. +If the wives of all defectives were operated upon in this way, Dr +Chapple assures us that the problem concerning the defective would +speedily be solved and society would be the happier and wealthier in +every way. The proposal might give something of a shock to the moral +conscience but such a shock would only unfit us for our work. The +criminal is upon us, he threatens us, and we must protect ourselves. The +necessities of the case are so pressing and so urgent that we seek for +the most effectual remedy and use it unhesitatingly when we have found +it. Here it is, says Dr Chapple, and its morality is determined by the +relief which it, and it alone, is able to bring. + +What are we to do? Why, sterilize the wife of the defective. As the +criminal is most harmful of all defectives he is summoned to come +forward first and to bring his wife with him, when behold, the man +turns up alone. Where is his wife? Why, he hasn't got one. Has Dr +Chapple considered this fact? Did he know, when he made the statement +that it was a matter of common observation that the criminal was among +those who had the largest families, did he know then that the criminal +rarely married? It cannot be said that the criminal's wife is as rare as +the Great Auk's egg, but Havelock Ellis states that "among men criminals +the celibates are in a very large proportion." And Féré further supports +the value of the statement for our present purpose by saying that +"criminals and prostitutes have this common character, that they are +unproductive. This is true also of vagabonds, and of the idle and +vicious generally, to whatever class they belong." + +Two years' experience as a prison chaplain may not be of much value, but +it certainly conveyed the impression that the majority of the criminals +were young men who were unmarried. + +But Dr Chapple adduces evidence. He tells us of a family in which there +were 834 persons the descendants of one woman. Of this family 76 were +convicts, 7 were murderers, 142 were beggars, 64 lived on charity. Among +their women 181 lived disreputable lives, and in 75 years this family +cost their country £250,000 in alms, trials, imprisonments, etc. What +family is this? If the following comparison is conclusive in its results +then it must be the "Jukes" family. + + Dr Chapple's + Case. The "Jukes" + + Number estimated 834 834 + " definitely traced 709 709 + " of criminals 76 76 + " convicted of murder 7 7 + " of beggars 142 142 + " receiving alms house relief 64 64 + Illegitimates 106 106 + Period reviewed 75 years 75 yrs. + Cost to State £250,000 £250,000 + +If it will be allowed that the agreement in these nine lines of +statistics establishes the identity between the two cases, then the +evidence may be examined. + +In the first place, the "Jukes" family is the most exceptional one known +in the history of crime, and it must be treated as an exception and not +as an example. In the second place, these 834 persons were not descended +from one woman in 75 years but from FIVE women who were the legitimate +and illegitimate daughters of an old Dutch back-woodsman who lived in a +rocky part of the State of New York and who is known to criminologists +as "Max Jukes." My authority for declaring that there were five female +ancestresses during the period reviewed as against one, stated to be the +case by Dr Chapple, is Mr R. L. Dugdale, who made a close personal +investigation of the life and records of the family. He himself +collected the statistics that are given above and which are identical +with those given by Dr Chapple's authority, Prof. Pellman, and +therefore one must conclude that Prof. Pellman has studied the case at +second hand and, in this important detail, is in error. + +That 834 persons should have descended from five persons in 75 years +covering five generations, exclusive of the 5 ancestresses, does not +strike us as evidence of an exceedingly prosperous birth-rate. If there +had been another thousand descendants it would not allow for an average +of 3 children to grow up and marry in each family. We may then set aside +the contention that the "Jukes" were enormously prolific. + +Still the "Jukes" were an enormous cost to their country, and surely we +should prevent such a family ever appearing in our midst. The answer to +this is that the "Jukes" have only appeared once, and, so far as our +community is concerned, our social progress makes their reappearance +absolutely impossible. The "Jukes" were a tribe of vagabond outlaws. +They gained a livelihood by fishing, hunting, robbery, and intermittent +work. They lived in a rocky, inaccessible region in the lake country of +the State of New York. Their criminals were able, with a considerable +measure of success, to defy the police, and travellers very rarely +approached the vicinity of their habitat. Some drifted into the towns +and villages. A proportion of these supported themselves by honest +industry, and a proportion became a burden upon the rates; Such nests of +criminals can exist only in partially civilized countries. The advance +of civilization extinguishes them. Nowhere in New Zealand could such a +tribe prey upon and defy society for a period of two weeks together. The +criminals that we have to deal with are those which society produces not +those which it extinguishes. + +But if the "Jukes" were at all reproductive what is the difference +between them and other cases of criminals? Principally this, that the +"Jukes" formed a little society of their own in which marriage and +co-habitation was the rule. Of their women 52 per cent. were +disreputable; but Dugdale refuses to call them prostitutes, but rather +harlots, indicating that their marital relations were of the order of a +progressive polyandry and by no means unproductive. Under these +conditions, a fairly large natural increase is not to be wondered at. + +No such family has, nor could, exist in the midst of our civilization, +but as the case is advanced, not to show a distinct species of +criminality, but rather as an example of the rate of natural increase +that may be expected of a criminal family, we will examine and compare +the conditions of life existing among the "Jukes" and the criminal that +we have to deal with and thus discover features among the latter which +militate against a large birth-rate; but which are not present among the +former. + +Our criminals, for the most part, commence their career of crime at an +early age. The Rev. W. D. Morrison of Wandsworth Prison, England, +declares that the most criminal age is reached between the years of +twenty and thirty. This holds good, he says, for Europe, Australia, and +the United States. + +It is a mistake to suppose that a man first commits crime and then +plunges headlong into vice. Though true in some cases, it is exactly the +reverse course which is followed in the majority of cases. After having +passed with a measure of success through the milder domestic and +scholastic spheres, the youthful criminal become a failure in the +severer social or industrial sphere. Some criminologists go so far as to +say that the majority of criminals have displayed distinct evidences of +criminality at so early an age as sixteen years. Whatever may have been +the cause for committing crime, the crime itself shows that the youth +refuses to acknowledge the obligations which an organized society lays +upon him. This refusal extends practically throughout the social order, +and neither is it confined to this order, but extends also to the moral +order and is shown in a total disregard for the matrimonial state. The +youth gives way to natural appetites and associates himself with women +of low repute. He is of wandering habits, works, when he does work, but +intermittently, is restless, and totally disinclined towards matrimony. +Socially, industrially and morally he is unstable. It is these +conditions of his life which so contrast him with that species of +criminality which the "Jukes" family presents. And it is these same +conditions which support the statement of Féré and Ellis, that he is +generally a celibate and non-productive. Concerning the progeny of the +female criminal there is little to say except that the causes which +chiefly account for the male criminal operate to produce the prostitute +among women, and therefore criminal women are in a very small minority. +Of these criminal women, Lombroso says that they are monsters who have +triumphed over the natural instincts of piety and maternity as well as +over their natural weakness. They are bad mothers, and children are a +burden to them from which they will readily rid themselves. + +Notwithstanding Dr Chapple's evidence, it is conclusive that his +statement that criminals have the largest families, is entirely opposed +to fact, indeed the exact reverse is the case. + +So far as the criminal is concerned, one may well ask whether he has not +set himself to the useless task of threshing straw. + +The question concerning the proportionate rate of natural increase among +all classes of society is one which provides one of the fundamentals +upon which Dr Chapple has based his proposal. Instead of enquiring into +the actualities of this question he has assumed them, and from his +assumption proceeded to his result. His assumption that the better +classes use preventive means which the inferior classes do not use, is +open to challenge; that there might exist among the inferior classes +causes peculiar to these classes which militate against their increasing +naturally, he has failed to notice. There do exist such, and so potent +as to disprove entirely his statement that the problem is one for the +solution of which we must search deep down in biological truth. The true +solution will not be found in biological truth but in sociological +truth, and there fairly near the surface. + +As Dr Chapple's evidence entirely fails, the conclusions of expert +criminologists must be accepted, viz., that criminals are +characteristically unproductive, and that, among male criminals, the +celibates are in a large majority. As, from these reasons, the vast +majority of criminals cannot be the descendants of a criminal ancestry, +obviously tubo-ligature will not meet the case. + +So far indeed the criminal descendant from criminal stock has alone been +considered, whereas a large number of criminals have come from a drunken +or from a pauper ancestry. Statistics indicate that 33 per cent. of +criminals come from an intemperate ancestry and 2 per cent. from a +pauper one. But in both cases, environment has a great deal more to be +held responsible for than has heredity. It is the conditions of the home +life which make the drunkard's child a criminal, and the same applies +with equal force to the pauper's child. So that, if drastic measures are +to be taken with these classes, surely such measures will proceed +gradually from the mean to the extreme, and severe measures will not be +employed until milder ones have failed. Where the question is one of +environment it is the man's character and habits which have to be dealt +with and not his nature. Environment is always capable of modification, +and, when improved, the result is invariably a beneficial one for those +concerned. So that the least that may be said for the criminal +descendants of drunken ancestors is that a better way exists and should, +by all moral laws, be first adopted. + +Further difficulties, of a physical, rather than moral nature, also +exist. + +And here again Dr Chapple has assumed another fundamental position. Is +it too much to require of him that he should prove that, where criminals +have sprung from a defective ancestry, this defect should be invariably +transmitted? That, in short, a criminally defective ancestry is an +invariable cause producing a criminal descent. (Note.--By criminally +defective ancestry we mean the ancestry from which criminals spring. It +may not itself be criminal. It may be drunken or pauper.) Such an +important question cannot be assumed; positive proof is demanded, and +this is nowhere forthcoming in Dr Chapple's book. + +If it were allowed that criminals were the most prolific of all classes +of society, this question of heredity would still have to be cleared up +before such a proposal as tubo-ligature were seriously discussed, for +surely so drastic a remedy would never be employed except under the most +positive conditions, that is to say, that this operation would never be +employed until it had been ascertained, with scientific precision, that +the birth of degenerates, and degenerates only, was being prevented. + +Dr Chapple failing to illuminate us upon this point we inquire, does a +criminally defective ancestry invariably convey to its offspring a taint +disposing it towards crime? Or can it ever be ascertained that a certain +given ancestry will certainly produce criminals? + +In the treatment of the subject of heredity it has been made clear that +on account of the vicious habits of the criminal he is apt to transmit +to his offspring a physical defect which will make it difficult for him +to adapt himself to the conditions of the society in which he is placed. +This difficulty becomes almost, though not quite, insurmountable when +the environment is one in which the practice of vice and dishonesty is +easier than that of virtue and thrift. + +The transmission of a taint which is a cause of criminality cannot be +denied, but the close investigation of the criminal and of his family +has revealed the fact that among the comparatively few criminals who are +parents they do not all transmit a taint or defect to their offspring, +nor among those from whom a taint has been transmitted has it +necessarily been transmitted to every child. + +The "Jukes" family being the most exceptional of all cases in which +criminal heredity may be observed can be investigated for the purposes +of discovering the extreme affirmative which the question proposed can +give. The answer is an emphatic no. When the "Jukes" intermarried there +was, strange as it may seem, almost an entire absence from crime in the +family following upon such union. When they married into other +families, crime frequently made its appearance. This, at least, shows +that an hereditary taint is not invariably conveyed. It may be claimed +that it proves that, under certain conditions, such taint is conveyed; +but in cases of this nature we do not reach our particular and exclusive +affirmatives anything like so rapidly as we reach our particular and +exclusive negatives. The negative is often obvious, the affirmative +generally remote. It may be that by cross marriages the element of +virility, necessary to maintain criminality, is sustained: but if that +were so it would be expected that pauperism would necessarily result +from consanguineous marriages which is not so far the case as to +indicate cause and effect. A more plausible suggestion is that in +consanguineous marriages there is a tendency for the family ties to be +reunited and the family ideal restored. Such, of course, effectively +disposes of criminality. Of the three grandsons of Ada Jukes, who were +themselves the sons of her one illegitimate son, their family report is +as follows:--The first was licentious, a sheep-stealer, quarrelsome, and +an habitual drunkard. He married a disreputable woman and had several +children. Of his seven boys, five were criminals. The second grandson +kept a tavern and a brothel and was a thief. He married a brothel +keeper. Of his six sons, two were criminals. The third grandson was +industrious but occasionally intemperate. He married a woman addicted to +the opium habit. Of his four sons, none were criminals. These are +fairly average cases, and they, at least, affirm very distinctly that +the criminal does not always transmit a taint to his child which will +dispose that child towards crime. + +Although in the cases cited above only some 40 per cent. of the children +were criminals, it must, however, be observed that a great deal of +criminality goes unpunished, so that we might fix the average at 75 per +cent. and be more exact. Of the 75 per cent. we must find out whether +their heredity or their environment was the cause of their being +criminal. Dugdale's observations led him to conclude that heredity is a +latent cause which requires environment for its development. These 75 +per cent., however, will be referred to again. There being 25 per cent. +honest and industrious, brings us face to face with a question affecting +the morality of Dr Chapple's proposal. + +Since then all the children of criminal ancestry are not themselves +criminal or likely to become criminals through an hereditary taint, can +a proposal be accepted which would not only prevent the birth of the +hereditary criminal, but would also prevent the birth of several persons +who would have become good and useful citizens. + +Thus far only the criminal descended from a criminal ancestry has been +considered, whereas, as was stated previously, there are a considerable +number of criminals termed "hereditary" criminals who are descended from +a drunken ancestry. The proportion of these is about 33 per cent. of +the whole. The impossibility of the success of Dr Chapple's remedy is +very apparent from the insurmountable difficulties that would be +experienced in determining with exactitude when a person was so +degenerate in his own system as to make it positive that his prospective +offspring would be born a criminal defective. Uncertainty, in this +matter, reigns supreme. + +There must remain then but very little support for Dr Chapple's proposal +when we discover firstly:--that the criminal is very rarely a parent, +and secondly:--that in every case a taint is not transmitted from parent +to child. Its sphere of effectiveness is restricted by the very +circumstances of the case, and even within that restricted sphere its +operation would be most clumsy for it would prevent the birth of all a +criminal's children, good and bad alike. Thus it would become both a +moral and economic failure. + +Dr Chapple has taken it for granted that a criminal's rate of increase +is at least equal to the average if not indeed, for certain reasons, +considerably greater, and that he in all cases transmits an hereditary +taint to his offspring. Then he seeks for a remedy whereby the +transmission of this taint may be avoided and he can find none other +than one which prevents the very possibility of the prospective child +being born. Before coming to such a drastic conclusion enquiry might +have been made to discover whether there might not exist a remedy which +would be a remedy in the truest sense. That is a remedy which would, +while it would prevent the transmission of the taint, yet it would not +interfere with reproduction. Such a remedy would be in fact a method for +the reformation of the criminal, for if the criminal were reformed the +problem would be solved. If he were transformed into an honest and +industrious man then the transmission of the criminal taint is at once +prevented. There are some, however, who maintain that the criminal is +incorrigible and that reformatory agencies have invariably failed. They +look upon all attempts on behalf of the criminal as a useless +expenditure of energy and money. This question of the possibility or +otherwise of the reform of the criminal must now be settled before we +can proceed further. + +Is the criminal incorrigible? Some criminals do not ever reform because +they cannot. These are insane. Some do not because they will not; but +these may. The many who pass through our gaols and show no signs of +reform does not prove that although they may reform they never will. If +nine hundred and ninety-nine cases were observed of men resisting reform +it would not prove the impossibility of reforming the thousandth. It +would point to the difficulty, the remote probability or the need of +different methods; but it would not determine the impossibility. When +the term "incorrigible" is applied to certain criminals it does not mean +that these men are incapable of reform; but they are RESISTING +reform; and no one can tell when or whether the most obstinate of these +will surrender his will to the dictates of conscience and commence a +life of reform. The possibility is always an open question. No better +testimony can be brought forward than that of Mr Z. R. Brockway, late +Superintendent of the New York State Reformatory at Elmira. Mr Brockway +is one of the pioneers in reformatory work and is considered the +greatest living authority upon the subject. Some 10,000 felons have +passed through their hands. Speaking at the Fourth International Prison +Congress held in St. Petersburg in 1890 he said:--"There is a sense in +which nothing that lives is incapable of betterment, and so strictly +speaking there are no incorrigible criminals. If it is possible to grasp +the thought and cherish it, we should endeavour to discover in the very +worst characters some spark of humanity which unites us all in ties of +relationship, some secret soul-chambers where superhuman influences may +find lodgment, and so with good leaven pervade the whole man; at least +we may find in our sphere a field for most fascinating scientific +research and experiment. + +"I record it as my own conviction, after nearly a lifetime spent with +and for criminals, that alike for all, corrigible and incorrigible, the +aim to accomplish reformation is a true one. It most surely supplies all +possible repression upon the criminal classes in society.... The aim of +reformations is absolutely essential to any good degree of public +protection from crimes.... Mr F. Ammetybock, Director of the +Penitentiary of Vridsloselille, Denmark, added:--I would not dare charge +as incorrigible one of the 3,000 criminals who have been confided to my +care.... During my career as a prison officer, I have seen many +criminals who offered, humanly speaking, characteristic signs of +incorrigibility and who now and for a long time had led respectable +lives.... I believe that other prison officers as well as +philanthropists, can confirm the truth of my experience, and I hope that +many will protest against the theory of incorrigibility and place in the +balance their experience against purely abstract ideas." + +On the other hand, it must be admitted that several criminologists +emphatically declare that the "instinctive" criminal (or "born" criminal +to use Lombroso's term) is incorrigible. Garofalo takes such a hopeless +view of the matter as to demand his elimination by death, but none of +these men, eminent criminologists as they may be, have studied +reformatory science experimentally. Mr Brockway's testimony should be +taken as final seeing that of the 12,000 felons who have passed through +the Elmira Reformatory, 82 per cent. have reformed, i.e., have not +returned to criminal practices. The statistics for the year 1903 are as +follows:-- + + Total number of those paroled 445 + Served well and earned absolute release 143 + Correspondence and good conduct and + maintained (parole not expired) 238 + Died, doing well until time of death 1 + Released by Special Executive + Clemency, doing well 1 + Returned to Europe by permission 1 + ---- + 384 or 86 per cent + + Returned to Reformatory for violation + of parole 15 or 33 " + _Probably returned to crime._ + Those who ceased correspondence + while on parole and were lost sight of 37 + Known to have returned to crime 9 + -- + 46 or 10 " + +It will be seen that while the Reformatory claims only 86 per cent. of +reforms, there were only 9 persons (or 2 per cent. of the whole) who +were KNOWN to have certainly returned to crime. + +This exhibit is conclusive. Reformatory Science, which is yet but in its +infancy, can already deal successfully with by far the greatest +proportion of criminals, and this success at this stage guarantees a +much larger measure in the future. It is clear then upon the statements +of the highest authorities that the criminal is not incorrigible, and +that the prison (penal) system compares so unfavourably with the +reformatory system that it ought to be abolished in favour of it. The +system in vogue at the Elmira Reformatory will be described in a later +chapter, and there it will be shown that the methods employed are upon a +most scientific basis and that the results obtained cannot fail to +satisfy the most exacting. It will be seen that by a "reformed" man is +meant a man who can and will adapt himself to the conditions of society; +a man sound in mind, healthy in body, industrious and honest in habit. +Concerning this man's progeny, what have we to fear? It is in this way +that we may dispose of the proportion of 75 per cent. of criminal +children descended from criminal ancestry. It should here be again +observed that the majority of criminals commence their career in crime +at a very early age, and that therefore the reform of almost all +criminals may be undertaken before they are likely to become parents. +Again, true reformatory science forbids the release of any criminal from +custody who has not given satisfactory evidence of reform. + +Thus reformatory science effectually guarantees society against the evil +that Dr Chapple has proposed to eradicate, and it does it by a method +compared with which tubo-ligature is most crude. + +The criminal is either set free as a reformed man or is to be kept in +captivity because his resistance to reformatory discipline has shown him +to be unfit to rightly use his liberty. + +Not only are the chances of his becoming the parent of criminally +disposed children effectually removed but he is himself transformed from +having a negative to having a positive social value. + +Dr Chapple's study convinces him that the cause of the startling +increase of crime, insanity, and pauperism is to be found "deep down in +biological truth. Society is breeding from defective stock." Dr Waddell, +who writes the preface of the "Fertility of the Unfit," is so alarmed as +to declare that "our civilization is in imminent peril of being swamped +by the increasingly disproportionate progeny of the criminal." The most +superficial observation of the life of the criminal would have shown +both these writers that criminal habits militated substantially against +the probability of a natural increase. + +To repeat what Féré and Havelock Ellis both emphatically declare that +the criminal and the pauper do not reproduce their kind is but to show +that the cause of the natural increase of the criminal is NOT +to be found in biological truth, neither is our society in any danger of +being swamped by an increasingly disproportionate progeny of the +criminal. In short, society has no enemy in Nature. + +The true cause for the increase of the numbers of the criminal is to be +found in sociological and not in biological truth. As Lacassagne says: +"Society has the criminals that it deserves." + +Dr MacDonald, W.S. Expert in Criminology, writes to the author, "As to +tubo-ligature, or the like, it would not be supported by scientists." + +If, however, there were absolutely no scientific objection to the +proposal that the Doctor advances, if, that is, the basal facts were +exactly he assumes them to be, would then his remedy be secure from +attack? Most emphatically not. For is it not possible, nay with the +present shrinking from maternity so widespread, is it not highly +probable that the measure would be greatly abused? Thousands as the +Doctor himself says would avail themselves of it to-morrow, and for the +simple reason that they wish to escape from the responsibilities of +bringing up children. Thousands would no doubt repudiate their debts +to-morrow if they might do so with impunity, but their wish in the +matter scarcely establishes the course as being a desirable one or one +calculated to promote the happiness of society. + +From the revelations of the Birth-rate Commission and from other +enquiries it is most evident that tubo-ligature would be very largely +abused indeed. + +But it may be said that it were far better that the woman shrinking +maternity should employ this method than that she should use the +preventive drugs that she does. This is but to acknowledge the morality, +or at least the necessity for the use of preventives and does nothing +less than to charge the Deity with having made laws for the governing of +the Natural Order which have got altogether out of hand and have +involved His creatures in confusion. + +Is it not a question whether marriage becomes a necessity when children +are to be avoided? The evil to which Dr Chapple's remedy would run, is +one in which the moral sentiment of society would be so hardened that +the reason for marriage would disappear from the knowledge of man. + +There is a great difference between this operation taking place from +pathological reasons and its being performed simply as a deliverance +from maternal responsibilities. In the latter case it is performed at +the will of the woman who thus shows that she has conquered the maternal +instinct, and as such she is a monster for she has contradicted her +nature. Lombroso declares that these are the women that commit the most +hideous crimes and that they are incorrigible. + +The Birth-rate Commissioners stated that the use of preventives was +having a most injurious effect upon the health of the women who used +them. + +Clearly then Morality and Nature are both opposed to their use. + +If men and women are becoming so selfish as to be determined to live +contrary to their nature then Nature will deal with them according to +Her terrible manner. If they are in an extremity and find that our +social system makes it impossible for them to undertake the +responsibilities of parentage, then the reorganization of our social +system is a matter for urgent consideration. + +But Dr Chapple would only intensify the evil instead of remedying it. + +What he practically says is this:--Regard yourselves for the moment as +being brute beasts and discuss the question upon that level. Murder the +social instinct; murder the compassionate spirit; disregard the Divine +Law and stifle all faith in the Providence of God; let the mission of +life be the enjoyment of pleasure; shrink from the marriage that might +be a burden, and dissolve the happy marriage should indications of +future burdens present themselves. He would have us compelled to take +our betrothed to a medical board and shamelessly confess ourselves. +Confess ourselves under circumstances which would know no secrecy. He +would have us regard our wives from the standpoint of selfishness and +lust alone. But we are not brutes we are human, and we have instincts +which the brutes have not. + +NOTE.--Dr. Chapple includes among the defectives not only the +criminal but also the lunatic, the epileptic and the pauper. How far +tubo-ligature would meet the cases of these defectives seems very +uncertain. The information which the Doctor gives us, for the most part, +is in direct opposition to him. On pages 74-76 he gives the history of +eight families which it will repay to examine. + +Cases I.--Cancer, consumption and epilepsy in the family. In the third +generation there are seven persons, of whom five married. The only +healthy member left five children, three were childless and one who died +at 56 left five children. That is to say, twelve children represent the +fourth generation. + +Case II.--Insanity, idiocy and epilepsy. Of five persons the one sane +member only has a family. Nine children, some (how many?) imbecile. + +Case III.--Drunkenness, insanity. Seven children, two died of +convulsions. One an idiot, one a dement (suicidal), one repeatedly +insane. These three are scarcely likely to be chosen in marriage. One +peculiar and irritable, one nervous and depressed. + +Case IV.--In third generation there are two epileptics and one +imbecile--scarcely likely to marry. Seven others are dead. (S. P.) + +Case V.--From an insane parent we have three children, one excitable, +one dull and one imbecile. + +Case VI.--A family of mutes and scarcely relevant. + +Case VII.--Drunkenness, epilepsy, etc. In the third generation "family +now extinct." No indications of tubo-ligature having been performed. + +Case VIII.--Apparently the issue in the second generation is from two +parentages. There are fifteen persons accounted for. Seven died in +infancy of convulsions. Epilepsy, scrofula, and idiocy can claim one +each. One was drowned, and four are healthy. That is, of seven surviving +children, four are healthy. + +In all from fifteen parents there is the alarming increase of fifty-six +persons. Of these eleven are healthy, fourteen are not described, +fourteen are defective and seventeen are dead. The total number of +living descendants, representing no less than the third generation of +seven families, is but thirty-nine. These figures can scarcely be quoted +to prove the "fertility of the unfit," but that is the title that stands +over them. As to the hereditary tendencies that they propagate, more +information is required. + +It is a well known fact that in cases of hereditary defect there is a +tendency for the defect to appear at either an earlier or later stage +in life in each successive generation (Mercier). In the first case the +family dies out, in the second case it recovers itself. In cases of +congenital defect, there is very little to fear. The lunatic is locked +up and the epileptic is avoided. + +Nature deals most successfully with these cases. She saves where +possible and destroys when recovery is hopeless. Very slowly perhaps, +but very exactly--never making a mistake, and in her slowness she is but +giving man an opportunity to contribute something towards the recovery +she aims at. + +=The Case of the Epileptic.=--The number of epileptics in whom the +disease may be traced to hereditary causes is estimated to be about 33 +per cent. of the whole. This is indeed a very large percentage. It does +not, however, follow that in all the cases or in by any means a large +proportion of them, the parents were also epileptics. Authorities are +not agreed as to the influence of heredity as a predisposing cause; but +it is recognised by all that the children of insane, neurotic, +hysterical or neuralgic parents are liable to become epileptics. Also +that alcoholism in the parents conveys a predisposition to the child. +The hereditary cases are therefore to be divided amongst all these +causes. In what proportion it would be difficult to estimate; but very +few persons in whom epilepsy has developed marry, and as 75 per cent. of +the cases are said to begin under the age of 20 years, and very few +after 25 years (cases of hereditary epilepsy have been known to develop +at so late an age as 65 and 70 years) it limits the number of +epileptics who marry to a very narrow margin. For even these few, +marriage should, however, be entirely out of the question. In cases, +where from syphilis or shock epilepsy is developed in the married adult +we should expect to find treatment imposing a restriction upon the +freedom of the patient somewhat similar to that provided for lunatics. +In almost every rank of society the developed epileptic would be +excluded from marriage by the law of sexual selection, and as the great +majority develop epilepsy before coming to a marriageable age, few +epileptic children can claim a developed epileptic ancestry. + +The number of cases, where epilepsy results from an epileptic ancestry, +is estimated by Sir Wm. Gowers at 22 per cent. of the whole. These cases +are to be distributed between the developed form and the petit mal. As +the petit mal often escapes observation Dr Chapple's method would only +apply to those cases of the marriage of persons who were afflicted with +the major form of epilepsy, which means that perhaps not more than 10 +per cent. of the number of epileptics could be prevented from coming to +birth. If a ten per centum reduction is to be considered as solving the +problem in the case of epileptics what will the 86 per cent. of reforms +among criminals be valued at? + +=The Case of the Pauper.=--Paupers may be divided into two classes, +those whose poverty is due to misfortunes and those whose poverty is due +to vicious idleness. Those whose poverty is due to drink or crime are +not properly to be classified as paupers. Society regards them as +primarily drunkards and criminals. Of these two classes the first are +generally to be found making a courageous fight against adverse +circumstances and feel their position keenly. They are deserving of the +compassion of society. Their families, it is true, are a burden upon +private and institutional charity, but only a temporary one and after a +while become the very means of recovering the broken fortunes of their +parents. Very large sums are spent in relieving the necessities (often +in providing the luxuries) of the undeserving poor, but this fact should +not be made the basis of a charge against the deserving but helpless +poor. My own acquaintance with the poorest parts of one of our largest +cities leads me to believe that very little charity ever reaches the +truly deserving poor. They battle on and keep their sad condition as far +from public observation as possible. The undeserving are very clamorous. +These two incidents are by no means uncommon, they are fairly typical. +(a) I was called one night to baptise a dying child. The mother stated +that she was too poor to buy a few necessaries ordered by the doctor. I +purchased these myself and brought them to the mother. The next morning +she sent to say the child was dead and would I lend her money to wire to +the father. As he was in work I thought a collect telegram was more +suitable. In the evening a request came for monetary assistance to +provide the child with a coffin and to purchase a plot in the cemetery. +A clergyman who does that sort of thing might as well keep a private +cemetery, undertaker and monumental mason of his own. I refused to do it +and came in for a good deal of abuse. The mother appeared at the funeral +in a new black silk dress! + +(b) A crippled woman who earned her living by ironing. She made on an +average 10s per week. I suggested to her the advisability of applying +for an old age pension and proceeded to fill in her papers. When she +discovered that she was two months under the age of 65 she was horrified +at what she thought an attempt on her part to swindle the Government. + +These cases speak for themselves. People seem afraid to refuse to give +alms for fear of being called uncharitable, yet they have not the +charity to investigate the cases brought before their notice and see +that their relief is intelligently bestowed upon worthy persons. Some +religious societies are cruel sinners in this respect. The consequence +is that a premium is put upon professional begging and we have plenty of +it. Society will never murmur against the burden of the deserving poor. +Concerning the life of the poor, however, Korosi gives these +statistics:--The average age of the rich is 35 years, of the well-to-do +20.6 years, of the poor only 13.2 years. These statistics are supposed +to hold good for all large towns. The average life of the pauper (that +is the vicious pauper) will be shorter still seeing that in his idle, +vicious life the parent refuses to acknowledge his responsibilities +towards his children and makes no effort to save them from perishing +through want and proper healthful conditions. The numbers of the pauper +may increase, but it is seen then that they do not live to any great +length of life. The pauper has, however, a certain rate of increase and +his children are brought up in pauper habits. To the criminal population +they add about 2 per cent. of the whole. They constitute a burden, not +very great, but one which society resents. To adopt tubo-ligature might +relieve both society and the pauper, but its moral effect would be that +the pauper would regard his vice as acknowledged and approved by +society. To say that there are no other remedies, remedies which would +compel the pauper to earn his living, is an appalling confession of +failure on the part of society. + + + + +Chapter VI. + +THE OBLIGATIONS OF SOCIETY TOWARDS THE WEAK. + + +The last century is admittedly one in which was witnessed the greatest +advances in civilization that the world has ever made. All classes in +society may be said to have benefited. The rich have been given greater +opportunities for the enjoyment of their riches and an enlarged sphere +of usefulness opened to them. The poor have had their lot so greatly +ameliorated, that given health, very few men in these colonies at all +events, are poor except it be their own fault. The art of healing can +now restore to health millions who, had they lived in an earlier +century, would have suffered agonies. A universal education has opened +the doors of colleges and universities and made it possible for those +born in the humblest conditions of life, to attain to the most +distinguished positions in the land. The private has become the general; +the office boy the judge; the peasant boy the President; the +full-blooded aboriginal has graduated through our universities and been +called to the Bar; and no man can urge class distinction as being the +cause of his failure in any ambition that he has faithfully pursued. All +classes have benefited; almost all classes have advanced. + +Undeniably this advance has brought greater happiness into the world; +whether it will continue will entirely depend upon what basis it is +intended to secure this advance. + +With an increase of wealth and leisure there is the danger of +demoralisation. Our society may substitute a false aim for its true one. +Already there are an illimitable number of social reformers who are +prepared to describe in very definite terms what is the state of +perfected society and what laws are necessary for immediate enactment in +order that we might rapidly reach that state. We all acknowledge the +existence of the prophetic vision, but we limit its range and regard him +most audacious who declares that he can describe the heaven in which +society shall finally shelter itself securely from all that prey upon +her. Advance as quickly as we may, there is a limit to our speed, and +the future being all unknown we scarcely like to take it at a plunge. +Nevertheless, these social reformers do a good work--their schemes are +at least suggestive, and moreover they point out signs of the times. +They show us unmistakably that with our advance there is a tendency to +become more and more selfish and to regard with less true charity the +condition of the weak. One social reformer will say that there will not +be any suffering because therapeutics will have overtaken every disease +that the flesh is heir to, or better still, that some new discovery will +have made it possible to heal all sicknesses without the tedious work of +surgeons and nurses. Healing will become a pastime like table-turning. +Neither will there be any criminals because the whole social state will +be so happy, contented, and knit together that inducement to crime will +cease. Others will treat the criminal "scientifically," ensuring reforms +at the rate of 100 per cent. with lightning-like rapidity. Which all +practically amounts to this, that the problem concerning the future of +the weak is shelved. To study it deeply would spoil our best theories +and therefore it must be got rid of. Dr Chapple has done nothing more +than shelve it, for as we have seen his remedy is both practically and +morally impossible. Like all others it betrays the selfish spirit. Like +them it regards the weak as if they were nothing less than an +intolerable incubus on society, a grit in its bearings. It may be that +our social advancement will account for this. In old time when +communities were small and fixed, the burden of nursing the helpless +necessarily fell upon those who were immediately related by ties of +blood or neighbourhood, but now the many changes in the method of living +and treatment, has made this to a large extent impossible. Institutions +have everywhere sprung up, and it is invariably to the advantage of our +sick and afflicted that we should commit them to these institutions, +which practice has engendered the belief that all our social obligations +can be discharged by monetary payment. Not for one moment need we +entertain the idea that this belief will ever become a dominating one. +Charitable influences are more powerful. Nor must we charge the authors +of selfish systems with being as uncharitable as their systems. They +give expression to a fairly strong and somewhat universal sentiment, a +sentiment which we would perhaps disown at once upon its being unmasked +and which many refuse to obey upon its appeal to them to act in +accordance with its principles. This indicates that society sees many of +its assailants in but a half-light. It observes neither their malice nor +strength but only a dark ugly form which irritates us and which we would +if we could banish by an act of will. + +This being impossible we must meet our assailants in a clearer light and +destroy them. How can this be done, since it would mean the destruction +of evil and the powers of evil? Then it cannot be done, but since evil +feeds itself upon its victims we can greatly diminish its power and +influence by rescuing all who fall within its grasp. Many we know we +cannot rescue for there are certain types of disease mental and bodily +which defy our skill and some of all types of moral disease also defy +our effort. Still it would be better to say that we do not rescue them, +than that we cannot, for what was incurable yesterday is curable to-day, +and the most deadly diseases are giving clear evidence that their powers +to baffle science are fast giving out. That they will give out, +scientific men confidently hope. Neither is this hope groundless for +past success warrant it and there again point to another assurance, +almost a guarantee. The miracles of healing which Our Lord wrought were +not only to confer relief upon the suffering, not only to give evidence +of His Divinity, but also to promise the triumph which would reward the +efforts of man seeking to assist his afflicted brother. We will never +heal by a word, neither will we raise the dead, for in these works of +might we have peculiar evidence of the Divine Providence; but Christ's +miracles seem to promise that He, the Light of the World, will yet grant +the fullness of that illumination by which the works of healing are +done. + +The sick, it is true, receive greater compassion from their fellowmen +than the abnormal, the insane and the criminal. But these latter also +demand our consideration if for no other reason than that they menace +society. To exterminate them is impossible. A persecution with that end +would defeat itself, and the persecutors would become morally infinitely +worse than the persecuted. + +Secondly: their consideration is demanded from the fact that society has +produced the evil plight of very many of them. In the great advance, +they have fallen and been trampled on. Their right to fall may be +denied, but whose right was it to trample on them? To declare it to have +been inevitable that they should be trampled on, simply excuses guilt +but not obligation. And the obligation is to make reparation as far as +possible. + +Thirdly: because what should be a valuable asset to society, +contributing substantially to her strength, becomes a hostile power +weakening her and hindering her progress. Any of these three +considerations received separately is sufficient to convince us of our +obligations to this uglier section of the weak, when combined their +force is very great. But when we speak to them of peace do they not make +them ready to battle? No, their case is not so hopeless as that. David +lived under the Mosaic Dispensation, and Moses could give but the law +whereas Christ has given His Life. Our method will determine everything. +Good advice, good books, good laws will do but little; good work will +accomplish all. "The greatest good of the greatest number" is a false +ideal and absolutely unworthy either of our charity or our science. "The +ultimate good of all" is the end society is destined to accomplish, and +anything less is too little for her, anything more is impossible even to +conceive. + +In working towards this ideal, which we cannot describe with greater +definiteness, we are bound to recognise that GOODNESS is our +safe and only guide. The general direction of our advance in the past we +can easily trace, but the purpose of the devious paths through which we +were led is too difficult to understand. Our present puzzles us, our +future sometimes appals us. Some rush ahead to see what lies before us +and come back injured and pass away as pessimists, others hesitate to +advance at all. We cannot outstrip our guiding pillar of light; but +following it we are safe to advance. And in following, one of the first +convictions that comes home to us is that we must allow no waste, +neither in the lives of others nor in the energies of ourselves. With +this conviction soon comes the startling fact that the energies we are +allowing to waste are identically those which were given to us to save +the lives of others which are wasting. A wonderful independence exists +among us. The social system is bound together by ties of nature, and not +merely by those of commerce or benefit. Man is social, not merely +gregarious. He enters into the life of his fellow-man and establishes +relations which we are bound to call spiritual. Through the media of +these relations, influences traverse which are of the most profound we +know. These relations when established compel us to acknowledge our +duties to one another and give us a delight in discharging them. This +delight in turn becomes the power, which opens the eyes to the +realization of the great principle of self-sacrifice. Egoism and +altruism are not to be mutually exclusive. To seek our own happiness is +not to be indifferent to the happiness of society. For what is +happiness? not pleasure, but self-realization, and we cannot realise +self without realising society. + +This interdependence which exists between man and man, and which makes +it possible for us to influence one another so powerfully for good or +for evil, points out to us that the true aim of every man, namely, to +unite his work with that of his fellow-man in a grand co-operative +undertaking for the advancement and betterment of society regarded as a +whole and with regard for its units. We cannot realise self if engaged +in competition man against man in order to satisfy private ambition. Our +object should be to unite and our hostility be provoked, not against one +another, weak or strong, but against the powers which attack us +individually and collectively. + +Necessity then lays the obligation upon us to give our first attention +to the rescue of the weak. It was the recognition of this obligation +which sent the Christian-Maidens into the suburbs of Rome seeking the +exposed offspring of unnatural parents. To say that they would have been +better dead, is to speak with that facility which requires neither +mental nor moral perception. + +It is the recognition, in part, of this obligation which accounts for +hospitals, asylums and other charitable institutions. Hence also we +endeavour to shelter those born deficient in mental or moral power. Dr +Chapple seems to think that the result of all this is that we have made +a pretty mess of society. He says, of these weaklings, that Nature has +decreed that they should die. A most unscientific statement. Are these +charitable efforts to be regarded as profane interference with the +sacred decrees of Nature? Nature's decrees are inviolate and none can +disturb them. Because these weak, if left unaided, would perish, is that +to say that Nature has decreed that they should die? If so, we must say +of a man, stricken with typhoid fever, that Nature has decreed that he +should die, and that any effort to save him would be but a profane +interference on our part with Nature. + + What does Nature say of these that + they do not live, + they cannot live, or + they must not live? + +History has shown that in the past they do not live. + +But in order to discover the decree of Nature we must make a full and +exhaustive enquiry into the possibilities which exist under the laws of +Nature. So far as this enquiry has advanced it has been made quite clear +that the charitable effort of man will recover many that would otherwise +perish. The whole science of therapeutics is based upon this discovery. + +Dr Chapple says of defectives that they do live but that they must not. +Two arguments he brings forward. The first is that Nature has decreed +that they should not. This must be a secret communication, for it is not +universal knowledge, and the operation of Nature's laws certainly +appears to contradict it. The second argument is that they are a burden. +The burden analysed amounts to this:-- + + (a). They are a misery to themselves. + (b). They are too costly. + (c). They hinder the progress of society. + (d). They threaten to overwhelm society. + +(a). Who can tell whether the weak are absolutely a misery to +themselves. Pain is a mystery which cannot be solved, although to the +suffering its benefits are well known. If they would be better out of +the way might they not be left to decide that matter for themselves? +They, knowing best, cry to us for help. If we were merely gregarious +creatures like wolves or sharks we would tear or destroy them in their +misery; but as social beings we are bound to answer their cry. To cry +for help is instinctive with them, and to respond to the cry is +instinctive with us. Surely this is the voice of Nature and this is the +decree of Nature. + +(b). If this argument be admitted then we are bound to declare that the +one aim of both society and individual is to amass wealth. The idea is +too sordid for further consideration. + +(c). So far from hindering the social progress they most powerfully +assist it. The mere bearing of one another's burdens has the most +refining and deepening influence upon character. It is most active in +creating and establishing our relations one with another. Compassion for +the suffering creates a tie between them and us. The intention to help +requires our co-operation with others, and so the bond extends uniting +first individuals then groups and then the whole of society. Nor must we +forget the immense advance in surgery and medicine which is due entirely +to the consideration of the lot of the apparently hopeless. Had these +even been allowed to perish we should still have needed our surgeons and +physicians in a well equipped society, if only to teach us how to +prevent seizure by dangerous complaints. + +A short time ago many died from ailments which surgery can to-day cure +with but very little suffering on the part of the patient. Is not this a +substantial gain which the bearing of the burden of the weak has brought +to man? To mention other triumphs is but to enlarge. If therefore Nature +has spoken there can be no doubt that it was to give a promise that she +would reward diligent research by revealing the cure of all the ills our +flesh inherits. Thus assured, scientific men are most zealously studying +the most deadly and most obstinate diseases. Against plague, smallpox, +and consumption they can at least give us an effective protection, and +almost hourly we expect to hear the shout of triumph accompanying the +announcement that the victory over cancer has been gained. When stricken +with these diseases we immediately fall into the ranks of the unfit; but +we will thank society for having borne its burden when the healing art +is brought to such an excellence that, when so stricken, we may soon be +restored to the ranks of the fit. The benefit which the past confers +upon us declares imperatively our obligation to the future. + +(d). Do they threaten to overwhelm? The power of disease is being +overcome, and therefore the number of the diseased is being lessened. By +being cured, instead of dying, these increase the proportion of the +strong to the weak. The obstinacy of certain hereditary diseases but +asserts the necessity of prosecuting study more enthusiastically. + +But if the strong limit their increase they cannot demand that +exterminating methods should be applied to the weak in order to restore +the proportion which they, the strong, have thus by their selfishness +disturbed. Nature gives adequate protection so far as numerical increase +is concerned, and no scientific man will dare to state that this +protection may be disregarded and another demanded. + +The Government of India has been charged with pursuing a suicidal policy +in safeguarding the natives against plague and smallpox and in +preventing human sacrifice. Their numbers will increase, food supplies +will give out, or, worst of all, they may become so powerful as to wrest +the supremacy from the European. Charity, however, demands that these +measures shall be taken, and the terrors of the future are at best +hypothetical. This is but another case in which consideration for the +unknown future is apt to hinder us in the discharge of our known duties +to the present. History assures us that the guarantee of the future lies +in the fulfilment of these duties. The height of absurdity is reached +when the attempt is made to establish the proportions of the future. +Such efforts defy man. + +The burden of the weak is the burden of the strong, and in the bearing +of it is brought into view the grand and true ideal of society--the good +of all. + +Man is endowed with natural powers for assisting his weaker brother, +and, above all these powers he has, through supplication the means of +engaging the Divine Influence, which simply defies all calculation +against the possibility of reform or recovery. + +Where charitable effort in the past has not succeeded it is because it +has not gone far enough. Building institutions is sometimes due to a +craze and not charity. Thus evils are sometimes accentuated and not +mitigated. Such failures must spur to redoubled effort. Hope was never +larger than at present. + + + + +Chapter VII. + +THE NEW PENOLOGY. + + +The old method of dealing with criminals was based entirely upon a +doctrine of vengeance. The criminal was regarded as being in every way a +normal man, a man who deliberately chose to be a criminal. The +possibility of a criminal's moral sense being defective, of his not +being able to bring his actions under the control of his will, or of +some other sad handicap existing, was never contemplated. His crime was +looked upon as a desperate act, for the committal of which he was +absolutely without any excuse. The consequence was that an elaborate +system of torture was devised in order to deal with him. Readers who are +familiar with such books as Marcus Clark's "For the term of his natural +life," and Charles Reade's "It is never too late to mend," will require +no further description of the horrors of "the vengeance system" which +was supposed to be the only rational method of dealing with criminals in +the days of the convict settlements. + +Since then, popular vengeance has considerably relaxed and the devising +of painful forms of punishment has become almost a lost art. The +new-born science, with its first powers of articulation, loudly repeat +the words of Revelation, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the +Lord." A system of vengeance instituted by man against man is +impossible. As has been stated in a previous chapter, the new penology +repudiates all such systems. The amount of pain which an individual is +to be called upon to suffer may well be left to the higher tribunal. The +obvious duty of man to his fellow-man who is depraved, is to endeavour +to recover him. There is no satisfaction in punishing him, but there is +every satisfaction in reforming him. + +The new penology covers the investigation and study of every +circumstance surrounding the criminal as such. No circumstance is so +trifling as to be passed by, every detail is carefully studied with the +object of discovering what the criminal is and how he came to be such, +what are his possibilities, and by what methods those possibilities may +be reached. + +Maconochie ventured upon the bold assumption that the criminal was a +human being, and this assumption proved to be justified. In 1840 he was +sent to Norfolk Island to take charge of 1400 double-convicted felons +there. He describes them in these words:--"For the merest trifle they +were flogged, ironed or confined in gaol for days on bread and water. +The offences most severely punished were chiefly conventional; those +against morals being little regarded, compared with those against +unreasonable discipline. Thus the horrid vices with acts of brutal +violence, or of dexterity in theft and robbery, were detailed to me by +the officers with little direct censure, and rather as anecdotes +calculated to astonish and amuse a new-comer. While the possession of a +pipe, a newspaper, a little tea, etc., or the omission of some mark of +respect, a saucy look or word, or even an imputation of sullenness, were +deemed unpardonable offences. They were fed more like hogs than like +men; neither knives, forks, nor hardly any other conveniences were +allowed at tables. They tore their food with their fingers and teeth, +and drank out of water buckets. The men's countenances reflected +faithfully this description of treatment. A more demoniacal looking +assemblage could not be imagined; and nearly the most formidable sight I +ever beheld was the sea of faces upturned to me when I first addressed +them. Yet three years after, I had the satisfaction of hearing Sir +George Gipps ask me what I had done to make the men look so well?--he +had seldom seen a better looking set." + +Maconochie had invented the mark system (the principle of the +indeterminate system) and made the prisoners' liberation depend upon +their conduct and character and not upon the original offence. +Maconochie's experience led him to write in after years to a friend, "if +you would try a social-moral one (prison system) you would soon get +important results. If our punishments were first of all made +REFORMATORY, and generally successful in this object the +prejudices of society against the early criminal would abate." Inspired +with this hope of reforming the criminal and restoring him to society +as a useful member, philanthropists began the exhaustive study of the +criminal. In prisons where the value of this science is recognized the +criminal upon his entry is subject to a most thorough examination, every +item of his family history is carefully enquired into. Information +concerning the occupation, education, health and character of all who +are nearly related to him is obtained, as also the moral and economic +conditions of his home life, and the character of his associates. He +himself is studied for the existence or traces of disease; for +abnormalities, arrested or exaggerated physical and mental development. +The strength of his various muscles, the vitality of his organs, his +mental and nervous capacity, and his moral susceptibility are all +estimated. His powers of self-control are determined. His disposition is +carefully studied. His opportunities in life, his educational +advantages, his early career, the nature of the crime, the immediate +influencing circumstances, as provocation, hunger, cold, atmospheric +disturbances are all noted. + +Such is a brief outline of the examination, the object of which is to +discover as far as possible the real cause which led to the crime, what, +if any, were the social, physical, psychical and provocative elements +contributing to the cause; what their value; and what are the most +promising lines upon which the criminal's reform may be directed. He is +by no means regarded as a passive product of forces over which he has no +control, nor his crime as the consequence of himself. It is essential +to the success of all reformatory discipline that moral responsibility +must be recognised and observed. In fact it may be said, that +reformation is complete when moral responsibility, insisted upon by the +discipline, becomes at last acknowledged by the man. + +Perhaps it may be thought that it is not possible to conduct such a +study with anything like accurate results, and that the greater part of +it would be mere guess work, as e.g. the determining the capacity of +a man's nervous system or his degree of moral susceptibility. This is +quite a mistake. There is nothing whatever of a speculative quality in +the results advanced by criminologists. Their methods are exact and +compare equally with those for the investigation of other phenomena. + +It is not claimed that the absolute or the relative value of the data +collected is as yet determined, nor yet that any one investigation has +been exhausted; but this much can be claimed, that the results obtained +are of high practical worth and justify the assurance that the solution +of the problem concerning the criminal will soon be reached. + + + + +Chapter VIII. + +THE PREVENTION OF CRIME. + + +The result of Criminological studies has indicated most clearly that no +measures for the prevention or repression of crime will ever be adequate +which are not based upon a scientific system of education. Whatever this +system may prove to be, it must have one distinct aim, and that is to +train all its members to love, and to work for, the social state. This +aim must be accomplished most thoroughly no matter what the cost may be. + +The decreasing birth-rate points to other conclusions than the obvious +one that a large number of persons must be using preventive means. It +points to a widespread selfishness which regards children as an +intolerable burden, as in fact nothing less than a grievous misfortune. +It is obvious that where children are so regarded a blight has fallen +upon the domestic life. Home cannot be the brightest spot on earth to +them; neither can the father and mother be their sympathetic guides, +counsellors, and protectors. Nor can those children be studied (by those +who alone have the special faculty for studying them) in order that +their secret aims and ambitions and the difficulties which obstruct +these aims and ambitions, may be understood. + +It follows then that from parental selfishness a great number (and close +observation leads one to believe that by far the greater proportion) of +the children of this generation and in this colony, are growing up with +less care and attention being bestowed upon them than what their parents +are prepared to bestow upon even their very horses or their dogs. This +factor of parental selfishness cannot be ignored either academically or +practically. It must in some way be overcome, or at least its influence +for harm must be considerably reduced. + +It would be interesting to discover how far this parental selfishness +was a deviation from true parental pride. Possibly it may not be so very +great as the vast difference in results may lead us to suppose, and if +this be so the reorganisation of the child's educational system will not +be insuperably difficult. + +In many homes where there are more than two or three children, there is +a total lack of domestic sympathy and pride. The children are not taught +to love one another nor to understand and help one another. Adult +influence is very seldom brought to bear upon them, and, worst of all, +parental influence is either wanting, deficient or injurious. What +children suffer from this want in the development in their natures must +of necessity be, and it unquestionably is, sufficient to handicap them +throughout their whole life. Parents profess that they have done their +best with this or that child and that they have failed, but the fault +largely lies in the parents undertaking the task with every expectation +of failure, and the chief characteristics noticed by the child have been +the parental irritability, impatience and incompetence. Having estimated +these the child then knows exactly how to gain its own ends and has +sufficient determination to persevere until it does. A certain amount of +harsh treatment will suffice, until the child is old enough to rebel, in +order to keep it in check, or, as is just as often the case, the child +may be allowed to have its own way entirely. Under such circumstances it +is not a matter of great wonderment that the child should be looked upon +as a burden to be fed, clothed, and tolerated until it is old enough to +"do something" for itself. + +But our school system is also at fault, for by it our children are +crammed with an amount of information the whole, or even the greater +part, of which very few of them will ever use. Imagine the object, if +one can, of spending the precious hours of a child's educational life in +teaching it the names of every dozen or so of the different towns of +each county in the United Kingdom, and at the same time entirely +neglecting its moral training and giving very little attention to the +physical. + +If a child be bright he has every consideration from his teachers and +receives from his companions the opprobious nickname of "Teacher's Pet." +He gains a reward, perhaps a medal, and at the annual distribution of +prizes the speech-makers point to the coming legislators and successful +men of business in a manner which conveys to this scholar the idea that +the one thing to live for is to gain an exalted position in the world. +This would not be so bad in itself, were it not that the love for honest +labour is not inculcated at the same time, and consequently the children +imagine that they are going to be pitchforked into prominence. As an +evidence, witness the speculative spirit so universal among our youth. +They hope to make their way in life simply by "striking it lucky." +Personally I have spoken to a large number of boys about the ages of +from fourteen to sixteen years and I have never yet been able to find a +boy who could tell me definitely what he would like to be. His father +looks about for something for him to do without any knowledge of the +boy's possibility of greatest success lying in one well marked +direction. The boy remains in a billet only so long as he fails to get +another with a greater wage attached to it, and when perhaps twenty +years of age are reached he is conscious of where the true lines of his +destiny lie; but it is then too late for him to begin the necessary +education, and the consequence is that his life loses its inspiration. +Now it is quite possible that if our school system were so reorganised +that parents saw as a result that their children developed a true love +for labour and worked with definite purpose, that they would take a more +intense pride in them and enter more sympathetically into their labours +and ambitions. The education of the child would thus be brought to react +upon the parent and tend immediately to reorganise the domestic life +and bring it closer to the Hebrew conception, which conception when +realised would most thoroughly solve the problem of the moral +regeneration of the race. It is impossible for the State to have to +commence to educate the parent except by reactionary methods and by +compelling the observance of all legitimate obligations. That our +present school system does not react favourably upon the parent must be +obvious from what has already been said. In the past when only the +fortunate few were able to secure the advantages of a good education, +they, for the most part, recognised the greatness of their opportunity +and prosecuted their studies with zeal. But to-day, with an universal +educational system the value of these opportunities is, by the child and +sometimes by the parent, very much lost sight of. The child needs now a +stimulant, something to arouse and sustain his interest in his work. He +should learn to regard his school work with pleasure and his home with +affection. + +The three principal standpoints from which education is regarded +are:--(a) the utilitarian, (b) the disciplinarian, and (c) a compromise +between the two. + +The Utilitarians consider that an educational system should store the +mind of the child with such knowledge only as shall be of direct value +to it in its after life. The disciplinarians consider that a child's +education should content itself with so developing the faculties that +when matured they may be adequate for such mental tasks as the after +life or vocation may provide. The middle course is held by those who +endeavour to train the faculties of the child in the manner prescribed +by the disciplinarians, but in so doing, they employ the mind upon +exercises, the accomplishment of which, is of immediate and permanent +value. + +The education system in New Zealand is constructed upon the utilitarian +basis. The children's minds are crammed with knowledge--USEFUL +knowledge let it be called--and they are encouraged to be diligent +because of the great benefit this knowledge will be to them when they +become men and women--which development the child of eight expects will +be attained sometime before the end of the world, and will then come by +chance. The reward of the child's labour is thrown into the far distant +future, and is so entirely lost sight of as an inspiring factor, that +artificial rewards have to be provided and the child ponders over his +lessons in the hope of winning one of Ballantyne's or Henty's "Books for +Boys." + +Now, the facts of a child's life demonstrate conclusively that the child +is capable of having all its interests absorbed in its work. The +diligence with which it will build up a doll's house out of a soap box, +a jam tin, a few stones and any odds and ends that it can lay its hands +on, is sufficient evidence of this. The child loves to make things for +itself, and its affection for the rude creations of its own mind is far +greater than that for its most gorgeous and expensive toys. Upon the +recognition of these facts, the kindergarten system is based. + +In Sweden a very successful attempt has been made to construct the whole +of the primary system upon this basis, and for this purpose Sloyd has +been introduced into the schools. Certain Sloyd exercises have made +their appearance in our New Zealand schools and have met with somewhat +severe criticism, the whole system being condemned as being ideal +theoretically, but valueless practically. It took many years before the +Swedish system was perfected, and it should follow obviously that a very +partial experiment, such as the colonial one has been, gives no idea of +what value the complete system may achieve. + +By Sloyd, we understand a system of educational hand-work. The children +are employed upon various kinds of hand craft with the object of +developing their mental, moral, and physical powers. The object is +NOT to make artisans of the children, although undoubtedly +those children who afterwards become tradesmen find that the educational +principles of their trade has already been grasped by the intellect, but +the same will apply to those entering any legitimate vocation without +exception. + +Although there are many different kinds of Sloyd, woodwork has been +discovered to be the most useful, and it alone survives the severe tests +imposed. A glance at the accompanying table will explain what is meant. + +COMPARATIVE TABLE OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF SLOYD. + +Key: +A - Does it accord with children's capability? +B - Does it excite and sustain interest? +C - Are the objects made useful? +D - Does it give a respect for rough work? +E - Does it train in order and exactness? +F - Does it allow cleanliness and neatness? +G - Does it cultivate the sense of form? +H - Is it beneficial from an hygienic point of view? +I - Does it allow methodical arrangement? +J - Does it teach dexterity of hand? +------------------+--------+--------+---------+--------+-----------+ +Branches of Sloyd.| A | B | C | D | E | +------------------+--------+--------+---------+--------+-----------+ + | | | | | | +Simple Metal Work |Yes & No|Yes |Yes |Yes |Yes & no | +Smith's Work |No |Hardly |Tolerably|Yes |No | +Basket Making |No |Hardly |Tolerably|Yes |No | +Straw Plaiting |Yes |Yes? |Yes |Yes & no|Yes | +Brush Making |No? |Yes?? |Yes |Yes? |Tolerably | +House Painting |No |No |Yes & no |Yes |No | +Fretwork |Yes? |No & yes|No & yes |No |Yes | + | | | Yes | | | +Bookbinding |No |No & yes|Tolerably|Hardly |Tolerably | + | | | | | Yes | +Card-board Work |Yes & no|Yes? |Yes |No |very high | +Sloyd Carpentry |Yes |Yes |Yes |Yes? |Yes | + | | | | |partly (not| +Turnery |No |Yes |Yes? |Hardly |quite No) | +Carving in Wood |Yes? |Yes & no|Yes & no |No |Yes | +Clay Modelling |Yes |Yes |No |No |Yes & no | +------------------+--------+--------+---------+--------+-----------+ + From "Theory of Sloyd," Salomon. + +Table continued + +------------------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------- +Branches of Sloyd.| F | G | H | I | J +------------------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------- + |Tolerably| | | | +Simple Metal Work | No |Yes |Yes? |Yes |Yes +Smith's Work |No |No? |Yes & no|Perhaps |No +Basket Making |Yes? |No |No |No |No +Straw Plaiting |No & yes |No? |No |Yes |No +Brush Making |Yes |No |No |No |No +House Painting |No |No |No |No |No +Fretwork |Yes |No & yes|No |No & yes|No + | | | | | +Bookbinding |Yes? |No |No? |Perhaps |Tolerably + | | | | | +Card-board Work |Yes |Yes? |No |Yes |No? +Sloyd Carpentry |Yes |Yes |Yes? |Yes |Yes + | | | | | +Turnery |Yes? |Yes |No |No |No +Carving in Wood |Yes |Yes & no|No |Yes |No +Clay Modelling |No |Yes |No |Yes |No +------------------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------- + + +The objects of Sloyd are:--(a) to instil a taste for, and love of, +labour in general. + +NOTE.--(For this analysis of the Sloyd system the author has +based his study upon Herr Salomon's works "The theory of educational +Sloyd" and "The Teacher's hand book of Sloyd.") + +Children love to make things for themselves and prize their own work +much more than ready made articles. The educator should follow Nature's +lead and satisfy this craving. By a skilful direction of the child's +interest a love for labour in general is instilled, and rewards are +found to be unnecessary, the children being only too eager to achieve. +To sustain their interest in the work they are engaged upon must be +useful from THEIR OWN STANDPOINT. The work should not be +preceded by fatiguing exercises, but the first cut should be a stroke +towards the accomplishment of the desired end. The exercise must afford +variety. The entire work of the exercise must be within their power and +not requiring the aid of the teacher to "finish it off." It must be real +work and not a pretence; and the objects should become the property of +the children. To give children intricate joints to cut is of no real +value. The child has no genuine interest in what are simply the parts of +an exercise, it must make something complete and useful in itself. To +make a garden stick accurate according to model is of more value than to +make the most intricate joint. One may say that the child who could do +the one could do the other, but that is not the point, for the object +is not merely to gain manual dexterity but to develop all the faculties +of a child, and this is what the complete exercise achieves and in what +the partial exercise absolutely fails. + +(b) To instil respect for rough, honest, bodily labour, which is +achieved by the introduction of the work into schools of all grades so +that ALL classes of the community may engage upon it, and by the +teachers taking pride in it themselves, and by their intelligent +teaching of it to their classes. + +(c) To develop independence and self-reliance. The child requires +individual attention, the teacher must not tell too much, the child +should endeavour as far as possible to discover by experiment the best +methods for holding and manipulating tools, and also to be allowed as +much free play as possible for its judgment. + +(d) To train in habits of order, exactness, cleanliness, and neatness. + +Which are acquired by keeping the models well within the children's +range of ability, demanding that the work shall always be done in an +orderly manner and with the greatest measure of exactness that the child +is capable of. How far cleanliness and neatness may be instilled is +apparent from the nature of the work. + +(e) To train the eye, and the sense of form. To cultivate dexterity of +hand and develop touch. + +The models are of two kinds:--rectilinear and curvilinear. The former +are tested by the square, the rule and the compasses, but the accuracy +of the latter depends upon the eye, the sense of form and that of touch. +This training enables the child to distinguish between good and bad work +and to put a right value upon the former, to understand the right use of +ornament, and also cultivates the æsthetic taste upon classic lines. An +enormous number of jerry built articles are sold, which the public +readily buy simply on account of their ornamental appearance. If the +ability to distinguish between good and bad work were more universal it +would go far towards improving trade morality. + +(f) To cultivate habits of attention, interest, etc. The success of the +work requires that the mind shall be closely concentrated upon it. The +nature of the work excites the interest of the child, and under careful +direction this interest is sustained throughout. A genius has been +described as a man capable of taking pains--a master of detail. Sloyd is +eminently suited for concentrating the attention upon the details of +work and for training the Sloyder to be thorough and never content with +"making a thing do." + +The desire of the child to finish the work and to finish it well, +overrides any element of impatience or irritability that may be in his +character, and in a natural way introduces the elements of patience and +perseverance in his work. These qualities are not confined to his Sloyd +work but extend throughout his character, so that he realises that the +work of life all contributes to some definite aim. + +(g) Uniform development of the physical powers. Statistics collected +from any country show that many forms of disease before unknown among +the young, are now very prevalent among the children taught in the +schools. These diseases are attributed to the many hours during which +children are required to sit and to the bad positions they assume during +those hours. Skoliosis--curvature of the spine--a serious disease, as it +produces displacement of the internal organs, nose bleeding, ænemia, +chlorosis, nervous irritation, loss of appetite, headache, and myopia, +are diseases which are declared by experts to accompany the present +system of education. + +Sloyd when properly taught tends to develop the frame according to the +normal standard. It may not be as good as gymnastics in this direction: +but it has this advantage that it trains the pupil to engage in his work +in such a manner as not to hinder nor stunt the development of his body, +and not to cramp the vital organs in such a manner as to interfere with +the discharge of their functions. The pupils are taught to use both +hands and to develop both sides of the body. The following chart from +Herr Salomon's work will show to what degree the body may develop on a +lopsided manner when one side only is used in performing work. The chart +shows the sectional measurement of the chest of a boy of thirteen years +of age who for three years had worked at a bench using the right side +only. + +The foregoing brief analysis may show the ends which Sloyd is destined +to accomplish, and upon the value of those ends no explanation is +required. Habits of industry, patience and perseverance are inculcated. +The child learns to know his own power and how best to use it. His +tastes are cultivated and he learns to love work and understand the true +dignity of labour. Such results are not the results of the copy book but +they are permanently impressed upon the child's character. That such an +education must react upon the parent is obvious. The child's life is +full of aim and he does everything with a purpose, and in such a child +only the most depraved parent will fail to take interest, and children +have this characteristic, that they force their knowledge upon the +notice of their parents whenever they can. The boy who begins to learn +house painting soon expresses the wish to paint his own home; if +carpentry, he wishes to build a shed; if joinery, he wishes to make a +table; and how often one notices a home where tidiness and order are due +to the educated child, and where taste in furnishing is accounted for by +the daughter's cultivated æsthetic taste. Children then, so trained as +the Sloyd system provides, may contribute enormously to the happiness +and brightness of the home life. Instead of regarding them as a burden +their parents will behold them with delight and pride, and instead of +looking out for "something for them to do," indifferent whether it be +driving a cart, selling in a shop, or clerking in a lawyer's office, +they will find that the child himself has a definite idea of where his +after course should lie, and they will do their utmost towards assisting +him to follow it. + +[Illustration: _To perceive the amount of distortion, fold the paper +along the axis of the diagram, and hold it between the eye and the +light._ + +_From "Theory of Sloyd"_--SALOMON.] + +It cannot be supposed that Sloyd will succeed in the midst of +incongruous surroundings. To train the eye to a sense of the beautiful +in a dirty schoolhouse is somewhat difficult. The glorious handiwork of +God will not be taught in the playground which, with its mudholes, ruts, +and filth, more resembles a cattle yard than anything else. A school and +its grounds must at least show that the authorities themselves really +appreciate the lessons they are endeavouring to have instilled into the +minds of their scholars. So, too, a similar system must underlie the +method of teaching the ordinary lessons at the school desk. How many +children will say "I love history but I detest dates"? What value are +the dates? Let history be taught as Fitchett teaches it in his "Deeds +that won the Empire" and the end will be accomplished, patriotism will +be inspired, and the nation loved. Dates, names of deeds, causes of war, +international policies may easily be introduced incidentally. Let +geography be taught as Fraser teaches it in his "Real Siberia" or Savage +Landor in his "In the Forbidden Land" and the map will be studied with +interest and the subject never forgotten. Let the notation be dispensed +with until the child understands the problem or theorem and Euclid will +become fascinating. + +Without a shadow of doubt the best preventive of crime is an universal +system of education so designed that the whole interest of the child is +absorbed in its work. An absolute solution of the whole problem +undoubtedly requires that the religious education of the child be also +undertaken and effectively carried out. The question of the religious +education of the young is one which is exciting attention throughout the +whole of the English speaking world. There are those who advocate that +instruction in the Bible lessons should be given by teachers during +school hours to the scholars attending the Government schools, and there +are those who vigorously oppose such a course. + +The advocates base their arguments upon their belief that no system of +education which ignores religious teaching can be effective or complete. +Their opponents declare that it is unjust to call upon the teachers of a +secular education to give instruction in religion, or for the State to, +in any way, subsidise the various religious denominations or to +supplement their efforts in this particular direction. Both sides +petition the Government and both sides prepare the people for a possible +referendum upon the question. + +The State cannot be expected to regard the matter from other than a +purely utilitarian standpoint. "Will it make the people better +citizens?" it enquires. "Will it lesson crime and promote honesty, +thrift and loyalty?" These questions still remain unanswered, and in the +midst of so much rationalistic teaching, and especially with the +example of the noble lives of many rationalists before it, the State +believes that there is room for much difference of opinion, and +therefore it cannot move in the matter. The advocates of religious +education seem to take it for granted that their beliefs are +unassailable and that they are simply fighting against the powers of +Darkness: but they forget that they are doing very little to bring +others to hold the same convictions as themselves. It should not be a +difficult task to answer to the utilitarian position with an emphatic +affirmative and to bring conclusive evidence to support that +affirmative. Where, it may be asked, are to be found the men who are +leaders in thought and action who have, without any religious influence +whatever, risen from the depths of misery, crime and filth? Where are to +be found the families now living in honesty and virtue, though still in +poverty, families in the midst of which every form of wickedness was +once to be seen, who owe nothing to religious influence? The rationalist +may claim that when his educational theories are adopted and put into +practice all dens of misery and vice will disappear, but he cannot +support his statement with convincing proofs. The teacher of religion is +infinitely better off. While he strenuously supports the adoption of +better and larger educational effort, he insists that, in order to gain +the active co-operation of those on behalf of whom it is to be employed, +religious influences must be brought to bear, and for the support of his +statement he need only say "open your eyes and look around you." + +The influence of religion in regaining criminals cannot be gainsaid by +any, and the United States Educational Report for 1897-98 declares that +it is most important for the inculcation of sound morality, that +children should, from a very early age, be brought under the influence +of good religious teaching. + +When the State is convinced that religious education is an absolute +necessity, it will approach the question of ways and means with a +determination that a satisfactory solution must be arrived at, and what +it will then demand is not so much an emasculated Bible as the bringing +to bear upon the children of the vital regenerative influences of +religion. + + + + +Chapter IX. + +SOME AMERICAN EXPERIMENTS:-- + +THE PROBATION SYSTEM. + +THE ELMIRA SYSTEM. + + +=The Probation System.=--In several of the States of America an attempt +has been made to devise a substitute for imprisonment in the cases of +persons convicted for minor offences. + +The State of Massachusets was the first to take the lead by initiating a +somewhat elaborate system of probation. + +Briefly described, it is an attempt to reform a prisoner +OUTSIDE. + +Imprisonment for minor offences has had many bad features and should, +where possible, be avoided. Firstly, there is the stigma that attaches +to every man who has worn the broad-arrow. Secondly, there is the loss +of self-respect which, together with the contaminating influences +existing in a prison, often convert the minor offender into the hardened +criminal. Thirdly, there are the hardships that the wife and family are +called upon to endure while the bread-winner is in gaol and not earning +wages. + +The Probation System seeks to overcome all these difficulties. Instead +of sentencing an offender to a period of imprisonment, the judge +confides him to the care of the probation officer for a period +co-terminous with that which he would otherwise have had to spend in +prison. The minimum period of this sentence is six months, and the +average about twelve months. + +In the cases of female offenders and of youths under the age of 18 years +the probation officer is usually a woman; for adult males, a man acts as +officer. + +The officers are invested with very considerable authority. It is their +duty to keep the very closest watch over their wards and to report +continually upon their behaviour. They frequently visit the homes and do +their utmost to become acquainted with the conditions of the home and +industrial life under which their wards live. The visits are so arranged +that they by no means imply an official errand, the officers endeavour +to discover the weaknesses of their wards and the temptations to which +they are most likely to succumb, and as far as possible to remove them +out of the reach of these temptations or to strengthen them against +their power. Some officers provide for meetings to be held for those +committed to their charge. Especially is this the case with those who +have the charge over youthful offenders. At such meetings games, +edifying entertainment and instruction are provided. It is also quite +competent for an officer to receive the wages of a probationer. In these +cases, he will give the man's wife a sufficient sum to meet the ordinary +household expenditure, allow him enough for his personal expenses, and +retain a small sum to be returned when the period of probation has +expired. This course is invariably pursued in the case of drunkards. A +drunkard may, upon the authority of the probation officer, be forbidden +to enter a public-house or to enter it during certain hours only, and he +may also be obliged to remain at home after a certain hour. In fact, the +probation officer may make almost any such rules that he thinks best to +be observed by his ward, and there is always the threat of being sent to +prison to discharge his sentence, if he should refuse to behave properly +when under probation. + +To have an officer constantly watching over a man may affix a certain +stigma to the man, but even so, it is not indelible nor nearly so great +as that which the prison leaves behind it. To make this disadvantage as +small as possible, the officers wear no uniform and, within their +prescribed area, work among the convicted and unconvicted alike. + +The type of officer required is not easily found. Of humane instincts, +and yet a firm disciplinarian, well educated, competent to give good +advice and able to gain the affections and confidences of those amongst +whom they work, is the type of person required. The ex-soldier or the +ex-policeman is just the man who is NOT wanted. The advantages of this +system Miss E. P. Hughes thus sums up:-- + +Firstly.--Instead of a few highly-paid officials and many badly paid +warders, you have a number of independent, well-paid probation officers, +chosen for their knowledge of human nature, and their skill in reforming +it. + +Secondly.--Far greater adjustment of treatment to individual cases. + +Thirdly.--The stigma of the prison is avoided, and while great care is +taken that the prisoner shall be strictly controlled and effectively +restrained, his self-respect is carefully developed. + +Fourthly.--The family suffers less. The home is not broken up, the wages +still come in, and if the prisoner is a mother and a wife, it is, of +course, most important that she should retain her position in the home. + +Fifthly.--The prisoner does not "lose his job," nor his mechanical +skill, if he is a skilled workman. "I was told that six months in prison +will materially damage this in many cases." He does not lose his habit +of regular work. + +Sixthly.--He has one intelligent friend at his side to give him all the +help that a brother man can. And this friend has the unique +opportunities for studying his case, and has also an extraordinary power +over his environment. + +Seventhly.--Good conduct and a capacity for rightly using freedom is +constantly rewarded by a greater freedom. + +Eighthly.--It is far cheaper than prison. The prisoner keeps himself and +his family, and one officer can attend from sixty to eighty prisoners. + +=The Elmira Reformatory.=--"The New York States Reformatory at Elmira" +is the official designation of this institution. It was established in +1875 and had for its first superintendent a Mr Z. R. Brockway. + +Mr Brockway had from the age of nineteen years been working in an +official capacity among prisoners, and his religious beliefs led him to +acknowledge that the men committed to his charge had their place in the +redemption of the world. + +Maconochie's humane method of dealing with the criminals of Norfolk +Island attracted his attention, and from Maconochie's mark system he +evolved the now famous indeterminate sentence. + +When the New York State established a Reformatory at Elmira, Mr Brockway +was placed in charge and given practically a free hand in the adoption +of such methods as he deemed most likely to effect the permanent reform +of the men committed to imprisonment there. A restriction was placed +upon the age of the offenders who should be admitted, the law reading +thus:--"A male between the ages of 16 and 30, convicted of felony, who +has not heretofore been convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment +in a State prison, may, in the discretion of the trial court, be +sentenced to imprisonment in the New York State Reformatory at Elmira, +to be there confined under the provisions of the law relating to that +reformatory" (vide section 700 Penal Code). + +This by no means implies that all the inmates are first offenders. Many +of them have been in juvenile reformatories, penitentiaries, and houses +of correction, so that in some cases a considerable advance in the +career of crime has been made before they are handed over to the +authorities at Elmira. Again, only felons are received, not minor +offenders. + +The principles upon which the reformatory system is based are +practically those set forth in the declaration of the National Prison +Congress held in Cincinnati in 1870 as follows:-- + + 1. Punishment is defined to be "suffering inflicted upon the + individual for the wrong done by him, with a special view of + securing his reformation." + + 2. "The supreme aim of prison discipline is THE + REFORMATION OF CRIMINALS, not the infliction of + VINDICTIVE suffering." + + 3. "The progressive classification of prisoners based on + character, and worked on some well adjusted mark system, + should be established in all prisons above the common gaol." + + 4. "Since hope is a more potent agent than fear, it should be + made an ever present force in the minds of the prisoners, by + a well devised and skilfully applied system of rewards for + good conduct, industry, attention to learning. Rewards, more + than penalties, are essential to every good prison system." + + 5. "The prisoner's destiny should be placed, measurably, in + his own hands; he must be put into circumstances where he + will be able, through his own exertions, to continually + better his own conditions. A regulated self-interest must be + brought into play and made constantly operative." + + 6. "Peremptory sentences ought to be replaced by those of + indeterminate length. Sentences limited only by a + satisfactory proof of reformation should be substituted for + those measured by mere lapse of time." + +The old system of penology may be described as "so much suffering +inflicted for so much wrong done and with the object of expiating that +wrong." + +The principles upon which the reformatory system is founded must be +clearly grasped before the system itself can be understood. Criticism is +frequently levelled against it on the ground that the prisoners are +given "too good a time." This criticism is based upon some theory that +vindictive retaliation is the attitude that should be assumed towards +the criminal. When this theory is renounced, then the system stands or +falls according as it accomplishes the objects for which it is designed. +When it is asked why should a prisoner in captivity be better looked +after than he would be if left in his old haunts of crime, the question +must be answered from the prisoner's point of view, and he will candidly +reply that the prison which deprives him of his freedom until his +reformation has been effected is not the place which has any attractions +for him. The life of discipline and industry does not at all agree with +his idea of blissful surroundings. Upon admission at the reformatory, +the prisoner is placed in the middle of three grades of classification. +From this grade he can, by industry and good behaviour, advance to the +highest grade. If he should prove refractory, he sinks to the lowest or +convict grade. Each grade has its own particular privileges, these being +of course at their maximum in the highest grade. They consist chiefly in +a better diet, better bed and freer access to the library. His fate is +practically placed in his own hands. If he shall show himself +industrious and shall apply himself diligently to the task set before +him he may make such progress in his grades as will secure his release +after a comparatively short period of detention. If, on the other hand, +he will not exert himself to embrace the opportunity, he is kept under +detention until the maximum limit of his sentence is reached. The +authorities urge for legislation making the sentence absolutely +indeterminate, so that those who resist the reformatory measures may be +kept in prison for a period co-terminous with that of their resistance. +The principles upon which the system is founded are developed in a +course of training described as a three M course, i.e. mental, moral and +manual. The machinery consists of, the indeterminate sentence, the +school of letters, the trade school, and the gymnasium. + +=The Indeterminate Sentence.=--The ideal Indeterminate sentence provides +that when once a criminal falls into the clutches of the law he shall be +deprived of his liberty until he has given satisfactory evidence that he +is able to conduct himself as an honest and industrious citizen. It +makes no distinction between different crimes, such as to provide that +the man who embezzles shall receive a longer sentence than the man who +commits arson or vice versa, but makes the restoration of liberty depend +entirely upon reformation. It refuses to tolerate the idea that any +criminals should be at large to prey upon society, and it thus imposes +upon society the obligation to undertake the reform of all criminals. +This IDEAL sentence, however, does not exist. At Elmira, the +authorities are obliged to recognise a maximum, so that if at the expiry +of this maximum, the prisoner should have made no progress towards +reform he must, nevertheless, be discharged. Since, however, a man may +at Elmira reduce a sentence of ten years to something like 22 months, a +great incentive is given to him to identify himself with the efforts +being made on his behalf. From every point of view the indeterminate +sentence in the case of those sent to reformatories appears the most +reasonable. The business of the trial court is concluded as soon as the +question of guilt is determined. The judge has not imposed on him the +impossible task of measuring out a punishment which in its severity +shall exactly accord with the degree of crime committed. The question of +the prisoner's sanity is not left to the jury to decide but to qualified +alienists. Neither does this question determine his GUILT but +only his RESPONSIBILITY. No account has to be made of the +provocation from which the prisoner suffered at the committal of his +crime. If but a small degree of criminality exist, the safest adjustment +of punishment is to be found in the indeterminate sentence. From the +social point of view, it gives the best safeguard to the society. It +guarantees that a criminal once convicted shall cease to prey upon +society. He will either reform and return to society as a useful member +thereof and a contributor to its wealth, or else, refusing to reform, he +will never regain his liberty. This sentence lays it down that society +ought not to tolerate criminals in its midst. Imprisonment for a fixed +period under our present penal system serves but to exasperate the +criminal, and at the end of his sentence, when he is a more dangerous +criminal than ever, the law demands that he shall be released. It is +only by indeterminate sentences that society obtains the guarantee it +may justly demand. For its effect as a means of discipline a prisoner +will give his own experience. The following extract, was written by an +inmate of the Reformatory in 1898:--"From the view-point of a 'man up a +tree' I would say that the character of our sentence has everything to +do with furnishing a motive which induces and stimulates us to a degree +of activity we could never acquire under a fixed penalty. Where, under a +definite sentence, we would spend most of our time crossing off days +from the calendar and lay awake nights counting over and again the +amount of time yet necessary for us to serve before the dawn of freedom, +now every moment is utilised in taking advantage of all opportunities +for improvement that are offered, well knowing that only by advancement +in the trade-school and school of letters, together with strict +compliance with the rules of the disciplinary department, can liberty be +earned. And the word earn is used advisedly, for a man to get along in +this reformatory can be no sluggard but must be alert, ever ready to +advance and not drag behind." + +The ideal sentence, so far as an incentive to reformation goes, would be +an ABSOLUTELY INDETERMINATE ONE, where a man must either reform +or remain in prison for life, for where would be the welfare of society +considered if a man be released prepared to prey upon it as he did +before imprisonment? In the case of the absolutely indeterminate +sentence there is a motive that will quicken every energy and arouse the +dullest to life and exercise, for he would be fighting for life and +liberty--liberty that could never be his until he had shown by his +conduct that ready compliance with all requirements here was intended, +and willingness to discard the old and detrimental habits, taking on new +and profitable ones. The fact that a man could get along in here would +indicate his ability to live in accord with society in the outside +world. + +Under such a system no one fit to be released would fail to gain it. +Why? Because the motive is so strong as to force the most unwilling to +willingness; because a man who would rather rot in prison than try to +regain his freedom by legitimate means is better off where he is. He +would only be a stumbling block to society in general if he were set +free, and would sooner or later land again in some penal institution or +other, and thus his life would be wasted, and public funds wasted in +arresting, discharging and rearresting the useless drone, the balance of +whose life would be passed in various prisons of the country. + +That the indeterminate sentence furnishes a powerful motive for +reformation is shown daily in this institution. You have only to watch +the student over his books, or mechanic over his tools to see the effort +that is being made to win that golden prize--a parole. How that motive +is undermined or taken away entirely when the sentence is definite is +readily perceived by taking a cursory glance over the records of men +sentenced here for a definite period. The greatest percentage of them +are careless, insolent, and furnish most of the class that goes to form +the nucleus of the lower or convict grades. Why? Because there is +nothing to work for. No parole can be gained by attention to duty. Time, +and time alone, counts for this class. Only to pass time and get to the +end of the sentence, that is all. No one can make a study of, or even +look about him and compare the records made by definite and indefinitely +sentenced men, without becoming a warm advocate of the indeterminate +sentence. The longer the maximum sentence of the man sent here, the +greater is his effort to travel along the straight and narrow path, +picking up such advantages as offer him through his stay in this +institution. The longer the maximum the stronger the motive, the smaller +the maximum, the smaller effort to earn a release. For example, men sent +here with two or two and a half years as the limit of their maximums, on +an average, remain here longer than those with a five, ten or twenty +years maximum hanging over them. The reason is obvious--the motive is +strengthened or weakened according as the sentence is lengthened or +shortened. The deterrent value of the absolutely indeterminate sentence +would be enormous. Not a question of a few months or years would the +criminal have to face; but a period which would not terminate until he +either reformed or died. As we have seen it gives a tremendous stimulus +to reform, and it would likewise give a powerful check to criminal +tendencies. Thus it relieves the Judge of an impossible task, is most +satisfactory to society, and most humane to the culprit. + +It may be urged that since liberation would depend in a measure upon +proficiency in the trade-school and school of letters, that some +criminals whose criminality might be of a lesser degree, would be at a +greater disadvantage than others. That is not so. The system is +obviously a very complicated one, and only the bare outlines are being +given here. In operation it is absolutely fair, neither is any +inducement offered to commit crime for the benefits which the +trade-school confers. The managers know no such defect in their system +or otherwise they would report it. They have a free hand in the +employment of their methods, they are continually experimenting, and +they owe no devotion to "red tape." + +A further advantage that the indeterminate sentence has, is that it +provides for a second period of probation. A man may behave himself well +in prison but upon his release betake himself immediately to his old +surroundings and then to his old habits. The most critical moment is +when the prisoner steps outside the gaol walls and finds himself a free +man. The habits of industry and good conduct acquired when in +confinement have to be accommodated to new conditions, and if unassisted +the task is often too great. The consequence is that he falls away and +rejoins his old companions and soon becomes a recidivist. The +indeterminate sentence allows for his freedom being regained gradually. +Having given evidence of reform and of abilities to support himself, +employment is found for him, and he is granted a parole. That is he is +released conditionally. For the next half year he must report himself +every month, and if at the end of that period he has behaved well he is +granted absolute discharge. Opportunity is thus given for him to +establish himself gradually amidst the conditions of free social life. +The sense of freedom comes without shock, and when it comes, the +critical period has long since passed away. + +Should he violate his parole in any way, he is rearrested and may be +called upon to serve the maximum penalty for his crime. + +=The School of Letters.=--As has been said the system of the Reformatory +is classified under the headings of mental, moral and manual. There is +no sharp distinction between all three, inasmuch as no mental or manual +training is considered of any value which does not also assist to +develop the moral character of the pupil. + +The whole aim of the system is to develop minds and bodies, arrested in +their growth, in order that they may become more susceptible to moral +influences, and that habits of correct thinking and useful industry may +be established. Every prisoner upon entering the institution is assigned +to the school of letters, care being taken that the task imposed upon +him is well within his mental grasp, but at the same time shall require +an effort on his part in order to master it. + +The school is divided into three sections--The Primary, the Intermediate +and the Academic or Lecture division. Each section is subdivided into +classes and each class again subdivided into groups. The usual method of +making the lower classes large and the upper classes small is exactly +reversed at the Reformatory. There may be as few as twenty pupils in the +lower classes and as many as two hundred in the upper ones. The school +is under the management of a director who is assisted by a competent +staff of civilian teachers, as well as by a number of the inmates +themselves. Some of the prisoners, being illiterate, have to commence +their education at the very bottom of the ladder. Others, according to +the education they have received, enter the course at higher points. In +the case of foreigners much of their education consists in teaching them +the English language and instructing them in American customs and +manners. The training is of immense advantage to them. + +The classes are held in the evening and the routine of the Reformatory +is so arranged that throughout the whole of the prisoner's waking time +he is kept employed. + +From the elementary instruction in reading, writing and arithmetic, +given to illiterates, the course progresses so as to include History, +Civics, Political Economy, Ethics, Nature study and Literature. Attached +to the school there is a well stocked library from which books are +issued under regulations relative to good conduct and progress made. +There is also a weekly paper issued within the institution called "The +Summary," to which the prisoners may contribute articles. Attendance at +the school is in all cases compulsory. The inmate has no option +whatever. He is not consulted as to what course of study he would like +to pursue but this is chosen for him and he is set to it. In selecting +his course, every attention is paid to the man's abilities, tastes and +attainments. No useless studies are undertaken. Every study must be of +value from a reformative point of view and also from an educational one. +That is, it must serve to correct bad and wandering habits of thinking +and to cultivate good and consecutive habits. It must assist to broaden +the outlook of life and to bring the individuals into living touch with +the life and traditions of the country to which he belongs. It must +serve to inspire hope, confidence and zeal. It must cultivate a taste +for the beautiful, a love for the natural, and an adoration for the +Divine. When released, the student must find himself equipped with such +a knowledge as will enable him to steadily advance in his station of +life. And yet there is on an average, only two years in which to impart +such an instruction. How is it done? Firstly, nothing useless is taught, +the object primarily aimed at being the formation of character. +Attendance is therefore compulsory, and attention and application are +necessary in order to obtain a parole. Monthly examinations are held and +failures at these gives a set-back in the matter of obtaining a release. +A failure, however, may be overtaken by extra exertion during the next +month. However distasteful it may be to the prisoner to study regularly +and methodically, or however difficult his former irregular life may +have rendered this task, yet it is so intimately bound up with his +interests that he soon finds a motive powerful enough to correct mere +dis-inclination. He must work and work at his best, and invariably he +does so. + +Upon entering the class room each student receives a printed slip which +gives an outline of the lesson to be studied. This serves to convey an +idea of the amount of work to be undertaken, to show the progressive +steps and to prevent any idle speculation concerning the development of +the lesson. These slips are kept by the student and they are made the +basis of the monthly examination. These examinations are conducted with +great strictness. In order to pass 75 per cent. of the maximum number of +marks must be obtained, and marks are given for exact knowledge only. +For instance, if in a sum in arithmetic a right method is employed but a +wrong answer given no marks are rewarded. The student has shown an +inability to use his knowledge. In other subjects the men in answering +their questions must give the exact "how," or "why," or "when," or +"where," or "which" before their work will pass. They may write sheets +but it will not count if they miss the point. They soon find therefore +that in order to pass their examinations they must pour forth all their +energies upon their work. Needless to say, no catch questions are ever +introduced, neither does the examination task exceed the men's +abilities. + +When English literature was first introduced the men regarded it as an +imposition. They did not know what the new study meant nor what was +expected of them. A great amount of coaxing and gentle treatment was +necessary to overcome the general bewilderment. The first examination +passed off measurably well. Soon a change took place and English +literature rose rapidly to become the most favourite study. The demand +upon the librarian for the supply of English and American Classics +became so great that special restrictions had to be placed upon their +issuance. + +Marked success from a Reformatory point of view has attended this study, +and the men enthusiastically enter upon a new and broader life. + +The late Prof. S. R. Monks, for twelve years Lecturer at the +Reformatory, says:--"But does such education contribute to the +reformation of the criminal and the protection of the public?" +Unqualifiedly and unhesitating I answer, Yes. Men are found to acquire +in this school month by month a growing application of better things, a +readier apprehension of truth and a heartier sympathy with virtue, and +best of all, a greater capacity for sustained and consistent effort in +practical undertakings. These transformations are the successive steps +of a real reformation, and every step puts the man at a greater and +safer distance from past shiftlessness and viciousness. "The virtues," +says Felix Adler, "depend in no small degree on the power of serial and +complex thinking," but, continues that practical philosopher, "the +ordinary studies of the school exercise and develop this faculty of +serial and complex thinking. Any sum in multiplication gives a training +of this kind." It is hardly possible to exaggerate the benefit that true +education will confer on one who has come under the condemnation of the +law. His improved education will counter-balance some of the disgrace of +his past criminality; it will with industrial training extricate him +from the hopeless mass of ignorant unskilled labour where competition is +always hottest and most perilous, it will teach him, better than he +could know without it, the relative value of things; it will so elevate +his thoughts and refine his tastes that the path of duty in its roughest +and steepest places, will yet steadily attract his footsteps. + +The charge is sometimes made that the criminal is made more dangerous by +education. The assertion begs all it carries. It assumes that education +strengthens character but does not transform character which is false +for it does both.... No man can use his mind in the careful +investigation of moral principles, and become thereby merely a more +dangerous cheat. No man who has opened his eyes to see the revelations +of eternal wisdom and goodness written in letters of light on all the +handiwork of Nature, can be made thereby merely a more dangerous +villain. On the contrary, every hour of honest search after reality, of +careful industry governed by principles and lined to accuracy, every +hour spent in happy contemplation of wisdom and goodness, wherever +manifested will make the man forever the better for it. + +=Physical Culture.=--This Department of the Reformatory falls into three +divisions--the Gymnastic, the Military and the Manual. + +=The Gymnastic.=--The idea of a gymnasium within a gaol must deliver no +small shock to the prejudices of many, but in studying the Elmira system +we must endeavour to keep before us the end which the authorities are +aiming at, viz., the restoration to society of their criminals in a not +only harmless state but in their most useful state, and this can only be +made possible by the most careful and thorough training of the mind, +body and soul. + +Neither is there any cause to think that the prisoners are getting too +good a time, and that, being treated better than the industrious worker, +a premium is being offered to crime. The investigation of the +authorities has revealed no case in which a man has entered the +institution on account of advantages offered. To criminals they are not +realised as advantages. They understand them only as the rough road +leading to their release, and it is about the last thing for men of +shiftless, lazy, inconsequent habits of mind and body, to suppose that +they are having a good time when sent to a gymnasium every morning for +two hours' steady work. Work which brings all the muscles of the body +into play and which demands the fixed attention of the mind and its +submission to the word of command from the instructor, is many times +more distasteful than the "hard labour" of lazily cracking stones. + +Until 1900 the whole prison population went through a regular gymnastic +course. This is now changed and assignments are made to the gymnasium +only upon the certificate of the physician. All new arrivals however +spend a period, averaging about five weeks, in the "awkward squad," half +of whose morning time is spent in the gymnasium. They come in a very +ungainly looking set of men. Many are undersized, underweight, rickety +and diseased in body and generally of a slovenly, unmanly appearance. A +multitude of causes have been at work to produce this condition. +Chiefly, these are a bad ancestry, foul atmosphere of their dwellings, +their idle dirty habits, intemperance and sexual abuse. + +The course of treatment prescribed for these is one which brings into +exercise all their latent muscular power. Special attention is paid to +deformities and weaknesses resulting from any cause whatsoever. + +Turkish baths, swimming baths and massage also play an important part in +their treatment and help to bring the dregs of disease, the results of +excessive drink and the use of tobacco, out of their systems. + +The effects of such treatment are at the end of a few weeks very +apparent. The body is supple, the carriage is erect, the cutaneous, +circulatory, muscular and nervous systems are in a healthy state, and +the stupid, bewildered or stolid expression has given way to one of +manly concern. + +At the end of five weeks most of the men graduate from the awkward squad +and engage in the work of other departments. Some, however, for various +reasons have to remain for a longer period of physical exercise. + +The majority of these are classified into three groups: + +I. Mathematical Dullards. II. Deficient in self-control. II. Stupids. +These groups are described by Dr Hamilton Wey in his report for 1896 as +follows:-- + +Group I.--The Mathematical dullards. These were incapable of solving the +most elementary problems in Mental Arithmetic or else did so with +hesitation and difficulty. They were instances of sluggish and dragging +walk, and presented a sleepy or dreamy appearance at work or in repose. +They suggested arrested mental growth. From a careful study of these men +by observation and immediate contact exercises were selected that would +tend to act upon their defects. In addition the exercises prescribed +necessitate the direct employment of their mathematical faculties. The +following schedule was adopted, though subject to constant change as +occasion for change presented itself. The exercises of their group as +with others are confined to one hour's practical work five days per +week. The men receive a daily rain bath and rubbing down immediately +after their exercises. With this group the hour is divided into sessions +of half-an-hour each, subdivided into periods of fifteen minutes. The +first fifteen minutes are devoted to light calisthenics executed by +command with loud counting and simultaneous movements. This is followed +by 15 minutes of marching and facing movements with step counting. The +first 15 minutes of the second half hour are occupied in the laying out +of geometrical fields for athletic events. Employing the 50ft. tape and +the 2ft. rule with divisions of an inch. After being instructed as to +dimensions they are required to lay out the following:-- + +(a) Baseball diamond; (b) basket ball field; (c) track for 30 and 40 +yards running races; (d) placing of hurdles at intervals, in harmony +with established athletic field rules. The closing 15 minutes embraced +practical work, viz., high and long jump, hop skip and jump, high +kicking, target throwing, etc. + +Group II.--Those deficient in self-control. The members of Group II, +compared with those of Groups I and III, are physically of better +quality. In general appearance they show a better all-round physical +development, and in some instances the deteriorating effects of sexual +abnormality were not so apparent, this class would, in the performance +of athletics, compare favourably with the scholar outside prison walls. +In the general performance of their work they have shown more interest +than either Group I or III, and in some instances have acquired skill in +some of their athletic branches. The tendency of the athletics selected +for this group by the Gymnasium Director was of a nature conducive to +the cultivation and encouragement of self-control and self-reliance +among its members as shown by the spirit of good-fellowship displayed by +the successful towards the unsuccessful player, and in a measure +subduing the ebullition of passion and the spirit of jealousy that +formerly influenced their every notion in competitive contests.... It +can be safely asserted that one essential feature in athletics, viz., +will-power, which was conspicuous at the first by its absence, has been +strengthened and inculcated, especially in this group. + +It was observed by the Director that perhaps by their exuberance of +animal spirit, the men were prone to make frequent excuses for changes +from one game to another, instead of striving to excel in one branch. +Another observable feature was the attempt to shirk the exercises which +required any exertion on their part. These defects have been remedied, +not entirely, but sufficiently to justify the efficiency of athletics as +a fact in the production of self-control; and instances can be cited of +complete subordination of will to the controlling powers. + +Group III.--The Stupids. The members of this group are not far above the +standard of feeble-minded boys. They are what might be termed "all-round +defectives." The object of the athletics selected for this group has +been to awaken and arouse them from that lethargic state into which they +periodically relapse. This has been in a measure accomplished, a great +aid to which has been the daily rain bath. The following physical +defects (some of which have been remedied wholly or in part) come under +my observation: general weakness, weak chest (respiratory organs), bent +carriage of the body, stiffness of wrist, joints, and clumsy movements +of fingers, spinal curvature, extreme (comparative) development of right +arm. To overcome these defects systematic exercise was necessary, +including free-hand exercises, club-swinging, dumb-bell exercise, etc., +meted out according to the respective deficiencies and requirements of +the men. This group also spent one half-hour in practical outdoor +gymnastic and athletic work. After a general resume of the work +accomplished it can safely be asserted that outdoor athletics and +gymnastics have proven to be in a measure, a prophylactic for a number +of the ills which these three groups of defectives are subject to. + +=Military Instruction.=--Military drill was introduced into the +Reformatory as a direct outcome of the Prisons Bill of 1888 which +forbade all machine labour in prisons being conducted for profit. The +statute requiring the "shutting down" of all industrial plants the work +of the institution was practically brought to a standstill. In this +difficulty the management conceived the idea of forming a military +regiment. Most beneficial results immediately followed. The men began to +walk with more erect carriage and to respond to quick words of command. +Besides this, the open-air exercise developed their lung-power and +stimulated their circulatory system. A pride in their performance was +also inspired by the opportunity given to rise through the different +ranks to that of lieutenant. Above all, good habits of discipline were +cultivated. Although the circumstances that rendered necessary the +introduction of military drill have passed away, yet the organization +has been found of such great reformatory value that it has become an +integral part of the Elmira system. + +The regiment consists of sixteen companies, four companies to the +battalion, company roll of about seventy. The colonel's staff is +composed of colonel, four majors, inmate adjutant, and sergeant-major, +and national and state colour-bearers. The uniforms are blue, black, and +red, corresponding to the grades. White belts, with nickel buckles, are +worn and white cross-belts. Proper insignia of rank is also worn. Dress +parade is held daily at four p.m. on the regimental grounds, or, if +weather be inclement, in the armoury. + +So far as is possible the regiment is drilled on exactly the same lines +as those observed by the United States army. + +=Manual Training.=--Manual training was introduced into the Reformatory +in 1895. The number of men who had been in the institution for a +considerable period of time and upon whom the ordinary reformative +measures exerted little influence rendered the adoption of some other +means absolutely necessary. The men, with whom the ordinary methods +failed, belonged to the defective classes already described as +mathematical dullards, deficient in self-control, and stupids. The +habits of vice seem to have wrought such a destructive work upon the +will-power of these men that in order to repair it some potent influence +would have to be brought into operation. The conception was to entirely +disengage the mind of its connection with the past and to concentrate it +upon healthy, useful and interesting work. Habit produces character, and +if the old habits of thought could be destroyed and new ones implanted +it would naturally follow that the character would be improved and +developed. The character of the normal man requires for its development +a moral, religious, intellectual and physical training, and the abnormal +man requires the same, in a greater degree. + +It was with this knowledge that the managers introduced manual training +into the Reformatory. As the usefulness of manual training (Sloyd) is +described in a preceding chapter no more need be said upon its value as +a factor in education now. It needed the greatest skill on the part of +the managers to adopt the various Sloyd exercises to the requirements of +the different defectives, but each year has given additional proof of +their success, and its inclusion in the reformatory system was amply +justified. In 1899 it was discontinued on account of the small +appropriation that was made for the maintenance of the institution, +making it necessary to curtail expenses. + +Before the abolition of Sloyd the following course was employed for +defectives:-- + +(With each year the group was divided into three terms, there being 17 +weeks in each term and 35 hours in each week.) + + +GROUP I.--(Mathematical Dullards.) + +FIRST TERM. + +Mechanical drawing, Sloyd, athletics, and calisthenics, clay-modelling, +and mental arithmetic. + +SECOND TERM. + +Card-board construction takes the place of clay-modelling. + +THIRD TERM. + +Wood-turning instead of card-board construction. + + * * * * * + +GROUP II.--(Deficient in self-control.) + +FIRST TERM. + +Athletics and calisthenics, geometric construction involving the +intersection of solids, etc., wood-turning, pattern making, mechanical +drawing and Sloyd. + +SECOND TERM. + +Athletics and calisthenics, wood-carving, clay-modelling, mechanical +drawing and Sloyd. + +THIRD TERM. + +Athletics and calisthenics, chipping and filing, moulding, mechanical +drawing and Sloyd. + + * * * * * + +GROUP III.--(Stupids.) + +FIRST TERM. + +Athletics and calisthenics, free-hand drawing from solids and familiar +objects, elementary Sloyd, clay-modelling, mental arithmetic, and +sentence building. + +SECOND TERM. + +Sloyd, free-hand drawing, wood-carving, mental arithmetic, and +calisthenics. + +THIRD TERM. + +Sloyd, free-hand drawing, wood-turning, athletics and mental arithmetic. + +=The Trades' School.=--Of all crimes, about 95 per cent. are committed +against property. It therefore appeared imperative to the management of +the Reformatory that every man passing through the institution should +be taught a useful trade so that he would be able to provide an honest +and sufficient livelihood for himself and for those who would be +dependent upon him. For this purpose the trades' school was established +and a regulation passed that all men entering the Reformatory without +the knowledge of a trade should be required to learn one before they +would be granted a parole. + +Under conditions of free life it would be impossible to teach these men +a trade. In their haunts of crime the criminals live a lazy ambitionless +life and regard work as an evil to be avoided; the reformatory system, +however, captures his interest on behalf of industry by making his +liberty depend upon his having reached the status of an honest and +enthusiastic tradesman. + +Two or three days after his arrival the newly committed prisoner is +personally interviewed by the superintendent. This interview, which is +in the nature of an exhaustive examination, generally discloses the +species of criminality to which his crime belongs. This knowledge is +made the basis of the plan which is then formulated for the course of +treatment to which he will be submitted. + +In the selection of a trade, the prisoner is given the opportunity of +choosing for himself. If the choice show sincerity and intelligence, he +is applied to it. If, on the other hand, it should reveal mere +indifference or a desire to shirk hard work, the managers take all +matters into consideration and select the trade for him. Once placed at +a trade he is given to understand that he will be kept rigidly to it and +no release from imprisonment granted until his progress has satisfied +the authorities. Changes from one trade to another are rarely granted, +and then only when the learner has given unmistakable signs that he +cannot succeed at his first task. Within the trades school, his identity +is not lost sight of. Day by day, a record of his conduct and also of +his progress is kept. Every persuasive means is used to awaken his +understanding to the fact that his best interests are to be served by +habits of industry and application. The whole system is an appeal to his +desire for freedom. Freedom is offered to him but at a distance, and he +can reach it by no other means than that of following a given road, the +direction of which is very clearly pointed out to him. + +The work is graduated according to his ability to make progress, and +care is taken to so arrange his course that he shall be taught +thoroughly all the fundamental principles of his trade. The ordinary +apprentice works so that he will be able to fulfil the orders that are +given to his master. The consequence of this is that two ideas exist, +the apprentice having the desire to learn a trade, his master desiring +to profit by his work. The end of the apprentice is served by constantly +advancing to new work, even though this should mean the loss of time and +the waste of material; his master's object is attained by keeping him +at that work which he learns quickest and giving the difficult work to +more experienced men, consequently he passes through his time and learns +but very little. Now, the pupil of the Elmira trades' school is not +considered to have completed his course until he has gained a thorough +knowledge of every department of his trade. Besides the practical +instruction given in the workshops, classes are also held in the +evenings and instruction given in mechanical drawing so that the men may +be able to understand any plan that may be put into their hands, and +also to draw plans for themselves. Trade journals are subscribed for and +circulated among the men. + +The value of this industrial training extends beyond the providing the +means of obtaining an honest livelihood, for by making release depend +upon success, interest is thereby combined with industry. This +combination is bound to react upon the voluntary system and produces a +moral effect. Again it re-acts, this time beneficially upon the +character of the man. + +The following is a list of all the trades taught in the Reformatory:-- + + Barbering + Bookbinding + Brass-smithing + Bricklaying + Cabinet-making + Carpentry + Clothing-cutting + Electricity + Frescoing + Hardwood-finishing + Horseshoeing + House-painting + Iron-forging + Machine-wood-working + Machinist's + Moulding + Music + Paint-mixing + Photo-engraving + Plastering + Plumbing + Printing + Stenography & typewriting + Shoemaking + Sign-painting + Steam-fitting + Stone-cutting + Stone-masonry + Tailoring + Telegraphy + Tinsmithing + Upholstery + Also, + Mechanical-drawing + +In the year 1903 there were 1986 pupils instructed in these trades. + +=The Results of the System.=--English critics have regarded the system +as being somewhat extravagant and as placing the honest labourer at a +disadvantage to the criminal. This criticism has been considerably +weakened of late years and the results investigated instead of being +imagined. The most careful investigation has made it impossible to deny +that the Reformatory achieves all that it claims to, viz.:--that it +contributes nothing to the strengthening of the criminal habit[1] and +therefore it is not a partial remedy, and that it actually returns to +society as useful citizens no less than 82 per cent.[2] of those +committed to it. + +Lombroso speaks of the system as a practical application of the results +of the science of Criminology. + +Should the system be adopted in other countries, it would need to be so +translated that it would accord with the traditions and customs of the +people. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] It is generally supposed that such a system cannot act as a +deterrent to crime. The American delegates to the International Prison +Congress (held in Paris in 1895) declared that the obligation imposed +upon the prisoners, in such institutions, to raise themselves by mental +as well as by industrial labour, into higher grades as a necessary +condition for liberation, is felt by many of them, to involve so much +exertion, that they would rather be consigned to some ordinary prison, +where self-improvement is not specially enforced. This system, they +declared, was more deterrent than was generally supposed. + +[2] Of some 13,000 criminals who have passed through the Reformatory, +the number known definitely to have returned to crime is a little less +than 1 per cent. of the whole! + + + + +Chapter X. + +CONCLUSION. + + +The reader will have formed his own conclusion. He may conclude that the +author has a sentimental affection for the criminal and would have all +disturbers of the public peace treated with more compassion than the +hard-working and honest labourer. But that reader will have jumped to +his conclusion from his preconceived prejudices. The reformation of the +criminal is no chimera, it has been undertaken for thirty years and +every year has seen better results. The results for 1903 (86 per cent. +of reforms) ought to convince the most sceptic that the reformation of +the criminal is the true aim for society to pursue. + +Another reader may ask why, if all these results are so good, does not +the Government adopt some such system as the Elmira one instead of +continuing the present obsolete penal system. The New York State +Government experiences a difficulty in finding, for their reformatory +staff, men who will undertake their work with a real sense of mission. + +Nor is this the only difficulty. If New Zealand is going to undertake +the reformation of its criminals and to restore them to society as +honest and industrious persons, society itself must be prepared to drop +its prejudices and suspicions and receive the men at their present +worth, and not forever stamp them as outcasts. Nothing less, then, is +required than an earnest desire among all classes to recover those among +men who have fallen into villainy and vice and to receive back among +their ranks all those who, having responded to the efforts made on their +behalf, can make a claim upon the confidence and good-will of society. + +But the reformation of the criminal is not the only obligation laid upon +society, there is also the education of the child. It is frequently +being stated that criminals are on the increase; it has been shown that +this increase is not a national one, it must be then that for some +reason the practice of virtue is becoming more and more difficult, +whereas that of vice is becoming increasingly easier. Recruits are +steadily joining the ranks of crime, and when one sees that, as a result +of their home and school training, the rising generation is developing +all the characteristics of the criminal, a somewhat alarming conclusion +very strongly suggests itself. Society has the criminals that it +deserves. It may fail to recover those who have entered upon a criminal +career, or it may be actually guilty of manufacturing criminals. What +are we doing? New Zealand has this hope, that its traditions do not +fetter it, and its institutions are young and plastic. + + +THE END. + + + + + +------------------------------------------------------+ + | Transcriber's Note: | + | | + | Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the | + | original document have been preserved. | + | | + | Typographical errors corrected in the text: | + | | + | Page 12 Gcd changed to God | + | Page 12 criminoligists changed to criminologists | + | Page 14 violaters changed to violators | + | Page 20 effrontry changed to effrontery | + | Page 24 tpyes changed to types | + | Page 34 healty changed to healthy | + | Page 35 alcholic changed to alcoholic | + | Page 46 physichological changed to physicological | + | Page 74 maxium changed to maximum | + | Page 80 Obviviously changed to Obviously | + | Page 93 removed duplicate word "and" | + | Page 98 Chappel changed to Chapple | + | Page 98 celebate changed to celibate | + | Page 104 exacttitude changed to exactitude | + | Page 111 Chappel's changed to Chapple's | + | Page 116 syphillis changed to syphilis | + | Page 121 unkown changed to unknown | + | Page 128 aguments changed to arguments | + | Page 133 consideraly changed to considerably | + | Page 134 Charle's Reades changed to Charles Reade's | + | Page 137 removed duplicate word "of" | + | Page 140 approbious changed to opprobious | + | Page 141 abont changed to about | + | Page 143 demonstate changed to demonstrate | + | Page 144 kindergartem changed to kindergarten | + | Page 148 betweeen changed to between | + | Page 151 removed duplicate word "the" | + | Page 163 destinction changed to distinction | + | Page 178 defficient changed to deficient | + | Page 180 prophylasic changed to prophylactic | + | Page 181 lins changed to lines | + | Page 184 indiffererence changed to indifference | + | Page 186 stone-masonery changed to stone-masonry | + +------------------------------------------------------+ + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Plea for the Criminal, by +James Leslie Allan Kayll + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A PLEA FOR THE CRIMINAL *** + +***** This file should be named 28632-8.txt or 28632-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/6/3/28632/ + +Produced by Jonathan Ah Kit, Barbara Kosker, Mark C. 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J. L. A. Kayll. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + p { margin-top: .5em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .5em; + text-indent: 1em; + } + h1 { + text-align: center; font-family: garamond, serif; /* all headings centered */ + } + h5,h6 { + text-align: center; font-family: garamond, serif; /* all headings centered */ + } + h2 { + text-align: center; font-family: garamond, serif; /* centered and coloured */ + } + h3 { + text-align: center; font-family: garamond, serif; /* centered and coloured */ + } + h4 { + text-align: center; font-family: garamond, serif; /* all headings centered */ + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + a {text-decoration: none} /* no lines under links */ + div.centered {text-align: center;} /* work around for IE centering with CSS problem part 1 */ + div.centered table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;} /* work around for IE centering with CSS problem part 2 */ + + .cen {text-align: center; text-indent: 0em;} /* centering paragraphs */ + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 95%;} /* small caps, smaller font size */ + .noin {text-indent: 0em;} /* no indenting */ + .blockquot {margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%;} /* block indent */ + .img {text-align: center; padding: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} /* centering images */ + .tdr {text-align: right;} /* right align cell */ + .tdc {text-align: center;} /* center align cell */ + .tdcl {text-align: center; border-left: .5pt black solid;} /* center align, border left */ + .tdclv {text-align: center; border-left: .5pt black solid; vertical-align: bottom;} /* center align, border left, valign bottom */ + .tdctb {text-align: center; border-top: .5pt black solid; border-bottom: .5pt black solid;} /* center align, top and bottom border */ + .tdctlb {text-align: center; border-top: .5pt black solid; border-left: .5pt black solid; border-bottom: .5pt black solid;} /* center align, top, left, bottom border */ + .tdl {text-align: left;} /* left align cell */ + .tdlb {text-align: left; vertical-align: bottom;} /* left align cell, valign bottom */ + .tr {margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; margin-top: 5%; margin-bottom: 5%; padding: 1em; background-color: #f6f2f2; color: black; border: dotted black 1px;} /* transcriber's notes */ + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; right: 2%; + font-size: 75%; + text-align: right; + text-indent: 0em; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + font-variant: normal;} /* page numbers */ + + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 90%;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right; font-size: 90%;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: text-top; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + .poem {margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span {display: block; margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em;} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's A Plea for the Criminal, by James Leslie Allan Kayll + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Plea for the Criminal + Being a reply to Dr. Chapple's work: 'The Fertility of the + Unfit', and an Attempt to explain the leading principles + of Criminological and Reformatory Science + +Author: James Leslie Allan Kayll + +Release Date: April 29, 2009 [EBook #28632] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A PLEA FOR THE CRIMINAL *** + + + + +Produced by Jonathan Ah Kit, Barbara Kosker, Mark C. Orton, +Victoria University of Wellington College of Education +(Gender and Women's Studies Programme) and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> +<h3>DEDICATED<br /> +TO MANY KIND FRIENDS.</h3> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h1>A PLEA FOR THE CRIMINAL.</h1> +<br /> + +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h3>BEING A REPLY TO DR. CHAPPLE'S WORK:<br /> + "THE FERTILITY OF THE UNFIT,"</h3> + +<h4>AND</h4> + +<h3>AN ATTEMPT TO EXPLAIN THE LEADING<br /> + PRINCIPLES OF CRIMINOLOGICAL &<br /> + REFORMATORY SCIENCE.</h3> + +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> +<br /> + +<h4>By</h4> + +<h2>THE REV. J. L. A. KAYLL,</h2> + +<h3>CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF<br /> +THE HOWARD ASSOCIATION.</h3> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h5>INVERCARGILL!<br /> +W. Smith, Commercial Printer, Temple Chambers, Esk Street.<br /> +MCMV.</h5> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<p class="cen">AUTHORITIES CONSULTED IN THE PREPARATION OF THIS VOLUME.</p> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="60%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Authorities Consulted"> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="60%"></td> + <td class="tdl" width="40%"></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Brockway, Z. R.</td> + <td class="tdl">Elmira.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Corre, Dr A.</td> + <td class="tdl">Paris.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Drill, Dimitri.</td> + <td class="tdl">Moscow.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Du Cane, Sir E.</td> + <td class="tdl">England.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Dugdale, R. L.</td> + <td class="tdl">America.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Ellis, Havelock.</td> + <td class="tdl">England.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Ferri, Prof. E.</td> + <td class="tdl">Rome.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Garofalo, (Baron) Prof.</td> + <td class="tdl">Naples.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Kidd, Benjamin.</td> + <td class="tdl">England.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Von. Krafft-Ebing, Prof.</td> + <td class="tdl">Vienna.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Lacassagne, Prof.</td> + <td class="tdl">Lyons.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">MacDonald, Dr. A.</td> + <td class="tdl">Washington, U.S.A.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Mercier, Chas. M. B.</td> + <td class="tdl">England.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Morrison, Rev. W. D.</td> + <td class="tdl">England.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Manouvrier, Dr.</td> + <td class="tdl">Paris.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Moleschott, Prof.</td> + <td class="tdl">Rome.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Orano, Giuseppe</td> + <td class="tdl">Rome.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Ribot, Th.</td> + <td class="tdl">France.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Rylands, L. Gordon</td> + <td class="tdl">England.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Salomon, Otto</td> + <td class="tdl">Nääs (Sweden.)</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Scott, Jos.</td> + <td class="tdl">Elmira.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Spitska, Dr. E. C.</td> + <td class="tdl">New York.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Tallack, Wm.</td> + <td class="tdl">England.</td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="60%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Table of Contents"> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdr"><span style="font-size: 80%;">Page.</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#Chapter_I">Chapter I.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Introductory</td> + <td class="tdr">9</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#Chapter_II">Chapter II.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">The Criminal</td> + <td class="tdr">14</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#Chapter_III">Chapter III.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">The Causes of Crime</td> + <td class="tdr">28</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#Chapter_IV">Chapter IV.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">The Methods and Philosophy of Punishment</td> + <td class="tdr">61</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#Chapter_V">Chapter V.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Elimination—Dr. Chapple's Proposal</td> + <td class="tdr">87</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#Chapter_VI">Chapter VI.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">The Obligations of Society Towards the Weak</td> + <td class="tdr">120</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#Chapter_VII">Chapter VII.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">The New Penology</td> + <td class="tdr">133</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#Chapter_VIII">Chapter VIII.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">The Prevention of Crime</td> + <td class="tdr">138</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#Chapter_IX">Chapter IX.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Some American Experiments—Elmira</td> + <td class="tdr">155</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#Chapter_X">Chapter X.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Conclusion</td> + <td class="tdr">188</td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="Chapter_I" id="Chapter_I"></a> +<br /> + +<hr /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> +<br /> +<h2>Chapter I.</h2> + +<h2>INTRODUCTION.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>This little book presents an appeal to society to consider its criminals +with greater charity and with more intelligent compassion. No other plea +is advanced than that the public mind should rid itself of all +prejudices and misunderstandings, and should make an honest endeavour to +understand what the criminal is, why he is a criminal and what, +notwithstanding, are his chances in social life.</p> + +<p>The criminal has a claim to be understood just as well as any other +creature. It is not necessary that his sympathisers should shut their +eyes to the fact that he is capable of shocking crime, that he is often +an ungrateful wretch that will bite the hand that feeds him and that +among his ranks are to be found the most depraved specimens of humanity +that the mind can conceive. A failure to recognize these facts is +actually a failure to do justice to his cause. Notwithstanding the +hideous history that he may have to unfold, he does ask to be +understood.</p> + +<p>The majority of people take a most prejudiced view of the criminal's +case. They will read the account of some fearful outrage or the details +of a disgraceful divorce suit with absolutely no interest what ever in +the persons concerned but only for the sake of the morbid satisfaction +which such reading gives <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>them. A glance at the sentence will draw forth +from them the exclamation that the wretch got no more than he deserved +or that he didn't get half enough. This simply indicates that society as +a whole has made very little real progress in the manner in which it +regards its criminals. The old barbaric idea of revenge is still the +dominant one and any scheme for the betterment of the criminal, even if +it should give unmistakeable signs that it will accomplish his absolute +reform, is carefully investigated to see whether it provides for a +sufficient degree of penal suffering. Suffering which is of an entirely +penal nature, has very little deterrent value and absolutely no +reformative value whatever. And yet our refined and educated men and +women will read the accounts of crimes and, in their own minds, sentence +the actors to five, ten, fourteen or twenty years; even death, as if +criminals were so used to this sort of thing that they thought no more +of it than their self-chosen judges would if deprived of a day's sport +or disappointed over a ball.</p> + +<p>"But," as an ex-member of the Justice Department said to me, "do you +know what the wretch has done?" Yes, I do know what he has done, and I +know him personally and well, and I know of what he is capable and such +knowledge brings with it the conviction that society commits a greater +crime than that which he has committed when it undertakes to punish him +for his offence upon a principle of pure vengeance.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>"Vengeance is mine," saith the Almighty, "I will repay." Society is not +God any more than is the individual, so that by acting in the collective +capacity no additional plea of justification may be advanced.</p> + +<p>The endeavour of this book will be to show that the best interests of +society are not served by the infliction of punishments which are +essentially penal but by the accomplishment of the reform of the +criminal. This latter process is for the criminal himself, infinitely +more severe than the former, but it inflicts a pain which raises the man +to a higher level; it is purgatorial, and not one which, being penal, +leaves him a greater enemy to mankind than ever.</p> + +<p>The criminal is not excused for his wrong-doing, he is not regarded as +an automaton, but simply as a creature of capabilities and possibilities +which require the intelligent sympathy of his fellows in order that they +may be properly developed.</p> + +<p>There are many persons who regard the reform of the criminal as an +absolutely hopeless task and a waste of time to think over; they +advocate his extermination. They would fling back to the Creator His own +work as having, in their judgment, proved worthless, even mischievous.</p> + +<p>Dr Chapple is astounded that the existence, or at least the birth, of +defectives should be allowed. It is, he says, due in a large measure to +the tide of Christian sentiment which is to-day in full flood. The +Christian does at least recognize that of every <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>defective God says, +"take this child and nurse it for Me," but to speak of Christian +sentiment being at its flood-tide to-day is surely not the speech of one +who professes much belief in the future of Christianity.</p> + +<p>Dr Chapple preaches a Gospel for the defective, and his banner is the +skull and cross-bones! Christian sentiment when at its flood-tide will +have swept away all such emblems. In replying to Dr Chapple, I have +endeavoured to show that his proposal touches but the fringe of the +problem, and even there after an unscientific and immoral manner. There +is room for a measure of surprise that Dr Chapple should have undertaken +to write his book with such a scant knowledge of the facts as they +really are.</p> + +<p>In presenting this little book to the public, the author does so with +the hope that it may tend to restore the confidence in human nature that +Dr Chapple has somewhat weakened, but also in some measure to inspire +society towards greater collective ameliorative effort, in which our +full confidence may unhesitatingly be placed. The author hopes that the +criminal, a subject of patient study for the last ten years, will be +seen in a somewhat new light. Criminologists declare the criminal to be +seven-eighths of an average man. May society find in itself the ability +and good-will to contribute the other eighth!</p> + +<p>Small as this volume is, it has required many communications with the +old world, and the author's thanks are due to many students engaged upon +the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>study of this science in England and in the United States, and who +have rendered him valuable assistance. Also, the assistance of many kind +friends in New Zealand is gratefully acknowledged, and particularly that +of Mr Alfred Grant, without whose aid the preparation of these sheets +for the press would have been an almost impossible task.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="Chapter_II" id="Chapter_II"></a> +<br /> + +<hr /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> +<br /> +<h2>Chapter II.</h2> + +<h2>THE CRIMINAL.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>The popular mind draws little or no distinction between criminals. In it +there exists the idea of a criminal caste, all the members of which are +prepared to commit any and every act of a criminal nature. In the +popular mind, although it is just a question whether a man is bad enough +to commit the greater crimes, yet thieves, violators, swindlers, forgers +and murderers are all assumed to fall into the same category. In one +sense they do, that is, that they are all anti-social beings, or rather +they all possess certain anti-social qualities; but as soon as we +proceed further we find that there exists a very great distinction in +criminals. Criminals are first classified according to the motive of +their crime. This classication ranges them under five different +headings, the political criminal, the occasional criminal, the criminal +of passion, the instinctive criminal, and the habitual criminal or +recidivist.</p> + +<p>Again they are classified, according to the nature of their crime, into +thieves, robbers, violators, assassins, murderers, swindlers, etc. These +again are sub-classified, e.g., thieves are classified as housebreakers, +those who rob with violence, those who use weapons, those who rob from +the person, and those who break safes. Murderers may also be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>classified +according to the nature of their murderous instinct, illustrated by the +instrument of destruction that they employ, whether it be the knife, +firearms, poisons or other means, and again a classification exists +between those who commit murder themselves and those who employ agents. +All these classifications are entirely different, and although some +criminals may range under more than one heading, yet it is generally the +case that a criminal adopts both a certain form of crime and also a +particular method for carrying it into execution.</p> + +<p><b>The Political Criminal.</b>—This man's offence is not against morality +but against the governmental institutions of the country. He holds +advanced ideas upon matters of government and upon the constitution of +society, and in his attempt to propagate these he becomes a political +criminal. The political criminal, as distinguished from all other +criminals, never commits violence, his morals may even approach +perfection; but he holds "ideas," ideas which are not acceptable to the +government under which he lives.</p> + +<p>The despotic rule of the Oriental countries is most favourable to the +production of the political criminal: Russia and Germany are not without +their representatives. Occasionally bands of political criminals are +formed, and then, in the midst of demonstrations, unpremeditated +violence may be committed. The Stundists and the Young Turkish Party are +examples.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span><b>The Occasional Criminal.</b>—"Economic conditions are generally +responsible for the production of the occasional criminal. His crime is +committed in order to satisfy his present wants. In him the sensual +instincts may not be stronger than usual, and the social element, though +weaker than usual, need not be absent. Weakness is the chief +characteristic of the occasional criminal. When circumstances are not +quite favourable he succumbs to temptation." (The Criminal, p. 18.) The +occasional criminal is clearly a subject for educational treatment. He +needs to cultivate greater power of self-control, to strengthen his +moral sense, and above all to be thoroughly equipped for the battle of +life. Imprisonment will frequently ruin him and be the cause of his +becoming a confirmed or habitual criminal.</p> + +<p><b>The Criminal of Passion.</b>—He is generally of considerable culture and +of keen moral sensibility. His crime proceeds from a sense of righteous +indignation which, for the moment, completely blinds him. Personal +insults cannot disturb his calm, but the sight of a child being abused +or a defenceless one being attacked, will so infuriate him that he may +even commit murder. Premeditation is never present, he acts under the +powerful inspiration of the moment, and his crime is an isolated event +quite unconnected with his conduct in general.</p> + +<p><b>The Insane Criminal</b>.—Insane persons who commit criminal acts, show +rather a variation of insanity than of criminality. It would be more +exact to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>describe them as "criminal lunatics" than as "insane +criminals." Two classes exist, a fact which is often overlooked, for +there are both criminal-lunatics and insane-criminals. In the first +case, criminality is the product of insanity, but in the second case +insanity is the product of criminality. Not an hereditary product in +either case, but a product resulting from a cause within the person's +mental or moral self.</p> + +<p>The pronounced lunatic, the incapable, irresponsible person whose +actions are beyond his power to understand or control, is regarded by +society as a being too dangerous to be at large. Of him we do not here +speak to any extent, he is too well recognized. It should always be +borne in mind, however, that he commits crime because he is a lunatic, +and that although his confinement is absolutely necessary, yet there is +no warrant whatever that it should be made penal in character.</p> + +<p>Although it is not possible in a work of this kind to deal largely with +the subject, the writer would urge upon the notice of society and upon +the special notice of jurists that there are a number of persons whose +crimes should excite for them the greatest sympathy instead of, as is +the case, the greatest detestation. Men there are who, perfectly sane in +the ordinarily accepted sense, and who have not only a clear conception +of the immorality of their conduct, but also an intense abhorrence and +shame for it, find themselves performing the most revolting acts under +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>influences that are absolutely irresistible. The sensualist has no +justification, but our laws are excessively cruel in their dealings with +this class to which allusion is made. To be brief, no man charged with +sadism (lust-murder) pederasty or the related crimes, should have his +case made public until a most complete diagnostic examination (including +his family and personal history) has been made by competent persons.</p> + +<p>A careful study of Krafft-Ebing's monumental work upon the subject +should convince our lawyers that they could not proceed in these cases +without the assistance of the alienist and of those who are experts in +the diagnosis of the various forms of patho-sexualism. The cases of +insane criminals, that is, of the criminals whose vice is the cause of +their insanity, is also divisible into two classes. There is that +uninteresting class who on account of their irregular, immoral and +excitable life become insane, and there is another class. These latter +frequently escape the penalty of their crimes. Insanity is disclosed and +they have no criminal record, therefore they are discharged. It would be +a nice point to decide whether and to what degree, if any, +responsibility exists. To give an example not altogether uncommon—a man +who will not brook opposition or hindrance of any sort. On every such +occasion he cherishes most spiteful, even murderous, feelings towards +his opponent. He would do him any injury, even go to the length of +killing him, but he dare not.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>He will storm, abuse and threaten, but he dare not go further. He is +avoided by his neighbours as being a most cantankerous fellow; he is +always being involved in disputes. This man is undoubtedly criminal at +heart and is cherishing anti-social feelings which are steadily growing +in their intensity. Revenge becomes the almost dominating influence over +his mind, but it is held in check by fear. At last fear gives way and +there is no further restriction to the emotion of revenge, which then +becomes supreme. At this climax insanity occurs and murder is committed +synchronically. Morally the act was committed years previously, and it +was by his own conduct in goading himself on to the climax that made it +an actual fact. Subsequently, almost immediately, he may become rational +again and retain consciousness of the deed and thoroughly understands +its outrageous nature. He will not then express any regrets but will +declare that his deed was perfectly moral. This man is as near a monster +as we dare call any man, and should never be allowed to have his liberty +restored to him.</p> + +<p><b>Instinctive Criminal.</b>—Called also the "born criminal" (Lombroso), or +the "criminal by nature." The term "instinctive criminal" seems to be +that growing most in popularity, possibly because there is less +likelihood of it having to be modified by the results of further +investigation.</p> + +<p>By the instinctive criminal is understood a man in whom the criminal +instinct has gained a supremacy <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>over the social instinct. He is not +only anti-social in deed but also in character. (It would be a mistake +to term him anti-social in nature, for that would indicate that he was +absolutely hostile to humanity. One, anti-social in character, is +capable of betterment, and this is possible of every man.) Many causes +operate to account for his production, some of them reaching far back +into his ancestry. When this is the case some physical handicap is +always present, such as e.g. cerebral irritation and epilepsy.</p> + +<p>In childhood the instinctive criminal may be recognised by an excessive +vanity which will often tempt him to steal, the thefts being generally +confined to articles of personal adornment or which give an occasion to +"swagger." When accused he will deny the charge brought against him with +an effrontery which will too often create the conviction that he is +innocent. When charged he will challenge the statements of his superiors +without any hesitation whatever, but at a given moment will break down +and make a most free and perhaps disinterested confession. Frequently he +is very emotional in behavior and simulates the deepest regret, although +he is practically without any remorse whatever. He will undertake to +perform the most afflicting tasks of penance in order to expiate the +wrong and give every assurance for future good behaviour. Neither of +which is of the least value.</p> + +<p>Onanism and a morbid love for sweets is an important characteristic. In +the adult, laziness, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>debauchery and cowardice are to be noticed. His +signature is peculiar, involved and often adorned with flourishes. He +loves to be credited with the performance of great achievements, and +will tatoo medals upon his body or other symbols significant of +greatness. The instinctive criminal generally complains that he is +unfortunate, or that he has never had a chance, and that society is +always contriving to keep him down.</p> + +<p><b>The Habitual Criminal, or the Recidivist.</b>—When once a man has fallen +into the clutches of the law and been incarcerated it is very difficult +for him to keep his self-respect. His first crime may present many +features to indicate that he is more the victim of circumstances than +well-defined ill-will. But having been convicted, he finds himself +shunned by all but criminal society, and together with other influences, +educational in character, he is frequently allured into a relapse. If a +prisoner endeavours to behave himself in gaol and keep aloof from evil +contagion, he is bullied by his fellow-prisoners, and even his keepers +regard him with suspicion. The one twit him with being a white-livered +coward, the other consider him to be either a sneak or a "deep fellow." +He is almost sure to fall and identify himself with the ranks of crime. +An instance that the writer has personal knowledge of is that of a man, +passionate in nature, and moved by the tears of a young woman on behalf +of her imprisoned lover, stuck up a small country gaol under arms and +gained the release of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>the imprisoned man. To escape the consequences he +had to take to the "bush," and for two years he lived the life of an +outlaw. He finally surrendered to the police and was condemned to death. +As no personal injury had been committed and his manner of using his +weapons shewed plainly that he did not contemplate any, his sentence was +commuted to imprisonment for fourteen years, the first three to be spent +in irons. At the end of that time the criminal habit was confirmed. For +various offences he was sentenced at different times to periods +aggregating in all to thirty years. After his last sentence had +expired—six years ago—he began a new life and has not committed crime +since. His whole career showed many redeeming points in it. This case is +well-known to the New Zealand and Australian prison authorities.</p> + +<p>The number of criminals who are allured into relapse is computed by +Orano to be 45 per cent of the whole.</p> + +<p>The distinction between the habitual criminal and the instinctive +criminal is not merely an academical one but emphatically a practical +one. Both are living the life of crime, and their acts may be, from an +objective point, of exactly the same nature; but in the one case we have +to deal with the criminal CHARACTER and in the other with the criminal +HABIT. The distinction is first seen in the different ages at which each +commences his criminal career; nextly in the different impelling causes. +Again, the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>emotions, ideas and methods show a distinction. All these +variations are in the aggregate of considerable practical importance, +especially in the assignment of prisoners for reformatory treatment.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="cen">THE CRIMINAL TYPE.</p> + +<p>Prof. Lombroso writing the introduction to Dr Arthur's "Criminology" +says:—"This point as to the type, is scarcely recognized even by the +most respectable savants. The reasons for this are many: above all, +there are the criminals by occasion or by passion, who do not belong to +the type and should not, for in great part it is the circumstances, and +often the laws, which make them criminals and not Nature. And then some +have strange ideas concerning the type."</p> + +<p>No doubt if the acceptation of the idea of type is carried out in its +complete universality, it cannot be accepted; but as I have already said +in my previous writings that it is necessary to receive this idea with +the same reserve which one appreciates averages in statistics.</p> + +<p>When it is said that the average of life is 32 years, and that the month +least (? most) fatal to life, is December, no one understands by this +that all or almost all men should die at the age of 32 years and in the +month of December; but I am not the only one to make this restriction. +In order to show this I have to cite the definition which Monsieur +Topinard, himself the most inveterate of my adversaries, gives in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>his +remarkable work "The Type," says Gratiolet, "is a synthetic expression." +"The Type," says Goethe, is "the abstract and general image" which we +deduce from the observation of the common parts and from the +differences. "The type of a species," adds Isidorus St. Helaire, "never +appears before our eyes but is perceived only by the mind." "Human +types," writes Broca, "have no real existence, they are only abstract +conceptions, ideals, which come from the comparison of ethnic varieties, +and are composed of an <span class="smcap">ENSEMBLE</span> of characters common to a +certain degree among themselves." I agree with these different points of +view. The type is indeed an <span class="smcap">ENSEMBLE</span> of traits, but in relation +to a group which it characterises, it is also the <span class="smcap">ENSEMBLE</span> of +its most prominent traits, and those repeating themselves, whence comes +a series of consequences which the anthropologist should never lose +sight of either in his laboratory or in the midst of the populations of +Central Africa." Manouvrier opposes Lombroso's theory and denies the +existence of the type. He argues that if it exist at all it must be +universal, whereas the peculiarities noted by Lombroso are present in +honest as well as in criminal persons, the latter having, however, the +greater proportion.</p> + +<p>The doctrine of Fatalism seems at first sight to be bound up in the +acceptance of Lombroso's theory: but such is not the case. Lombroso +himself declares that the type belongs to the born criminal only, and +that the born criminal can be nothing more than an <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>epileptic; +criminality being a neurosis. It would thus seem that the type was but +the indication of an organic defect which physically or psychically +rendered the subject unable to adapt himself to the social condition; +but not that unchangeable ideas, contradicting pure morality, were +innate. Lombroso goes no further than to state definitely that the type +exists, and that there are very clear indications that a different type +will be found to correspond with the different forms of criminality. +That the peculiarities are found also in persons living honest lives, +proves nothing against his theory. For instance, there are many persons +of distinctly criminal instincts who are kept in the paths of honesty +merely by circumstances; and again, scientific investigation has not yet +completed its work, and while certain typical peculiarities may be noted +in the criminal and in the non-criminal alike, it is more than likely +that the type will be found to consist in different combinations which +will be discovered to exist in the criminal (not necessarily, the +convict) exclusively. Or the type may consist in the peculiarities plus +expression. The following typical peculiarities have been noticed by +different criminologists:—</p> + +<p><b>The Cranium.</b>—The more frequent persistence of the metopic or frontal +suture. The effacement, more or less complete, of the parietal or +parieto-occipital sutures in a large number of criminals. The notched +sutures are the most simple. The frequency of the wormian bones in the +region of the median and in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>the lateral posterior frontal. The backward +direction of the plane of the occipital depression. (Dr A. Corre.)</p> + +<p>Feeble cranial capacity; heavy and developed jaw; large orbital +capacity; projecting superciliary ridges; abnormal and assymetrical +cranium; the presence of a median occipital fossa. (Lombroso.)</p> + +<p><b>The Face.</b>—Scanty beard; abundant hair, prognathism, thick lips, dull +eye, lemurian appendix to the jaw, pteleriform type of the nasal +opening, projecting ears, squinting eyes, receding forehead and deformed +nose. "Those guilty of rape (if not cretins) almost always have a +projecting eye, delicate physiognomy, large lips and eyelids, the most +of them are slender, blond and rachitic. The pederast often has feminine +elegance, long and curly hair, and even in prison garb, a certain +feminine figure, delicate skin, childish look, and abundance of glossy +hair parted in the middle. Burglars who break into houses have as a rule +woolly hair, deformed cranium, powerful jaws, and enormous zygomatic +arches, are covered with scars on the head and trunk, and are often +tatooed. Habitual homicides have a glassy, cold, immobile, sometimes +sanguinary and dejected look; often an aquiline nose, or, in other +words, a hooked one like a bird of prey, always large; the jaws are +large, ears long, hair woolly, abundant and rich (dark); beard rare, +canine teeth, very large; the lips are thin. A large number of swindlers +and forgers have an artlessness, and something clerical in their manner, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>which gives confidence to their victims. Some have a haggard look, very +small eyes, crooked nose, and the face of an old woman." (Dr MacDonald, +page 40.)</p> + +<p>The following proverbs, collected by Lombroso, show the recognition in +the popular mind of the criminal type:—"There is nothing worse than a +scarcity of beard and no colour." "Pale face is either false or +treacherous." (Rome.) "A red-haired man and a bearded woman greet at a +distance." (Venice.) "Be thou suspicious of the woman with a man's +voice." "God preserve me from the man without a beard." (France.) "Pale +face is worse than the itch." (Piedmont.) "Bearded women and unbearded +men, salute at a distance." (Tuscan.) "Men of little beard of little +faith." "Wild look, cruel custom." "Be thou suspicious of him who +laughs, and beware of men with small twinkling eyes." (Tuscan.)</p> + +<p>It must be remembered that while physiognomy gives valuable hints it is +by no means absolutely certain. Further investigation may add materially +to its value. It is also to be remembered that habits play an important +part in the physiognomy. So much so is this true that it has been said +of the reformed criminals from Elmira, that their faces have changed.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="Chapter_III" id="Chapter_III"></a> +<br /> + +<hr /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> +<br /> +<h2>Chapter III.</h2> + +<h2>THE CAUSES OF CRIME.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>In investigating the causes of crime we have first to understand what we +mean by the word "Crime," and also what we describe by the term +"Criminal."</p> + +<p>Crime may be regarded both objectively and also subjectively, i.e., as +regards the deed itself and as regards the doer of the deed. In the past +it was customary to consider the crime only and to punish the doer, or +the criminal, according to the enormity of his deed. Scientific methods +require, however, that we should study the criminal and ask ourselves +"what is he?" and "of what forces is he the product?" If these questions +can be satisfactorily answered, then society is better enabled to arm +herself against his invasion, in fact having successfully diagnosed his +case she may be led on to discover the means whereby criminals may be +reduced to their irreducible minimum, both as regards number and as +regards their capacity for doing harm.</p> + +<p>Man has two natures, the animal and the spiritual. The animal is the +passive product of Nature, the forces of his development being guided +and restricted by the condition of the life in which he is born and +reared. To this animal nature belongs the natural appetites, passions, +faculties and senses. This nature is not sufficient in itself, and its +realisation cannot be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>accomplished until it is brought into complete +subordination to the higher or spiritual nature. The function of this +spiritual nature is to subordinate the animal nature by harmonising and +controlling it, and it finds its partial realisation in the institutions +of family, church and state; and its ultimate realisation in the +heavenly counterparts of these. Thus subordinating the animal nature, it +develops the powers of man's natural inheritance along their true line +of advance and brings him steadily nearer the goal of perfect manhood.</p> + +<p>When, however, the spiritual influence is not exercised and man resigns +himself to the uncontrolled influences which spring from his lower +nature, he rapidly degenerates. Socially, this degeneracy is noticed by +its process of gradually loosening, and finally severing the ties which +bind man to his race. He becomes an unsocial being and ceases to +contribute to the wealth, peace or establishment of society. His desire +for society is regulated by his capacity to draw from it the +satisfaction of the abnormal appetite of unregulated passion. In this +mood he totally disregards the laws of society and seizes every +opportunity that presents itself to prey upon it and he thus becomes an +anti-social being. Through all ages up to the present, society has at +the cost of much effort and suffering been progressing, stage by stage, +towards a higher order. Each advance purchased at such a price, becomes +a free gift, by inheritance, to the next generation, and from this +inheritance still <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>further progress may be made. It is quite possible +that in a dissolute age retrogression may set in and the ground be lost, +in which case its recovery becomes the arduous task of a succeeding +regenerate age.</p> + +<p>With each advance that it makes society embodies in its institution the +principles of social life such as it has been able to discover them. +These principles being finally accepted, we must assume that they are +eternal or else we are compelled to admit that society may be for ever +at fault, that its development does not correspond with the true +development of man, and that this present life is in no wise preparatory +for a future. Though we declare that the principles of society are +eternal, the social institutions which embody them are merely temporal, +and may change with time and circumstances. They are, nevertheless, +binding upon our allegiance, and any attempt to overthrow them becomes +the anti-social act of the criminal and is a punishable offence. The +criminal is an enemy to social advance. He profanes that which society +holds sacred, he scatters that which society, at great cost has +acquired, and he attacks society at its most vulnerable points.</p> + +<p>What, then it may be asked, are the causes that produce this anti-social +being? In the case of the sane criminal, an immoral basis underlies all +causes, and without this they would each and all be impotent. Some +causes, as e.g. alcoholism, are the result of the individual's +immorality; others again are independent.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>The principal causes are:—A bad ancestry (heredity), bad domestic and +social conditions, alcoholism, imitation, and stress of circumstances.</p> + +<p><b>Heredity.</b>—Among unscientific people there are many extravagant +theories held, some even affirming that from the moment of conception a +child's character may be determined as criminal, as if character +underlay habit instead of habit evolving character.</p> + +<p>It is therefore necessary that we should endeavour to discover if +possible how far the influence of heredity extends, and especially to +disclose its powers as a factor influencing conduct. A man may be seen +to have the same peculiar carriage and gait as his father; but to argue +from that, that he will in obedience to a naturally transmitted impulse, +follow in his father's footsteps as a thief or a forger is to step +entirely out of the bounds of science. Gait and carriage belong to a +different sphere altogether from morals and conduct. But let it be at +once acknowledged that the morals and conduct of any given ancestry show +a tendency to be reproduced in the posterity. The drunkard is the father +of drunkards; the suicide is the father of suicides, and the parent's +crime is repeated by the child. Not in all cases is this by any means a +fact: but in a sufficient number to exclude the possibility of +coincidence accounting for them all, and to demonstrate conclusively +that some influence must be at work connecting the deeds of the +progenitor with those of his offspring. What is this influence? Can <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>it +be at once declared to be the influence of heredity? The most usual way +of determining this question is by the process of exclusion. If +environment, education, imitation and other causes do not account for +the phenomena, then heredity must. Heredity thus becomes a convenient +name by which to denominate the insolvable. Sometimes the denomination +is correct and sometimes incorrect, and very often, even when correct, +it conveys a wrong impression. The impression being that the influence +of heredity is altogether irresistible and also ineradicable.</p> + +<p>Now, whatever the influence of heredity may be, it must be determined +scientifically and not merely guessed at. Nor must the failure to find +an adequate cause for a certain crime be a sufficient reason for +accounting heredity as responsible. Heredity has limits to its range of +influence as well as any other cause for crime, and it may be found that +there are certain fears which it can never invade. For instance, one +sphere wherein its influence is manifestly great, is in the structure of +the nervous, osseous, muscular, circulatory and vascular systems. Again, +what is more common than to find intellectual ability running in +families? Ribot, in his work on heredity, gives long lists of the +world's most famous poets, artists, musicians, statesmen and soldiers, +all showing the tendency of ability, in these various directions, to be +transmitted from one generation to another. Not always to the generation +immediately succeeding, for sometimes these various qualities disappear +in the son <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>to reappear in the grandson or great-grandson. However, +convincing the evidence for transmission in these cases may be, it gives +no warrant whatever for the conclusion that heredity may exercise an +influence upon the <span class="smcap">MORAL</span> conduct of man.</p> + +<p>Let it here be observed that the Moral Law is fundamental to all law. No +laws in Nature ever contradict the Moral Law, but are always found +acting in obedience to it. All the works of God are in accord with this +Law; God is the Moral Governor of the Universe. Therefore whatever may +hold good with all other laws, does not necessarily hold good with this +Law. That a man should inherit his father's intellectual qualities is +then no argument that he should also inherit his father's immorality. +Nothing less will suffice than distinct evidence that he HAS inherited +his father's immorality.</p> + +<p>A further observation is necessary, and that is, that morality is not +absolute but relative. Strictly speaking, no man is moral. God alone is +absolutely moral. Nor can we compare the morality of one man with the +average morality of mankind in general. To estimate a certain man's +morality of conduct we must compare his conduct with the degree of the +sense of responsibility which exists within him, and also his power of +control over his conduct. The murderous act of a lunatic for instance is +an immoral act, because we compare the act with morality in the +abstract; but it would be a mistake to call the lunatic an immoral man, +for the simple reason that he had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>no control over his conduct and was +therefore not responsible for it.</p> + +<p>Take the case of the drunkard. A certain drunken father has several +drunken sons. The influence of environment, of education, or of +imitation, we will suppose to be excluded. Is heredity the cause, and if +so, has it invaded the moral sphere? The influence of the father's +drunkenness is first made manifest in his own nervous system. The nerve +centres become clogged and poisoned and fail to discharge their +functions with the same healthy activity as formerly. The nervous system +degenerates, and the consequence of this degeneracy is the production of +that form of irritation within the system which we call the craving for +drink, and which requires alcohol for its immediate satisfaction. The +man will admit that he has no liking for the taste of drink; but +declares that he is in a certain state of unsettlement which can only be +overcome by the use of liquor. A temporary calm is induced, only to be +followed by a more intense irritation or unsettlement afterwards, and +thus a circle of cause and effect is at once described.</p> + +<p>This is then the degenerate state of the father's nervous system. Now, +it is undoubted that he may transmit this same degenerate nervous system +to his offspring and thus as his children grow up it is not to be +wondered at if the same craving for drink is to be found in them as was +existing in their parent. The influence of heredity has been at work +upon the nervous system. Has its influence been restricted to this +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>system, or has it invaded the moral sphere? The children's conduct is +immoral, for no amount of argument can determine drunkenness to be +anything else: but are the children themselves immoral? They are not +immoral so far as they are acting in obedience to an impulse which is +irresistible. The drunkard who is himself responsible for his habit, is, +strictly speaking, an alcoholic and is vicious and degraded. The +drunkard who drinks in spite of himself is, strictly speaking, a +dipsomaniac, and is diseased and insane. The alcoholic may become the +dipsomaniac; but the child who is the victim of a transmitted taint is +without doubt a dipsomaniac and not an alcoholic. He is insane. It may +not be an incurable form of insanity; nor need it be a very acute form; +but insanity it is, and therefore he cannot be called an immoral man +because he drinks, although he is guilty of immoral conduct. Heredity +has not invaded the moral sphere. It has given the man a diseased +nervous system, which, while weakening his will, has not perverted it. +Thus it is seen then that if any effort is to be made for the reform of +the dipsomaniac, the direct influence of heredity must be overcome by a +course of treatment which would be addressed to the nervous system. +Treatment which shall draw out the alcoholic poison and which shall +quicken and invigorate the nerve centres. When the influence of heredity +is discovered to be restricted within these limits, the case of the +hereditary dipsomaniac becomes far less <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>hopeless than it appeared at +first sight, and it is for this reason that the causes of crime should +be thoroughly investigated. To moralise to the dipsomanic is but lost +effort, one may as well abuse a driver for not stopping his bolting +horses. Some reformatory schemes have trusted entirely to moral +agencies, and their failure has been quoted as evidence that all such +schemes are futile. But their failure has been due to an entirely wrong +conception of the cause of crime. The primary cause is undoubtedly a +reprobate will: but this cause is not found in every case. Where the +consequences of the parent's conduct has been inherited we find not the +primary, but a secondary cause, such as e.g. a diseased nervous system. +Sometimes both the primary and the secondary causes exist side by side, +and then treatment must be addressed to both the will and to the +physical system. In fact whatever methods of treatment are employed, the +moral temperament must not be neglected, for even if the will be not +perverted, it is considerably weakened and needs strengthening.</p> + +<p>The case of the sensualist is somewhat similar to that of the drunkard. +Ribot quoting Prosper Lucas, gives the example of a "man cook, of great +talent in his calling, has had all his life, and has still at the age of +sixty years, a passion for women. To this he adds unnatural crime. One +of his natural sons living apart from him does not even know his father, +and though not yet quite nineteen, has from his childhood given all the +signs of extreme lust, and strange <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>to say, he, like his father, is +equally addicted to either sex." (Ribot; Heredity p. 89.)</p> + +<p>The fact that this son imitated his father's vices at an early age, is +not sufficient in itself to assign the cause to heredity. Nor does the +fact that he was separated from his father's influence or example, +strengthen the assignment beyond dispute. The causes for such conduct +are so common that very few men escape from their influence, and +whosever does not resist them, falls and becomes a victim. But probably +this was a case in which an inherited influence pressed itself so +strongly upon him as to become irresistible. What, we ask was inherited? +A perverted will? That is absolutely impossible. A perverted will is the +outcome of a deliberate choice of evil when the choice of virtue is +equally possible. A weakened will, or a will subject to heavy stress is +a different thing. There must be some stress upon the will. What is it? +It is a well known fact that the exercise of the members of our body +results in a great facility of movement being attained. The pianist can, +after long practice, execute rapid and complex performances of +fingering, which in the early stages of education were absolutely +impossible. It is because the nerve centres controlling the muscles +employed have been brought to such a high state of activity that they +operate almost independently of the will. The nerve centres controlling +certain of our functions DO operate independently of the will. Breathing +is an example, and although an effort of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>the will is required to +correct bad breathing, yet when once the habit of correct breathing is +established, the directing influence of the mind ceases, and the nerve +centres discharge their functions automatically.</p> + +<p>In the normal man the sexual instinct is inherited but the passion is +submissive to the control of the will. The will is supreme and +self-restraint is always possible. The immoral man has refused to +exercise this restraining power, he has, in fact, by his immoral +thoughts, lent his mind to the strengthening of the passion until it has +gained an ascendancy. Continual sexual excitement has resulted in the +nervous centres controlling the sexual organs becoming so powerfully +developed as to act almost automatically, and independently of the will. +In the normal man, sexual excitement results upon the mental vision; in +the sensualist the excitement precedes the vision. Another effect is +noticed in the physiognomy which changes in accordance with the +development of the nerve centres and presents all the appearances of the +typical sensualist or prostitute.</p> + +<p>In some cases the sensualist transmits this highly organised or +disordered nervous system to his descendants, and consequently when they +arrive at a certain age they find their bodies invaded by a passion over +which they have small, and sometimes no, control. It is distinctly a +case of functional insanity with them. Their will power is weak because +of undue stress, but it has not been perverted. Perversion may follow; +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>but may also be avoided, and even the will sufficiently strengthened so +that it may re-assume control and subject the passion to control. The +influence of heredity is here also confined to the nervous system. That +is, the direct influence, the influence which was first felt and before +it received any support which the mind of the victim may give it. The +cases of hereditary suicides, murderers and assassins afford a very +large field for investigation, and we cannot do more than suggest some +causes which seem to give strong evidence of their existence. These +causes if their existence be allowed, and we see every reason that it +should, will restrict the influence of heredity to a much narrower +sphere than is popularly supposed. The old story of the devil preaching +upon the horrors of hell serves somewhat to illustrate our meaning. When +the abbot enquired whether it was not contrary to his interests to draw +so vivid and terrible a picture he replied in the negative and gave as +his reason that the man who contemplated the horrors of hell was the man +who was bound to find his way there.</p> + +<p>The contemplation of criminal acts effects a strange fascination upon +the mind and very often induces imitation of the same acts. When a +suicide or murder, in fact any crime, is committed by a member of a +family the other members either, according to their moral disposition, +experience a greater or lesser repulsion for the deed than they formerly +possessed. The enormity of the deed is either stronger or lesser <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>in +their eyes than before. In the latter case, murder or suicide does not +seem nearly so heinous a crime when it is brought so closely under their +notice. The very knowledge that a father or uncle or any other near +relative, or even friends for that matter, committed suicide, makes the +act appear far less terrible, and also far less impossible for +themselves. Most men have at some time or another an impulse to destroy +themselves, it may not be very strong; but if it is felt at a time when +the circumstances of life are unfavourable and, if added to this, there +is presented the example of a suicide very near at home, the impulse is +undoubtedly strengthened. The whole chain of circumstances seem to +direct the vision upon the rash act of the friend or relative, until at +last the vision becomes fascinating, and the act is imitated. To use a +concise expression one may call this the "hypnotic power of +circumstances." It is not an absolute cause in itself; but, strictly +speaking, may we call any cause absolute? It is not a cause which would +influence a man of strong will or of sound morality. But a sentimental +person, one of morbid ideas, weak will, or overcome by the thought of +detection, or the fear of misfortune, might easily fall a victim to its +influences. It will not account for all the cases of hereditary suicide, +for a mental disease may be transmitted which would account for the +suicide of both father and son or whatever the combination may be. It, +however, does account, we believe, for the majority of the cases, and +the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>similarity of the method employed strengthens this belief, for it +indicates that the mind is dwelling upon the actual vision of the +relative's suicide, and is not merely contemplating suicide in the +abstract. This theory would imply that any case of suicide, upon which +the mind would dwell and concentrate itself, would exercise the same +influence, and this is the case. A few years ago in Dunedin an +accountant who was involved in financial difficulties, shot himself with +a pistol. His executor, against the advice of friends, took charge of +the pistol. Becoming involved in financial difficulties himself, he too +committed suicide by shooting himself with the same weapon! Almost, +without a doubt, we may say that the circumstances of the first suicide +exerted upon the mind of the trustee a hypnotic influence which combined +with and gave the final impulse to the other contributing causes of his +act.</p> + +<p>Another instance is that of a young man who, contemplating suicide, +carried a revolver about with him for a whole day. He spoke of suicide +to his friends, occasionally discharged shots into the ground, and +finally, during the evening, blew his brains out. That he contemplated +suicide was evident from his conversation, but that his mind was not +made up, is also evident from the delay he occasioned. In fact, his +whole behaviour indicates a faint desire to cling to something stronger +than himself in order to brace himself against his haunting fears. The +revolver fascinated him. He dallied with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>it, made up his mind, changed +it again, and finally the influence became supreme for a moment, and he +fired the fatal shot. Throughout the day, he very probably thought of +the grief of his relatives and of the young woman he was soon to marry, +he pictured the consternation of his friends, read the newspaper +accounts of his act, saw his funeral, and let his mind run altogether in +morbid channels. Thus it was that the vision of his own act exerted an +hypnotic influence upon him which became at the critical moment supreme +and irresistible.</p> + +<p>When the picture is real and not imaginary, and when the circumstances +of a parent's or brother's or friend's suicide may easily be recalled +and the mind allowed to dwell upon them, how much greater would the +influence become, especially when the same example has served to +diminish the idea of the enormity of the act. Where persons lend +themselves to the idea that an hereditary influence exists and may +spring upon them at any moment, they are almost sure either to destroy +themselves or else to develop some form of insanity. There are cases of +murder and assassination (apparently hereditary crime) where the +conditions are so similar that the hypnotic power of circumstances may +likewise be urged as sufficient cause.</p> + +<p>So far, an attempt has been made to show that whatever the influence of +heredity may be, it is restricted outside the sphere of morality. It +cannot transmit an <span class="smcap">IMMORAL IDEA</span>. So far as certain forms <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>of +vice and crime are concerned it most probably is limited entirely to its +effect upon the physical structure of man. Combined with family +tradition and working upon a diseased, or weakened will, it accounts for +similarities of conduct. Suicides, murderers and assassins do not then +receive by transmission from their ancestry any taint or tendency which +may be called the direct cause of their crime. Another factor is +present, a hypnotising power, and this is the final and directing power. +It is a different influence to imitation, although its first result is +the same, viz: the lowering of the moral idea. But crimes where the act +is the imitation of another person's act are generally committed from +the desire to become notorious and to be the centre of observation. The +spirit of vanity, very strong in the low type, is appealed to and +aroused. Or perhaps, the example of another's crime affords a suggestion +for the method of accomplishing a certain desired end. On the other +hand, the ancestral example, after having broken down the moral barrier +depends entirely upon its power to fascinate. Those of weak will or +guilty conscience, alone succumb to its influence. If we consider the +cases of thieves, vagabonds and paupers we find their crimes and vices +likewise running in families. It is nevertheless quite a mistake to jump +at the conclusion that heredity accounts for all these coincidencies. +Exempting all cases of transmitted mental alienation and observing only +those who are quite responsible for their action, it is impossible to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>suppose that there is, somewhere in their organism, a power which will +direct their lives into the channels of vice or crime just as +irresistibly as the influence which makes the hair grow on the crown of +their heads. It is unthinkable. It supposes a responsible person who +cannot control himself. Which is a contradiction.</p> + +<p>M. Moleschott, at the International Congress of Criminal Anthropology +held in Paris in 1889, "mentioned an influence towards crime that had +not been noticed, to wit, the hereditary social influence, or that is, +the tradition which is instilled into the mind of every child before he +knows the difference between right and wrong, that by which he obtains +the rudiments of his knowledge of right and wrong. Whether it be correct +or not it is the child's standard. He gets it not from any knowledge of +theory of justice, but from the tradition of his own neighbourhood, as +it is taught by his parents and associates by the people, and as is +believed by them." (Criminal Anthropology; the Smithsonian Report for +1891.)</p> + +<p>It will be understood that the influences of which M. Moleschott speaks +are not of an hereditary nature, that is, they are not transmitted +through the blood; but they are influences which are present from the +first moment of consciousness. They are quite sufficient to account for +the criminal type being found in the physiognomy of a person born and +reared among such surroundings. It is a very popular error to suppose +that a person's physiognomy never changes, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>therefore that if the +criminal cast of countenance is seen it must be a faithful witness to +some innate depravity transmitted from an ancestry. The expression plays +such an important part in the moulding of the countenance, that of two +brothers very much alike in youth, one, afterwards given to crime, will +still retain his resemblance to his brother; but will display the +criminal type as well. It is thus that we have the different types in +murderers, assassins, thieves, swindlers and sensualists. They are all +criminal or vicious but their forms of criminality and vice are so +diverse that a different expression results from the different kinds of +thought passing through their minds. In their theories, few people +acknowledge that the symmetry of the facial features may change, and yet +it is a matter of common observance that they do. In the cases of +persons becoming insane or persons who have suffered from long and +painful illnesses it is very remarkable. Likewise in the case of the man +who has fallen into crime, it is also most noticeable. Of course there +are limits to the changes which the expression may produce, but these +changes are nevertheless very great and sufficiently so, not perhaps to +produce Lombroso's type in any given face, but to give that face at +least a distinctly criminal cast.</p> + +<p>The appearance then of this criminal cast upon the features is not +sufficient evidence to account for an inherited tendency towards crime. +Dr Manouvrier insists that Lombroso's theory that the criminal is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>born +and not made is based upon the exploded science of phrenology, and +declares that all the anatomical distinctions and physicological +characteristics quoted by Lombroso are to be found among honest men as +well as among criminals. The fact that a greater proportion are found +among criminals to his mind proves nothing.</p> + +<p>[There is not vast difference between normal and abnormal persons +possessing these peculiarities. In Lombroso's work "The Female Offender" +he notices:—</p> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="70%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Receding"> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="39%"> </td> + <td class="tdc" width="22%">Normal Women</td> + <td class="tdr" width="17%"> </td> + <td class="tdc" width="22%">Criminal Women</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Receding foreheads</td> + <td class="tdc"> 8 per cent.</td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdc">11 per cent.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Enormous lower jaws</td> + <td class="tdc"> 9 per cent.</td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdc">15 per cent.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Projecting cheek bones</td> + <td class="tdc">14 per cent.</td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdc">19.9 per cent.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdr">Murderesses</td> + <td class="tdc">30 per cent.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Projecting ears</td> + <td class="tdc"> 6 per cent.</td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> 9.2 per cent.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Flat nose</td> + <td class="tdc">40 per cent.</td> + <td class="tdr">Thieves</td> + <td class="tdc">20 per cent.</td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p>Gradenigo (quoted by Lombroso) gives the following table showing the +peculiarities of the ears of 245 criminals as compared with 14,000 +normal women:—</p> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="70%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Normal"> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="50%"> </td> + <td class="tdc" width="24%">Normal</td> + <td class="tdr" width="2%"> </td> + <td class="tdc" width="24%">Criminal</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Regular external ear</td> + <td class="tdc">65 per cent.</td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdc">54 per cent.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Sessile ear</td> + <td class="tdc">12 per cent.</td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdc">20 per cent.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Scaphoid fossa prolonged to lobe</td> + <td class="tdc"> 8.2 per cent.</td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdc">21.2 per cent.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Projecting ears</td> + <td class="tdc"> 3.1 per cent.</td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> 5.3 per cent.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Prominent anti-helix</td> + <td class="tdc">11.5 per cent.</td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdc">14.2 per cent.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Darwin's tubercle</td> + <td class="tdc"> 3 per cent.</td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> 2.9 per cent.</td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p>Other anthropometrists notice different proportions.]</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>If Lombroso's theory, that a man was born a criminal, was to be taken as +the rule, Manouvrier declares that it must then be universal, and that +men thus born must inevitably commit crime. If it be a rule then it must +operate in all classes, and since it does not so operate, proof is given +that it is not the rule. Manouvrier declares that the man possessed of +characteristics the very opposite of Lombroso's criminal, if subjected +to the conditions, influences, and temptations, which lead to crime +would as likely commit crime as he who possessed all the characteristics +which Lombroso describes as typical. Manouvrier regards the social life +of a person from childhood as being the most important factor in +moulding character. He emphatically denies that there is in the embryo a +predisposition to crime. Dr Magnan likewise refuses his assent to this +theory.</p> + +<p>It may be rather daring to suggest a theory which would reconcile the +differences between these eminent men: but as the facts presented by +each side are indisputable, some such reconciliation must exist. +Possibly if we interpret Lombroso's phrase, "inherited tendency towards +crime" or "predisposition towards crime" in the same way as we interpret +the term ("predisposition towards disease") when speaking of tubercular +persons (or, as Mercier speaks of the insane), that is as persons, who +in a given favourable environment, are more likely to commit crime than +persons without that inherited tendency, we may find these theories to +be more in accord with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>one another. Lombroso insists that there must be +an inherited tendency, Manouvrier insists that there must be +environment. As in the case of tubercular persons (of tubercular +ancestry) these two causes are complementary, may it not be also the +case with criminals of criminal ancestry? The <span class="smcap">INHERITED IMMORAL +IDEA</span> seems to be really what Manouvrier rejects. A vicious +conception of life which makes the man inevitably, incurably, and +irresistibly a criminal, is apparently the interpretation he puts on +Lombroso's theory. But from Lombroso's works and speeches, the +interpretation does not appear to be at all a necessary one. The +transmission of a disordered nervous system with its consequences, as +one cause, the "hypnotic influence of circumstances" as another cause, +and these two causes acting sometimes separately and sometimes +conjointly, will very possibly account for the phenomena Lombroso +observes. A most important factor, and one which cannot be disregarded, +compels the acceptance of some such theory. This factor is the success +resulting from reformatory effort. It is not only Lombroso and +Manouvrier that need to be reconciled, but Lombroso, Manouvrier and +Brockway. This latter gentleman is the founder of the famous Elmira +Reformatory which has reformed 82 per cent. of 12,000 felons which have +been committed to it for treatment.</p> + +<p>We come then to this conclusion that heredity plays an important part in +the production of the criminal; but that there are other very important +factors <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>which are often confused with it and when separated from it +reduce the popular estimate of its influence to the scientific one, +which is considerably the lesser one. Furthermore, as a consequence of +this investigation, the true foundations upon which reformatory science +is to be built are clearly indicated.</p> + +<p>This statement, that heredity plays an important part in the production +of the criminal, needs to be carefully guarded. It means precisely this +and nothing more:—That where an hereditary influence (such as above +described) making crime easier, has been transmitted, there that +influence is an important factor in the production of the criminal. It +does NOT mean that this influence is invariably transmitted by the +criminal parent, neither does it mean that the majority of criminals are +"born" criminals.</p> + +<p>The following is an extract from a letter upon this subject which the +author has received from Dr. Arthur MacDonald, one of the leading +criminologists of to-day:—"There is no proof of any scientific value +that criminality is inherited." By criminality we understand "the moral +basis of crime."</p> + +<p>The famous "Jukes" family that lived in the State of New York, afford +one of the most interesting studies in heredity to be found in the +annals of criminology. Of this numerous family (some 709 persons of +which were clearly traced in five generations) the elder sons took to +crime and the younger sons to vagabondage. There was indeed a proportion +of honest and industrious persons among them. Of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>women 52 per cent. +were prostitutes. That a proportion of honest men among the sons, and a +fair number of virtuous women among the daughters is recorded, clearly +proves that an hereditary taint is not, in all cases, necessarily +transmitted from parent to child. Latency in one generation, with +activity in the next, is frequently observed in the transmission of +disease; but in the case of crime, as distinguished from vice, this is +rarely so.</p> + +<p>That the younger sons of the "Jukes" family fell into habits of +vagabondage (leaving it to the elder sons to carry on the criminal +traditions of the family) is also worthy of notice. It serves to show +that whatever the influence of heredity may be, as a factor disposing +towards crime, it cannot be an independent and final factor. In families +living after a primitive manner of life, as this family did, the elder +sons are invariably the companions of their fathers and accompany them +on their depredatory raids. The younger sons are left to the milder +environment of their mother's society. Thus from a criminal point of +view, the environment of the elder sons is more intense than that of the +younger sons. The difference in environment accounts for the difference +in character formed; the more intense environment accounting for +criminals and the milder environment for vagabonds. Sometimes the +influence of environment is overcome, and we noticed that among the +"Jukes" a proportion of the family was honest and industrious. +Acknowledging the transmission of a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>physical defect from a criminal +ancestry, we must bear in mind that the conditions of the criminal's +life are such as are calculated to produce in himself that defect which +he transmits. His body becomes weakened, his nervous system disordered, +and the physical substratum of his mind diseased. These defects he +transmits to his offspring and thus handicaps them in the effort that is +required from the individual to adapt himself to the conditions of +society.</p> + +<p>This is the criminal "taint" or handicap that makes it more likely that +the individual should fall into crime than the normal man. Although +society regards this hereditary criminal as a monster, it has been made +clear that he is really more deserving of compassion than one not so +handicapped. To secure society from his injurious acts, our courts +frequently take the illogical and unjust course of imposing a more +severe punishment upon him. This is in itself a clear evidence of the +demand that exists for penological reform.</p> + +<p><b>Environment.</b>—By environment we understand bad homes, bad +associations, and generally bad conditions.</p> + +<p>Of the condition of the 12,000 persons who passed through the Elmira +Reformatory between the years 1876-1902, only 1.47 per cent. came from +good homes and 37.4 per cent. from fair homes. Of the character of the +men's associations, 56.6 per cent. was positively bad; 41.9 per cent. +was "not good;" .9 per cent. was doubtful, and 1.6 per cent. was good.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>It is scarcely necessary from a practical point of view to enquire into +the actual amount of crime which results from a bad environment, for it +is only too obvious that none but those of the strongest wills and of +the highest morality can resist the influence of bad surroundings when +these are constant. Our enquiry should rather be directed to ascertain +what constitutes a bad environment and what are the causes that produce +it. It should also seek to discover by what means its evil influence may +be checked and how to eradicate these influences when present. The +attitude of our law-courts towards the criminal is practically +this:—"You have been reared amidst evil surroundings whose influence +you could not resist, you are a criminal, an outcast from society, you +must be punished by being locked up in a school of crime in the hope +that it may inspire you to live a better life. The sentence of the court +is ..." And society endorses this attitude!</p> + +<p>The evil influence of bad surroundings is well exemplified by an +instance recorded by Viscount D'Haussonville in his work "L'Enfance a +Paris":—"Some years ago a band of criminals were brought before the +jury of the Seine charged with a terrible crime, the assassination of an +aged widow, with details of ferocity which the pen refuses to describe. +The president of the court having asked the principal, Maillot, called +'the yellow,' how he had been brought to commit such a crime, he +replied:—What do you wish that I should tell you Mr <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>President? Since +the age of seven years I have been found only on the streets of Paris. I +have never met anyone who was interested in me. When a child, I was +abandoned to every vicissitude—and I am lost. I have always been +unfortunate. My life has been passed in prisons and gaols. That is all. +It is my fate. I have reached—you know where. I will not say that I +have committed the crime under circumstances independent of my own will, +but finally—(here the voice of Maillot trembled) I never had a person +to advise me. I had in view only robbery. I committed robbery but I +ended with murder."</p> + +<p>The following description of the manner in which parents may defeat the +work of the juvenile reformatory or industrial school was given by +Senator Roussel at the Fourth International Prison Congress:—"The +pernicious influence of parents relative to minors is manifest in two +ways and at two periods of the child's life. First in extreme youth, +when he is only a burden, his parents neglect him. He is left without +proper care, often without proper food and subjected to all the hazards +of the streets; he is forced to be a vagabond and a beggar, and this +situation continues until a violation of the law places the little +unfortunate in the hands of justice. Later, everything is changed. When +by maturity of age and good effects of penitentiary education, the child +instead of being a burden can be a source of profit, we see those same +parents, who had abandoned him in his infancy, and apparently had +forgotten him <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>altogether, go to him and win him back to them by their +entreaties, and finally on his discharge regain him by virtue of +parental authority. This indiscretion of evil parents ... is the way +that the first-fruits of correctional or charitable education are +corrupted and that a great many minors who would have become useful +members of society, are definitely lost to it."</p> + +<p>It may be heresy to criticise our public school system but it is more +than an open question whether we are not producing a generation of badly +educated people who are not aware of their own ignorance, who see no +dignity in labour and who prefer to make their living by speculation +rather than by work. The fault largely consists in estimating the +efficiency of a school or a teacher solely by the results obtained at +examination and making the children work for this end and this end only. +Their memories are taxed to the uttermost but no attempt is made to +develop them into reasoning, enquiring and labour loving beings. The +difficulty with which children in the sixth and seventh standards follow +the simplest arguments is simply amazing. The teachers, moreover, have +no opportunity for cultivating the art of pedagogy. Their whole time is +taken up preparing matter to pour into the child's mind. The bad +salaries that are paid can also have but one result, viz., the depriving +the State of the services of the most manly and most noble teachers and +having the work committed to those of the genus prig.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>Bad homes, bad schools and playgrounds only once removed from cattle +yards, will be, in this country, the most potent factors in producing +crime.</p> + +<p><b>Alcohol.</b>—The influence of alcohol in the commission of crime is both +direct and indirect. We see its direct influence in those crimes which +are committed whilst the culprit is either in a state of intoxication or +else just recovering from such a state. To detect and trace its indirect +influence a much closer study is required. The inconsequent, lazy and +thriftless life of the criminal demands some sort of stimulant, and this +is found readily at hand in alcohol. Alcohol is not the cause of the +crimes of these people but it is closely associated with such cause. The +man who stabs another in a saloon is not then guilty of his first crime. +Under the influence of intoxication he has lost his power of +self-control and he commits a deed for which he may in a sober moment +have still a degree of moral abhorrence or be perhaps too much of a +coward to perform.</p> + +<p>Many criminals, whose crime requires a certain amount of nerve and +calculation, as e.g. assassinations, murders, robberies, swindlings, +etc., will not touch alcohol until their crime has been completed and +they have satisfied themselves that they covered up all trace of it. +They then often indulge in a debauch.</p> + +<p>In the lower courts, offenders will frequently plead as an extenuation +that they were intoxicated at the time when they committed their +offence. This is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>often done in order to escape the full penalty, and +such pleas are not to be relied upon in estimating the real influence of +alcohol. In the higher courts, for the same reason, criminals often +feign insanity, and in not a few of such cases they become their own +dupes by actually losing the possession of their senses. Drunkenness and +crime go together, although the increase in the consumption of alcohol +does not necessarily mean that crime has increased. Neither does the +reverse hold good. When crime appears first it is not long before all +forms of animal indulgence follow. Sometimes drunkeness appears first, +and when the home has been reduced to beggary, crime results.</p> + +<p>Under the immediate influence of drink, the crimes most commonly +committed are those against morality and the person. In countries where +the saloon is an institution, it is invariably the home of criminals and +the scene of many murders and deeds of blood. In France, e.g. out of +10,000 murders committed, 2,374 occurred in saloons. The indirect +influence of alcohol is perhaps more terrible than its direct influence. +There is this sad feature about it also that the greatest sufferers are +the victims, not of their own abuse, but of that of others. Many a +criminal tells the story, which is easily corroborated, of the days of +his childhood when his father came home drunk and the children for very +fear had to hide themselves or run out into the streets, often to sleep +wherever they could, and perhaps steal to satisfy the pangs of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>hunger. +Such children are quickly absorbed, the girls into the ranks of +prostitution, the boys into those of crime. Many too, by reason of their +parents' intemperance, are weaklings and unable to take their stand in +the ranks of honest labourers. Unless they are rescued by philanthropic +effort they very soon take to crime, and physically and psychically +present all the features of the "instinctive criminal."</p> + +<p>Of 12,000 criminals at Elmira, in nearly 36 per cent, was a drunken +ancestry to be clearly traced.</p> + +<p>To state exactly the influence of alcohol as a cause of crime will, from +the nature of the case, never be possible; but this much is certain, +that EVERY cause finds in it a strengthening contributary of +considerable potentiality.</p> + +<p><b>Imitation.</b>—One of the principal characteristics of the criminal is +his excessive vanity. His great ambition is to gain notoriety and to be +talked about by the public. Almost every criminal has his hero in crime +whose deed he tries to emulate as nearly as possible; or, better still, +to outshine. Thus we find, that when some daring deed has been +perpetrated, there are not wanting others who quickly make an attempt to +imitate it. A prisoner tried to kill his comrade because a third man, +who was standing his trial for murder, was receiving in his estimation +too much attention from the public and especially "too many bouquets." A +murderer in New Zealand declared that the notorious bushranger Ned Kelly +was his ideal of a man. A certain priest, beloved by all, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>was found +murdered. None could account for the crime; afterwards it was discovered +to have been the act of a young criminal who performed it merely as an +act of bravado. Instances of this sort might be multiplied all tending +to show that the vanity of the criminal leads him, as far as his courage +will permit, to imitate the most daring deeds in crime. The witnessing +of executions and reading the accounts of fictitious and real crimes +often leads many into crime. As a deterrent to crime, it was once the +custom in England to conduct executions in public. Lombroso records it +as being his conviction that such publicity does, by the law of +imitation, lead more into crime than it turns from it. This he considers +is one of the most powerful arguments in favour of abolishing the death +penalty. Out of 167 persons condemned to death in England, 164 had been +present at executions. The reading of sensational novels or the +descriptive accounts of great crimes has a most alarming effect upon +those who are of an impressionable nature. These persons are to +themselves the heroes of an imaginary world. They will put on an air of +bravado, adopt a "swagger" style of attire, carry sharp knives and pose +before their companions as dare-devils. If not sufficiently courageous +to perform deeds of daring they will constantly be recounting imaginary +ones for which they will claim the authorship; or else they will be for +ever threatening to do something of a staggering nature. The more +courageous of these frequently become dangerous <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>criminals while the +more timid descend into sneak thieves, or the assaulters and violators +of the persons of the defenceless. This inflammatory reading matter also +exerts an hypnotic influence over some which is almost irresistible. Dr +MacDonald ("Criminology" p. 131), gives the instance of a woman who +after having read of the dreadful crime of a Parisian mother, came to Dr +Esquirol and pleaded with him to admit her into his hospital, declaring +that since reading of this crime she was tormented by the devil to kill +her youngest child. Reading of the crime and vividly picturing to +herself the details of it, had resulted in the woman's mind being laid +hold of by a fascinating power which continually prompted her to kill +her own child. Her wish was granted and she recovered.</p> + +<p>In this case we have another instance of the "hypnotic influence of +circumstances." Firstly, the picture is deeply impressed on the mind; +next the moral sensibilities are hardened, and lastly the overt act is +committed. Tropmann who murdered a whole family of eight, confessed that +his demoralisation was due to the reading of sensational novels. The +publication of the details of crimes and the circulation of inflammatory +fiction is a most fruitful cause of further crime. One of the most +efficient safe-guards against crime and scandal is a sensitive public +moral tone. This is undoubtedly hardened by the publicity given to +sordid and gruesome details. One fails to see what good purpose can +possibly be served. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>Knowledge is power, but in this case, it is a power +for evil. The weak-willed readily obey the law of imitation, the +criminal is gratified at seeing the big headlines in the newspapers and +impelled to further crime, and some neurotics are positively hypnotised.</p> + +<p>Any serious attempt to suppress the increase of crime must take these +matters into consideration, and it will unquestionably prove abortive +unless a much stricter censorship is exercised over the publication of +the gruesome details of crimes and scandals and also over the sale of +the type of literature referred to.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="Chapter_IV" id="Chapter_IV"></a> +<br /> + +<hr /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> +<br /> +<h2>Chapter IV.</h2> + +<h2>THE MANNER AND PHILOSOPHY OF PUNISHMENT.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>The various punishments which are inflicted upon our law breakers are +fines, imprisonment, flogging, and death.</p> + +<p><b>Fines</b> produce a very useful means of dealing with persons whose +offences show a tendency to crime rather than to actual criminality. In +many cases the self-respect of the offender has not been sacrificed, and +while under arrest the sense of shame is deeply aroused. The shock from +being brought face to face with the law is often sufficient in these +persons to check any further tendency towards crime. The imposition of a +fine will satisfy the claims of justice and inflict that degree of +punishment necessary to fix the idea of abhorrence towards crime in the +mind of the offender. In the case of boys charged with petty offences +fining is often a most valuable means of punishment. To dismiss with a +caution may lead to nothing; to imprison is invariably a most disastrous +course to pursue; to flog within a gaol may be too severe but to fine is +an excellent method. The parent has to pay the fine, and as the child's +offence is generally due to the want of parental control and discipline, +the punishment reaches right home and better control for the future +generally results. Where <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>parental control is non-existent, and there +remains no possibility of creating it, other measures must be taken +which will supply a substitute for the discipline of home life.</p> + +<p>In some case of theft, minor assault, disturbing the peace, and other +offences which indicate a momentary and not very serious lapse of +self-control, or perhaps a somewhat vague conception of the supremacy of +the law, fines serve all the purposes of justice. A four-fold +restitution for all damage done might be taken as a standard to be +increased or diminished in exceptional cases. In all these instances the +culprit should be made to pay the fine himself even though it should +require a fairly lengthy period in which to liquidate it. Section 16 of +The New Zealand Criminal Code provides that the Court may exercise its +own discretion in imposing a fine upon any person whose offence rendered +them liable to a term of imprisonment. There are many cases, however, +even of first offenders, in which fining is quite useless.</p> + +<p><b>Imprisonment.</b>—So much has been written describing the various prison +systems in vogue in different parts of the world that it is unnecessary +to do much more than briefly outline them here.</p> + +<p>(1). The congregate system. In which the prisoners are associated +together by day or by night or by both. Were the object to convert the +prison into a school of crime, no better system could be devised. The +standard of the lowest is the standard which must prevail under the +congregate system.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>(2). The solitary system. The extreme opposite of the congregate system. +The prisoners are allowed to have practically no communication with +anyone whomsoever. In some countries this system is made indescribably +cruel. At Santiago in Chili in one part of the prison the inmates are +employed upon useful work under most humane conditions, and yet in +another part of the very same building a most barbarous system exists. +Mr F. B. Ward (quoted in Penological and Preventive Principles) +describes what he saw in 1893:—"In this splendid model institution +there are noisome, slimy cells, where daylight never enters, in which +human beings are literally buried alive. Under the massive arches of +enormously thick walls, where even in the outside rooms perpetual +twilight reigns, are inner cells, two feet wide by six feet long, and +destitute of a single article of furniture. Until recently, those +confined in them were walled in, the bricks being cemented in places +over the living tomb. Now there is a thick iron door, which is securely +nailed up and then fastened all around with huge clamps, exactly as the +vaults are closed in Santiago Cemetery, and over all the great red seal +of the Government is placed—not to be removed until the man is dead, or +his sentence has expired. The tiny grated window is covered by several +thicknesses of closely-woven wire netting, making dense darkness inside, +so that the prisoners cannot tell night from day. There is no +ventilation except through this netting, and no opening <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>whatever to +admit outside air into the tomb. Low down in the iron door, close to the +ground, is a tiny sliding panel a foot long by a few inches wide +arranged like a double drawer, so that food and water may be slipped in +on shallow pans and the refuse removed. Twice in every twenty-four hours +this panel is operated, and if the food remains untouched a given number +of days, it is known to a certainty that the man is dead, and only then +can the door be unsealed, unless his time is up. If the food is not +touched for two or three days no attention is paid to it, for the +prisoner may be shamming; but beyond a certain length of time he cannot +live without eating. Not the faintest sound nor glimmer of light +penetrates those awful walls. In the same clothes he wears on entering, +unwashed, uncombed, without even a blanket or handful of straw to lie +upon he languishes in sickness, lives or dies with no means of making +his condition known to those outside. He may count the lagging hours, +sleep, rave, curse, pray, long for death, dash his brains out, go mad if +he likes—nobody knows it. He is dead to the world and buried though +living. They told us that only one man has ever survived a year's +sentence there. Those that survive six months are almost invariably +drivelling idiots or raving maniacs."</p> + +<p>It was under similar conditions to these that the assassin of King +Humbert of Italy was incarcerated. Such a system shows a cruel +vindictive rage towards the criminal. Terrible as the offender's crime +may <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>be, society must deal calmly and not lose self-control or give such +an exhibition of its own criminal ferocity.</p> + +<p><b>The Separate System.</b>—Under which the prisoners are not allowed to +associate with each other, but receive frequent visits from gaolers, +warders, chaplains, and other persons who are likely to bring beneficial +influence to bear upon them. Each man has his own cell, in which he +sleeps and works. His exercise is conducted in such a manner as to +prevent contact with other prisoners. He is allowed books and given +daily instruction. Under this system perhaps the best results are +obtained.</p> + +<p><b>The Silent System.</b>—A system under which the prisoners associate with +one another but are forbidden to communicate. This system cannot be +strictly enforced, and as it converts trifling matters into serious +offences, it makes the prison life a state of petty persecution.</p> + +<p><b>The Combined System.</b>—A system which the prisoners are kept apart +during the night but work together during the day. This system has been +adopted in New Zealand, and in the following description of the value of +imprisonment it will be understood that it is to this system that +reference is made.</p> + +<p>A man is sent to prison because he has proved himself unfit to be at +liberty. His attack upon society was evidence of this, and society +punishes him by taking away the liberty which he has thus abused. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>His +dread of the prison increases as he comes under the shadow of its grim +walls, and, once having passed within, a feeling of remorse and +desperation seizes him. Its intensity or weakness will depend upon his +temperament. He is soon told in the most emphatic manner that he is to +regard himself as a felon; that he is to live with felons as a felon and +observe the habits of a felon. He is given a uniform coarse in texture +clumsy and grotesque in appearance and branded over with the broad-arrow +and with his prison number. In this garb it is impossible for a man to +preserve his sense of self-respect. If he should not be amenable to the +prison discipline he may be held up to ridicule by being compelled to +wear a parti-coloured uniform. However can a man be expected to reform +who is held up to the ridicule of felons? It matters not from which +class of life he is drawn, what his age is, or the nature of his +offence, he is thrown into the company of the worst criminals in the +land. If he were a cultured man, or a man who had known no associates in +his crime, or if his æsthetic taste was considerably developed it +matters not; he must do the same work and mix in the same company as the +most ignorant and most brutal. To utterly disregard these qualities is +to ignore the wide-open channels along which the most powerful +reformative influences may be transmitted. If his recovery is to be +considered these are most substantial assets. They are, as it were, "the +general health" of the patient suffering from a local lesion. Yet our +prison <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>system not only ignores them but patiently sets to work to +destroy them, as if their possession were an additional offence on the +part of the criminal. Prisoners who try to keep aloof from their +associates may often be made to suffer very considerably for it. Others, +craving for some association, soon fall in with men whom they would have +regarded, a few days previously, as impossible companions. The almost +entire absence of elevating influences makes it easy for the +concentrated power of evil to become irresistible. The gloom of the +prison rises, the fear of the law vanishes and the new born tendency to +crime becomes a confirmed habit. A man needs either a very strong will +indeed, or else to be supported by powerful social traditions to enable +him to resist the evil influences of prison life. A few men do resist +and maintain their sense of self-respect in spite of all indignities and +bad influences. Some sink as under a torture; some sink and are enticed +and absorbed into felony. These last will plan their future crimes while +they are serving their first sentence. Henceforth the prison is their +home.</p> + +<p>What purpose is thus served? Why should a man who has lost self-respect +be continually reminded of it? If a man is diseased he is not placed +amongst filthy conditions and the emblems of sickness and death crowded +upon him. His removal from all unhealthy surroundings is the first +essential necessary for his recovery, and the same should be observed +with the criminal. He should be entirely removed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>from criminal +surroundings and efforts made to eradicate the criminality which has +expressed itself. Society has not the right to degrade a man, much less +to school him in crime. If he prove absolutely incorrigible (a very +difficult matter to ascertain) he should be banished from society for +all time either by life-long imprisonment or by death. If not, the +carrying out of his punishment must be performed with a very sacred +sense of responsibility. All manner of means are taken to relieve and +cure the physically sick; much greater surely should be the means +employed to heal the morally and socially sick.</p> + +<p>Another matter wherein our prison system might be justly criticised is +the scale of diet provided for the prisoners. No one asks that they +should be given luxuries, but it might at least be recognised even in +prison that one man's food is another man's poison, that one fattens +where another starves, and that variety is essential to good health. A +prisoner who was serving a very long sentence once said to the author, +"fancy having the same dinner every day of your life." Let one fancy it, +boiled beef every day except Sunday, when roast beef is provided. The +same meal every day, the same clothes to wear every day and all day, and +the same routine to go through. What wonder is it that in the confirmed +criminal many faculties appear to have atrophied. They have obeyed a law +of nature. The popular comment is no doubt—"what else do you expect? +They deserve it all, they have brought it upon themselves." We <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>expect +that our criminals should at least be treated like the by-products of +our mills and factories, i.e. made the most of. Bitter prejudices must +give way to the dictates of reason and humanity.</p> + +<p>Practically the "combined system" produces no good results. It satisfies +neither justice, humanity, nor economy. Neither is it efficient to +afford protection to society. It satisfies prejudice and vengeance +alone. The only system of imprisonment which is of any value and which +the State ought to consider is one which converts the gaol in every +essential into a "crime-hospital."</p> + +<p>Concerning life imprisonment much apprehension exists in the public +mind. The prevailing idea is that this sentence implies incarceration +for a period of twenty years. This is due perhaps to the fact that in +England the sentences of "lifers" are reconsidered at the end of that +period, and in the majority of cases a pardon is granted. The New +Zealand prison regulations contain this section (116) "No rule for the +remission of life sentences will be laid down. Such sentences are passed +on persons guilty of the very gravest offences; and the Governor will +only extend the royal prerogative of mercy to such persons in +exceptional cases." Under certain conditions life imprisonment is the +only way of dealing with criminals who refuse to reform. Those +conditions do not exist in our New Zealand prisons, and a life sentence +served within their walls is the most cruel form of punishment our laws +allow. The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>prisoner enters the gaol with a long, dark, hopeless future +before him. As the years roll by not one ray of light brightens his lot. +He can never better himself. He suffers, he is meant to suffer, the loss +of all he holds dear (and even a murderer holds some things dear). This +absolute loss, this complete severance of all ties, produces a most +agonising mental state and afflicts the poor wretch with untold horrors. +He is made to drag out an existence under most unnatural conditions, +conditions in which every effort he makes towards self-improvement is a +useless one, every aspiration is routed, the natural affections crave in +vain for an object to fasten upon, and where an artificial atavistic +process is set in motion so powerful as to defy the resistance of all in +time. This is no imaginary picture, a man is a man, and one of the +cruellest tortures to submit him to is to deprive him absolutely of hope +and make good his evil because it requires an effort which is useless, +and evil his good because it is easier and costs the loss of nothing. +Perhaps the majority of lifers are those whose sentences have been +commuted from the death penalty. Such a sentence is in reality the death +penalty carried out under slow process extending over many years. +Gradually remorse and despair do their work upon the natural instincts, +the mind and the body. The man becomes brutalised, insane and dies. An +exception here and there may be pointed out; but given twenty men of +same age and good health, and sentence ten to twenty years, and ten to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>life imprisonment, and the chances are that (under reasonable +conditions) the ten with the defined sentence will survive it, whereas +of the lifers the majority will be insane within twelve years. The +following testimony will, however, be of greater weight:—</p> + +<p>The Directors of the State Prison in Wisconsin in their report for 1881 +add:—</p> + +<p>"The condition of most of our life prisoners is deplorable in the last +degree. Not a few of them are hopelessly insane; but insanity, even, +brings them no surcease of sorrow. However wild their delusions may be +on other subjects, they never fail to appreciate the fact that they are +prisoners. Others, not yet classed as insane, as year by year goes by, +give only too conclusive evidence that reason is becoming unsettled. The +terribleness of a life sentence must be seen to be appreciated; seen, +too, not for a day or a week, but for a term of years. Quite a number of +young men have been committed to this prison in recent years under +sentence for life. Past experience leads us to expect that some of them +will become insane in less than ten years; and all of them, who live, in +less than twenty. Many of them will, doubtless, live much longer than +twenty years, strong and vigorous in body perhaps, but complete wrecks +in mind. May it, therefore, not be worthy of legislative consideration +whether life sentences should not be abolished and long but definite +terms substituted, and thus leave some faint glimmer of hope even for +the greatest criminals?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>Sir E. Du Cane stated in 1878 before the Royal Commission on Penal +Servitude Acts:—</p> + +<p>"I myself do not think much of life sentences at all. I would rather +have a long fixed term. I think all the effect on the public outside +would be gained by a shorter period."</p> + +<p>Mr W. Tallack, late Secretary of the Howard Association, writes in his +"Penelogical and Preventive principles":—</p> + +<p>"Of life imprisonment it may be conclusively pronounced very bad in even +the best form of it. Years of enquiry and observation have increasingly +forced this conviction upon the writer.... A fixed limit of twenty years +would greatly aid the discipline of its subjects. And what is of more +importance so far as the public are concerned, it would, in most cases, +avail to practically incapacitate or effectually deter the persons who +pass through it from any repetition of their crime. The mere natural +operation of age, decay, and disease would tend towards this result; and +not only so, but it would, in a considerable proportion of cases, render +the limit of twenty years a virtual sentence in perpetuity by the +intervention of death. But meanwhile the elements of hope and other +desirable influences would be largely present, notwithstanding."</p> + +<p>To say the least of it our criminals have a claim for humane treatment, +and no sentence should have a greater duration than twenty years. The +term also should be fixed when the sentence is imposed.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span><b>Flogging.</b>—This is an extremely unpopular form of punishment, owing to +its abuse in the old convict stations and in the army and navy. Yet +there is a great deal to be said in its favour. In 1898 the Howard +Association instituted an enquiry among the most competent authorities +as to what were the best methods of dealing with juvenile offenders. +Nearly 40 replies were sent in answer to their circular of enquiry, and +with but one or two exceptions these replies advocated whipping as the +most expedient method. The Chief Constable of Liverpool +stated:—"Whipping has been found a most efficient and <span class="smcap">HUMANE</span> +punishment. During the last <span class="smcap">FIVE YEARS</span> 489 boys were once +whipped. Of these, only 135 have been again convicted. Of the 135, 44 +were whipped for the second time. Of the 44 only 10 were convicted a +third time, and 2 only for a fourth time. No other punishment can show +such a record...."</p> + +<p>Our Criminal Code describes a whipping as being a punishment of not more +than 25 strokes with the cat-o'-nine-tails inflicted upon a person of +not more than 16 years of age. A flogging is limited to not more than 50 +strokes and not less than 25 inflicted upon a person of over 16 years. +Three floggings at intervals for one offence is the maximum amount of +castigation allowed.</p> + +<p>A description of the "cat" may not be out of place. The handle is round +and of uniform diameter of one inch. It is about 30 inches in length and +is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>light as cork. The "tails" (nine in number) are made of cord similar +to fishing cord, about an eighth of an inch in diameter and 33 inches in +length. In each tail a strand is taken out, wound round and put back, +thus making a bob. There are 27 of these bobs in all. A flogging with +such an instrument would no doubt be very severe, but it need not draw +blood nor leave marks for all time. A flogging properly administered +should produce sharp stinging pain and leave no bad results whatever. +Then it becomes a very useful punishment to use upon such men as those +whose crimes are characterised by cruelty. Men who violate, torture, or +frighten women, who are cruel to children or take advantage of the weak, +imbecile or defenceless might well be punished with a flogging. In fact +it is questionable whether any punishment is so effective. These men are +cowards one and all; they do not dread the lazy life of the prison, but +a flogging has great terrors for them, and its moral value is +considerable. In bygone years men who were flogged were often worse than +before. The flogging had demoralised them. These floggings were, +however, shockingly cruel. Nothing is to be admitted but the sharp +swishing and this, when properly carried out, is totally without any +objectionable feature.</p> + +<p>There seems no necessity to combine a flogging and a long term of +imprisonment under one sentence. The maximum punishment of three +floggings might be given within a period of two months, and the culprit +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>then in most cases discharged. As to the advisability of ordering more +than one flogging a great deal might be said. Fifty lashes and the man +discharged within a week would be sufficient for the majority of cases. +For a very brutal crime or for a second offence of the same nature, a +second flogging after a period of days might be thought necessary. The +very greatest care, however, must be exercised in the administration of +this punishment. The crimes of brutality rightly arouse the indignation +of the public, but there is no need to show a brute that society can be +a greater brute than what he is. Being a brute, leniency invariably +fails, but unimpressionable to these methods as his moral and humane +instincts are, his skin remains sensitive, and through it his instincts +may be appealed to and quickened. Flogging makes him consider that the +practice of brutality is in direct variance to his own personal +interests and comfort. From this he may be led to moralise further.</p> + +<p>Gangs of boys who are becoming a nuisance to the neighbourhood they +infest are quickly broken up if their ring-leader is treated to a dozen +strokes that he will not feel inclined to boast about. The mercifulness +of this punishment is seen in its power in thus effectively stopping the +tendency to crime. Larrikins, unnatural husbands and fathers, brutes and +torturers, cattle maimers and stack burners, all see their personal +interests lying in a very different direction to that which leads to the +"cat."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span><b>Capital Punishment.</b>—The authority to take the life of a fellow-man is +based on God's word to Noah, "whoso sheddeth man's blood by man shall +his blood be shed;" and upon the abstract idea of justice "a life for a +life." These words in no sense contain a command to us of this century +to execute all murderers without exception. For the present state of +civilisation a new principle has been evolved which is, that when a man +shows himself to be unchangeably hostile to society then his life may be +forfeited. As the methods of dealing with criminals improve so the word +<span class="smcap">LIBERTY</span> is being substituted for the word LIFE. The sin on the +man's soul may be left to God; all that men has to deal with is his +anti-social attitude. If impossible to change this attitude then either +death or life imprisonment must result. This very question of +possibility is so uncertain that few modern criminologists care to +adjudicate, and most regard the death sentence as anticipating too much. +Life-imprisonment, under the highest moral influences, becomes life-long +by and only by the continued resistance of the criminal. It is not the +objectionable form of punishment previously described for it encourages +the man to put forth his best effort to improve, and substantially +rewards these efforts, even to granting him his liberty if he persevere +with them. Punishment by death is becoming more and more unpopular. The +dislike of juries to bring in a verdict of "guilty" in a murder case is +sufficient testimony to this. In the crowds who sign petitions <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>for the +reprieve of the condemned, the hysterical element is too prominent to +make any other estimate possible. But the reaction is steady, and it +will not be long before capital punishment becomes a thing of the past. +To abolish it before a suitable substitute were provided would be +mistake.</p> + +<p>Gradually society is awakening to the fact that the condition of the +criminal ought to be ameliorated, and that there can be no real +amelioration which does not make definite efforts for the prisoner's +reform. The aim should be to assist every man to recover by his own +effort the place in society from which he has fallen. No man is +incapable of improvement, and under a wise systematic discipline most +men do improve. A remarkable witness is found in the experience of Dr +Browning who was engaged as Surgeon-superintendent of convict ships +between 1831 and 1848. Of one voyage from Norfolk Island to Tasmania he +was in charge of 346 "old hands." These men had agreed to take terrible +revenge upon some of their comrades who had been employed as constables +over the others. Under Dr Browning's instruction and discipline their +purpose was abandoned. He landed the men in Tasmania without having +inflicted a single punishment upon the voyage. He remarks:—"The men +were given to me in double irons; I debarked them without an iron +clanking among them. I am told that this is the first and only instance +of convicts removed from Norfolk Island having had their fetters struck +off during the voyage, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>and being landed totally unfettered. They were +almost uniformly double-cross-ironed and chained down to the deck, +everybody being afraid of them. I was among them at all hours and the +prison doors were never once shut during the day. To God be all the +glory." Three Governors of Tasmania expressed their high opinion of Dr +Browning's system and of its subsequent effects upon their behaviour. +(Vide "Christianity amongst Prisoners." Howard Ass.:)</p> + +<p>In the famous Dartmoor prison and at Borstal in Kent experiments are +being made to secure a greater number of reformations among the younger +convicts. It is too early to estimate the value of the systems being +tried, but they are being watched with much hope and expectation. In +America there is a decided tendency to substitute State reformatories +for prisons, especially in the case of the young. The Elmira Reformatory +has been established for more than a quarter of a century, and its +claims to have reformed 82 per cent. of the men committed to it has been +upheld by the special enquiry instituted in 1890.</p> + +<p>If these different systems were more closely studied there would result +a great awakening as to the possibilities of the criminal, and society +would discover that its best interests were served by reforming its +offenders and making them moral and industrious servants of the State, +instead of by committing them to institutions where they were brought +into contact with consecrated villainy and where the unwholesome +influence is calculated to confirm them in criminal <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>habits and make +them a constant menace and expense to the community. That our criminal +population is on the increase, and that the proportion of recidivists +grows larger every year, is scarcely to be wondered at in the midst of +such influences. Notwithstanding all that has been done to improve the +state of prisons from what they were even fifty years ago, yet the motto +"once a criminal always a criminal" is often too sadly true. The report +of the English commissioners of prisons shows that amongst those who +have been convicted during the year 1902, 51.9 per cent. of the men and +70.6 per cent. of the women had been previously convicted. In the past +these results were regarded as inevitable. Now they are regarded with +much disquietude. Formerly they were supposed to point to a defect in +the criminal, now they are understood to prove a defect in the penal +system. The reason for this defect lies in having regarded certain +objects as primary which are in reality only secondary. These objects +have been defined to be the deterrence of crime by the example of +punishing criminals; the repression of crime by the infliction of +punishment, and the protection of society as a consequence. The +deterrent value of the penal system has been greatly reduced by the +small amount of dread which it excites in the criminally disposed. The +representative value is of a minus quantity. Crime is assisted more than +it is crippled. The protection of society is secured only during the +period of incarceration. At the end of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>that period the criminal must be +discharged and he goes forth often a more skilful criminal than before +and with a vow to take vengeance upon society.</p> + +<p>Regarding these objects as secondary the reformation of the offender has +been acknowledged as primary by criminologists, and they turned their +attention to study the criminal pathologically, to enquire into the +causes of crime and also to make trial of the best methods for securing +reformation. "Punishment the principle and reformation the incident," +was the theory of the old school. The New school reverses the order to +"Reformation the principle and punishment the incident." Obviously this +course renounces the old principle of retaliation and vengeance and +embraces that indicated by Christ in his precept "bear ye one another's +burdens."</p> + +<p><b>The Philosophy of Punishment.</b>—The threatening attitude of the +criminal towards the peace and welfare of society makes it an obvious +necessity that society should protect itself against him, otherwise he +would soon master the situation and reduce social order to barbarism.</p> + +<p>What are the steps which it must take? It must first remember that its +right to punish is not an inherent, but a delegated one. Though its +powers are sovereign in the sense that there is no appeal from them, yet +they must not be exercised in an arbitrary way. So far as there is a +capacity for the realisation of responsibility to God so far must that +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>responsibility be observed. Where this responsibility is disregarded, +society immediately becomes the greater criminal itself even though its +deeds may be done in the name of the majority of its members. As history +is not without examples of this abuse of a sacred trust neither is it +without instances of the Divine interference expressed in the +destruction of a community which had offended after this manner. This +responsibility must be acknowledged firstly—in the end to be attained; +and, secondly or subsequently—in the means by which it is attained. We +are generally informed that our penal systems exist for the purpose of +repressing crime, and that punishment is thus inflicted upon the +criminal in order that others may be deterred from following his +example. Reformation is sometimes suggested. The public, however, +concerns itself very little about its criminals and much less about the +objects which its penal system is supposed to secure for it. The +attitude of the general public towards the criminal is undoubtedly a +vindictive one. His sentence is discussed from this point of view only, +viz.:—will the suffering that he will have to undergo be sufficient to +accord with the enormity of the crime he committed? The end which is +understood is simply suffering, expiatory suffering; suffering which +neither man nor society has any right whatever to inflict upon a human +being. The old principle of an eye for an eye, while in accord with +abstract justice, was often made the occasion for abuse, and the largely +prevailing conception of justice amongst us <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>to-day is precisely the +abuse of that same principle. Society does well in returning upon its +criminals the consequences of their acts, but the consequences should be +a natural return and not an artificial one. The criminal should see that +by his attack upon society he is excluded from all the benefits of its +system. He has isolated himself and this isolation is of itself +miserable, and will, if persisted in, become intolerable. Its final +state is Hell, a state in which society is destroyed while the social +instinct remains and craves in its unquenched agony. It is perfectly +right to show the wrong-doer the ultimate end of his chosen course, but +there is no warrant for the strenuous effort which is made to force him +towards it. A criminal's punishment should be made purgatorial and not +internal. The old penology regarded him as a hopeless individual and +proceeded with its hellish tortures without undue delay. Beneath its +system no reforms were possible, and the fact that none were ever made, +was pointed to in order to justify its horrors. Society took no interest +in them whatever while they were being pushed lower and lower down the +social scale, but met them at the lowest steps, and, halter in hand, +gravely professed the utmost concern in their future and eternal +welfare.</p> + +<p>So far, society has failed to recognise the end of the punishment it is +entitled to impose. In the words of Dimitri Drill, a Moscow publicist, +the new penology expresses that it "renounces entirely the law of +retaliation as end, principle, or basis of all judicial <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>punishment. The +basis and purpose of punishment is the necessity of protecting society +against the evil consequences of crime either by the moral reclamation +of the criminal or by his separation from society; punishment is not to +satisfy vengeance." We must not jump to the hasty conclusion that herein +is meant that the criminal must be treated very gently and coaxed back +to more virtuous paths. What is meant is that his punishment should be +made purgatorial and not infernal. The process of reclamation is +accompanied by far sharper pains than those which are expiatory, but +they are the pains of a healing surgery and not those of a soul +destroying brutality. Where the means for reclamation fail then +separation from society is advocated. Separation in the midst of +influences which would always tend to awaken the desire to reform and +which would give immediate assistance to that desire when awakened.</p> + +<p>Thus the recognition of this fact that the authority to punish offenders +against its law has been, by God, delegated to the social institution, +brings with it a recognition of the responsibility which accompanies +such authority.</p> + +<p>In primitive times most offences were punished by the death penalty, not +as a vindictive measure but because the offender was hopeless and +society helpless. That is, the social state being of a very simple +order, any infraction of its laws would declare the offender a most +pronounced criminal, bitterly hostile to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>society and irreclaimable by +such social machinery as then existed. The death penalty when inflicted +must ever be so regarded. Not as a life for a life but as the punishment +inflicted upon one who has by his own conduct given complete evidence +that his recovery to the social state is impossible. In this century of +civilisation it is incumbent to look upon the criminal as being in a +measure a by-product of society and to deal with him accordingly. +Outside of society crime is impossible, therefore society accounts for +crime and is also in a measure responsible for it. To this measure +exactly (although the measure itself can never be determined with +exactitude) is the criminal by-product. In a large measure he is +responsible (entire responsibility is conceivable), and it is this sense +of responsibility which makes it possible to carry out his treatment.</p> + +<p>Large industries find that their by-products are an important asset and +to disregard them would be ruinous. Mr Frazer in his book "America at +Work" states that the expenses of the meat-packers of Chicago for 1901 +amounted to £150,244,848. The sales of meat realised £124,263,998, and +yet a net profit of £6,767,638 resulted. What appears to be a paradox is +explained by the fact that a sum of no less than £32,748,488 resulted +from the sale of by-products. All the waste must be turned to dollars.</p> + +<p>Commercial advance has certainly out-stripped social advance, and +apparently for the reason that whereas in commerce a pig's tail is +regarded as an <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>important asset, in our social system the criminal and +the weakling are regarded as a heavy liability. When the point of view +is changed society will advance more rapidly. So, too, society finds +that it must utilise its by-products and to devise means which it can +bring to bear upon the criminal, so as to bring him to a state of +usefulness. The enormity of the crime and the degree of criminality are +alike impossible to estimate, therefore it is also impossible to define +a punishment which makes an attempt to recognise any of these qualities.</p> + +<p>It is, however, quite possible to determine within very fair limits the +continuance of the criminal habits, also the value from a reformatory +point of view, of various social influences, and further there exists +the power to apply these influences. To sum up—society possesses within +itself the power to reform its criminals (to utilise its by-products) +and to determine when they have been reformed.</p> + +<p>Separation from society is rendered absolutely necessary by the +criminal's own behaviour, if by his behaviour he shows that he is not +capable of using freedom profitably. But if his separation is to serve +any real purpose whatever it must be accompanied by an educational +process which will work him back to that point where he left the social +track and then so propel him forward that he may recover his lost +ground, and when restored to society be enabled to identify himself with +its progressive system.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>So far our penal system is a mistake. Whatever it may be theoretically, +practically it is only vindictive. Its failure has caused some to +despair and others to reflect.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="Chapter_V" id="Chapter_V"></a> +<br /> + +<hr /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> +<br /> +<h2>Chapter V.</h2> + +<h2>ELIMINATION—DR. CHAPPLE'S PROPOSAL.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>In the last chapter it was shown that capital punishment sought for its +justification in the theory that certain criminals had assumed an +attitude of permanent and aggressive hostility towards society. Their +presence in society is regarded as a menace to human life, and no moral +improvement is expected to result from their imprisonment. So hopeless +is this class of criminal regarded as being that, so it is declared, no +other policy save that of extermination can be considered.</p> + +<p>In primitive society criminals were less numerous than in our own time; +but those that did then exist belonged, almost all of them, to the worst +type. There being no public institutions for the administration of +justice, practically one course only remained open, and that was, that +the person wronged should seek to avenge himself as best he could, and +the death of the wrong-doer was generally the satisfaction that he +sought. As civilization has advanced, criminals have become more +numerous; but they have taken to crime by more gradual steps. Society, +too, has deprived the individual of the right of wreaking his own +vengeance, and has erected institutions for the purpose of determining +guilt and apportioning punishment. From the days of Noah, deeds of blood +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>and other crimes of a serious nature, have been punished by death and +from then, until this present day, the one idea underlying the +administration of justice has been that society should get rid of its +criminals as speedily as possible. Repression alone was thought to be +efficacious, reformation was scarcely thought of.</p> + +<p>Of late years the criminal has been more carefully studied by his +fellow-beings. Some have studied him as a monster and believed him to +have the heart of a beast; others have studied him as a man and had +faith in his possibilities. The former have noticed the failure of +repressive methods, such as flogging and other penal severities, and +have in despair been led to advocate that the only possible remedy is +that of extermination. The latter have discovered that the failure of +these repressive methods but imposes upon society the obligation of +adopting a system of an entirely different order and with an entirely +different object, viz: a system for the reformation of the criminal.</p> + +<p>The "exterminators" have studied the criminal objectively and have had +regard to his crimes only; the reformers have studied him subjectively +and have had regard to his possibilities. The policy of the +"exterminators" must be condemned on this ground, viz: that they have +made but a half study of their subject, and they do know, and they +refuse to listen to, of what the criminal is capable. Neither do they +estimate the capacity of the enormous social power <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>that may be attached +to the criminal's own, but feeble, effort so as to raise him up, even +from the deepest depths of vice and villainy. The careful subjective +study—the truly humane study—of the criminal, has shown that all +theories which would declare any man to be incapable of improvement, are +to be condemned absolutely. The possibilities of reform exist in every +case, and the probabilities are never to be denied. None can gainsay +this statement nor can it be termed extravagant, for with the imperfect +machinery now in use results are being attained which justify every +syllable of it. Yet in the face of these results, the "exterminators" +still proclaim their policy. They bid us be deaf to the voice of +prejudice and follow the true light of science, ever remembering that we +are passing through a wonderful stage in social evolution! But the +policy that they adopt belies that which is indicated in all this fine +talk. They say that we must exterminate the criminal, and this is +nothing less than an acknowledgement that, to their minds, the problem +of the criminal is one of outer darkness and that we have no means of +ever penetrating it. They would take us back to a period anterior to +Adam.</p> + +<p>Prejudice, indeed, needs to be overcome, but it is the prejudice that +prefers vengeance to mercy. And if we follow the true light of science +it will lead us to discover that the criminal is best got rid of by +converting him into a useful citizen, or to be more exact, society's +best effort is to be directed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>towards separating the crime from the +criminal.</p> + +<p>Recently a Wellington medical gentleman (Dr Chapple) published a work +entitled "The Fertility of the Unfit." The problem which this gentleman +attempts to grapple with in his book is the disproportionate rate of +increase among the numbers of the unfit to the fit members of society. +Under the classification of the unfit he places all those persons who, +on account of mental, moral or physical defect, constitute a burden to +society. These are, principally, the epileptic, the pauper, the insane +and the criminal. These either will not, or cannot support themselves +adequately and legitimately. For their treatment support and correction, +hospitals, asylums, charitable aid boards, gaols and other institutions +have had to be established, and the upkeep of these has become a great +burden which necessarily has to be borne by the healthy, moral and +industrious section of the community.</p> + +<p>Dr Chapple draws attention to the undeniable fact that there is a +tendency on the part of those unfit to increase at a greater ratio than +the fit. The rate of increase during the past twenty years has been so +great and so disproportionate as to make the cost of their maintenance +become an increasingly heavier one for the individual taxpayer to bear, +and to cause for this and other reasons, a considerable amount of alarm +in the minds of those who have the welfare of society at heart.</p> + +<p>The Doctor believes that the cause of this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>proportionate rate of +increase is to be found in the methods adopted largely among certain +classes for the prevention of child-birth.</p> + +<p>In the conclusion of his book he states that sexual inhibition on the +part of the better classes accounts for their smaller rate of increase +as compared with the rate of the inferior classes. We cannot accept this +conclusion without more evidence. We want to know definitely whether the +natural rate of increase among the better classes is really lower than +that existing among the inferior classes. That is to say, are the ranks +of the defective being swelled by the influence of heredity or by some +extensive force recruiting from among the ranks of the fit? Another +question is this: Since the use of preventives is available to both +sections alike, the Doctor accounts for the supposed natural +disproportion by assuming that the better classes restrain themselves. +Is he right? Using the word "restrain" in its absolute sense we beg +leave for most emphatic doubt. In an enquiry such as this is, the only +factor of any real importance as accounting for a diminished birth-rate, +is the use of preventives. If this method is confined to the better +classes, we must refuse to call them any longer our "best stock," for, +if they are not producing a defective offspring, they are, as the recent +Australian Birth-Rate Commission has made abundantly plain, speedily +making defectives of themselves, besides being guilty of lowering the +social moral tone and hardening its sensibility. We are <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>strongly of the +opinion that the diminished birth-rate does not account for the increase +in the number of criminals and defectives further than that the use of +preventives discloses a species of criminality.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, Dr Chapple proposes, not so much to restore the +equilibrium as to get rid of the defective altogether. He assumes that +defectives are born and not made, and then makes enquiry into the best +possible means for the prevention of their birth. After passing several +methods in review, he accepts an operation known as tubo-ligature as +being the best from all points of view. This operation will render the +female permanently sterile without having any deleterious effect upon +her health. Absolutely no result follows, he assures us, but sterility. +If the wives of all defectives were operated upon in this way, Dr +Chapple assures us that the problem concerning the defective would +speedily be solved and society would be the happier and wealthier in +every way. The proposal might give something of a shock to the moral +conscience but such a shock would only unfit us for our work. The +criminal is upon us, he threatens us, and we must protect ourselves. The +necessities of the case are so pressing and so urgent that we seek for +the most effectual remedy and use it unhesitatingly when we have found +it. Here it is, says Dr Chapple, and its morality is determined by the +relief which it, and it alone, is able to bring.</p> + +<p>What are we to do? Why, sterilize the wife of the defective. As the +criminal is most harmful of all <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>defectives he is summoned to come +forward first and to bring his wife with him, when behold, the man +turns up alone. Where is his wife? Why, he hasn't got one. Has Dr +Chapple considered this fact? Did he know, when he made the statement +that it was a matter of common observation that the criminal was among +those who had the largest families, did he know then that the criminal +rarely married? It cannot be said that the criminal's wife is as rare as +the Great Auk's egg, but Havelock Ellis states that "among men criminals +the celibates are in a very large proportion." And Féré further supports +the value of the statement for our present purpose by saying that +"criminals and prostitutes have this common character, that they are +unproductive. This is true also of vagabonds, and of the idle and +vicious generally, to whatever class they belong."</p> + +<p>Two years' experience as a prison chaplain may not be of much value, but +it certainly conveyed the impression that the majority of the criminals +were young men who were unmarried.</p> + +<p>But Dr Chapple adduces evidence. He tells us of a family in which there +were 834 persons the descendants of one woman. Of this family 76 were +convicts, 7 were murderers, 142 were beggars, 64 lived on charity. Among +their women 181 lived disreputable lives, and in 75 years this family +cost their country £250,000 in alms, trials, imprisonments, etc. What +family is this? If the following comparison is conclusive in its results +then it must be the "Jukes" family.</p> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="70%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Case"> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="50%"> <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span></td> + <td class="tdc" width="25%">Dr Chapple's Case</td> + <td class="tdc" width="25%">The "Jukes"</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Number estimated</td> + <td class="tdc">834</td> + <td class="tdc">834</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Number definitely traced</td> + <td class="tdc">709</td> + <td class="tdc">709</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Number of criminals</td> + <td class="tdc"> 76</td> + <td class="tdc"> 76</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Number convicted of murder</td> + <td class="tdc"> 7</td> + <td class="tdc"> 7</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Number of beggars</td> + <td class="tdc">142</td> + <td class="tdc">142</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Number receiving alms house relief</td> + <td class="tdc"> 64</td> + <td class="tdc"> 64</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Illegitimates</td> + <td class="tdc">106</td> + <td class="tdc">106</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Period reviewed</td> + <td class="tdc">75 years</td> + <td class="tdc">75 yrs.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Cost to State</td> + <td class="tdc">£250,000</td> + <td class="tdc">£250,000</td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p>If it will be allowed that the agreement in these nine lines of +statistics establishes the identity between the two cases, then the +evidence may be examined.</p> + +<p>In the first place, the "Jukes" family is the most exceptional one known +in the history of crime, and it must be treated as an exception and not +as an example. In the second place, these 834 persons were not descended +from one woman in 75 years but from FIVE women who were the legitimate +and illegitimate daughters of an old Dutch back-woodsman who lived in a +rocky part of the State of New York and who is known to criminologists +as "Max Jukes." My authority for declaring that there were five female +ancestresses during the period reviewed as against one, stated to be the +case by Dr Chapple, is Mr R. L. Dugdale, who made a close personal +investigation of the life and records of the family. He himself +collected the statistics that are given above and which are identical +with those given by Dr <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>Chapple's authority, Prof. Pellman, and +therefore one must conclude that Prof. Pellman has studied the case at +second hand and, in this important detail, is in error.</p> + +<p>That 834 persons should have descended from five persons in 75 years +covering five generations, exclusive of the 5 ancestresses, does not +strike us as evidence of an exceedingly prosperous birth-rate. If there +had been another thousand descendants it would not allow for an average +of 3 children to grow up and marry in each family. We may then set aside +the contention that the "Jukes" were enormously prolific.</p> + +<p>Still the "Jukes" were an enormous cost to their country, and surely we +should prevent such a family ever appearing in our midst. The answer to +this is that the "Jukes" have only appeared once, and, so far as our +community is concerned, our social progress makes their reappearance +absolutely impossible. The "Jukes" were a tribe of vagabond outlaws. +They gained a livelihood by fishing, hunting, robbery, and intermittent +work. They lived in a rocky, inaccessible region in the lake country of +the State of New York. Their criminals were able, with a considerable +measure of success, to defy the police, and travellers very rarely +approached the vicinity of their habitat. Some drifted into the towns +and villages. A proportion of these supported themselves by honest +industry, and a proportion became a burden upon the rates; Such nests of +criminals can exist only in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>partially civilized countries. The advance +of civilization extinguishes them. Nowhere in New Zealand could such a +tribe prey upon and defy society for a period of two weeks together. The +criminals that we have to deal with are those which society produces not +those which it extinguishes.</p> + +<p>But if the "Jukes" were at all reproductive what is the difference +between them and other cases of criminals? Principally this, that the +"Jukes" formed a little society of their own in which marriage and +co-habitation was the rule. Of their women 52 per cent. were +disreputable; but Dugdale refuses to call them prostitutes, but rather +harlots, indicating that their marital relations were of the order of a +progressive polyandry and by no means unproductive. Under these +conditions, a fairly large natural increase is not to be wondered at.</p> + +<p>No such family has, nor could, exist in the midst of our civilization, +but as the case is advanced, not to show a distinct species of +criminality, but rather as an example of the rate of natural increase +that may be expected of a criminal family, we will examine and compare +the conditions of life existing among the "Jukes" and the criminal that +we have to deal with and thus discover features among the latter which +militate against a large birth-rate; but which are not present among the +former.</p> + +<p>Our criminals, for the most part, commence their career of crime at an +early age. The Rev. W. D. Morrison of Wandsworth Prison, England, +declares <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>that the most criminal age is reached between the years of +twenty and thirty. This holds good, he says, for Europe, Australia, and +the United States.</p> + +<p>It is a mistake to suppose that a man first commits crime and then +plunges headlong into vice. Though true in some cases, it is exactly the +reverse course which is followed in the majority of cases. After having +passed with a measure of success through the milder domestic and +scholastic spheres, the youthful criminal become a failure in the +severer social or industrial sphere. Some criminologists go so far as to +say that the majority of criminals have displayed distinct evidences of +criminality at so early an age as sixteen years. Whatever may have been +the cause for committing crime, the crime itself shows that the youth +refuses to acknowledge the obligations which an organized society lays +upon him. This refusal extends practically throughout the social order, +and neither is it confined to this order, but extends also to the moral +order and is shown in a total disregard for the matrimonial state. The +youth gives way to natural appetites and associates himself with women +of low repute. He is of wandering habits, works, when he does work, but +intermittently, is restless, and totally disinclined towards matrimony. +Socially, industrially and morally he is unstable. It is these +conditions of his life which so contrast him with that species of +criminality which the "Jukes" family presents. And it is these same +conditions which support the statement of Féré and Ellis, that he is +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>generally a celibate and non-productive. Concerning the progeny of the +female criminal there is little to say except that the causes which +chiefly account for the male criminal operate to produce the prostitute +among women, and therefore criminal women are in a very small minority. +Of these criminal women, Lombroso says that they are monsters who have +triumphed over the natural instincts of piety and maternity as well as +over their natural weakness. They are bad mothers, and children are a +burden to them from which they will readily rid themselves.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding Dr Chapple's evidence, it is conclusive that his +statement that criminals have the largest families, is entirely opposed +to fact, indeed the exact reverse is the case.</p> + +<p>So far as the criminal is concerned, one may well ask whether he has not +set himself to the useless task of threshing straw.</p> + +<p>The question concerning the proportionate rate of natural increase among +all classes of society is one which provides one of the fundamentals +upon which Dr Chapple has based his proposal. Instead of enquiring into +the actualities of this question he has assumed them, and from his +assumption proceeded to his result. His assumption that the better +classes use preventive means which the inferior classes do not use, is +open to challenge; that there might exist among the inferior classes +causes peculiar to these classes which militate against their increasing +naturally, he has failed to notice. There do exist such, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>and so potent +as to disprove entirely his statement that the problem is one for the +solution of which we must search deep down in biological truth. The true +solution will not be found in biological truth but in sociological +truth, and there fairly near the surface.</p> + +<p>As Dr Chapple's evidence entirely fails, the conclusions of expert +criminologists must be accepted, viz., that criminals are +characteristically unproductive, and that, among male criminals, the +celibates are in a large majority. As, from these reasons, the vast +majority of criminals cannot be the descendants of a criminal ancestry, +obviously tubo-ligature will not meet the case.</p> + +<p>So far indeed the criminal descendant from criminal stock has alone been +considered, whereas a large number of criminals have come from a drunken +or from a pauper ancestry. Statistics indicate that 33 per cent. of +criminals come from an intemperate ancestry and 2 per cent. from a +pauper one. But in both cases, environment has a great deal more to be +held responsible for than has heredity. It is the conditions of the home +life which make the drunkard's child a criminal, and the same applies +with equal force to the pauper's child. So that, if drastic measures are +to be taken with these classes, surely such measures will proceed +gradually from the mean to the extreme, and severe measures will not be +employed until milder ones have failed. Where the question is one of +environment it is the man's character and habits which have to be dealt +with and not his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>nature. Environment is always capable of modification, +and, when improved, the result is invariably a beneficial one for those +concerned. So that the least that may be said for the criminal +descendants of drunken ancestors is that a better way exists and should, +by all moral laws, be first adopted.</p> + +<p>Further difficulties, of a physical, rather than moral nature, also +exist.</p> + +<p>And here again Dr Chapple has assumed another fundamental position. Is +it too much to require of him that he should prove that, where criminals +have sprung from a defective ancestry, this defect should be invariably +transmitted? That, in short, a criminally defective ancestry is an +invariable cause producing a criminal descent. (Note.—By criminally +defective ancestry we mean the ancestry from which criminals spring. It +may not itself be criminal. It may be drunken or pauper.) Such an +important question cannot be assumed; positive proof is demanded, and +this is nowhere forthcoming in Dr Chapple's book.</p> + +<p>If it were allowed that criminals were the most prolific of all classes +of society, this question of heredity would still have to be cleared up +before such a proposal as tubo-ligature were seriously discussed, for +surely so drastic a remedy would never be employed except under the most +positive conditions, that is to say, that this operation would never be +employed until it had been ascertained, with scientific precision, that +the birth of degenerates, and degenerates only, was being prevented.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>Dr Chapple failing to illuminate us upon this point we inquire, does a +criminally defective ancestry invariably convey to its offspring a taint +disposing it towards crime? Or can it ever be ascertained that a certain +given ancestry will certainly produce criminals?</p> + +<p>In the treatment of the subject of heredity it has been made clear that +on account of the vicious habits of the criminal he is apt to transmit +to his offspring a physical defect which will make it difficult for him +to adapt himself to the conditions of the society in which he is placed. +This difficulty becomes almost, though not quite, insurmountable when +the environment is one in which the practice of vice and dishonesty is +easier than that of virtue and thrift.</p> + +<p>The transmission of a taint which is a cause of criminality cannot be +denied, but the close investigation of the criminal and of his family +has revealed the fact that among the comparatively few criminals who are +parents they do not all transmit a taint or defect to their offspring, +nor among those from whom a taint has been transmitted has it +necessarily been transmitted to every child.</p> + +<p>The "Jukes" family being the most exceptional of all cases in which +criminal heredity may be observed can be investigated for the purposes +of discovering the extreme affirmative which the question proposed can +give. The answer is an emphatic no. When the "Jukes" intermarried there +was, strange as it may seem, almost an entire absence from crime in the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>family following upon such union. When they married into other +families, crime frequently made its appearance. This, at least, shows +that an hereditary taint is not invariably conveyed. It may be claimed +that it proves that, under certain conditions, such taint is conveyed; +but in cases of this nature we do not reach our particular and exclusive +affirmatives anything like so rapidly as we reach our particular and +exclusive negatives. The negative is often obvious, the affirmative +generally remote. It may be that by cross marriages the element of +virility, necessary to maintain criminality, is sustained: but if that +were so it would be expected that pauperism would necessarily result +from consanguineous marriages which is not so far the case as to +indicate cause and effect. A more plausible suggestion is that in +consanguineous marriages there is a tendency for the family ties to be +reunited and the family ideal restored. Such, of course, effectively +disposes of criminality. Of the three grandsons of Ada Jukes, who were +themselves the sons of her one illegitimate son, their family report is +as follows:—The first was licentious, a sheep-stealer, quarrelsome, and +an habitual drunkard. He married a disreputable woman and had several +children. Of his seven boys, five were criminals. The second grandson +kept a tavern and a brothel and was a thief. He married a brothel +keeper. Of his six sons, two were criminals. The third grandson was +industrious but occasionally intemperate. He married a woman addicted to +the opium habit. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>Of his four sons, none were criminals. These are +fairly average cases, and they, at least, affirm very distinctly that +the criminal does not always transmit a taint to his child which will +dispose that child towards crime.</p> + +<p>Although in the cases cited above only some 40 per cent. of the children +were criminals, it must, however, be observed that a great deal of +criminality goes unpunished, so that we might fix the average at 75 per +cent. and be more exact. Of the 75 per cent. we must find out whether +their heredity or their environment was the cause of their being +criminal. Dugdale's observations led him to conclude that heredity is a +latent cause which requires environment for its development. These 75 +per cent., however, will be referred to again. There being 25 per cent. +honest and industrious, brings us face to face with a question affecting +the morality of Dr Chapple's proposal.</p> + +<p>Since then all the children of criminal ancestry are not themselves +criminal or likely to become criminals through an hereditary taint, can +a proposal be accepted which would not only prevent the birth of the +hereditary criminal, but would also prevent the birth of several persons +who would have become good and useful citizens.</p> + +<p>Thus far only the criminal descended from a criminal ancestry has been +considered, whereas, as was stated previously, there are a considerable +number of criminals termed "hereditary" criminals who are descended from +a drunken ancestry. The proportion <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>of these is about 33 per cent. of +the whole. The impossibility of the success of Dr Chapple's remedy is +very apparent from the insurmountable difficulties that would be +experienced in determining with exactitude when a person was so +degenerate in his own system as to make it positive that his prospective +offspring would be born a criminal defective. Uncertainty, in this +matter, reigns supreme.</p> + +<p>There must remain then but very little support for Dr Chapple's proposal +when we discover firstly:—that the criminal is very rarely a parent, +and secondly:—that in every case a taint is not transmitted from parent +to child. Its sphere of effectiveness is restricted by the very +circumstances of the case, and even within that restricted sphere its +operation would be most clumsy for it would prevent the birth of all a +criminal's children, good and bad alike. Thus it would become both a +moral and economic failure.</p> + +<p>Dr Chapple has taken it for granted that a criminal's rate of increase +is at least equal to the average if not indeed, for certain reasons, +considerably greater, and that he in all cases transmits an hereditary +taint to his offspring. Then he seeks for a remedy whereby the +transmission of this taint may be avoided and he can find none other +than one which prevents the very possibility of the prospective child +being born. Before coming to such a drastic conclusion enquiry might +have been made to discover whether there might not exist a remedy which +would be a remedy <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>in the truest sense. That is a remedy which would, +while it would prevent the transmission of the taint, yet it would not +interfere with reproduction. Such a remedy would be in fact a method for +the reformation of the criminal, for if the criminal were reformed the +problem would be solved. If he were transformed into an honest and +industrious man then the transmission of the criminal taint is at once +prevented. There are some, however, who maintain that the criminal is +incorrigible and that reformatory agencies have invariably failed. They +look upon all attempts on behalf of the criminal as a useless +expenditure of energy and money. This question of the possibility or +otherwise of the reform of the criminal must now be settled before we +can proceed further.</p> + +<p>Is the criminal incorrigible? Some criminals do not ever reform because +they cannot. These are insane. Some do not because they will not; but +these may. The many who pass through our gaols and show no signs of +reform does not prove that although they may reform they never will. If +nine hundred and ninety-nine cases were observed of men resisting reform +it would not prove the impossibility of reforming the thousandth. It +would point to the difficulty, the remote probability or the need of +different methods; but it would not determine the impossibility. When +the term "incorrigible" is applied to certain criminals it does not mean +that these men are incapable of reform; but they are <span class="smcap">RESISTING</span> +reform; and no one can tell when or whether the most <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>obstinate of these +will surrender his will to the dictates of conscience and commence a +life of reform. The possibility is always an open question. No better +testimony can be brought forward than that of Mr Z. R. Brockway, late +Superintendent of the New York State Reformatory at Elmira. Mr Brockway +is one of the pioneers in reformatory work and is considered the +greatest living authority upon the subject. Some 10,000 felons have +passed through their hands. Speaking at the Fourth International Prison +Congress held in St. Petersburg in 1890 he said:—"There is a sense in +which nothing that lives is incapable of betterment, and so strictly +speaking there are no incorrigible criminals. If it is possible to grasp +the thought and cherish it, we should endeavour to discover in the very +worst characters some spark of humanity which unites us all in ties of +relationship, some secret soul-chambers where superhuman influences may +find lodgment, and so with good leaven pervade the whole man; at least +we may find in our sphere a field for most fascinating scientific +research and experiment.</p> + +<p>"I record it as my own conviction, after nearly a lifetime spent with +and for criminals, that alike for all, corrigible and incorrigible, the +aim to accomplish reformation is a true one. It most surely supplies all +possible repression upon the criminal classes in society.... The aim of +reformations is absolutely essential to any good degree of public +protection from crimes.... Mr F. Ammetybock, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>Director of the +Penitentiary of Vridsloselille, Denmark, added:—I would not dare charge +as incorrigible one of the 3,000 criminals who have been confided to my +care.... During my career as a prison officer, I have seen many +criminals who offered, humanly speaking, characteristic signs of +incorrigibility and who now and for a long time had led respectable +lives.... I believe that other prison officers as well as +philanthropists, can confirm the truth of my experience, and I hope that +many will protest against the theory of incorrigibility and place in the +balance their experience against purely abstract ideas."</p> + +<p>On the other hand, it must be admitted that several criminologists +emphatically declare that the "instinctive" criminal (or "born" criminal +to use Lombroso's term) is incorrigible. Garofalo takes such a hopeless +view of the matter as to demand his elimination by death, but none of +these men, eminent criminologists as they may be, have studied +reformatory science experimentally. Mr Brockway's testimony should be +taken as final seeing that of the 12,000 felons who have passed through +the Elmira Reformatory, 82 per cent. have reformed, i.e., have not +returned to criminal practices. The statistics for the year 1903 are as +follows:—</p> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="80%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Paroled"> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="70%">Total number of those paroled</td> + <td class="tdl" width="30%">445</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Served well and earned absolute release</td> + <td class="tdl">143</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Correspondence and good conduct and maintained (parole not expired)</td> + <td class="tdlb">238</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Died, doing well until time of death</td> + <td class="tdl"> 1<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Released by Special Executive Clemency, doing well</td> + <td class="tdl"> 1</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Returned to Europe by permission</td> + <td class="tdl" style="text-decoration: underline;"> 1</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">384 or 86 per cent</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Returned to Reformatory for violation of parole</td> + <td class="tdl"> 15 or 33 per cent</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><i>Probably returned to crime.</i></td> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Those who ceased correspondence while on parole and were lost sight of</td> + <td class="tdlb"> 37</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Known to have returned to crime</td> + <td class="tdl" style="text-decoration: underline;"> 9</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl"> 46 or 10 per cent</td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p>It will be seen that while the Reformatory claims only 86 per cent. of +reforms, there were only 9 persons (or 2 per cent. of the whole) who +were <span class="smcap">KNOWN</span> to have certainly returned to crime.</p> + +<p>This exhibit is conclusive. Reformatory Science, which is yet but in its +infancy, can already deal successfully with by far the greatest +proportion of criminals, and this success at this stage guarantees a +much larger measure in the future. It is clear then upon the statements +of the highest authorities that the criminal is not incorrigible, and +that the prison (penal) system compares so unfavourably with the +reformatory system that it ought to be abolished in favour of it. The +system in vogue at the Elmira Reformatory will be described in a later +chapter, and there it will be shown that the methods employed are upon a +most scientific basis and that the results <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>obtained cannot fail to +satisfy the most exacting. It will be seen that by a "reformed" man is +meant a man who can and will adapt himself to the conditions of society; +a man sound in mind, healthy in body, industrious and honest in habit. +Concerning this man's progeny, what have we to fear? It is in this way +that we may dispose of the proportion of 75 per cent. of criminal +children descended from criminal ancestry. It should here be again +observed that the majority of criminals commence their career in crime +at a very early age, and that therefore the reform of almost all +criminals may be undertaken before they are likely to become parents. +Again, true reformatory science forbids the release of any criminal from +custody who has not given satisfactory evidence of reform.</p> + +<p>Thus reformatory science effectually guarantees society against the evil +that Dr Chapple has proposed to eradicate, and it does it by a method +compared with which tubo-ligature is most crude.</p> + +<p>The criminal is either set free as a reformed man or is to be kept in +captivity because his resistance to reformatory discipline has shown him +to be unfit to rightly use his liberty.</p> + +<p>Not only are the chances of his becoming the parent of criminally +disposed children effectually removed but he is himself transformed from +having a negative to having a positive social value.</p> + +<p>Dr Chapple's study convinces him that the cause of the startling +increase of crime, insanity, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>pauperism is to be found "deep down in +biological truth. Society is breeding from defective stock." Dr Waddell, +who writes the preface of the "Fertility of the Unfit," is so alarmed as +to declare that "our civilization is in imminent peril of being swamped +by the increasingly disproportionate progeny of the criminal." The most +superficial observation of the life of the criminal would have shown +both these writers that criminal habits militated substantially against +the probability of a natural increase.</p> + +<p>To repeat what Féré and Havelock Ellis both emphatically declare that +the criminal and the pauper do not reproduce their kind is but to show +that the cause of the natural increase of the criminal is <span class="smcap">NOT</span> +to be found in biological truth, neither is our society in any danger of +being swamped by an increasingly disproportionate progeny of the +criminal. In short, society has no enemy in Nature.</p> + +<p>The true cause for the increase of the numbers of the criminal is to be +found in sociological and not in biological truth. As Lacassagne says: +"Society has the criminals that it deserves."</p> + +<p>Dr MacDonald, W.S. Expert in Criminology, writes to the author, "As to +tubo-ligature, or the like, it would not be supported by scientists."</p> + +<p>If, however, there were absolutely no scientific objection to the +proposal that the Doctor advances, if, that is, the basal facts were +exactly he assumes them to be, would then his remedy be secure from +attack? Most emphatically not. For is it not possible, nay <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>with the +present shrinking from maternity so widespread, is it not highly +probable that the measure would be greatly abused? Thousands as the +Doctor himself says would avail themselves of it to-morrow, and for the +simple reason that they wish to escape from the responsibilities of +bringing up children. Thousands would no doubt repudiate their debts +to-morrow if they might do so with impunity, but their wish in the +matter scarcely establishes the course as being a desirable one or one +calculated to promote the happiness of society.</p> + +<p>From the revelations of the Birth-rate Commission and from other +enquiries it is most evident that tubo-ligature would be very largely +abused indeed.</p> + +<p>But it may be said that it were far better that the woman shrinking +maternity should employ this method than that she should use the +preventive drugs that she does. This is but to acknowledge the morality, +or at least the necessity for the use of preventives and does nothing +less than to charge the Deity with having made laws for the governing of +the Natural Order which have got altogether out of hand and have +involved His creatures in confusion.</p> + +<p>Is it not a question whether marriage becomes a necessity when children +are to be avoided? The evil to which Dr Chapple's remedy would run, is +one in which the moral sentiment of society would be so hardened that +the reason for marriage would disappear from the knowledge of man.</p> + +<p>There is a great difference between this operation <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>taking place from +pathological reasons and its being performed simply as a deliverance +from maternal responsibilities. In the latter case it is performed at +the will of the woman who thus shows that she has conquered the maternal +instinct, and as such she is a monster for she has contradicted her +nature. Lombroso declares that these are the women that commit the most +hideous crimes and that they are incorrigible.</p> + +<p>The Birth-rate Commissioners stated that the use of preventives was +having a most injurious effect upon the health of the women who used +them.</p> + +<p>Clearly then Morality and Nature are both opposed to their use.</p> + +<p>If men and women are becoming so selfish as to be determined to live +contrary to their nature then Nature will deal with them according to +Her terrible manner. If they are in an extremity and find that our +social system makes it impossible for them to undertake the +responsibilities of parentage, then the reorganization of our social +system is a matter for urgent consideration.</p> + +<p>But Dr Chapple would only intensify the evil instead of remedying it.</p> + +<p>What he practically says is this:—Regard yourselves for the moment as +being brute beasts and discuss the question upon that level. Murder the +social instinct; murder the compassionate spirit; disregard the Divine +Law and stifle all faith in the Providence of God; let the mission of +life be the enjoyment of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>pleasure; shrink from the marriage that might +be a burden, and dissolve the happy marriage should indications of +future burdens present themselves. He would have us compelled to take +our betrothed to a medical board and shamelessly confess ourselves. +Confess ourselves under circumstances which would know no secrecy. He +would have us regard our wives from the standpoint of selfishness and +lust alone. But we are not brutes we are human, and we have instincts +which the brutes have not.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Note.</span>—Dr. Chapple includes among the defectives not only the +criminal but also the lunatic, the epileptic and the pauper. How far +tubo-ligature would meet the cases of these defectives seems very +uncertain. The information which the Doctor gives us, for the most part, +is in direct opposition to him. On pages 74-76 he gives the history of +eight families which it will repay to examine.</p> + +<p>Cases I.—Cancer, consumption and epilepsy in the family. In the third +generation there are seven persons, of whom five married. The only +healthy member left five children, three were childless and one who died +at 56 left five children. That is to say, twelve children represent the +fourth generation.</p> + +<p>Case II.—Insanity, idiocy and epilepsy. Of five persons the one sane +member only has a family. Nine children, some (how many?) imbecile.</p> + +<p>Case III.—Drunkenness, insanity. Seven children, two died of +convulsions. One an idiot, one a dement (suicidal), one repeatedly +insane. These three are <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>scarcely likely to be chosen in marriage. One +peculiar and irritable, one nervous and depressed.</p> + +<p>Case IV.—In third generation there are two epileptics and one +imbecile—scarcely likely to marry. Seven others are dead. (S. P.)</p> + +<p>Case V.—From an insane parent we have three children, one excitable, +one dull and one imbecile.</p> + +<p>Case VI.—A family of mutes and scarcely relevant.</p> + +<p>Case VII.—Drunkenness, epilepsy, etc. In the third generation "family +now extinct." No indications of tubo-ligature having been performed.</p> + +<p>Case VIII.—Apparently the issue in the second generation is from two +parentages. There are fifteen persons accounted for. Seven died in +infancy of convulsions. Epilepsy, scrofula, and idiocy can claim one +each. One was drowned, and four are healthy. That is, of seven surviving +children, four are healthy.</p> + +<p>In all from fifteen parents there is the alarming increase of fifty-six +persons. Of these eleven are healthy, fourteen are not described, +fourteen are defective and seventeen are dead. The total number of +living descendants, representing no less than the third generation of +seven families, is but thirty-nine. These figures can scarcely be quoted +to prove the "fertility of the unfit," but that is the title that stands +over them. As to the hereditary tendencies that they propagate, more +information is required.</p> + +<p>It is a well known fact that in cases of hereditary defect there is a +tendency for the defect to appear at <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>either an earlier or later stage +in life in each successive generation (Mercier). In the first case the +family dies out, in the second case it recovers itself. In cases of +congenital defect, there is very little to fear. The lunatic is locked +up and the epileptic is avoided.</p> + +<p>Nature deals most successfully with these cases. She saves where +possible and destroys when recovery is hopeless. Very slowly perhaps, +but very exactly—never making a mistake, and in her slowness she is but +giving man an opportunity to contribute something towards the recovery +she aims at.</p> + +<p><b>The Case of the Epileptic.</b>—The number of epileptics in whom the +disease may be traced to hereditary causes is estimated to be about 33 +per cent. of the whole. This is indeed a very large percentage. It does +not, however, follow that in all the cases or in by any means a large +proportion of them, the parents were also epileptics. Authorities are +not agreed as to the influence of heredity as a predisposing cause; but +it is recognised by all that the children of insane, neurotic, +hysterical or neuralgic parents are liable to become epileptics. Also +that alcoholism in the parents conveys a predisposition to the child. +The hereditary cases are therefore to be divided amongst all these +causes. In what proportion it would be difficult to estimate; but very +few persons in whom epilepsy has developed marry, and as 75 per cent. of +the cases are said to begin under the age of 20 years, and very few +after 25 years (cases of hereditary epilepsy have been known to develop +at so late an age as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>65 and 70 years) it limits the number of +epileptics who marry to a very narrow margin. For even these few, +marriage should, however, be entirely out of the question. In cases, +where from syphilis or shock epilepsy is developed in the married adult +we should expect to find treatment imposing a restriction upon the +freedom of the patient somewhat similar to that provided for lunatics. +In almost every rank of society the developed epileptic would be +excluded from marriage by the law of sexual selection, and as the great +majority develop epilepsy before coming to a marriageable age, few +epileptic children can claim a developed epileptic ancestry.</p> + +<p>The number of cases, where epilepsy results from an epileptic ancestry, +is estimated by Sir Wm. Gowers at 22 per cent. of the whole. These cases +are to be distributed between the developed form and the petit mal. As +the petit mal often escapes observation Dr Chapple's method would only +apply to those cases of the marriage of persons who were afflicted with +the major form of epilepsy, which means that perhaps not more than 10 +per cent. of the number of epileptics could be prevented from coming to +birth. If a ten per centum reduction is to be considered as solving the +problem in the case of epileptics what will the 86 per cent. of reforms +among criminals be valued at?</p> + +<p><b>The Case of the Pauper.</b>—Paupers may be divided into two classes, +those whose poverty is due to misfortunes and those whose poverty is due +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>to vicious idleness. Those whose poverty is due to drink or crime are +not properly to be classified as paupers. Society regards them as +primarily drunkards and criminals. Of these two classes the first are +generally to be found making a courageous fight against adverse +circumstances and feel their position keenly. They are deserving of the +compassion of society. Their families, it is true, are a burden upon +private and institutional charity, but only a temporary one and after a +while become the very means of recovering the broken fortunes of their +parents. Very large sums are spent in relieving the necessities (often +in providing the luxuries) of the undeserving poor, but this fact should +not be made the basis of a charge against the deserving but helpless +poor. My own acquaintance with the poorest parts of one of our largest +cities leads me to believe that very little charity ever reaches the +truly deserving poor. They battle on and keep their sad condition as far +from public observation as possible. The undeserving are very clamorous. +These two incidents are by no means uncommon, they are fairly typical. +(a) I was called one night to baptise a dying child. The mother stated +that she was too poor to buy a few necessaries ordered by the doctor. I +purchased these myself and brought them to the mother. The next morning +she sent to say the child was dead and would I lend her money to wire to +the father. As he was in work I thought a collect telegram was more +suitable. In the evening a request came for monetary assistance to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>provide the child with a coffin and to purchase a plot in the cemetery. +A clergyman who does that sort of thing might as well keep a private +cemetery, undertaker and monumental mason of his own. I refused to do it +and came in for a good deal of abuse. The mother appeared at the funeral +in a new black silk dress!</p> + +<p>(b) A crippled woman who earned her living by ironing. She made on an +average 10s per week. I suggested to her the advisability of applying +for an old age pension and proceeded to fill in her papers. When she +discovered that she was two months under the age of 65 she was horrified +at what she thought an attempt on her part to swindle the Government.</p> + +<p>These cases speak for themselves. People seem afraid to refuse to give +alms for fear of being called uncharitable, yet they have not the +charity to investigate the cases brought before their notice and see +that their relief is intelligently bestowed upon worthy persons. Some +religious societies are cruel sinners in this respect. The consequence +is that a premium is put upon professional begging and we have plenty of +it. Society will never murmur against the burden of the deserving poor. +Concerning the life of the poor, however, Korosi gives these +statistics:—The average age of the rich is 35 years, of the well-to-do +20.6 years, of the poor only 13.2 years. These statistics are supposed +to hold good for all large towns. The average life of the pauper (that +is the vicious pauper) will be shorter still seeing that in his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>idle, +vicious life the parent refuses to acknowledge his responsibilities +towards his children and makes no effort to save them from perishing +through want and proper healthful conditions. The numbers of the pauper +may increase, but it is seen then that they do not live to any great +length of life. The pauper has, however, a certain rate of increase and +his children are brought up in pauper habits. To the criminal population +they add about 2 per cent. of the whole. They constitute a burden, not +very great, but one which society resents. To adopt tubo-ligature might +relieve both society and the pauper, but its moral effect would be that +the pauper would regard his vice as acknowledged and approved by +society. To say that there are no other remedies, remedies which would +compel the pauper to earn his living, is an appalling confession of +failure on the part of society.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="Chapter_VI" id="Chapter_VI"></a> +<br /> + +<hr /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> +<br /> +<h2>Chapter VI.</h2> + +<h2>THE OBLIGATIONS OF SOCIETY TOWARDS THE WEAK.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>The last century is admittedly one in which was witnessed the greatest +advances in civilization that the world has ever made. All classes in +society may be said to have benefited. The rich have been given greater +opportunities for the enjoyment of their riches and an enlarged sphere +of usefulness opened to them. The poor have had their lot so greatly +ameliorated, that given health, very few men in these colonies at all +events, are poor except it be their own fault. The art of healing can +now restore to health millions who, had they lived in an earlier +century, would have suffered agonies. A universal education has opened +the doors of colleges and universities and made it possible for those +born in the humblest conditions of life, to attain to the most +distinguished positions in the land. The private has become the general; +the office boy the judge; the peasant boy the President; the +full-blooded aboriginal has graduated through our universities and been +called to the Bar; and no man can urge class distinction as being the +cause of his failure in any ambition that he has faithfully pursued. All +classes have benefited; almost all classes have advanced.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>Undeniably this advance has brought greater happiness into the world; +whether it will continue will entirely depend upon what basis it is +intended to secure this advance.</p> + +<p>With an increase of wealth and leisure there is the danger of +demoralisation. Our society may substitute a false aim for its true one. +Already there are an illimitable number of social reformers who are +prepared to describe in very definite terms what is the state of +perfected society and what laws are necessary for immediate enactment in +order that we might rapidly reach that state. We all acknowledge the +existence of the prophetic vision, but we limit its range and regard him +most audacious who declares that he can describe the heaven in which +society shall finally shelter itself securely from all that prey upon +her. Advance as quickly as we may, there is a limit to our speed, and +the future being all unknown we scarcely like to take it at a plunge. +Nevertheless, these social reformers do a good work—their schemes are +at least suggestive, and moreover they point out signs of the times. +They show us unmistakably that with our advance there is a tendency to +become more and more selfish and to regard with less true charity the +condition of the weak. One social reformer will say that there will not +be any suffering because therapeutics will have overtaken every disease +that the flesh is heir to, or better still, that some new discovery will +have made it possible to heal all sicknesses without the tedious work of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>surgeons and nurses. Healing will become a pastime like table-turning. +Neither will there be any criminals because the whole social state will +be so happy, contented, and knit together that inducement to crime will +cease. Others will treat the criminal "scientifically," ensuring reforms +at the rate of 100 per cent. with lightning-like rapidity. Which all +practically amounts to this, that the problem concerning the future of +the weak is shelved. To study it deeply would spoil our best theories +and therefore it must be got rid of. Dr Chapple has done nothing more +than shelve it, for as we have seen his remedy is both practically and +morally impossible. Like all others it betrays the selfish spirit. Like +them it regards the weak as if they were nothing less than an +intolerable incubus on society, a grit in its bearings. It may be that +our social advancement will account for this. In old time when +communities were small and fixed, the burden of nursing the helpless +necessarily fell upon those who were immediately related by ties of +blood or neighbourhood, but now the many changes in the method of living +and treatment, has made this to a large extent impossible. Institutions +have everywhere sprung up, and it is invariably to the advantage of our +sick and afflicted that we should commit them to these institutions, +which practice has engendered the belief that all our social obligations +can be discharged by monetary payment. Not for one moment need we +entertain the idea that this belief will ever become a dominating one. +Charitable <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>influences are more powerful. Nor must we charge the authors +of selfish systems with being as uncharitable as their systems. They +give expression to a fairly strong and somewhat universal sentiment, a +sentiment which we would perhaps disown at once upon its being unmasked +and which many refuse to obey upon its appeal to them to act in +accordance with its principles. This indicates that society sees many of +its assailants in but a half-light. It observes neither their malice nor +strength but only a dark ugly form which irritates us and which we would +if we could banish by an act of will.</p> + +<p>This being impossible we must meet our assailants in a clearer light and +destroy them. How can this be done, since it would mean the destruction +of evil and the powers of evil? Then it cannot be done, but since evil +feeds itself upon its victims we can greatly diminish its power and +influence by rescuing all who fall within its grasp. Many we know we +cannot rescue for there are certain types of disease mental and bodily +which defy our skill and some of all types of moral disease also defy +our effort. Still it would be better to say that we do not rescue them, +than that we cannot, for what was incurable yesterday is curable to-day, +and the most deadly diseases are giving clear evidence that their powers +to baffle science are fast giving out. That they will give out, +scientific men confidently hope. Neither is this hope groundless for +past success warrant it and there again point to another assurance, +almost a guarantee. The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>miracles of healing which Our Lord wrought were +not only to confer relief upon the suffering, not only to give evidence +of His Divinity, but also to promise the triumph which would reward the +efforts of man seeking to assist his afflicted brother. We will never +heal by a word, neither will we raise the dead, for in these works of +might we have peculiar evidence of the Divine Providence; but Christ's +miracles seem to promise that He, the Light of the World, will yet grant +the fullness of that illumination by which the works of healing are +done.</p> + +<p>The sick, it is true, receive greater compassion from their fellowmen +than the abnormal, the insane and the criminal. But these latter also +demand our consideration if for no other reason than that they menace +society. To exterminate them is impossible. A persecution with that end +would defeat itself, and the persecutors would become morally infinitely +worse than the persecuted.</p> + +<p>Secondly: their consideration is demanded from the fact that society has +produced the evil plight of very many of them. In the great advance, +they have fallen and been trampled on. Their right to fall may be +denied, but whose right was it to trample on them? To declare it to have +been inevitable that they should be trampled on, simply excuses guilt +but not obligation. And the obligation is to make reparation as far as +possible.</p> + +<p>Thirdly: because what should be a valuable asset to society, +contributing substantially to her strength, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>becomes a hostile power +weakening her and hindering her progress. Any of these three +considerations received separately is sufficient to convince us of our +obligations to this uglier section of the weak, when combined their +force is very great. But when we speak to them of peace do they not make +them ready to battle? No, their case is not so hopeless as that. David +lived under the Mosaic Dispensation, and Moses could give but the law +whereas Christ has given His Life. Our method will determine everything. +Good advice, good books, good laws will do but little; good work will +accomplish all. "The greatest good of the greatest number" is a false +ideal and absolutely unworthy either of our charity or our science. "The +ultimate good of all" is the end society is destined to accomplish, and +anything less is too little for her, anything more is impossible even to +conceive.</p> + +<p>In working towards this ideal, which we cannot describe with greater +definiteness, we are bound to recognise that <span class="smcap">Goodness</span> is our +safe and only guide. The general direction of our advance in the past we +can easily trace, but the purpose of the devious paths through which we +were led is too difficult to understand. Our present puzzles us, our +future sometimes appals us. Some rush ahead to see what lies before us +and come back injured and pass away as pessimists, others hesitate to +advance at all. We cannot outstrip our guiding pillar of light; but +following it we are safe to advance. And in following, one of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>first +convictions that comes home to us is that we must allow no waste, +neither in the lives of others nor in the energies of ourselves. With +this conviction soon comes the startling fact that the energies we are +allowing to waste are identically those which were given to us to save +the lives of others which are wasting. A wonderful independence exists +among us. The social system is bound together by ties of nature, and not +merely by those of commerce or benefit. Man is social, not merely +gregarious. He enters into the life of his fellow-man and establishes +relations which we are bound to call spiritual. Through the media of +these relations, influences traverse which are of the most profound we +know. These relations when established compel us to acknowledge our +duties to one another and give us a delight in discharging them. This +delight in turn becomes the power, which opens the eyes to the +realization of the great principle of self-sacrifice. Egoism and +altruism are not to be mutually exclusive. To seek our own happiness is +not to be indifferent to the happiness of society. For what is +happiness? not pleasure, but self-realization, and we cannot realise +self without realising society.</p> + +<p>This interdependence which exists between man and man, and which makes +it possible for us to influence one another so powerfully for good or +for evil, points out to us that the true aim of every man, namely, to +unite his work with that of his fellow-man in a grand co-operative +undertaking for the advancement and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>betterment of society regarded as a +whole and with regard for its units. We cannot realise self if engaged +in competition man against man in order to satisfy private ambition. Our +object should be to unite and our hostility be provoked, not against one +another, weak or strong, but against the powers which attack us +individually and collectively.</p> + +<p>Necessity then lays the obligation upon us to give our first attention +to the rescue of the weak. It was the recognition of this obligation +which sent the Christian-Maidens into the suburbs of Rome seeking the +exposed offspring of unnatural parents. To say that they would have been +better dead, is to speak with that facility which requires neither +mental nor moral perception.</p> + +<p>It is the recognition, in part, of this obligation which accounts for +hospitals, asylums and other charitable institutions. Hence also we +endeavour to shelter those born deficient in mental or moral power. Dr +Chapple seems to think that the result of all this is that we have made +a pretty mess of society. He says, of these weaklings, that Nature has +decreed that they should die. A most unscientific statement. Are these +charitable efforts to be regarded as profane interference with the +sacred decrees of Nature? Nature's decrees are inviolate and none can +disturb them. Because these weak, if left unaided, would perish, is that +to say that Nature has decreed that they should die? If so, we must say +of a man, stricken with typhoid fever, that Nature has decreed that he +should <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>die, and that any effort to save him would be but a profane +interference on our part with Nature.</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 0.2em;">What does Nature say of these that</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">they do not live,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">they cannot live, or</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">they must not live?</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>History has shown that in the past they do not live.</p> + +<p>But in order to discover the decree of Nature we must make a full and +exhaustive enquiry into the possibilities which exist under the laws of +Nature. So far as this enquiry has advanced it has been made quite clear +that the charitable effort of man will recover many that would otherwise +perish. The whole science of therapeutics is based upon this discovery.</p> + +<p>Dr Chapple says of defectives that they do live but that they must not. +Two arguments he brings forward. The first is that Nature has decreed +that they should not. This must be a secret communication, for it is not +universal knowledge, and the operation of Nature's laws certainly +appears to contradict it. The second argument is that they are a burden. +The burden analysed amounts to this:—</p> + +<p class="noin"> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">(a). They are a misery to themselves.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">(b). They are too costly.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">(c). They hinder the progress of society.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">(d). They threaten to overwhelm society.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>(a). Who can tell whether the weak are absolutely a misery to +themselves. Pain is a mystery which cannot be solved, although to the +suffering its benefits are well known. If they would be better out of +the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>way might they not be left to decide that matter for themselves? +They, knowing best, cry to us for help. If we were merely gregarious +creatures like wolves or sharks we would tear or destroy them in their +misery; but as social beings we are bound to answer their cry. To cry +for help is instinctive with them, and to respond to the cry is +instinctive with us. Surely this is the voice of Nature and this is the +decree of Nature.</p> + +<p>(b). If this argument be admitted then we are bound to declare that the +one aim of both society and individual is to amass wealth. The idea is +too sordid for further consideration.</p> + +<p>(c). So far from hindering the social progress they most powerfully +assist it. The mere bearing of one another's burdens has the most +refining and deepening influence upon character. It is most active in +creating and establishing our relations one with another. Compassion for +the suffering creates a tie between them and us. The intention to help +requires our co-operation with others, and so the bond extends uniting +first individuals then groups and then the whole of society. Nor must we +forget the immense advance in surgery and medicine which is due entirely +to the consideration of the lot of the apparently hopeless. Had these +even been allowed to perish we should still have needed our surgeons and +physicians in a well equipped society, if only to teach us how to +prevent seizure by dangerous complaints.</p> + +<p>A short time ago many died from ailments which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>surgery can to-day cure +with but very little suffering on the part of the patient. Is not this a +substantial gain which the bearing of the burden of the weak has brought +to man? To mention other triumphs is but to enlarge. If therefore Nature +has spoken there can be no doubt that it was to give a promise that she +would reward diligent research by revealing the cure of all the ills our +flesh inherits. Thus assured, scientific men are most zealously studying +the most deadly and most obstinate diseases. Against plague, smallpox, +and consumption they can at least give us an effective protection, and +almost hourly we expect to hear the shout of triumph accompanying the +announcement that the victory over cancer has been gained. When stricken +with these diseases we immediately fall into the ranks of the unfit; but +we will thank society for having borne its burden when the healing art +is brought to such an excellence that, when so stricken, we may soon be +restored to the ranks of the fit. The benefit which the past confers +upon us declares imperatively our obligation to the future.</p> + +<p>(d). Do they threaten to overwhelm? The power of disease is being +overcome, and therefore the number of the diseased is being lessened. By +being cured, instead of dying, these increase the proportion of the +strong to the weak. The obstinacy of certain hereditary diseases but +asserts the necessity of prosecuting study more enthusiastically.</p> + +<p>But if the strong limit their increase they cannot <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>demand that +exterminating methods should be applied to the weak in order to restore +the proportion which they, the strong, have thus by their selfishness +disturbed. Nature gives adequate protection so far as numerical increase +is concerned, and no scientific man will dare to state that this +protection may be disregarded and another demanded.</p> + +<p>The Government of India has been charged with pursuing a suicidal policy +in safeguarding the natives against plague and smallpox and in +preventing human sacrifice. Their numbers will increase, food supplies +will give out, or, worst of all, they may become so powerful as to wrest +the supremacy from the European. Charity, however, demands that these +measures shall be taken, and the terrors of the future are at best +hypothetical. This is but another case in which consideration for the +unknown future is apt to hinder us in the discharge of our known duties +to the present. History assures us that the guarantee of the future lies +in the fulfilment of these duties. The height of absurdity is reached +when the attempt is made to establish the proportions of the future. +Such efforts defy man.</p> + +<p>The burden of the weak is the burden of the strong, and in the bearing +of it is brought into view the grand and true ideal of society—the good +of all.</p> + +<p>Man is endowed with natural powers for assisting his weaker brother, +and, above all these powers he has, through supplication the means of +engaging the Divine Influence, which simply defies all <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>calculation +against the possibility of reform or recovery.</p> + +<p>Where charitable effort in the past has not succeeded it is because it +has not gone far enough. Building institutions is sometimes due to a +craze and not charity. Thus evils are sometimes accentuated and not +mitigated. Such failures must spur to redoubled effort. Hope was never +larger than at present.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="Chapter_VII" id="Chapter_VII"></a> +<br /> + +<hr /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> +<br /> +<h2>Chapter VII.</h2> + +<h2>THE NEW PENOLOGY.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>The old method of dealing with criminals was based entirely upon a +doctrine of vengeance. The criminal was regarded as being in every way a +normal man, a man who deliberately chose to be a criminal. The +possibility of a criminal's moral sense being defective, of his not +being able to bring his actions under the control of his will, or of +some other sad handicap existing, was never contemplated. His crime was +looked upon as a desperate act, for the committal of which he was +absolutely without any excuse. The consequence was that an elaborate +system of torture was devised in order to deal with him. Readers who are +familiar with such books as Marcus Clark's "For the term of his natural +life," and Charles Reade's "It is never too late to mend," will require +no further description of the horrors of "the vengeance system" which +was supposed to be the only rational method of dealing with criminals in +the days of the convict settlements.</p> + +<p>Since then, popular vengeance has considerably relaxed and the devising +of painful forms of punishment has become almost a lost art. The +new-born science, with its first powers of articulation, loudly repeat +the words of Revelation, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the +Lord." A system of vengeance <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>instituted by man against man is +impossible. As has been stated in a previous chapter, the new penology +repudiates all such systems. The amount of pain which an individual is +to be called upon to suffer may well be left to the higher tribunal. The +obvious duty of man to his fellow-man who is depraved, is to endeavour +to recover him. There is no satisfaction in punishing him, but there is +every satisfaction in reforming him.</p> + +<p>The new penology covers the investigation and study of every +circumstance surrounding the criminal as such. No circumstance is so +trifling as to be passed by, every detail is carefully studied with the +object of discovering what the criminal is and how he came to be such, +what are his possibilities, and by what methods those possibilities may +be reached.</p> + +<p>Maconochie ventured upon the bold assumption that the criminal was a +human being, and this assumption proved to be justified. In 1840 he was +sent to Norfolk Island to take charge of 1400 double-convicted felons +there. He describes them in these words:—"For the merest trifle they +were flogged, ironed or confined in gaol for days on bread and water. +The offences most severely punished were chiefly conventional; those +against morals being little regarded, compared with those against +unreasonable discipline. Thus the horrid vices with acts of brutal +violence, or of dexterity in theft and robbery, were detailed to me by +the officers with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>little direct censure, and rather as anecdotes +calculated to astonish and amuse a new-comer. While the possession of a +pipe, a newspaper, a little tea, etc., or the omission of some mark of +respect, a saucy look or word, or even an imputation of sullenness, were +deemed unpardonable offences. They were fed more like hogs than like +men; neither knives, forks, nor hardly any other conveniences were +allowed at tables. They tore their food with their fingers and teeth, +and drank out of water buckets. The men's countenances reflected +faithfully this description of treatment. A more demoniacal looking +assemblage could not be imagined; and nearly the most formidable sight I +ever beheld was the sea of faces upturned to me when I first addressed +them. Yet three years after, I had the satisfaction of hearing Sir +George Gipps ask me what I had done to make the men look so well?—he +had seldom seen a better looking set."</p> + +<p>Maconochie had invented the mark system (the principle of the +indeterminate system) and made the prisoners' liberation depend upon +their conduct and character and not upon the original offence. +Maconochie's experience led him to write in after years to a friend, "if +you would try a social-moral one (prison system) you would soon get +important results. If our punishments were first of all made +<span class="smcap">REFORMATORY</span>, and generally successful in this object the +prejudices of society against the early criminal would abate." Inspired +with this hope of reforming the criminal and restoring him to society +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>as a useful member, philanthropists began the exhaustive study of the +criminal. In prisons where the value of this science is recognized the +criminal upon his entry is subject to a most thorough examination, every +item of his family history is carefully enquired into. Information +concerning the occupation, education, health and character of all who +are nearly related to him is obtained, as also the moral and economic +conditions of his home life, and the character of his associates. He +himself is studied for the existence or traces of disease; for +abnormalities, arrested or exaggerated physical and mental development. +The strength of his various muscles, the vitality of his organs, his +mental and nervous capacity, and his moral susceptibility are all +estimated. His powers of self-control are determined. His disposition is +carefully studied. His opportunities in life, his educational +advantages, his early career, the nature of the crime, the immediate +influencing circumstances, as provocation, hunger, cold, atmospheric +disturbances are all noted.</p> + +<p>Such is a brief outline of the examination, the object of which is to +discover as far as possible the real cause which led to the crime, what, +if any, were the social, physical, psychical and provocative elements +contributing to the cause; what their value; and what are the most +promising lines upon which the criminal's reform may be directed. He is +by no means regarded as a passive product of forces over which he has no +control, nor his crime as the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>consequence of himself. It is essential +to the success of all reformatory discipline that moral responsibility +must be recognised and observed. In fact it may be said, that +reformation is complete when moral responsibility, insisted upon by the +discipline, becomes at last acknowledged by the man.</p> + +<p>Perhaps it may be thought that it is not possible to conduct such a +study with anything like accurate results, and that the greater part of +it would be mere guess work, as e.g. the determining the capacity of +a man's nervous system or his degree of moral susceptibility. This is +quite a mistake. There is nothing whatever of a speculative quality in +the results advanced by criminologists. Their methods are exact and +compare equally with those for the investigation of other phenomena.</p> + +<p>It is not claimed that the absolute or the relative value of the data +collected is as yet determined, nor yet that any one investigation has +been exhausted; but this much can be claimed, that the results obtained +are of high practical worth and justify the assurance that the solution +of the problem concerning the criminal will soon be reached.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="Chapter_VIII" id="Chapter_VIII"></a> +<br /> + +<hr /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> +<br /> +<h2>Chapter VIII.</h2> + +<h2>THE PREVENTION OF CRIME.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>The result of Criminological studies has indicated most clearly that no +measures for the prevention or repression of crime will ever be adequate +which are not based upon a scientific system of education. Whatever this +system may prove to be, it must have one distinct aim, and that is to +train all its members to love, and to work for, the social state. This +aim must be accomplished most thoroughly no matter what the cost may be.</p> + +<p>The decreasing birth-rate points to other conclusions than the obvious +one that a large number of persons must be using preventive means. It +points to a widespread selfishness which regards children as an +intolerable burden, as in fact nothing less than a grievous misfortune. +It is obvious that where children are so regarded a blight has fallen +upon the domestic life. Home cannot be the brightest spot on earth to +them; neither can the father and mother be their sympathetic guides, +counsellors, and protectors. Nor can those children be studied (by those +who alone have the special faculty for studying them) in order that +their secret aims and ambitions and the difficulties which obstruct +these aims and ambitions, may be understood.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>It follows then that from parental selfishness a great number (and close +observation leads one to believe that by far the greater proportion) of +the children of this generation and in this colony, are growing up with +less care and attention being bestowed upon them than what their parents +are prepared to bestow upon even their very horses or their dogs. This +factor of parental selfishness cannot be ignored either academically or +practically. It must in some way be overcome, or at least its influence +for harm must be considerably reduced.</p> + +<p>It would be interesting to discover how far this parental selfishness +was a deviation from true parental pride. Possibly it may not be so very +great as the vast difference in results may lead us to suppose, and if +this be so the reorganisation of the child's educational system will not +be insuperably difficult.</p> + +<p>In many homes where there are more than two or three children, there is +a total lack of domestic sympathy and pride. The children are not taught +to love one another nor to understand and help one another. Adult +influence is very seldom brought to bear upon them, and, worst of all, +parental influence is either wanting, deficient or injurious. What +children suffer from this want in the development in their natures must +of necessity be, and it unquestionably is, sufficient to handicap them +throughout their whole life. Parents profess that they have done their +best with this or that child and that they have failed, but the fault +largely lies in the parents undertaking the task <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>with every expectation +of failure, and the chief characteristics noticed by the child have been +the parental irritability, impatience and incompetence. Having estimated +these the child then knows exactly how to gain its own ends and has +sufficient determination to persevere until it does. A certain amount of +harsh treatment will suffice, until the child is old enough to rebel, in +order to keep it in check, or, as is just as often the case, the child +may be allowed to have its own way entirely. Under such circumstances it +is not a matter of great wonderment that the child should be looked upon +as a burden to be fed, clothed, and tolerated until it is old enough to +"do something" for itself.</p> + +<p>But our school system is also at fault, for by it our children are +crammed with an amount of information the whole, or even the greater +part, of which very few of them will ever use. Imagine the object, if +one can, of spending the precious hours of a child's educational life in +teaching it the names of every dozen or so of the different towns of +each county in the United Kingdom, and at the same time entirely +neglecting its moral training and giving very little attention to the +physical.</p> + +<p>If a child be bright he has every consideration from his teachers and +receives from his companions the opprobious nickname of "Teacher's Pet." +He gains a reward, perhaps a medal, and at the annual distribution of +prizes the speech-makers point to the coming legislators and successful +men of business in a manner <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>which conveys to this scholar the idea that +the one thing to live for is to gain an exalted position in the world. +This would not be so bad in itself, were it not that the love for honest +labour is not inculcated at the same time, and consequently the children +imagine that they are going to be pitchforked into prominence. As an +evidence, witness the speculative spirit so universal among our youth. +They hope to make their way in life simply by "striking it lucky." +Personally I have spoken to a large number of boys about the ages of +from fourteen to sixteen years and I have never yet been able to find a +boy who could tell me definitely what he would like to be. His father +looks about for something for him to do without any knowledge of the +boy's possibility of greatest success lying in one well marked +direction. The boy remains in a billet only so long as he fails to get +another with a greater wage attached to it, and when perhaps twenty +years of age are reached he is conscious of where the true lines of his +destiny lie; but it is then too late for him to begin the necessary +education, and the consequence is that his life loses its inspiration. +Now it is quite possible that if our school system were so reorganised +that parents saw as a result that their children developed a true love +for labour and worked with definite purpose, that they would take a more +intense pride in them and enter more sympathetically into their labours +and ambitions. The education of the child would thus be brought to react +upon the parent and tend immediately <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>to reorganise the domestic life +and bring it closer to the Hebrew conception, which conception when +realised would most thoroughly solve the problem of the moral +regeneration of the race. It is impossible for the State to have to +commence to educate the parent except by reactionary methods and by +compelling the observance of all legitimate obligations. That our +present school system does not react favourably upon the parent must be +obvious from what has already been said. In the past when only the +fortunate few were able to secure the advantages of a good education, +they, for the most part, recognised the greatness of their opportunity +and prosecuted their studies with zeal. But to-day, with an universal +educational system the value of these opportunities is, by the child and +sometimes by the parent, very much lost sight of. The child needs now a +stimulant, something to arouse and sustain his interest in his work. He +should learn to regard his school work with pleasure and his home with +affection.</p> + +<p>The three principal standpoints from which education is regarded +are:—(a) the utilitarian, (b) the disciplinarian, and (c) a compromise +between the two.</p> + +<p>The Utilitarians consider that an educational system should store the +mind of the child with such knowledge only as shall be of direct value +to it in its after life. The disciplinarians consider that a child's +education should content itself with so developing the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>faculties that +when matured they may be adequate for such mental tasks as the after +life or vocation may provide. The middle course is held by those who +endeavour to train the faculties of the child in the manner prescribed +by the disciplinarians, but in so doing, they employ the mind upon +exercises, the accomplishment of which, is of immediate and permanent +value.</p> + +<p>The education system in New Zealand is constructed upon the utilitarian +basis. The children's minds are crammed with knowledge—<span class="smcap">USEFUL</span> +knowledge let it be called—and they are encouraged to be diligent +because of the great benefit this knowledge will be to them when they +become men and women—which development the child of eight expects will +be attained sometime before the end of the world, and will then come by +chance. The reward of the child's labour is thrown into the far distant +future, and is so entirely lost sight of as an inspiring factor, that +artificial rewards have to be provided and the child ponders over his +lessons in the hope of winning one of Ballantyne's or Henty's "Books for +Boys."</p> + +<p>Now, the facts of a child's life demonstrate conclusively that the child +is capable of having all its interests absorbed in its work. The +diligence with which it will build up a doll's house out of a soap box, +a jam tin, a few stones and any odds and ends that it can lay its hands +on, is sufficient evidence of this. The child loves to make things for +itself, and its affection for the rude creations of its own mind is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>far +greater than that for its most gorgeous and expensive toys. Upon the +recognition of these facts, the kindergarten system is based.</p> + +<p>In Sweden a very successful attempt has been made to construct the whole +of the primary system upon this basis, and for this purpose Sloyd has +been introduced into the schools. Certain Sloyd exercises have made +their appearance in our New Zealand schools and have met with somewhat +severe criticism, the whole system being condemned as being ideal +theoretically, but valueless practically. It took many years before the +Swedish system was perfected, and it should follow obviously that a very +partial experiment, such as the colonial one has been, gives no idea of +what value the complete system may achieve.</p> + +<p>By Sloyd, we understand a system of educational hand-work. The children +are employed upon various kinds of hand craft with the object of +developing their mental, moral, and physical powers. The object is +<span class="smcap">NOT</span> to make artisans of the children, although undoubtedly +those children who afterwards become tradesmen find that the educational +principles of their trade has already been grasped by the intellect, but +the same will apply to those entering any legitimate vocation without +exception.</p> + +<p>Although there are many different kinds of Sloyd, woodwork has been +discovered to be the most useful, and it alone survives the severe tests +imposed. A glance at the accompanying table will explain what is meant.</p> + +<p class="cen">COMPARATIVE TABLE OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF SLOYD.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p> + +<p class="noin"> +Key:<br /> +A - Does it accord with children's capability?<br /> +B - Does it excite and sustain interest?<br /> +C - Are the objects made useful?<br /> +D - Does it give a respect for rough work?<br /> +E - Does it train in order and exactness?<br /> +F - Does it allow cleanliness and neatness?<br /> +G - Does it cultivate the sense of form?<br /> +H - Is it beneficial from an hygienic point of view?<br /> + I - Does it allow methodical arrangement?<br /> + J - Does it teach dexterity of hand?<br /> +</p> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="100%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Comparative Table"> + <tr> + <td class="tdctb" style="font-size: 75%;">Branches of Sloyd.</td> + <td class="tdctlb" style="font-size: 75%;">A</td> + <td class="tdctlb" style="font-size: 75%;">B</td> + <td class="tdctlb" style="font-size: 75%;">C</td> + <td class="tdctlb" style="font-size: 75%;">D</td> + <td class="tdctlb" style="font-size: 75%;">E</td> + <td class="tdctlb" style="font-size: 75%;">F</td> + <td class="tdctlb" style="font-size: 75%;">G</td> + <td class="tdctlb" style="font-size: 75%;">H</td> + <td class="tdctlb" style="font-size: 75%;">I</td> + <td class="tdctlb" style="font-size: 75%;">J</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="12%" style="font-size: 75%;">Simple Metal Work</td> + <td class="tdclv" width="9%" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes & no</td> + <td class="tdclv" width="9%" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" width="8%" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" width="9%" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" width="10%" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes & no</td> + <td class="tdclv" width="8%" style="font-size: 75%;">Tolerably No</td> + <td class="tdclv" width="9%" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" width="9%" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes?</td> + <td class="tdclv" width="9%" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" width="8%" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" style="font-size: 75%;">Smith's Work</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Hardly</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Tolerably</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No?</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes & no</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Perhaps</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" style="font-size: 75%;">Basket Making</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Hardly</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Tolerably</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes?</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" style="font-size: 75%;">Straw Plaiting</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes?</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes & no</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No & yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No?</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" style="font-size: 75%;">Brush Making</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No?</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes??</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes?</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Tolerably</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" style="font-size: 75%;">House Painting</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes & no</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" style="font-size: 75%;">Fretwork</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes?</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No & yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No & yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No & yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No & yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" style="font-size: 75%; vertical-align: bottom;">Bookbinding</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No & yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes Tolerably</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Hardly</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Tolerably</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes?</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No?</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Perhaps</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Tolerably</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" style="font-size: 75%;">Cardboard Work</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes & no</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes?</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes very high</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes?</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No?</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" style="font-size: 75%;">Sloyd Carpentry</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes?</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes?</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" style="font-size: 75%;">Turnery</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes?</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Hardly</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">partly (not quite No)</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes?</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" style="font-size: 75%;">Carving in Wood</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes?</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes & no</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes & no</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes & no</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">Yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%;">No</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" style="font-size: 75%; border-bottom: .5pt black solid;">Clay Modelling</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%; border-bottom: .5pt black solid;">Yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%; border-bottom: .5pt black solid;">Yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%; border-bottom: .5pt black solid;">No</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%; border-bottom: .5pt black solid;">No</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%; border-bottom: .5pt black solid;">Yes & no</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%; border-bottom: .5pt black solid;">No</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%; border-bottom: .5pt black solid;">Yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%; border-bottom: .5pt black solid;">No</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%; border-bottom: .5pt black solid;">Yes</td> + <td class="tdclv" style="font-size: 75%; border-bottom: .5pt black solid;">No</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="11" style="font-size: 75%;">From "Theory of Sloyd," Salomon.</td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>The objects of Sloyd are:—(a) to instil a taste for, and love of, +labour in general.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Note.</span>—(For this analysis of the Sloyd system the author has +based his study upon Herr Salomon's works "The theory of educational +Sloyd" and "The Teacher's hand book of Sloyd.")</p> + +<p>Children love to make things for themselves and prize their own work +much more than ready made articles. The educator should follow Nature's +lead and satisfy this craving. By a skilful direction of the child's +interest a love for labour in general is instilled, and rewards are +found to be unnecessary, the children being only too eager to achieve. +To sustain their interest in the work they are engaged upon must be +useful from <span class="smcap">THEIR OWN STANDPOINT</span>. The work should not be +preceded by fatiguing exercises, but the first cut should be a stroke +towards the accomplishment of the desired end. The exercise must afford +variety. The entire work of the exercise must be within their power and +not requiring the aid of the teacher to "finish it off." It must be real +work and not a pretence; and the objects should become the property of +the children. To give children intricate joints to cut is of no real +value. The child has no genuine interest in what are simply the parts of +an exercise, it must make something complete and useful in itself. To +make a garden stick accurate according to model is of more value than to +make the most intricate joint. One may say that the child who could do +the one could do the other, but that is not <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>the point, for the object +is not merely to gain manual dexterity but to develop all the faculties +of a child, and this is what the complete exercise achieves and in what +the partial exercise absolutely fails.</p> + +<p>(b) To instil respect for rough, honest, bodily labour, which is +achieved by the introduction of the work into schools of all grades so +that ALL classes of the community may engage upon it, and by the +teachers taking pride in it themselves, and by their intelligent +teaching of it to their classes.</p> + +<p>(c) To develop independence and self-reliance. The child requires +individual attention, the teacher must not tell too much, the child +should endeavour as far as possible to discover by experiment the best +methods for holding and manipulating tools, and also to be allowed as +much free play as possible for its judgment.</p> + +<p>(d) To train in habits of order, exactness, cleanliness, and neatness.</p> + +<p>Which are acquired by keeping the models well within the children's +range of ability, demanding that the work shall always be done in an +orderly manner and with the greatest measure of exactness that the child +is capable of. How far cleanliness and neatness may be instilled is +apparent from the nature of the work.</p> + +<p>(e) To train the eye, and the sense of form. To cultivate dexterity of +hand and develop touch.</p> + +<p>The models are of two kinds:—rectilinear and curvilinear. The former +are tested by the square, the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>rule and the compasses, but the accuracy +of the latter depends upon the eye, the sense of form and that of touch. +This training enables the child to distinguish between good and bad work +and to put a right value upon the former, to understand the right use of +ornament, and also cultivates the æsthetic taste upon classic lines. An +enormous number of jerry built articles are sold, which the public +readily buy simply on account of their ornamental appearance. If the +ability to distinguish between good and bad work were more universal it +would go far towards improving trade morality.</p> + +<p>(f) To cultivate habits of attention, interest, etc. The success of the +work requires that the mind shall be closely concentrated upon it. The +nature of the work excites the interest of the child, and under careful +direction this interest is sustained throughout. A genius has been +described as a man capable of taking pains—a master of detail. Sloyd is +eminently suited for concentrating the attention upon the details of +work and for training the Sloyder to be thorough and never content with +"making a thing do."</p> + +<p>The desire of the child to finish the work and to finish it well, +overrides any element of impatience or irritability that may be in his +character, and in a natural way introduces the elements of patience and +perseverance in his work. These qualities are not confined to his Sloyd +work but extend throughout his character, so that he realises that the +work of life all contributes to some definite aim.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>(g) Uniform development of the physical powers. Statistics collected +from any country show that many forms of disease before unknown among +the young, are now very prevalent among the children taught in the +schools. These diseases are attributed to the many hours during which +children are required to sit and to the bad positions they assume during +those hours. Skoliosis—curvature of the spine—a serious disease, as it +produces displacement of the internal organs, nose bleeding, ænemia, +chlorosis, nervous irritation, loss of appetite, headache, and myopia, +are diseases which are declared by experts to accompany the present +system of education.</p> + +<p>Sloyd when properly taught tends to develop the frame according to the +normal standard. It may not be as good as gymnastics in this direction: +but it has this advantage that it trains the pupil to engage in his work +in such a manner as not to hinder nor stunt the development of his body, +and not to cramp the vital organs in such a manner as to interfere with +the discharge of their functions. The pupils are taught to use both +hands and to develop both sides of the body. The following chart from +Herr Salomon's work will show to what degree the body may develop on a +lopsided manner when one side only is used in performing work. The chart +shows the sectional measurement of the chest of a boy of thirteen years +of age who for three years had worked at a bench using the right side +only.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>The foregoing brief analysis may show the ends which Sloyd is destined +to accomplish, and upon the value of those ends no explanation is +required. Habits of industry, patience and perseverance are inculcated. +The child learns to know his own power and how best to use it. His +tastes are cultivated and he learns to love work and understand the true +dignity of labour. Such results are not the results of the copy book but +they are permanently impressed upon the child's character. That such an +education must react upon the parent is obvious. The child's life is +full of aim and he does everything with a purpose, and in such a child +only the most depraved parent will fail to take interest, and children +have this characteristic, that they force their knowledge upon the +notice of their parents whenever they can. The boy who begins to learn +house painting soon expresses the wish to paint his own home; if +carpentry, he wishes to build a shed; if joinery, he wishes to make a +table; and how often one notices a home where tidiness and order are due +to the educated child, and where taste in furnishing is accounted for by +the daughter's cultivated æsthetic taste. Children then, so trained as +the Sloyd system provides, may contribute enormously to the happiness +and brightness of the home life. Instead of regarding them as a burden +their parents will behold them with delight and pride, and instead of +looking out for "something for them to do," indifferent whether it be +driving a cart, selling in a shop, or clerking in a lawyer's office, +they will find that the child himself has a definite idea of where his +after course should lie, and they will do their utmost towards assisting +him to follow it.</p> + +<div class="img"> +<a href="images/imagep151.png"> +<img border="0" src="images/imagep151.png" width="60%" alt="fold paper along the axis." /></a><br /> +<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;"><i>To perceive the amount of distortion, fold the paper +along the axis of the diagram, and hold it between the eye and the +light.</i></p> +<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;"><i>From "Theory of Sloyd"</i>—<span class="smcap">Salomon.</span></p> +</div> + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>It cannot be supposed that Sloyd will succeed in the midst of +incongruous surroundings. To train the eye to a sense of the beautiful +in a dirty schoolhouse is somewhat difficult. The glorious handiwork of +God will not be taught in the playground which, with its mudholes, ruts, +and filth, more resembles a cattle yard than anything else. A school and +its grounds must at least show that the authorities themselves really +appreciate the lessons they are endeavouring to have instilled into the +minds of their scholars. So, too, a similar system must underlie the +method of teaching the ordinary lessons at the school desk. How many +children will say "I love history but I detest dates"? What value are +the dates? Let history be taught as Fitchett teaches it in his "Deeds +that won the Empire" and the end will be accomplished, patriotism will +be inspired, and the nation loved. Dates, names of deeds, causes of war, +international policies may easily be introduced incidentally. Let +geography be taught as Fraser teaches it in his "Real Siberia" or Savage +Landor in his "In the Forbidden Land" and the map will be studied with +interest and the subject never forgotten. Let the notation be dispensed +with until the child understands the problem or theorem and Euclid will +become fascinating.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>Without a shadow of doubt the best preventive of crime is an universal +system of education so designed that the whole interest of the child is +absorbed in its work. An absolute solution of the whole problem +undoubtedly requires that the religious education of the child be also +undertaken and effectively carried out. The question of the religious +education of the young is one which is exciting attention throughout the +whole of the English speaking world. There are those who advocate that +instruction in the Bible lessons should be given by teachers during +school hours to the scholars attending the Government schools, and there +are those who vigorously oppose such a course.</p> + +<p>The advocates base their arguments upon their belief that no system of +education which ignores religious teaching can be effective or complete. +Their opponents declare that it is unjust to call upon the teachers of a +secular education to give instruction in religion, or for the State to, +in any way, subsidise the various religious denominations or to +supplement their efforts in this particular direction. Both sides +petition the Government and both sides prepare the people for a possible +referendum upon the question.</p> + +<p>The State cannot be expected to regard the matter from other than a +purely utilitarian standpoint. "Will it make the people better +citizens?" it enquires. "Will it lesson crime and promote honesty, +thrift and loyalty?" These questions still remain unanswered, and in the +midst of so much rationalistic <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>teaching, and especially with the +example of the noble lives of many rationalists before it, the State +believes that there is room for much difference of opinion, and +therefore it cannot move in the matter. The advocates of religious +education seem to take it for granted that their beliefs are +unassailable and that they are simply fighting against the powers of +Darkness: but they forget that they are doing very little to bring +others to hold the same convictions as themselves. It should not be a +difficult task to answer to the utilitarian position with an emphatic +affirmative and to bring conclusive evidence to support that +affirmative. Where, it may be asked, are to be found the men who are +leaders in thought and action who have, without any religious influence +whatever, risen from the depths of misery, crime and filth? Where are to +be found the families now living in honesty and virtue, though still in +poverty, families in the midst of which every form of wickedness was +once to be seen, who owe nothing to religious influence? The rationalist +may claim that when his educational theories are adopted and put into +practice all dens of misery and vice will disappear, but he cannot +support his statement with convincing proofs. The teacher of religion is +infinitely better off. While he strenuously supports the adoption of +better and larger educational effort, he insists that, in order to gain +the active co-operation of those on behalf of whom it is to be employed, +religious influences must be brought to bear, and for the support of his +statement he need <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>only say "open your eyes and look around you."</p> + +<p>The influence of religion in regaining criminals cannot be gainsaid by +any, and the United States Educational Report for 1897-98 declares that +it is most important for the inculcation of sound morality, that +children should, from a very early age, be brought under the influence +of good religious teaching.</p> + +<p>When the State is convinced that religious education is an absolute +necessity, it will approach the question of ways and means with a +determination that a satisfactory solution must be arrived at, and what +it will then demand is not so much an emasculated Bible as the bringing +to bear upon the children of the vital regenerative influences of +religion.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="Chapter_IX" id="Chapter_IX"></a> +<br /> + +<hr /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> +<br /> +<h2>Chapter IX.</h2> + +<h2>SOME AMERICAN EXPERIMENTS;—</h2> +<h2>THE PROBATION SYSTEM.</h2> +<h2>THE ELMIRA SYSTEM.</h2> +<br /> + +<p><b>The Probation System.</b>—In several of the States of America an attempt +has been made to devise a substitute for imprisonment in the cases of +persons convicted for minor offences.</p> + +<p>The State of Massachusets was the first to take the lead by initiating a +somewhat elaborate system of probation.</p> + +<p>Briefly described, it is an attempt to reform a prisoner +<span class="smcap">OUTSIDE</span>.</p> + +<p>Imprisonment for minor offences has had many bad features and should, +where possible, be avoided. Firstly, there is the stigma that attaches +to every man who has worn the broad-arrow. Secondly, there is the loss +of self-respect which, together with the contaminating influences +existing in a prison, often convert the minor offender into the hardened +criminal. Thirdly, there are the hardships that the wife and family are +called upon to endure while the bread-winner is in gaol and not earning +wages.</p> + +<p>The Probation System seeks to overcome all these difficulties. Instead +of sentencing an offender to a period of imprisonment, the judge +confides him to the care of the probation officer for a period +co-terminous <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>with that which he would otherwise have had to spend in +prison. The minimum period of this sentence is six months, and the +average about twelve months.</p> + +<p>In the cases of female offenders and of youths under the age of 18 years +the probation officer is usually a woman; for adult males, a man acts as +officer.</p> + +<p>The officers are invested with very considerable authority. It is their +duty to keep the very closest watch over their wards and to report +continually upon their behaviour. They frequently visit the homes and do +their utmost to become acquainted with the conditions of the home and +industrial life under which their wards live. The visits are so arranged +that they by no means imply an official errand, the officers endeavour +to discover the weaknesses of their wards and the temptations to which +they are most likely to succumb, and as far as possible to remove them +out of the reach of these temptations or to strengthen them against +their power. Some officers provide for meetings to be held for those +committed to their charge. Especially is this the case with those who +have the charge over youthful offenders. At such meetings games, +edifying entertainment and instruction are provided. It is also quite +competent for an officer to receive the wages of a probationer. In these +cases, he will give the man's wife a sufficient sum to meet the ordinary +household expenditure, allow him enough for his personal expenses, and +retain a small sum to be returned when <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>the period of probation has +expired. This course is invariably pursued in the case of drunkards. A +drunkard may, upon the authority of the probation officer, be forbidden +to enter a public-house or to enter it during certain hours only, and he +may also be obliged to remain at home after a certain hour. In fact, the +probation officer may make almost any such rules that he thinks best to +be observed by his ward, and there is always the threat of being sent to +prison to discharge his sentence, if he should refuse to behave properly +when under probation.</p> + +<p>To have an officer constantly watching over a man may affix a certain +stigma to the man, but even so, it is not indelible nor nearly so great +as that which the prison leaves behind it. To make this disadvantage as +small as possible, the officers wear no uniform and, within their +prescribed area, work among the convicted and unconvicted alike.</p> + +<p>The type of officer required is not easily found. Of humane instincts, +and yet a firm disciplinarian, well educated, competent to give good +advice and able to gain the affections and confidences of those amongst +whom they work, is the type of person required. The ex-soldier or the +ex-policeman is just the man who is NOT wanted. The advantages of this +system Miss E. P. Hughes thus sums up:—</p> + +<p>Firstly.—Instead of a few highly-paid officials and many badly paid +warders, you have a number of independent, well-paid probation officers, +chosen for their knowledge of human nature, and their skill in reforming +it.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>Secondly.—Far greater adjustment of treatment to individual cases.</p> + +<p>Thirdly.—The stigma of the prison is avoided, and while great care is +taken that the prisoner shall be strictly controlled and effectively +restrained, his self-respect is carefully developed.</p> + +<p>Fourthly.—The family suffers less. The home is not broken up, the wages +still come in, and if the prisoner is a mother and a wife, it is, of +course, most important that she should retain her position in the home.</p> + +<p>Fifthly.—The prisoner does not "lose his job," nor his mechanical +skill, if he is a skilled workman. "I was told that six months in prison +will materially damage this in many cases." He does not lose his habit +of regular work.</p> + +<p>Sixthly.—He has one intelligent friend at his side to give him all the +help that a brother man can. And this friend has the unique +opportunities for studying his case, and has also an extraordinary power +over his environment.</p> + +<p>Seventhly.—Good conduct and a capacity for rightly using freedom is +constantly rewarded by a greater freedom.</p> + +<p>Eighthly.—It is far cheaper than prison. The prisoner keeps himself and +his family, and one officer can attend from sixty to eighty prisoners.</p> + +<p><b>The Elmira Reformatory.</b>—"The New York States Reformatory at Elmira" +is the official designation of this institution. It was established in +1875 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>and had for its first superintendent a Mr Z. R. Brockway.</p> + +<p>Mr Brockway had from the age of nineteen years been working in an +official capacity among prisoners, and his religious beliefs led him to +acknowledge that the men committed to his charge had their place in the +redemption of the world.</p> + +<p>Maconochie's humane method of dealing with the criminals of Norfolk +Island attracted his attention, and from Maconochie's mark system he +evolved the now famous indeterminate sentence.</p> + +<p>When the New York State established a Reformatory at Elmira, Mr Brockway +was placed in charge and given practically a free hand in the adoption +of such methods as he deemed most likely to effect the permanent reform +of the men committed to imprisonment there. A restriction was placed +upon the age of the offenders who should be admitted, the law reading +thus:—"A male between the ages of 16 and 30, convicted of felony, who +has not heretofore been convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment +in a State prison, may, in the discretion of the trial court, be +sentenced to imprisonment in the New York State Reformatory at Elmira, +to be there confined under the provisions of the law relating to that +reformatory" (vide section 700 Penal Code).</p> + +<p>This by no means implies that all the inmates are first offenders. Many +of them have been in juvenile reformatories, penitentiaries, and houses +of correction, so that in some cases a considerable advance in the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>career of crime has been made before they are handed over to the +authorities at Elmira. Again, only felons are received, not minor +offenders.</p> + +<p>The principles upon which the reformatory system is based are +practically those set forth in the declaration of the National Prison +Congress held in Cincinnati in 1870 as follows:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>1. Punishment is defined to be "suffering inflicted upon the +individual for the wrong done by him, with a special view of +securing his reformation."</p> + +<p>2. "The supreme aim of prison discipline is <span class="smcap">The +Reformation of Criminals</span>, not the infliction of +<span class="smcap">Vindictive</span> suffering."</p> + +<p>3. "The progressive classification of prisoners based on +character, and worked on some well adjusted mark system, +should be established in all prisons above the common gaol."</p> + +<p>4. "Since hope is a more potent agent than fear, it should be +made an ever present force in the minds of the prisoners, by +a well devised and skilfully applied system of rewards for +good conduct, industry, attention to learning. Rewards, more +than penalties, are essential to every good prison system."</p> + +<p>5. "The prisoner's destiny should be placed, measurably, in +his own hands; he must be put into circumstances where he +will be able, through his own exertions, to continually +better his own conditions. A regulated self-interest <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>must be +brought into play and made constantly operative."</p> + +<p>6. "Peremptory sentences ought to be replaced by those of +indeterminate length. Sentences limited only by a +satisfactory proof of reformation should be substituted for +those measured by mere lapse of time."</p></div> + +<p>The old system of penology may be described as "so much suffering +inflicted for so much wrong done and with the object of expiating that +wrong."</p> + +<p>The principles upon which the reformatory system is founded must be +clearly grasped before the system itself can be understood. Criticism is +frequently levelled against it on the ground that the prisoners are +given "too good a time." This criticism is based upon some theory that +vindictive retaliation is the attitude that should be assumed towards +the criminal. When this theory is renounced, then the system stands or +falls according as it accomplishes the objects for which it is designed. +When it is asked why should a prisoner in captivity be better looked +after than he would be if left in his old haunts of crime, the question +must be answered from the prisoner's point of view, and he will candidly +reply that the prison which deprives him of his freedom until his +reformation has been effected is not the place which has any attractions +for him. The life of discipline and industry does not at all agree with +his idea of blissful surroundings. Upon admission at the reformatory, +the prisoner is placed in the middle of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>three grades of classification. +From this grade he can, by industry and good behaviour, advance to the +highest grade. If he should prove refractory, he sinks to the lowest or +convict grade. Each grade has its own particular privileges, these being +of course at their maximum in the highest grade. They consist chiefly in +a better diet, better bed and freer access to the library. His fate is +practically placed in his own hands. If he shall show himself +industrious and shall apply himself diligently to the task set before +him he may make such progress in his grades as will secure his release +after a comparatively short period of detention. If, on the other hand, +he will not exert himself to embrace the opportunity, he is kept under +detention until the maximum limit of his sentence is reached. The +authorities urge for legislation making the sentence absolutely +indeterminate, so that those who resist the reformatory measures may be +kept in prison for a period co-terminous with that of their resistance. +The principles upon which the system is founded are developed in a +course of training described as a three M course, i.e. mental, moral and +manual. The machinery consists of, the indeterminate sentence, the +school of letters, the trade school, and the gymnasium.</p> + +<p><b>The Indeterminate Sentence.</b>—The ideal Indeterminate sentence provides +that when once a criminal falls into the clutches of the law he shall be +deprived of his liberty until he has given satisfactory evidence that he +is able to conduct himself as an <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>honest and industrious citizen. It +makes no distinction between different crimes, such as to provide that +the man who embezzles shall receive a longer sentence than the man who +commits arson or vice versa, but makes the restoration of liberty depend +entirely upon reformation. It refuses to tolerate the idea that any +criminals should be at large to prey upon society, and it thus imposes +upon society the obligation to undertake the reform of all criminals. +This <span class="smcap">IDEAL</span> sentence, however, does not exist. At Elmira, the +authorities are obliged to recognise a maximum, so that if at the expiry +of this maximum, the prisoner should have made no progress towards +reform he must, nevertheless, be discharged. Since, however, a man may +at Elmira reduce a sentence of ten years to something like 22 months, a +great incentive is given to him to identify himself with the efforts +being made on his behalf. From every point of view the indeterminate +sentence in the case of those sent to reformatories appears the most +reasonable. The business of the trial court is concluded as soon as the +question of guilt is determined. The judge has not imposed on him the +impossible task of measuring out a punishment which in its severity +shall exactly accord with the degree of crime committed. The question of +the prisoner's sanity is not left to the jury to decide but to qualified +alienists. Neither does this question determine his <span class="smcap">GUILT</span> but +only his <span class="smcap">RESPONSIBILITY</span>. No account has to be made of the +provocation from which the prisoner suffered at the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span>committal of his +crime. If but a small degree of criminality exist, the safest adjustment +of punishment is to be found in the indeterminate sentence. From the +social point of view, it gives the best safeguard to the society. It +guarantees that a criminal once convicted shall cease to prey upon +society. He will either reform and return to society as a useful member +thereof and a contributor to its wealth, or else, refusing to reform, he +will never regain his liberty. This sentence lays it down that society +ought not to tolerate criminals in its midst. Imprisonment for a fixed +period under our present penal system serves but to exasperate the +criminal, and at the end of his sentence, when he is a more dangerous +criminal than ever, the law demands that he shall be released. It is +only by indeterminate sentences that society obtains the guarantee it +may justly demand. For its effect as a means of discipline a prisoner +will give his own experience. The following extract, was written by an +inmate of the Reformatory in 1898:—"From the view-point of a 'man up a +tree' I would say that the character of our sentence has everything to +do with furnishing a motive which induces and stimulates us to a degree +of activity we could never acquire under a fixed penalty. Where, under a +definite sentence, we would spend most of our time crossing off days +from the calendar and lay awake nights counting over and again the +amount of time yet necessary for us to serve before the dawn of freedom, +now every moment is utilised in taking <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>advantage of all opportunities +for improvement that are offered, well knowing that only by advancement +in the trade-school and school of letters, together with strict +compliance with the rules of the disciplinary department, can liberty be +earned. And the word earn is used advisedly, for a man to get along in +this reformatory can be no sluggard but must be alert, ever ready to +advance and not drag behind."</p> + +<p>The ideal sentence, so far as an incentive to reformation goes, would be +an <span class="smcap">ABSOLUTELY INDETERMINATE ONE</span>, where a man must either reform +or remain in prison for life, for where would be the welfare of society +considered if a man be released prepared to prey upon it as he did +before imprisonment? In the case of the absolutely indeterminate +sentence there is a motive that will quicken every energy and arouse the +dullest to life and exercise, for he would be fighting for life and +liberty—liberty that could never be his until he had shown by his +conduct that ready compliance with all requirements here was intended, +and willingness to discard the old and detrimental habits, taking on new +and profitable ones. The fact that a man could get along in here would +indicate his ability to live in accord with society in the outside +world.</p> + +<p>Under such a system no one fit to be released would fail to gain it. +Why? Because the motive is so strong as to force the most unwilling to +willingness; because a man who would rather rot in prison than try to +regain his freedom by legitimate means is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>better off where he is. He +would only be a stumbling block to society in general if he were set +free, and would sooner or later land again in some penal institution or +other, and thus his life would be wasted, and public funds wasted in +arresting, discharging and rearresting the useless drone, the balance of +whose life would be passed in various prisons of the country.</p> + +<p>That the indeterminate sentence furnishes a powerful motive for +reformation is shown daily in this institution. You have only to watch +the student over his books, or mechanic over his tools to see the effort +that is being made to win that golden prize—a parole. How that motive +is undermined or taken away entirely when the sentence is definite is +readily perceived by taking a cursory glance over the records of men +sentenced here for a definite period. The greatest percentage of them +are careless, insolent, and furnish most of the class that goes to form +the nucleus of the lower or convict grades. Why? Because there is +nothing to work for. No parole can be gained by attention to duty. Time, +and time alone, counts for this class. Only to pass time and get to the +end of the sentence, that is all. No one can make a study of, or even +look about him and compare the records made by definite and indefinitely +sentenced men, without becoming a warm advocate of the indeterminate +sentence. The longer the maximum sentence of the man sent here, the +greater is his effort to travel along the straight and narrow path, +picking up such advantages as offer him through his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span>stay in this +institution. The longer the maximum the stronger the motive, the smaller +the maximum, the smaller effort to earn a release. For example, men sent +here with two or two and a half years as the limit of their maximums, on +an average, remain here longer than those with a five, ten or twenty +years maximum hanging over them. The reason is obvious—the motive is +strengthened or weakened according as the sentence is lengthened or +shortened. The deterrent value of the absolutely indeterminate sentence +would be enormous. Not a question of a few months or years would the +criminal have to face; but a period which would not terminate until he +either reformed or died. As we have seen it gives a tremendous stimulus +to reform, and it would likewise give a powerful check to criminal +tendencies. Thus it relieves the Judge of an impossible task, is most +satisfactory to society, and most humane to the culprit.</p> + +<p>It may be urged that since liberation would depend in a measure upon +proficiency in the trade-school and school of letters, that some +criminals whose criminality might be of a lesser degree, would be at a +greater disadvantage than others. That is not so. The system is +obviously a very complicated one, and only the bare outlines are being +given here. In operation it is absolutely fair, neither is any +inducement offered to commit crime for the benefits which the +trade-school confers. The managers know no such defect in their system +or otherwise they would <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>report it. They have a free hand in the +employment of their methods, they are continually experimenting, and +they owe no devotion to "red tape."</p> + +<p>A further advantage that the indeterminate sentence has, is that it +provides for a second period of probation. A man may behave himself well +in prison but upon his release betake himself immediately to his old +surroundings and then to his old habits. The most critical moment is +when the prisoner steps outside the gaol walls and finds himself a free +man. The habits of industry and good conduct acquired when in +confinement have to be accommodated to new conditions, and if unassisted +the task is often too great. The consequence is that he falls away and +rejoins his old companions and soon becomes a recidivist. The +indeterminate sentence allows for his freedom being regained gradually. +Having given evidence of reform and of abilities to support himself, +employment is found for him, and he is granted a parole. That is he is +released conditionally. For the next half year he must report himself +every month, and if at the end of that period he has behaved well he is +granted absolute discharge. Opportunity is thus given for him to +establish himself gradually amidst the conditions of free social life. +The sense of freedom comes without shock, and when it comes, the +critical period has long since passed away.</p> + +<p>Should he violate his parole in any way, he is rearrested and may be +called upon to serve the maximum penalty for his crime.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span><b>The School of Letters.</b>—As has been said the system of the Reformatory +is classified under the headings of mental, moral and manual. There is +no sharp distinction between all three, inasmuch as no mental or manual +training is considered of any value which does not also assist to +develop the moral character of the pupil.</p> + +<p>The whole aim of the system is to develop minds and bodies, arrested in +their growth, in order that they may become more susceptible to moral +influences, and that habits of correct thinking and useful industry may +be established. Every prisoner upon entering the institution is assigned +to the school of letters, care being taken that the task imposed upon +him is well within his mental grasp, but at the same time shall require +an effort on his part in order to master it.</p> + +<p>The school is divided into three sections—The Primary, the Intermediate +and the Academic or Lecture division. Each section is subdivided into +classes and each class again subdivided into groups. The usual method of +making the lower classes large and the upper classes small is exactly +reversed at the Reformatory. There may be as few as twenty pupils in the +lower classes and as many as two hundred in the upper ones. The school +is under the management of a director who is assisted by a competent +staff of civilian teachers, as well as by a number of the inmates +themselves. Some of the prisoners, being illiterate, have to commence +their education at the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>very bottom of the ladder. Others, according to +the education they have received, enter the course at higher points. In +the case of foreigners much of their education consists in teaching them +the English language and instructing them in American customs and +manners. The training is of immense advantage to them.</p> + +<p>The classes are held in the evening and the routine of the Reformatory +is so arranged that throughout the whole of the prisoner's waking time +he is kept employed.</p> + +<p>From the elementary instruction in reading, writing and arithmetic, +given to illiterates, the course progresses so as to include History, +Civics, Political Economy, Ethics, Nature study and Literature. Attached +to the school there is a well stocked library from which books are +issued under regulations relative to good conduct and progress made. +There is also a weekly paper issued within the institution called "The +Summary," to which the prisoners may contribute articles. Attendance at +the school is in all cases compulsory. The inmate has no option +whatever. He is not consulted as to what course of study he would like +to pursue but this is chosen for him and he is set to it. In selecting +his course, every attention is paid to the man's abilities, tastes and +attainments. No useless studies are undertaken. Every study must be of +value from a reformative point of view and also from an educational one. +That is, it must serve to correct bad and wandering habits <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>of thinking +and to cultivate good and consecutive habits. It must assist to broaden +the outlook of life and to bring the individuals into living touch with +the life and traditions of the country to which he belongs. It must +serve to inspire hope, confidence and zeal. It must cultivate a taste +for the beautiful, a love for the natural, and an adoration for the +Divine. When released, the student must find himself equipped with such +a knowledge as will enable him to steadily advance in his station of +life. And yet there is on an average, only two years in which to impart +such an instruction. How is it done? Firstly, nothing useless is taught, +the object primarily aimed at being the formation of character. +Attendance is therefore compulsory, and attention and application are +necessary in order to obtain a parole. Monthly examinations are held and +failures at these gives a set-back in the matter of obtaining a release. +A failure, however, may be overtaken by extra exertion during the next +month. However distasteful it may be to the prisoner to study regularly +and methodically, or however difficult his former irregular life may +have rendered this task, yet it is so intimately bound up with his +interests that he soon finds a motive powerful enough to correct mere +dis-inclination. He must work and work at his best, and invariably he +does so.</p> + +<p>Upon entering the class room each student receives a printed slip which +gives an outline of the lesson to be studied. This serves to convey an +idea of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>amount of work to be undertaken, to show the progressive +steps and to prevent any idle speculation concerning the development of +the lesson. These slips are kept by the student and they are made the +basis of the monthly examination. These examinations are conducted with +great strictness. In order to pass 75 per cent. of the maximum number of +marks must be obtained, and marks are given for exact knowledge only. +For instance, if in a sum in arithmetic a right method is employed but a +wrong answer given no marks are rewarded. The student has shown an +inability to use his knowledge. In other subjects the men in answering +their questions must give the exact "how," or "why," or "when," or +"where," or "which" before their work will pass. They may write sheets +but it will not count if they miss the point. They soon find therefore +that in order to pass their examinations they must pour forth all their +energies upon their work. Needless to say, no catch questions are ever +introduced, neither does the examination task exceed the men's +abilities.</p> + +<p>When English literature was first introduced the men regarded it as an +imposition. They did not know what the new study meant nor what was +expected of them. A great amount of coaxing and gentle treatment was +necessary to overcome the general bewilderment. The first examination +passed off measurably well. Soon a change took place and English +literature rose rapidly to become the most favourite study. The demand +upon the librarian for the supply of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>English and American Classics +became so great that special restrictions had to be placed upon their +issuance.</p> + +<p>Marked success from a Reformatory point of view has attended this study, +and the men enthusiastically enter upon a new and broader life.</p> + +<p>The late Prof. S. R. Monks, for twelve years Lecturer at the +Reformatory, says:—"But does such education contribute to the +reformation of the criminal and the protection of the public?" +Unqualifiedly and unhesitating I answer, Yes. Men are found to acquire +in this school month by month a growing application of better things, a +readier apprehension of truth and a heartier sympathy with virtue, and +best of all, a greater capacity for sustained and consistent effort in +practical undertakings. These transformations are the successive steps +of a real reformation, and every step puts the man at a greater and +safer distance from past shiftlessness and viciousness. "The virtues," +says Felix Adler, "depend in no small degree on the power of serial and +complex thinking," but, continues that practical philosopher, "the +ordinary studies of the school exercise and develop this faculty of +serial and complex thinking. Any sum in multiplication gives a training +of this kind." It is hardly possible to exaggerate the benefit that true +education will confer on one who has come under the condemnation of the +law. His improved education will counter-balance some of the disgrace of +his past criminality; it will with industrial training extricate <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>him +from the hopeless mass of ignorant unskilled labour where competition is +always hottest and most perilous, it will teach him, better than he +could know without it, the relative value of things; it will so elevate +his thoughts and refine his tastes that the path of duty in its roughest +and steepest places, will yet steadily attract his footsteps.</p> + +<p>The charge is sometimes made that the criminal is made more dangerous by +education. The assertion begs all it carries. It assumes that education +strengthens character but does not transform character which is false +for it does both.... No man can use his mind in the careful +investigation of moral principles, and become thereby merely a more +dangerous cheat. No man who has opened his eyes to see the revelations +of eternal wisdom and goodness written in letters of light on all the +handiwork of Nature, can be made thereby merely a more dangerous +villain. On the contrary, every hour of honest search after reality, of +careful industry governed by principles and lined to accuracy, every +hour spent in happy contemplation of wisdom and goodness, wherever +manifested will make the man forever the better for it.</p> + +<p><b>Physical Culture.</b>—This Department of the Reformatory falls into three +divisions—the Gymnastic, the Military and the Manual.</p> + +<p><b>The Gymnastic.</b>—The idea of a gymnasium within a gaol must deliver no +small shock to the prejudices of many, but in studying the Elmira system +we must endeavour to keep before us the end <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>which the authorities are +aiming at, viz., the restoration to society of their criminals in a not +only harmless state but in their most useful state, and this can only be +made possible by the most careful and thorough training of the mind, +body and soul.</p> + +<p>Neither is there any cause to think that the prisoners are getting too +good a time, and that, being treated better than the industrious worker, +a premium is being offered to crime. The investigation of the +authorities has revealed no case in which a man has entered the +institution on account of advantages offered. To criminals they are not +realised as advantages. They understand them only as the rough road +leading to their release, and it is about the last thing for men of +shiftless, lazy, inconsequent habits of mind and body, to suppose that +they are having a good time when sent to a gymnasium every morning for +two hours' steady work. Work which brings all the muscles of the body +into play and which demands the fixed attention of the mind and its +submission to the word of command from the instructor, is many times +more distasteful than the "hard labour" of lazily cracking stones.</p> + +<p>Until 1900 the whole prison population went through a regular gymnastic +course. This is now changed and assignments are made to the gymnasium +only upon the certificate of the physician. All new arrivals however +spend a period, averaging about five weeks, in the "awkward squad," half +of whose morning time is spent in the gymnasium. They come in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>a very +ungainly looking set of men. Many are undersized, underweight, rickety +and diseased in body and generally of a slovenly, unmanly appearance. A +multitude of causes have been at work to produce this condition. +Chiefly, these are a bad ancestry, foul atmosphere of their dwellings, +their idle dirty habits, intemperance and sexual abuse.</p> + +<p>The course of treatment prescribed for these is one which brings into +exercise all their latent muscular power. Special attention is paid to +deformities and weaknesses resulting from any cause whatsoever.</p> + +<p>Turkish baths, swimming baths and massage also play an important part in +their treatment and help to bring the dregs of disease, the results of +excessive drink and the use of tobacco, out of their systems.</p> + +<p>The effects of such treatment are at the end of a few weeks very +apparent. The body is supple, the carriage is erect, the cutaneous, +circulatory, muscular and nervous systems are in a healthy state, and +the stupid, bewildered or stolid expression has given way to one of +manly concern.</p> + +<p>At the end of five weeks most of the men graduate from the awkward squad +and engage in the work of other departments. Some, however, for various +reasons have to remain for a longer period of physical exercise.</p> + +<p>The majority of these are classified into three groups:</p> + +<p>I. Mathematical Dullards. II. Deficient in self-control. II. Stupids. +These groups are described by Dr Hamilton Wey in his report for 1896 as +follows:—</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>Group I.—The Mathematical dullards. These were incapable of solving the +most elementary problems in Mental Arithmetic or else did so with +hesitation and difficulty. They were instances of sluggish and dragging +walk, and presented a sleepy or dreamy appearance at work or in repose. +They suggested arrested mental growth. From a careful study of these men +by observation and immediate contact exercises were selected that would +tend to act upon their defects. In addition the exercises prescribed +necessitate the direct employment of their mathematical faculties. The +following schedule was adopted, though subject to constant change as +occasion for change presented itself. The exercises of their group as +with others are confined to one hour's practical work five days per +week. The men receive a daily rain bath and rubbing down immediately +after their exercises. With this group the hour is divided into sessions +of half-an-hour each, subdivided into periods of fifteen minutes. The +first fifteen minutes are devoted to light calisthenics executed by +command with loud counting and simultaneous movements. This is followed +by 15 minutes of marching and facing movements with step counting. The +first 15 minutes of the second half hour are occupied in the laying out +of geometrical fields for athletic events. Employing the 50ft. tape and +the 2ft. rule with divisions of an inch. After being instructed as to +dimensions they are required to lay out the following:—</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>(a) Baseball diamond; (b) basket ball field; (c) track for 30 and 40 +yards running races; (d) placing of hurdles at intervals, in harmony +with established athletic field rules. The closing 15 minutes embraced +practical work, viz., high and long jump, hop skip and jump, high +kicking, target throwing, etc.</p> + +<p>Group II.—Those deficient in self-control. The members of Group II, +compared with those of Groups I and III, are physically of better +quality. In general appearance they show a better all-round physical +development, and in some instances the deteriorating effects of sexual +abnormality were not so apparent, this class would, in the performance +of athletics, compare favourably with the scholar outside prison walls. +In the general performance of their work they have shown more interest +than either Group I or III, and in some instances have acquired skill in +some of their athletic branches. The tendency of the athletics selected +for this group by the Gymnasium Director was of a nature conducive to +the cultivation and encouragement of self-control and self-reliance +among its members as shown by the spirit of good-fellowship displayed by +the successful towards the unsuccessful player, and in a measure +subduing the ebullition of passion and the spirit of jealousy that +formerly influenced their every notion in competitive contests.... It +can be safely asserted that one essential feature in athletics, viz., +will-power, which was conspicuous at the first by its absence, has been +strengthened and inculcated, especially in this group.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>It was observed by the Director that perhaps by their exuberance of +animal spirit, the men were prone to make frequent excuses for changes +from one game to another, instead of striving to excel in one branch. +Another observable feature was the attempt to shirk the exercises which +required any exertion on their part. These defects have been remedied, +not entirely, but sufficiently to justify the efficiency of athletics as +a fact in the production of self-control; and instances can be cited of +complete subordination of will to the controlling powers.</p> + +<p>Group III.—The Stupids. The members of this group are not far above the +standard of feeble-minded boys. They are what might be termed "all-round +defectives." The object of the athletics selected for this group has +been to awaken and arouse them from that lethargic state into which they +periodically relapse. This has been in a measure accomplished, a great +aid to which has been the daily rain bath. The following physical +defects (some of which have been remedied wholly or in part) come under +my observation: general weakness, weak chest (respiratory organs), bent +carriage of the body, stiffness of wrist, joints, and clumsy movements +of fingers, spinal curvature, extreme (comparative) development of right +arm. To overcome these defects systematic exercise was necessary, +including free-hand exercises, club-swinging, dumb-bell exercise, etc., +meted out according to the respective deficiencies and requirements of +the men. This group also spent one <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>half-hour in practical outdoor +gymnastic and athletic work. After a general resume of the work +accomplished it can safely be asserted that outdoor athletics and +gymnastics have proven to be in a measure, a prophylactic for a number +of the ills which these three groups of defectives are subject to.</p> + +<p><b>Military Instruction.</b>—Military drill was introduced into the +Reformatory as a direct outcome of the Prisons Bill of 1888 which +forbade all machine labour in prisons being conducted for profit. The +statute requiring the "shutting down" of all industrial plants the work +of the institution was practically brought to a standstill. In this +difficulty the management conceived the idea of forming a military +regiment. Most beneficial results immediately followed. The men began to +walk with more erect carriage and to respond to quick words of command. +Besides this, the open-air exercise developed their lung-power and +stimulated their circulatory system. A pride in their performance was +also inspired by the opportunity given to rise through the different +ranks to that of lieutenant. Above all, good habits of discipline were +cultivated. Although the circumstances that rendered necessary the +introduction of military drill have passed away, yet the organization +has been found of such great reformatory value that it has become an +integral part of the Elmira system.</p> + +<p>The regiment consists of sixteen companies, four companies to the +battalion, company roll of about seventy. The colonel's staff is +composed of colonel, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>four majors, inmate adjutant, and sergeant-major, +and national and state colour-bearers. The uniforms are blue, black, and +red, corresponding to the grades. White belts, with nickel buckles, are +worn and white cross-belts. Proper insignia of rank is also worn. Dress +parade is held daily at four p.m. on the regimental grounds, or, if +weather be inclement, in the armoury.</p> + +<p>So far as is possible the regiment is drilled on exactly the same lines +as those observed by the United States army.</p> + +<p><b>Manual Training.</b>—Manual training was introduced into the Reformatory +in 1895. The number of men who had been in the institution for a +considerable period of time and upon whom the ordinary reformative +measures exerted little influence rendered the adoption of some other +means absolutely necessary. The men, with whom the ordinary methods +failed, belonged to the defective classes already described as +mathematical dullards, deficient in self-control, and stupids. The +habits of vice seem to have wrought such a destructive work upon the +will-power of these men that in order to repair it some potent influence +would have to be brought into operation. The conception was to entirely +disengage the mind of its connection with the past and to concentrate it +upon healthy, useful and interesting work. Habit produces character, and +if the old habits of thought could be destroyed and new ones implanted +it would naturally follow that the character would be improved <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>and +developed. The character of the normal man requires for its development +a moral, religious, intellectual and physical training, and the abnormal +man requires the same, in a greater degree.</p> + +<p>It was with this knowledge that the managers introduced manual training +into the Reformatory. As the usefulness of manual training (Sloyd) is +described in a preceding chapter no more need be said upon its value as +a factor in education now. It needed the greatest skill on the part of +the managers to adopt the various Sloyd exercises to the requirements of +the different defectives, but each year has given additional proof of +their success, and its inclusion in the reformatory system was amply +justified. In 1899 it was discontinued on account of the small +appropriation that was made for the maintenance of the institution, +making it necessary to curtail expenses.</p> + +<p>Before the abolition of Sloyd the following course was employed for +defectives:—</p> + +<p>(With each year the group was divided into three terms, there being 17 +weeks in each term and 35 hours in each week.)</p> + + +<p class="cen">GROUP I.—(Mathematical Dullards.)</p> + +<p class="cen"><span class="smcap">First Term.</span></p> + +<p>Mechanical drawing, Sloyd, athletics, and calisthenics, clay-modelling, +and mental arithmetic.</p> + +<p class="cen"><span class="smcap">Second Term.</span></p> + +<p>Card-board construction takes the place of clay-modelling.</p> + +<p class="cen"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span><span class="smcap">Third Term.</span></p> + +<p>Wood-turning instead of card-board construction.</p> + +<hr style="width: 10%;" /> + +<p class="cen">GROUP II.—(Deficient in self-control.)</p> + +<p class="cen"><span class="smcap">First Term.</span></p> + +<p>Athletics and calisthenics, geometric construction involving the +intersection of solids, etc., wood-turning, pattern making, mechanical +drawing and Sloyd.</p> + +<p class="cen"><span class="smcap">Second Term.</span></p> + +<p>Athletics and calisthenics, wood-carving, clay-modelling, mechanical +drawing and Sloyd.</p> + +<p class="cen"><span class="smcap">Third Term.</span></p> + +<p>Athletics and calisthenics, chipping and filing, moulding, mechanical +drawing and Sloyd.</p> + +<hr style="width: 10%;" /> + +<p class="cen">GROUP III.—(Stupids.)</p> + +<p class="cen"><span class="smcap">First Term.</span></p> + +<p>Athletics and calisthenics, free-hand drawing from solids and familiar +objects, elementary Sloyd, clay-modelling, mental arithmetic, and +sentence building.</p> + +<p class="cen"><span class="smcap">Second Term.</span></p> + +<p>Sloyd, free-hand drawing, wood-carving, mental arithmetic, and +calisthenics.</p> + +<p class="cen"><span class="smcap">Third Term.</span></p> + +<p>Sloyd, free-hand drawing, wood-turning, athletics and mental arithmetic.</p> + +<p><b>The Trades' School.</b>—Of all crimes, about 95 per cent. are committed +against property. It therefore appeared imperative to the management of +the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>Reformatory that every man passing through the institution should +be taught a useful trade so that he would be able to provide an honest +and sufficient livelihood for himself and for those who would be +dependent upon him. For this purpose the trades' school was established +and a regulation passed that all men entering the Reformatory without +the knowledge of a trade should be required to learn one before they +would be granted a parole.</p> + +<p>Under conditions of free life it would be impossible to teach these men +a trade. In their haunts of crime the criminals live a lazy ambitionless +life and regard work as an evil to be avoided; the reformatory system, +however, captures his interest on behalf of industry by making his +liberty depend upon his having reached the status of an honest and +enthusiastic tradesman.</p> + +<p>Two or three days after his arrival the newly committed prisoner is +personally interviewed by the superintendent. This interview, which is +in the nature of an exhaustive examination, generally discloses the +species of criminality to which his crime belongs. This knowledge is +made the basis of the plan which is then formulated for the course of +treatment to which he will be submitted.</p> + +<p>In the selection of a trade, the prisoner is given the opportunity of +choosing for himself. If the choice show sincerity and intelligence, he +is applied to it. If, on the other hand, it should reveal mere +indifference or a desire to shirk hard work, the managers <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>take all +matters into consideration and select the trade for him. Once placed at +a trade he is given to understand that he will be kept rigidly to it and +no release from imprisonment granted until his progress has satisfied +the authorities. Changes from one trade to another are rarely granted, +and then only when the learner has given unmistakable signs that he +cannot succeed at his first task. Within the trades school, his identity +is not lost sight of. Day by day, a record of his conduct and also of +his progress is kept. Every persuasive means is used to awaken his +understanding to the fact that his best interests are to be served by +habits of industry and application. The whole system is an appeal to his +desire for freedom. Freedom is offered to him but at a distance, and he +can reach it by no other means than that of following a given road, the +direction of which is very clearly pointed out to him.</p> + +<p>The work is graduated according to his ability to make progress, and +care is taken to so arrange his course that he shall be taught +thoroughly all the fundamental principles of his trade. The ordinary +apprentice works so that he will be able to fulfil the orders that are +given to his master. The consequence of this is that two ideas exist, +the apprentice having the desire to learn a trade, his master desiring +to profit by his work. The end of the apprentice is served by constantly +advancing to new work, even though this should mean the loss of time and +the waste of material; his master's object is attained by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>keeping him +at that work which he learns quickest and giving the difficult work to +more experienced men, consequently he passes through his time and learns +but very little. Now, the pupil of the Elmira trades' school is not +considered to have completed his course until he has gained a thorough +knowledge of every department of his trade. Besides the practical +instruction given in the workshops, classes are also held in the +evenings and instruction given in mechanical drawing so that the men may +be able to understand any plan that may be put into their hands, and +also to draw plans for themselves. Trade journals are subscribed for and +circulated among the men.</p> + +<p>The value of this industrial training extends beyond the providing the +means of obtaining an honest livelihood, for by making release depend +upon success, interest is thereby combined with industry. This +combination is bound to react upon the voluntary system and produces a +moral effect. Again it re-acts, this time beneficially upon the +character of the man.</p> + +<p>The following is a list of all the trades taught in the Reformatory:—</p> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="90%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Trades"> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="31%">Barbering</td> + <td class="tdl" width="36%">House-painting</td> + <td class="tdl" width="33%">Shoemaking</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Bookbinding</td> + <td class="tdl">Iron-forging</td> + <td class="tdl">Sign-painting</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Brass-smithing</td> + <td class="tdl">Machine-wood-working</td> + <td class="tdl">Steam-fitting</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Bricklaying</td> + <td class="tdl">Machinist's</td> + <td class="tdl">Stone-cutting</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Cabinet-making</td> + <td class="tdl">Moulding</td> + <td class="tdl">Stone-masonry</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Carpentry</td> + <td class="tdl">Music</td> + <td class="tdl">Tailoring</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Clothing-cutting</td> + <td class="tdl">Paint-mixing</td> + <td class="tdl">Telegraphy</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Electricity</td> + <td class="tdl">Photo-engraving</td> + <td class="tdl">Tinsmithing</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Frescoing</td> + <td class="tdl">Plastering</td> + <td class="tdl">Upholstery</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Hardwood-finishing</td> + <td class="tdl">Plumbing</td> + <td class="tdl"> Also,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Horseshoeing</td> + <td class="tdl">Printing</td> + <td class="tdl">Mechanical-drawing</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Stenography & typewriting.</td> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>In the year 1903 there were 1986 pupils instructed in these trades.</p> + +<p><b>The Results of the System.</b>—English critics have regarded the system +as being somewhat extravagant and as placing the honest labourer at a +disadvantage to the criminal. This criticism has been considerably +weakened of late years and the results investigated instead of being +imagined. The most careful investigation has made it impossible to deny +that the Reformatory achieves all that it claims to, viz.:—that it +contributes nothing to the strengthening of the criminal habit<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> and +therefore it is not a partial remedy, and that it actually returns to +society as useful citizens no less than 82 per cent.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> of those +committed to it.</p> + +<p>Lombroso speaks of the system as a practical application of the results +of the science of Criminology.</p> + +<p>Should the system be adopted in other countries, it would need to be so +translated that it would accord with the traditions and customs of the +people.</p> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> It is generally supposed that such a system cannot act as a +deterrent to crime. The American delegates to the International Prison +Congress (held in Paris in 1895) declared that the obligation imposed +upon the prisoners, in such institutions, to raise themselves by mental +as well as by industrial labour, into higher grades as a necessary +condition for liberation, is felt by many of them, to involve so much +exertion, that they would rather be consigned to some ordinary prison, +where self-improvement is not specially enforced. This system, they +declared, was more deterrent than was generally supposed.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Of some 13,000 criminals who have passed through the +Reformatory, the number known definitely to have returned to crime is a +little less than 1 per cent. of the whole!</p></div> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="Chapter_X" id="Chapter_X"></a> +<br /> + +<hr /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> +<br /> +<h2>Chapter X.</h2> + +<h2>CONCLUSION.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>The reader will have formed his own conclusion. He may conclude that the +author has a sentimental affection for the criminal and would have all +disturbers of the public peace treated with more compassion than the +hard-working and honest labourer. But that reader will have jumped to +his conclusion from his preconceived prejudices. The reformation of the +criminal is no chimera, it has been undertaken for thirty years and +every year has seen better results. The results for 1903 (86 per cent. +of reforms) ought to convince the most sceptic that the reformation of +the criminal is the true aim for society to pursue.</p> + +<p>Another reader may ask why, if all these results are so good, does not +the Government adopt some such system as the Elmira one instead of +continuing the present obsolete penal system. The New York State +Government experiences a difficulty in finding, for their reformatory +staff, men who will undertake their work with a real sense of mission.</p> + +<p>Nor is this the only difficulty. If New Zealand is going to undertake +the reformation of its criminals and to restore them to society as +honest and industrious persons, society itself must be prepared to drop +its prejudices and suspicions and receive the men at their present +worth, and not forever stamp them as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>outcasts. Nothing less, then, is +required than an earnest desire among all classes to recover those among +men who have fallen into villainy and vice and to receive back among +their ranks all those who, having responded to the efforts made on their +behalf, can make a claim upon the confidence and good-will of society.</p> + +<p>But the reformation of the criminal is not the only obligation laid upon +society, there is also the education of the child. It is frequently +being stated that criminals are on the increase; it has been shown that +this increase is not a national one, it must be then that for some +reason the practice of virtue is becoming more and more difficult, +whereas that of vice is becoming increasingly easier. Recruits are +steadily joining the ranks of crime, and when one sees that, as a result +of their home and school training, the rising generation is developing +all the characteristics of the criminal, a somewhat alarming conclusion +very strongly suggests itself. Society has the criminals that it +deserves. It may fail to recover those who have entered upon a criminal +career, or it may be actually guilty of manufacturing criminals. What +are we doing? New Zealand has this hope, that its traditions do not +fetter it, and its institutions are young and plastic.</p> + + +<p class="cen">THE END.</p> + +<div class="tr"> +<p class="cen"><a name="TN" id="TN"></a>Transcriber's Note</p> +<br /> + +Some inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in +the original document has been preserved.<br /> +<br /> +Typographical errors corrected in the text:<br /> +<br /> + +Page 12 Gcd changed to God<br /> +Page 12 criminoligists changed to criminologists<br /> +Page 14 violaters changed to violators<br /> +Page 20 effrontry changed to effrontery<br /> +Page 24 tpyes changed to types<br /> +Page 34 healty changed to healthy<br /> +Page 35 alcholic changed to alcoholic<br /> +Page 46 physichological changed to physicological<br /> +Page 74 maxium changed to maximum<br /> +Page 80 Obviviously changed to Obviously<br /> +Page 93 removed duplicate word "and"<br /> +Page 98 Chappel changed to Chapple<br /> +Page 98 celebate changed to celibate<br /> +Page 104 exacttitude changed to exactitude<br /> +Page 111 Chappel's changed to Chapple's<br /> +Page 116 syphillis changed to syphilis<br /> +Page 121 unkown changed to unknown<br /> +Page 128 aguments changed to arguments<br /> +Page 133 consideraly changed to considerably<br /> +Page 134 Charle's Reades changed to Charles Reade's<br /> +Page 137 removed duplicate word "of"<br /> +Page 140 approbious changed to opprobious<br /> +Page 141 abont changed to about<br /> +Page 143 demonstate changed to demonstrate<br /> +Page 144 kindergartem changed to kindergarten<br /> +Page 148 betweeen changed to between<br /> +Page 151 removed duplicate word "the"<br /> +Page 163 destinction changed to distinction<br /> +Page 178 defficient changed to deficient<br /> +Page 180 prophylasic changed to prophylactic<br /> +Page 181 lins changed to lines<br /> +Page 184 indiffererence changed to indifference<br /> +Page 186 stone-masonery changed to stone-masonry<br /> +</div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Plea for the Criminal, by +James Leslie Allan Kayll + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A PLEA FOR THE CRIMINAL *** + +***** This file should be named 28632-h.htm or 28632-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/6/3/28632/ + +Produced by Jonathan Ah Kit, Barbara Kosker, Mark C. 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Leslie Allan Kayll + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Plea for the Criminal + Being a reply to Dr. Chapple's work: 'The Fertility of the + Unfit', and an Attempt to explain the leading principles + of Criminological and Reformatory Science + +Author: James Leslie Allan Kayll + +Release Date: April 29, 2009 [EBook #28632] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A PLEA FOR THE CRIMINAL *** + + + + +Produced by Jonathan Ah Kit, Barbara Kosker, Mark C. Orton, +Victoria University of Wellington College of Education +(Gender and Women's Studies Programme) and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + + + DEDICATED + TO MANY KIND FRIENDS. + + + + + A PLEA + FOR THE CRIMINAL. + + + + + BEING A REPLY TO DR. CHAPPLE'S WORK: + "THE FERTILITY OF THE UNFIT," + + AND + + AN ATTEMPT TO EXPLAIN THE LEADING + PRINCIPLES OF CRIMINOLOGICAL & + REFORMATORY SCIENCE. + + + + + By + + THE REV. J. L. A. KAYLL, + + CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE HOWARD + ASSOCIATION. + + + + + INVERCARGILL! + W. Smith, Commercial Printer, Temple Chambers, Esk Street. + MCMV. + + + + +AUTHORITIES CONSULTED IN THE PREPARATION OF THIS VOLUME. + + Brockway, Z. R. Elmira. + Corre, Dr A. Paris. + Drill, Dimitri. Moscow. + Du Cane, Sir E. England. + Dugdale, R. L. America. + Ellis, Havelock England. + Ferri, Prof. E. Rome. + Garofalo, (Baron) Prof. Naples. + Kidd, Benjamin England. + Von. Krafft-Ebing, Prof. Vienna. + Lacassagne, Prof. Lyons. + MacDonald, Dr. A. Washington, U.S.A. + Mercier, Chas. M. B. England. + Morrison, Rev. W. D. England. + Manouvrier, Dr. Paris. + Moleschott, Prof. Rome. + Orano, Giuseppe Rome. + Ribot, Th. France. + Rylands, L. Gordon England. + Salomon, Otto Naeaes. (Sweden.) + Scott, Jos. Elmira. + Spitska, Dr. E. C. New York. + Tallack, Wm. England. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + PAGE. + + CHAPTER I. + Introductory 9 + + CHAPTER II. + The Criminal 14 + + CHAPTER III. + The Causes of Crime 28 + + CHAPTER IV. + The Methods and Philosophy of Punishment 61 + + CHAPTER V. + Elimination--Dr. Chapple's Proposal 87 + + CHAPTER VI. + The Obligations of Society Towards the Weak 120 + + CHAPTER VII. + The New Penology 133 + + CHAPTER VIII. + The Prevention of Crime 138 + + CHAPTER IX. + Some American Experiments--Elmira 155 + + CHAPTER X. + Conclusion 188 + + + + +Chapter I. + +INTRODUCTION. + + +This little book presents an appeal to society to consider its criminals +with greater charity and with more intelligent compassion. No other plea +is advanced than that the public mind should rid itself of all prejudices +and misunderstandings, and should make an honest endeavour to understand +what the criminal is, why he is a criminal and what, notwithstanding, are +his chances in social life. + +The criminal has a claim to be understood just as well as any other +creature. It is not necessary that his sympathisers should shut their +eyes to the fact that he is capable of shocking crime, that he is often +an ungrateful wretch that will bite the hand that feeds him and that +among his ranks are to be found the most depraved specimens of humanity +that the mind can conceive. A failure to recognize these facts is +actually a failure to do justice to his cause. Notwithstanding the +hideous history that he may have to unfold, he does ask to be +understood. + +The majority of people take a most prejudiced view of the criminal's +case. They will read the account of some fearful outrage or the details +of a disgraceful divorce suit with absolutely no interest what ever in +the persons concerned but only for the sake of the morbid satisfaction +which such reading gives them. A glance at the sentence will draw forth +from them the exclamation that the wretch got no more than he deserved +or that he didn't get half enough. This simply indicates that society as +a whole has made very little real progress in the manner in which it +regards its criminals. The old barbaric idea of revenge is still the +dominant one and any scheme for the betterment of the criminal, even if +it should give unmistakeable signs that it will accomplish his absolute +reform, is carefully investigated to see whether it provides for a +sufficient degree of penal suffering. Suffering which is of an entirely +penal nature, has very little deterrent value and absolutely no +reformative value whatever. And yet our refined and educated men and +women will read the accounts of crimes and, in their own minds, sentence +the actors to five, ten, fourteen or twenty years; even death, as if +criminals were so used to this sort of thing that they thought no more +of it than their self-chosen judges would if deprived of a day's sport +or disappointed over a ball. + +"But," as an ex-member of the Justice Department said to me, "do you +know what the wretch has done?" Yes, I do know what he has done, and I +know him personally and well, and I know of what he is capable and such +knowledge brings with it the conviction that society commits a greater +crime than that which he has committed when it undertakes to punish him +for his offence upon a principle of pure vengeance. + +"Vengeance is mine," saith the Almighty, "I will repay." Society is not +God any more than is the individual, so that by acting in the collective +capacity no additional plea of justification may be advanced. + +The endeavour of this book will be to show that the best interests of +society are not served by the infliction of punishments which are +essentially penal but by the accomplishment of the reform of the +criminal. This latter process is for the criminal himself, infinitely +more severe than the former, but it inflicts a pain which raises the man +to a higher level; it is purgatorial, and not one which, being penal, +leaves him a greater enemy to mankind than ever. + +The criminal is not excused for his wrong-doing, he is not regarded as +an automaton, but simply as a creature of capabilities and possibilities +which require the intelligent sympathy of his fellows in order that they +may be properly developed. + +There are many persons who regard the reform of the criminal as an +absolutely hopeless task and a waste of time to think over; they +advocate his extermination. They would fling back to the Creator His own +work as having, in their judgment, proved worthless, even mischievous. + +Dr Chapple is astounded that the existence, or at least the birth, of +defectives should be allowed. It is, he says, due in a large measure to +the tide of Christian sentiment which is to-day in full flood. The +Christian does at least recognize that of every defective God says, +"take this child and nurse it for Me," but to speak of Christian +sentiment being at its flood-tide to-day is surely not the speech of one +who professes much belief in the future of Christianity. + +Dr Chapple preaches a Gospel for the defective, and his banner is the +skull and cross-bones! Christian sentiment when at its flood-tide will +have swept away all such emblems. In replying to Dr Chapple, I have +endeavoured to show that his proposal touches but the fringe of the +problem, and even there after an unscientific and immoral manner. There +is room for a measure of surprise that Dr Chapple should have undertaken +to write his book with such a scant knowledge of the facts as they +really are. + +In presenting this little book to the public, the author does so with +the hope that it may tend to restore the confidence in human nature that +Dr Chapple has somewhat weakened, but also in some measure to inspire +society towards greater collective ameliorative effort, in which our +full confidence may unhesitatingly be placed. The author hopes that the +criminal, a subject of patient study for the last ten years, will be +seen in a somewhat new light. Criminologists declare the criminal to be +seven-eighths of an average man. May society find in itself the ability +and good-will to contribute the other eighth! + +Small as this volume is, it has required many communications with the +old world, and the author's thanks are due to many students engaged upon +the study of this science in England and in the United States, and who +have rendered him valuable assistance. Also, the assistance of many kind +friends in New Zealand is gratefully acknowledged, and particularly that +of Mr Alfred Grant, without whose aid the preparation of these sheets +for the press would have been an almost impossible task. + + + + +Chapter II. + +THE CRIMINAL. + + +The popular mind draws little or no distinction between criminals. In it +there exists the idea of a criminal caste, all the members of which are +prepared to commit any and every act of a criminal nature. In the +popular mind, although it is just a question whether a man is bad enough +to commit the greater crimes, yet thieves, violators, swindlers, forgers +and murderers are all assumed to fall into the same category. In one +sense they do, that is, that they are all anti-social beings, or rather +they all possess certain anti-social qualities; but as soon as we +proceed further we find that there exists a very great distinction in +criminals. Criminals are first classified according to the motive of +their crime. This classication ranges them under five different +headings, the political criminal, the occasional criminal, the criminal +of passion, the instinctive criminal, and the habitual criminal or +recidivist. + +Again they are classified, according to the nature of their crime, into +thieves, robbers, violators, assassins, murderers, swindlers, etc. These +again are sub-classified, e.g., thieves are classified as housebreakers, +those who rob with violence, those who use weapons, those who rob from +the person, and those who break safes. Murderers may also be classified +according to the nature of their murderous instinct, illustrated by the +instrument of destruction that they employ, whether it be the knife, +firearms, poisons or other means, and again a classification exists +between those who commit murder themselves and those who employ agents. +All these classifications are entirely different, and although some +criminals may range under more than one heading, yet it is generally the +case that a criminal adopts both a certain form of crime and also a +particular method for carrying it into execution. + +=The Political Criminal.=--This man's offence is not against morality +but against the governmental institutions of the country. He holds +advanced ideas upon matters of government and upon the constitution of +society, and in his attempt to propagate these he becomes a political +criminal. The political criminal, as distinguished from all other +criminals, never commits violence, his morals may even approach +perfection; but he holds "ideas," ideas which are not acceptable to the +government under which he lives. + +The despotic rule of the Oriental countries is most favourable to the +production of the political criminal: Russia and Germany are not without +their representatives. Occasionally bands of political criminals are +formed, and then, in the midst of demonstrations, unpremeditated +violence may be committed. The Stundists and the Young Turkish Party are +examples. + +=The Occasional Criminal.=--"Economic conditions are generally +responsible for the production of the occasional criminal. His crime is +committed in order to satisfy his present wants. In him the sensual +instincts may not be stronger than usual, and the social element, though +weaker than usual, need not be absent. Weakness is the chief +characteristic of the occasional criminal. When circumstances are not +quite favourable he succumbs to temptation." (The Criminal, p. 18.) The +occasional criminal is clearly a subject for educational treatment. He +needs to cultivate greater power of self-control, to strengthen his +moral sense, and above all to be thoroughly equipped for the battle of +life. Imprisonment will frequently ruin him and be the cause of his +becoming a confirmed or habitual criminal. + +=The Criminal of Passion.=--He is generally of considerable culture and +of keen moral sensibility. His crime proceeds from a sense of righteous +indignation which, for the moment, completely blinds him. Personal +insults cannot disturb his calm, but the sight of a child being abused +or a defenceless one being attacked, will so infuriate him that he may +even commit murder. Premeditation is never present, he acts under the +powerful inspiration of the moment, and his crime is an isolated event +quite unconnected with his conduct in general. + +=The Insane Criminal=.--Insane persons who commit criminal acts, show +rather a variation of insanity than of criminality. It would be more +exact to describe them as "criminal lunatics" than as "insane +criminals." Two classes exist, a fact which is often overlooked, for +there are both criminal-lunatics and insane-criminals. In the first +case, criminality is the product of insanity, but in the second case +insanity is the product of criminality. Not an hereditary product in +either case, but a product resulting from a cause within the person's +mental or moral self. + +The pronounced lunatic, the incapable, irresponsible person whose +actions are beyond his power to understand or control, is regarded by +society as a being too dangerous to be at large. Of him we do not here +speak to any extent, he is too well recognized. It should always be +borne in mind, however, that he commits crime because he is a lunatic, +and that although his confinement is absolutely necessary, yet there is +no warrant whatever that it should be made penal in character. + +Although it is not possible in a work of this kind to deal largely with +the subject, the writer would urge upon the notice of society and upon +the special notice of jurists that there are a number of persons whose +crimes should excite for them the greatest sympathy instead of, as is +the case, the greatest detestation. Men there are who, perfectly sane in +the ordinarily accepted sense, and who have not only a clear conception +of the immorality of their conduct, but also an intense abhorrence and +shame for it, find themselves performing the most revolting acts under +influences that are absolutely irresistible. The sensualist has no +justification, but our laws are excessively cruel in their dealings with +this class to which allusion is made. To be brief, no man charged with +sadism (lust-murder) pederasty or the related crimes, should have his +case made public until a most complete diagnostic examination (including +his family and personal history) has been made by competent persons. + +A careful study of Krafft-Ebing's monumental work upon the subject +should convince our lawyers that they could not proceed in these cases +without the assistance of the alienist and of those who are experts in +the diagnosis of the various forms of patho-sexualism. The cases of +insane criminals, that is, of the criminals whose vice is the cause of +their insanity, is also divisible into two classes. There is that +uninteresting class who on account of their irregular, immoral and +excitable life become insane, and there is another class. These latter +frequently escape the penalty of their crimes. Insanity is disclosed and +they have no criminal record, therefore they are discharged. It would be +a nice point to decide whether and to what degree, if any, +responsibility exists. To give an example not altogether uncommon--a man +who will not brook opposition or hindrance of any sort. On every such +occasion he cherishes most spiteful, even murderous, feelings towards +his opponent. He would do him any injury, even go to the length of +killing him, but he dare not. + +He will storm, abuse and threaten, but he dare not go further. He is +avoided by his neighbours as being a most cantankerous fellow; he is +always being involved in disputes. This man is undoubtedly criminal at +heart and is cherishing anti-social feelings which are steadily growing +in their intensity. Revenge becomes the almost dominating influence over +his mind, but it is held in check by fear. At last fear gives way and +there is no further restriction to the emotion of revenge, which then +becomes supreme. At this climax insanity occurs and murder is committed +synchronically. Morally the act was committed years previously, and it +was by his own conduct in goading himself on to the climax that made it +an actual fact. Subsequently, almost immediately, he may become rational +again and retain consciousness of the deed and thoroughly understands +its outrageous nature. He will not then express any regrets but will +declare that his deed was perfectly moral. This man is as near a monster +as we dare call any man, and should never be allowed to have his liberty +restored to him. + +=Instinctive Criminal.=--Called also the "born criminal" (Lombroso), or +the "criminal by nature." The term "instinctive criminal" seems to be +that growing most in popularity, possibly because there is less +likelihood of it having to be modified by the results of further +investigation. + +By the instinctive criminal is understood a man in whom the criminal +instinct has gained a supremacy over the social instinct. He is not +only anti-social in deed but also in character. (It would be a mistake +to term him anti-social in nature, for that would indicate that he was +absolutely hostile to humanity. One, anti-social in character, is +capable of betterment, and this is possible of every man.) Many causes +operate to account for his production, some of them reaching far back +into his ancestry. When this is the case some physical handicap is +always present, such as e.g. cerebral irritation and epilepsy. + +In childhood the instinctive criminal may be recognised by an excessive +vanity which will often tempt him to steal, the thefts being generally +confined to articles of personal adornment or which give an occasion to +"swagger." When accused he will deny the charge brought against him with +an effrontery which will too often create the conviction that he is +innocent. When charged he will challenge the statements of his superiors +without any hesitation whatever, but at a given moment will break down +and make a most free and perhaps disinterested confession. Frequently he +is very emotional in behavior and simulates the deepest regret, although +he is practically without any remorse whatever. He will undertake to +perform the most afflicting tasks of penance in order to expiate the +wrong and give every assurance for future good behaviour. Neither of +which is of the least value. + +Onanism and a morbid love for sweets is an important characteristic. In +the adult, laziness, debauchery and cowardice are to be noticed. His +signature is peculiar, involved and often adorned with flourishes. He +loves to be credited with the performance of great achievements, and +will tatoo medals upon his body or other symbols significant of +greatness. The instinctive criminal generally complains that he is +unfortunate, or that he has never had a chance, and that society is +always contriving to keep him down. + +=The Habitual Criminal, or the Recidivist.=--When once a man has fallen +into the clutches of the law and been incarcerated it is very difficult +for him to keep his self-respect. His first crime may present many +features to indicate that he is more the victim of circumstances than +well-defined ill-will. But having been convicted, he finds himself +shunned by all but criminal society, and together with other influences, +educational in character, he is frequently allured into a relapse. If a +prisoner endeavours to behave himself in gaol and keep aloof from evil +contagion, he is bullied by his fellow-prisoners, and even his keepers +regard him with suspicion. The one twit him with being a white-livered +coward, the other consider him to be either a sneak or a "deep fellow." +He is almost sure to fall and identify himself with the ranks of crime. +An instance that the writer has personal knowledge of is that of a man, +passionate in nature, and moved by the tears of a young woman on behalf +of her imprisoned lover, stuck up a small country gaol under arms and +gained the release of the imprisoned man. To escape the consequences he +had to take to the "bush," and for two years he lived the life of an +outlaw. He finally surrendered to the police and was condemned to death. +As no personal injury had been committed and his manner of using his +weapons shewed plainly that he did not contemplate any, his sentence was +commuted to imprisonment for fourteen years, the first three to be spent +in irons. At the end of that time the criminal habit was confirmed. For +various offences he was sentenced at different times to periods +aggregating in all to thirty years. After his last sentence had +expired--six years ago--he began a new life and has not committed crime +since. His whole career showed many redeeming points in it. This case is +well-known to the New Zealand and Australian prison authorities. + +The number of criminals who are allured into relapse is computed by +Orano to be 45 per cent of the whole. + +The distinction between the habitual criminal and the instinctive +criminal is not merely an academical one but emphatically a practical +one. Both are living the life of crime, and their acts may be, from an +objective point, of exactly the same nature; but in the one case we have +to deal with the criminal CHARACTER and in the other with the criminal +HABIT. The distinction is first seen in the different ages at which each +commences his criminal career; nextly in the different impelling causes. +Again, the emotions, ideas and methods show a distinction. All these +variations are in the aggregate of considerable practical importance, +especially in the assignment of prisoners for reformatory treatment. + + * * * * * + + +THE CRIMINAL TYPE. + +Prof. Lombroso writing the introduction to Dr Arthur's "Criminology" +says:--"This point as to the type, is scarcely recognized even by the +most respectable savants. The reasons for this are many: above all, +there are the criminals by occasion or by passion, who do not belong to +the type and should not, for in great part it is the circumstances, and +often the laws, which make them criminals and not Nature. And then some +have strange ideas concerning the type." + +No doubt if the acceptation of the idea of type is carried out in its +complete universality, it cannot be accepted; but as I have already said +in my previous writings that it is necessary to receive this idea with +the same reserve which one appreciates averages in statistics. + +When it is said that the average of life is 32 years, and that the month +least (? most) fatal to life, is December, no one understands by this +that all or almost all men should die at the age of 32 years and in the +month of December; but I am not the only one to make this restriction. +In order to show this I have to cite the definition which Monsieur +Topinard, himself the most inveterate of my adversaries, gives in his +remarkable work "The Type," says Gratiolet, "is a synthetic expression." +"The Type," says Goethe, is "the abstract and general image" which we +deduce from the observation of the common parts and from the +differences. "The type of a species," adds Isidorus St. Helaire, "never +appears before our eyes but is perceived only by the mind." "Human +types," writes Broca, "have no real existence, they are only abstract +conceptions, ideals, which come from the comparison of ethnic varieties, +and are composed of an ENSEMBLE of characters common to a +certain degree among themselves." I agree with these different points of +view. The type is indeed an ENSEMBLE of traits, but in relation +to a group which it characterises, it is also the ENSEMBLE of +its most prominent traits, and those repeating themselves, whence comes +a series of consequences which the anthropologist should never lose +sight of either in his laboratory or in the midst of the populations of +Central Africa." Manouvrier opposes Lombroso's theory and denies the +existence of the type. He argues that if it exist at all it must be +universal, whereas the peculiarities noted by Lombroso are present in +honest as well as in criminal persons, the latter having, however, the +greater proportion. + +The doctrine of Fatalism seems at first sight to be bound up in the +acceptance of Lombroso's theory: but such is not the case. Lombroso +himself declares that the type belongs to the born criminal only, and +that the born criminal can be nothing more than an epileptic; +criminality being a neurosis. It would thus seem that the type was but +the indication of an organic defect which physically or psychically +rendered the subject unable to adapt himself to the social condition; +but not that unchangeable ideas, contradicting pure morality, were +innate. Lombroso goes no further than to state definitely that the type +exists, and that there are very clear indications that a different type +will be found to correspond with the different forms of criminality. +That the peculiarities are found also in persons living honest lives, +proves nothing against his theory. For instance, there are many persons +of distinctly criminal instincts who are kept in the paths of honesty +merely by circumstances; and again, scientific investigation has not yet +completed its work, and while certain typical peculiarities may be noted +in the criminal and in the non-criminal alike, it is more than likely +that the type will be found to consist in different combinations which +will be discovered to exist in the criminal (not necessarily, the +convict) exclusively. Or the type may consist in the peculiarities plus +expression. The following typical peculiarities have been noticed by +different criminologists:-- + +=The Cranium.=--The more frequent persistence of the metopic or frontal +suture. The effacement, more or less complete, of the parietal or +parieto-occipital sutures in a large number of criminals. The notched +sutures are the most simple. The frequency of the wormian bones in the +region of the median and in the lateral posterior frontal. The backward +direction of the plane of the occipital depression. (Dr A. Corre.) + +Feeble cranial capacity; heavy and developed jaw; large orbital +capacity; projecting superciliary ridges; abnormal and assymetrical +cranium; the presence of a median occipital fossa. (Lombroso.) + +=The Face.=--Scanty beard; abundant hair, prognathism, thick lips, dull +eye, lemurian appendix to the jaw, pteleriform type of the nasal +opening, projecting ears, squinting eyes, receding forehead and deformed +nose. "Those guilty of rape (if not cretins) almost always have a +projecting eye, delicate physiognomy, large lips and eyelids, the most +of them are slender, blond and rachitic. The pederast often has feminine +elegance, long and curly hair, and even in prison garb, a certain +feminine figure, delicate skin, childish look, and abundance of glossy +hair parted in the middle. Burglars who break into houses have as a rule +woolly hair, deformed cranium, powerful jaws, and enormous zygomatic +arches, are covered with scars on the head and trunk, and are often +tatooed. Habitual homicides have a glassy, cold, immobile, sometimes +sanguinary and dejected look; often an aquiline nose, or, in other +words, a hooked one like a bird of prey, always large; the jaws are +large, ears long, hair woolly, abundant and rich (dark); beard rare, +canine teeth, very large; the lips are thin. A large number of swindlers +and forgers have an artlessness, and something clerical in their manner, +which gives confidence to their victims. Some have a haggard look, very +small eyes, crooked nose, and the face of an old woman." (Dr MacDonald, +page 40.) + +The following proverbs, collected by Lombroso, show the recognition in +the popular mind of the criminal type:--"There is nothing worse than a +scarcity of beard and no colour." "Pale face is either false or +treacherous." (Rome.) "A red-haired man and a bearded woman greet at a +distance." (Venice.) "Be thou suspicious of the woman with a man's +voice." "God preserve me from the man without a beard." (France.) "Pale +face is worse than the itch." (Piedmont.) "Bearded women and unbearded +men, salute at a distance." (Tuscan.) "Men of little beard of little +faith." "Wild look, cruel custom." "Be thou suspicious of him who +laughs, and beware of men with small twinkling eyes." (Tuscan.) + +It must be remembered that while physiognomy gives valuable hints it is +by no means absolutely certain. Further investigation may add materially +to its value. It is also to be remembered that habits play an important +part in the physiognomy. So much so is this true that it has been said +of the reformed criminals from Elmira, that their faces have changed. + + + + +Chapter III. + +THE CAUSES OF CRIME. + + +In investigating the causes of crime we have first to understand what we +mean by the word "Crime," and also what we describe by the term +"Criminal." + +Crime may be regarded both objectively and also subjectively, i.e., as +regards the deed itself and as regards the doer of the deed. In the past +it was customary to consider the crime only and to punish the doer, or +the criminal, according to the enormity of his deed. Scientific methods +require, however, that we should study the criminal and ask ourselves +"what is he?" and "of what forces is he the product?" If these questions +can be satisfactorily answered, then society is better enabled to arm +herself against his invasion, in fact having successfully diagnosed his +case she may be led on to discover the means whereby criminals may be +reduced to their irreducible minimum, both as regards number and as +regards their capacity for doing harm. + +Man has two natures, the animal and the spiritual. The animal is the +passive product of Nature, the forces of his development being guided +and restricted by the condition of the life in which he is born and +reared. To this animal nature belongs the natural appetites, passions, +faculties and senses. This nature is not sufficient in itself, and its +realisation cannot be accomplished until it is brought into complete +subordination to the higher or spiritual nature. The function of this +spiritual nature is to subordinate the animal nature by harmonising and +controlling it, and it finds its partial realisation in the institutions +of family, church and state; and its ultimate realisation in the +heavenly counterparts of these. Thus subordinating the animal nature, it +develops the powers of man's natural inheritance along their true line +of advance and brings him steadily nearer the goal of perfect manhood. + +When, however, the spiritual influence is not exercised and man resigns +himself to the uncontrolled influences which spring from his lower +nature, he rapidly degenerates. Socially, this degeneracy is noticed by +its process of gradually loosening, and finally severing the ties which +bind man to his race. He becomes an unsocial being and ceases to +contribute to the wealth, peace or establishment of society. His desire +for society is regulated by his capacity to draw from it the +satisfaction of the abnormal appetite of unregulated passion. In this +mood he totally disregards the laws of society and seizes every +opportunity that presents itself to prey upon it and he thus becomes an +anti-social being. Through all ages up to the present, society has at +the cost of much effort and suffering been progressing, stage by stage, +towards a higher order. Each advance purchased at such a price, becomes +a free gift, by inheritance, to the next generation, and from this +inheritance still further progress may be made. It is quite possible +that in a dissolute age retrogression may set in and the ground be lost, +in which case its recovery becomes the arduous task of a succeeding +regenerate age. + +With each advance that it makes society embodies in its institution the +principles of social life such as it has been able to discover them. +These principles being finally accepted, we must assume that they are +eternal or else we are compelled to admit that society may be for ever +at fault, that its development does not correspond with the true +development of man, and that this present life is in no wise preparatory +for a future. Though we declare that the principles of society are +eternal, the social institutions which embody them are merely temporal, +and may change with time and circumstances. They are, nevertheless, +binding upon our allegiance, and any attempt to overthrow them becomes +the anti-social act of the criminal and is a punishable offence. The +criminal is an enemy to social advance. He profanes that which society +holds sacred, he scatters that which society, at great cost has +acquired, and he attacks society at its most vulnerable points. + +What, then it may be asked, are the causes that produce this anti-social +being? In the case of the sane criminal, an immoral basis underlies all +causes, and without this they would each and all be impotent. Some +causes, as e.g. alcoholism, are the result of the individual's +immorality; others again are independent. + +The principal causes are:--A bad ancestry (heredity), bad domestic and +social conditions, alcoholism, imitation, and stress of circumstances. + +=Heredity.=--Among unscientific people there are many extravagant +theories held, some even affirming that from the moment of conception a +child's character may be determined as criminal, as if character +underlay habit instead of habit evolving character. + +It is therefore necessary that we should endeavour to discover if +possible how far the influence of heredity extends, and especially to +disclose its powers as a factor influencing conduct. A man may be seen +to have the same peculiar carriage and gait as his father; but to argue +from that, that he will in obedience to a naturally transmitted impulse, +follow in his father's footsteps as a thief or a forger is to step +entirely out of the bounds of science. Gait and carriage belong to a +different sphere altogether from morals and conduct. But let it be at +once acknowledged that the morals and conduct of any given ancestry show +a tendency to be reproduced in the posterity. The drunkard is the father +of drunkards; the suicide is the father of suicides, and the parent's +crime is repeated by the child. Not in all cases is this by any means a +fact: but in a sufficient number to exclude the possibility of +coincidence accounting for them all, and to demonstrate conclusively +that some influence must be at work connecting the deeds of the +progenitor with those of his offspring. What is this influence? Can it +be at once declared to be the influence of heredity? The most usual way +of determining this question is by the process of exclusion. If +environment, education, imitation and other causes do not account for +the phenomena, then heredity must. Heredity thus becomes a convenient +name by which to denominate the insolvable. Sometimes the denomination +is correct and sometimes incorrect, and very often, even when correct, +it conveys a wrong impression. The impression being that the influence +of heredity is altogether irresistible and also ineradicable. + +Now, whatever the influence of heredity may be, it must be determined +scientifically and not merely guessed at. Nor must the failure to find +an adequate cause for a certain crime be a sufficient reason for +accounting heredity as responsible. Heredity has limits to its range of +influence as well as any other cause for crime, and it may be found that +there are certain fears which it can never invade. For instance, one +sphere wherein its influence is manifestly great, is in the structure of +the nervous, osseous, muscular, circulatory and vascular systems. Again, +what is more common than to find intellectual ability running in +families? Ribot, in his work on heredity, gives long lists of the +world's most famous poets, artists, musicians, statesmen and soldiers, +all showing the tendency of ability, in these various directions, to be +transmitted from one generation to another. Not always to the generation +immediately succeeding, for sometimes these various qualities disappear +in the son to reappear in the grandson or great-grandson. However, +convincing the evidence for transmission in these cases may be, it gives +no warrant whatever for the conclusion that heredity may exercise an +influence upon the MORAL conduct of man. + +Let it here be observed that the Moral Law is fundamental to all law. No +laws in Nature ever contradict the Moral Law, but are always found +acting in obedience to it. All the works of God are in accord with this +Law; God is the Moral Governor of the Universe. Therefore whatever may +hold good with all other laws, does not necessarily hold good with this +Law. That a man should inherit his father's intellectual qualities is +then no argument that he should also inherit his father's immorality. +Nothing less will suffice than distinct evidence that he HAS inherited +his father's immorality. + +A further observation is necessary, and that is, that morality is not +absolute but relative. Strictly speaking, no man is moral. God alone is +absolutely moral. Nor can we compare the morality of one man with the +average morality of mankind in general. To estimate a certain man's +morality of conduct we must compare his conduct with the degree of the +sense of responsibility which exists within him, and also his power of +control over his conduct. The murderous act of a lunatic for instance is +an immoral act, because we compare the act with morality in the +abstract; but it would be a mistake to call the lunatic an immoral man, +for the simple reason that he had no control over his conduct and was +therefore not responsible for it. + +Take the case of the drunkard. A certain drunken father has several +drunken sons. The influence of environment, of education, or of +imitation, we will suppose to be excluded. Is heredity the cause, and if +so, has it invaded the moral sphere? The influence of the father's +drunkenness is first made manifest in his own nervous system. The nerve +centres become clogged and poisoned and fail to discharge their +functions with the same healthy activity as formerly. The nervous system +degenerates, and the consequence of this degeneracy is the production of +that form of irritation within the system which we call the craving for +drink, and which requires alcohol for its immediate satisfaction. The +man will admit that he has no liking for the taste of drink; but +declares that he is in a certain state of unsettlement which can only be +overcome by the use of liquor. A temporary calm is induced, only to be +followed by a more intense irritation or unsettlement afterwards, and +thus a circle of cause and effect is at once described. + +This is then the degenerate state of the father's nervous system. Now, +it is undoubted that he may transmit this same degenerate nervous system +to his offspring and thus as his children grow up it is not to be +wondered at if the same craving for drink is to be found in them as was +existing in their parent. The influence of heredity has been at work +upon the nervous system. Has its influence been restricted to this +system, or has it invaded the moral sphere? The children's conduct is +immoral, for no amount of argument can determine drunkenness to be +anything else: but are the children themselves immoral? They are not +immoral so far as they are acting in obedience to an impulse which is +irresistible. The drunkard who is himself responsible for his habit, is, +strictly speaking, an alcoholic and is vicious and degraded. The +drunkard who drinks in spite of himself is, strictly speaking, a +dipsomaniac, and is diseased and insane. The alcoholic may become the +dipsomaniac; but the child who is the victim of a transmitted taint is +without doubt a dipsomaniac and not an alcoholic. He is insane. It may +not be an incurable form of insanity; nor need it be a very acute form; +but insanity it is, and therefore he cannot be called an immoral man +because he drinks, although he is guilty of immoral conduct. Heredity +has not invaded the moral sphere. It has given the man a diseased +nervous system, which, while weakening his will, has not perverted it. +Thus it is seen then that if any effort is to be made for the reform of +the dipsomaniac, the direct influence of heredity must be overcome by a +course of treatment which would be addressed to the nervous system. +Treatment which shall draw out the alcoholic poison and which shall +quicken and invigorate the nerve centres. When the influence of heredity +is discovered to be restricted within these limits, the case of the +hereditary dipsomaniac becomes far less hopeless than it appeared at +first sight, and it is for this reason that the causes of crime should +be thoroughly investigated. To moralise to the dipsomanic is but lost +effort, one may as well abuse a driver for not stopping his bolting +horses. Some reformatory schemes have trusted entirely to moral +agencies, and their failure has been quoted as evidence that all such +schemes are futile. But their failure has been due to an entirely wrong +conception of the cause of crime. The primary cause is undoubtedly a +reprobate will: but this cause is not found in every case. Where the +consequences of the parent's conduct has been inherited we find not the +primary, but a secondary cause, such as e.g. a diseased nervous system. +Sometimes both the primary and the secondary causes exist side by side, +and then treatment must be addressed to both the will and to the +physical system. In fact whatever methods of treatment are employed, the +moral temperament must not be neglected, for even if the will be not +perverted, it is considerably weakened and needs strengthening. + +The case of the sensualist is somewhat similar to that of the drunkard. +Ribot quoting Prosper Lucas, gives the example of a "man cook, of great +talent in his calling, has had all his life, and has still at the age of +sixty years, a passion for women. To this he adds unnatural crime. One +of his natural sons living apart from him does not even know his father, +and though not yet quite nineteen, has from his childhood given all the +signs of extreme lust, and strange to say, he, like his father, is +equally addicted to either sex." (Ribot; Heredity p. 89.) + +The fact that this son imitated his father's vices at an early age, is +not sufficient in itself to assign the cause to heredity. Nor does the +fact that he was separated from his father's influence or example, +strengthen the assignment beyond dispute. The causes for such conduct +are so common that very few men escape from their influence, and +whosever does not resist them, falls and becomes a victim. But probably +this was a case in which an inherited influence pressed itself so +strongly upon him as to become irresistible. What, we ask was inherited? +A perverted will? That is absolutely impossible. A perverted will is the +outcome of a deliberate choice of evil when the choice of virtue is +equally possible. A weakened will, or a will subject to heavy stress is +a different thing. There must be some stress upon the will. What is it? +It is a well known fact that the exercise of the members of our body +results in a great facility of movement being attained. The pianist can, +after long practice, execute rapid and complex performances of +fingering, which in the early stages of education were absolutely +impossible. It is because the nerve centres controlling the muscles +employed have been brought to such a high state of activity that they +operate almost independently of the will. The nerve centres controlling +certain of our functions DO operate independently of the will. Breathing +is an example, and although an effort of the will is required to +correct bad breathing, yet when once the habit of correct breathing is +established, the directing influence of the mind ceases, and the nerve +centres discharge their functions automatically. + +In the normal man the sexual instinct is inherited but the passion is +submissive to the control of the will. The will is supreme and +self-restraint is always possible. The immoral man has refused to +exercise this restraining power, he has, in fact, by his immoral +thoughts, lent his mind to the strengthening of the passion until it has +gained an ascendancy. Continual sexual excitement has resulted in the +nervous centres controlling the sexual organs becoming so powerfully +developed as to act almost automatically, and independently of the will. +In the normal man, sexual excitement results upon the mental vision; in +the sensualist the excitement precedes the vision. Another effect is +noticed in the physiognomy which changes in accordance with the +development of the nerve centres and presents all the appearances of the +typical sensualist or prostitute. + +In some cases the sensualist transmits this highly organised or +disordered nervous system to his descendants, and consequently when they +arrive at a certain age they find their bodies invaded by a passion over +which they have small, and sometimes no, control. It is distinctly a +case of functional insanity with them. Their will power is weak because +of undue stress, but it has not been perverted. Perversion may follow; +but may also be avoided, and even the will sufficiently strengthened so +that it may re-assume control and subject the passion to control. The +influence of heredity is here also confined to the nervous system. That +is, the direct influence, the influence which was first felt and before +it received any support which the mind of the victim may give it. The +cases of hereditary suicides, murderers and assassins afford a very +large field for investigation, and we cannot do more than suggest some +causes which seem to give strong evidence of their existence. These +causes if their existence be allowed, and we see every reason that it +should, will restrict the influence of heredity to a much narrower +sphere than is popularly supposed. The old story of the devil preaching +upon the horrors of hell serves somewhat to illustrate our meaning. When +the abbot enquired whether it was not contrary to his interests to draw +so vivid and terrible a picture he replied in the negative and gave as +his reason that the man who contemplated the horrors of hell was the man +who was bound to find his way there. + +The contemplation of criminal acts effects a strange fascination upon +the mind and very often induces imitation of the same acts. When a +suicide or murder, in fact any crime, is committed by a member of a +family the other members either, according to their moral disposition, +experience a greater or lesser repulsion for the deed than they formerly +possessed. The enormity of the deed is either stronger or lesser in +their eyes than before. In the latter case, murder or suicide does not +seem nearly so heinous a crime when it is brought so closely under their +notice. The very knowledge that a father or uncle or any other near +relative, or even friends for that matter, committed suicide, makes the +act appear far less terrible, and also far less impossible for +themselves. Most men have at some time or another an impulse to destroy +themselves, it may not be very strong; but if it is felt at a time when +the circumstances of life are unfavourable and, if added to this, there +is presented the example of a suicide very near at home, the impulse is +undoubtedly strengthened. The whole chain of circumstances seem to +direct the vision upon the rash act of the friend or relative, until at +last the vision becomes fascinating, and the act is imitated. To use a +concise expression one may call this the "hypnotic power of +circumstances." It is not an absolute cause in itself; but, strictly +speaking, may we call any cause absolute? It is not a cause which would +influence a man of strong will or of sound morality. But a sentimental +person, one of morbid ideas, weak will, or overcome by the thought of +detection, or the fear of misfortune, might easily fall a victim to its +influences. It will not account for all the cases of hereditary suicide, +for a mental disease may be transmitted which would account for the +suicide of both father and son or whatever the combination may be. It, +however, does account, we believe, for the majority of the cases, and +the similarity of the method employed strengthens this belief, for it +indicates that the mind is dwelling upon the actual vision of the +relative's suicide, and is not merely contemplating suicide in the +abstract. This theory would imply that any case of suicide, upon which +the mind would dwell and concentrate itself, would exercise the same +influence, and this is the case. A few years ago in Dunedin an +accountant who was involved in financial difficulties, shot himself with +a pistol. His executor, against the advice of friends, took charge of +the pistol. Becoming involved in financial difficulties himself, he too +committed suicide by shooting himself with the same weapon! Almost, +without a doubt, we may say that the circumstances of the first suicide +exerted upon the mind of the trustee a hypnotic influence which combined +with and gave the final impulse to the other contributing causes of his +act. + +Another instance is that of a young man who, contemplating suicide, +carried a revolver about with him for a whole day. He spoke of suicide +to his friends, occasionally discharged shots into the ground, and +finally, during the evening, blew his brains out. That he contemplated +suicide was evident from his conversation, but that his mind was not +made up, is also evident from the delay he occasioned. In fact, his +whole behaviour indicates a faint desire to cling to something stronger +than himself in order to brace himself against his haunting fears. The +revolver fascinated him. He dallied with it, made up his mind, changed +it again, and finally the influence became supreme for a moment, and he +fired the fatal shot. Throughout the day, he very probably thought of +the grief of his relatives and of the young woman he was soon to marry, +he pictured the consternation of his friends, read the newspaper +accounts of his act, saw his funeral, and let his mind run altogether in +morbid channels. Thus it was that the vision of his own act exerted an +hypnotic influence upon him which became at the critical moment supreme +and irresistible. + +When the picture is real and not imaginary, and when the circumstances +of a parent's or brother's or friend's suicide may easily be recalled +and the mind allowed to dwell upon them, how much greater would the +influence become, especially when the same example has served to +diminish the idea of the enormity of the act. Where persons lend +themselves to the idea that an hereditary influence exists and may +spring upon them at any moment, they are almost sure either to destroy +themselves or else to develop some form of insanity. There are cases of +murder and assassination (apparently hereditary crime) where the +conditions are so similar that the hypnotic power of circumstances may +likewise be urged as sufficient cause. + +So far, an attempt has been made to show that whatever the influence of +heredity may be, it is restricted outside the sphere of morality. It +cannot transmit an IMMORAL IDEA. So far as certain forms of +vice and crime are concerned it most probably is limited entirely to its +effect upon the physical structure of man. Combined with family +tradition and working upon a diseased, or weakened will, it accounts for +similarities of conduct. Suicides, murderers and assassins do not then +receive by transmission from their ancestry any taint or tendency which +may be called the direct cause of their crime. Another factor is +present, a hypnotising power, and this is the final and directing power. +It is a different influence to imitation, although its first result is +the same, viz: the lowering of the moral idea. But crimes where the act +is the imitation of another person's act are generally committed from +the desire to become notorious and to be the centre of observation. The +spirit of vanity, very strong in the low type, is appealed to and +aroused. Or perhaps, the example of another's crime affords a suggestion +for the method of accomplishing a certain desired end. On the other +hand, the ancestral example, after having broken down the moral barrier +depends entirely upon its power to fascinate. Those of weak will or +guilty conscience, alone succumb to its influence. If we consider the +cases of thieves, vagabonds and paupers we find their crimes and vices +likewise running in families. It is nevertheless quite a mistake to jump +at the conclusion that heredity accounts for all these coincidencies. +Exempting all cases of transmitted mental alienation and observing only +those who are quite responsible for their action, it is impossible to +suppose that there is, somewhere in their organism, a power which will +direct their lives into the channels of vice or crime just as +irresistibly as the influence which makes the hair grow on the crown of +their heads. It is unthinkable. It supposes a responsible person who +cannot control himself. Which is a contradiction. + +M. Moleschott, at the International Congress of Criminal Anthropology +held in Paris in 1889, "mentioned an influence towards crime that had +not been noticed, to wit, the hereditary social influence, or that is, +the tradition which is instilled into the mind of every child before he +knows the difference between right and wrong, that by which he obtains +the rudiments of his knowledge of right and wrong. Whether it be correct +or not it is the child's standard. He gets it not from any knowledge of +theory of justice, but from the tradition of his own neighbourhood, as +it is taught by his parents and associates by the people, and as is +believed by them." (Criminal Anthropology; the Smithsonian Report for +1891.) + +It will be understood that the influences of which M. Moleschott speaks +are not of an hereditary nature, that is, they are not transmitted +through the blood; but they are influences which are present from the +first moment of consciousness. They are quite sufficient to account for +the criminal type being found in the physiognomy of a person born and +reared among such surroundings. It is a very popular error to suppose +that a person's physiognomy never changes, and therefore that if the +criminal cast of countenance is seen it must be a faithful witness to +some innate depravity transmitted from an ancestry. The expression plays +such an important part in the moulding of the countenance, that of two +brothers very much alike in youth, one, afterwards given to crime, will +still retain his resemblance to his brother; but will display the +criminal type as well. It is thus that we have the different types in +murderers, assassins, thieves, swindlers and sensualists. They are all +criminal or vicious but their forms of criminality and vice are so +diverse that a different expression results from the different kinds of +thought passing through their minds. In their theories, few people +acknowledge that the symmetry of the facial features may change, and yet +it is a matter of common observance that they do. In the cases of +persons becoming insane or persons who have suffered from long and +painful illnesses it is very remarkable. Likewise in the case of the man +who has fallen into crime, it is also most noticeable. Of course there +are limits to the changes which the expression may produce, but these +changes are nevertheless very great and sufficiently so, not perhaps to +produce Lombroso's type in any given face, but to give that face at +least a distinctly criminal cast. + +The appearance then of this criminal cast upon the features is not +sufficient evidence to account for an inherited tendency towards crime. +Dr Manouvrier insists that Lombroso's theory that the criminal is born +and not made is based upon the exploded science of phrenology, and +declares that all the anatomical distinctions and physicological +characteristics quoted by Lombroso are to be found among honest men as +well as among criminals. The fact that a greater proportion are found +among criminals to his mind proves nothing. + +[There is not vast difference between normal and abnormal persons +possessing these peculiarities. In Lombroso's work "The Female Offender" +he notices:-- + + Normal Women Criminal Women + Receding foreheads 8 per cent. 11 per cent. + Enormous lower jaws 9 " 15 " + Projecting cheek bones 14 " 19.9 " + Murderesses 30 " + " ears 6 " 9.2 " + Flat nose 40 " Thieves 20 " + +Gradenigo (quoted by Lombroso) gives the following table showing the +peculiarities of the ears of 245 criminals as compared with 14,000 +normal women:-- + + Normal Criminal + Regular external ear 65 per cent. 54 per cent. + Sessile ear 12 " 20 " + Scaphoid fossa prolonged + to lobe 8.2 " 21.2 " + Projecting ears 3.1 " 5.3 " + Prominent anti-helix 11.5 " 14.2 " + Darwin's tubercle 3 " 2.9 " + +Other anthropometrists notice different proportions.] + +If Lombroso's theory, that a man was born a criminal, was to be taken as +the rule, Manouvrier declares that it must then be universal, and that +men thus born must inevitably commit crime. If it be a rule then it must +operate in all classes, and since it does not so operate, proof is given +that it is not the rule. Manouvrier declares that the man possessed of +characteristics the very opposite of Lombroso's criminal, if subjected +to the conditions, influences, and temptations, which lead to crime +would as likely commit crime as he who possessed all the characteristics +which Lombroso describes as typical. Manouvrier regards the social life +of a person from childhood as being the most important factor in +moulding character. He emphatically denies that there is in the embryo a +predisposition to crime. Dr Magnan likewise refuses his assent to this +theory. + +It may be rather daring to suggest a theory which would reconcile the +differences between these eminent men: but as the facts presented by +each side are indisputable, some such reconciliation must exist. +Possibly if we interpret Lombroso's phrase, "inherited tendency towards +crime" or "predisposition towards crime" in the same way as we interpret +the term ("predisposition towards disease") when speaking of tubercular +persons (or, as Mercier speaks of the insane), that is as persons, who +in a given favourable environment, are more likely to commit crime than +persons without that inherited tendency, we may find these theories to +be more in accord with one another. Lombroso insists that there must be +an inherited tendency, Manouvrier insists that there must be +environment. As in the case of tubercular persons (of tubercular +ancestry) these two causes are complementary, may it not be also the +case with criminals of criminal ancestry? The INHERITED IMMORAL +IDEA seems to be really what Manouvrier rejects. A vicious +conception of life which makes the man inevitably, incurably, and +irresistibly a criminal, is apparently the interpretation he puts on +Lombroso's theory. But from Lombroso's works and speeches, the +interpretation does not appear to be at all a necessary one. The +transmission of a disordered nervous system with its consequences, as +one cause, the "hypnotic influence of circumstances" as another cause, +and these two causes acting sometimes separately and sometimes +conjointly, will very possibly account for the phenomena Lombroso +observes. A most important factor, and one which cannot be disregarded, +compels the acceptance of some such theory. This factor is the success +resulting from reformatory effort. It is not only Lombroso and +Manouvrier that need to be reconciled, but Lombroso, Manouvrier and +Brockway. This latter gentleman is the founder of the famous Elmira +Reformatory which has reformed 82 per cent. of 12,000 felons which have +been committed to it for treatment. + +We come then to this conclusion that heredity plays an important part in +the production of the criminal; but that there are other very important +factors which are often confused with it and when separated from it +reduce the popular estimate of its influence to the scientific one, +which is considerably the lesser one. Furthermore, as a consequence of +this investigation, the true foundations upon which reformatory science +is to be built are clearly indicated. + +This statement, that heredity plays an important part in the production +of the criminal, needs to be carefully guarded. It means precisely this +and nothing more:--That where an hereditary influence (such as above +described) making crime easier, has been transmitted, there that +influence is an important factor in the production of the criminal. It +does NOT mean that this influence is invariably transmitted by the +criminal parent, neither does it mean that the majority of criminals are +"born" criminals. + +The following is an extract from a letter upon this subject which the +author has received from Dr. Arthur MacDonald, one of the leading +criminologists of to-day:--"There is no proof of any scientific value +that criminality is inherited." By criminality we understand "the moral +basis of crime." + +The famous "Jukes" family that lived in the State of New York, afford +one of the most interesting studies in heredity to be found in the +annals of criminology. Of this numerous family (some 709 persons of +which were clearly traced in five generations) the elder sons took to +crime and the younger sons to vagabondage. There was indeed a proportion +of honest and industrious persons among them. Of the women 52 per cent. +were prostitutes. That a proportion of honest men among the sons, and a +fair number of virtuous women among the daughters is recorded, clearly +proves that an hereditary taint is not, in all cases, necessarily +transmitted from parent to child. Latency in one generation, with +activity in the next, is frequently observed in the transmission of +disease; but in the case of crime, as distinguished from vice, this is +rarely so. + +That the younger sons of the "Jukes" family fell into habits of +vagabondage (leaving it to the elder sons to carry on the criminal +traditions of the family) is also worthy of notice. It serves to show +that whatever the influence of heredity may be, as a factor disposing +towards crime, it cannot be an independent and final factor. In families +living after a primitive manner of life, as this family did, the elder +sons are invariably the companions of their fathers and accompany them +on their depredatory raids. The younger sons are left to the milder +environment of their mother's society. Thus from a criminal point of +view, the environment of the elder sons is more intense than that of the +younger sons. The difference in environment accounts for the difference +in character formed; the more intense environment accounting for +criminals and the milder environment for vagabonds. Sometimes the +influence of environment is overcome, and we noticed that among the +"Jukes" a proportion of the family was honest and industrious. +Acknowledging the transmission of a physical defect from a criminal +ancestry, we must bear in mind that the conditions of the criminal's +life are such as are calculated to produce in himself that defect which +he transmits. His body becomes weakened, his nervous system disordered, +and the physical substratum of his mind diseased. These defects he +transmits to his offspring and thus handicaps them in the effort that is +required from the individual to adapt himself to the conditions of +society. + +This is the criminal "taint" or handicap that makes it more likely that +the individual should fall into crime than the normal man. Although +society regards this hereditary criminal as a monster, it has been made +clear that he is really more deserving of compassion than one not so +handicapped. To secure society from his injurious acts, our courts +frequently take the illogical and unjust course of imposing a more +severe punishment upon him. This is in itself a clear evidence of the +demand that exists for penological reform. + +=Environment.=--By environment we understand bad homes, bad +associations, and generally bad conditions. + +Of the condition of the 12,000 persons who passed through the Elmira +Reformatory between the years 1876-1902, only 1.47 per cent. came from +good homes and 37.4 per cent. from fair homes. Of the character of the +men's associations, 56.6 per cent. was positively bad; 41.9 per cent. +was "not good;" .9 per cent. was doubtful, and 1.6 per cent. was good. + +It is scarcely necessary from a practical point of view to enquire into +the actual amount of crime which results from a bad environment, for it +is only too obvious that none but those of the strongest wills and of +the highest morality can resist the influence of bad surroundings when +these are constant. Our enquiry should rather be directed to ascertain +what constitutes a bad environment and what are the causes that produce +it. It should also seek to discover by what means its evil influence may +be checked and how to eradicate these influences when present. The +attitude of our law-courts towards the criminal is practically +this:--"You have been reared amidst evil surroundings whose influence +you could not resist, you are a criminal, an outcast from society, you +must be punished by being locked up in a school of crime in the hope +that it may inspire you to live a better life. The sentence of the court +is ..." And society endorses this attitude! + +The evil influence of bad surroundings is well exemplified by an +instance recorded by Viscount D'Haussonville in his work "L'Enfance a +Paris":--"Some years ago a band of criminals were brought before the +jury of the Seine charged with a terrible crime, the assassination of an +aged widow, with details of ferocity which the pen refuses to describe. +The president of the court having asked the principal, Maillot, called +'the yellow,' how he had been brought to commit such a crime, he +replied:--What do you wish that I should tell you Mr President? Since +the age of seven years I have been found only on the streets of Paris. I +have never met anyone who was interested in me. When a child, I was +abandoned to every vicissitude--and I am lost. I have always been +unfortunate. My life has been passed in prisons and gaols. That is all. +It is my fate. I have reached--you know where. I will not say that I +have committed the crime under circumstances independent of my own will, +but finally--(here the voice of Maillot trembled) I never had a person +to advise me. I had in view only robbery. I committed robbery but I +ended with murder." + +The following description of the manner in which parents may defeat the +work of the juvenile reformatory or industrial school was given by +Senator Roussel at the Fourth International Prison Congress:--"The +pernicious influence of parents relative to minors is manifest in two +ways and at two periods of the child's life. First in extreme youth, +when he is only a burden, his parents neglect him. He is left without +proper care, often without proper food and subjected to all the hazards +of the streets; he is forced to be a vagabond and a beggar, and this +situation continues until a violation of the law places the little +unfortunate in the hands of justice. Later, everything is changed. When +by maturity of age and good effects of penitentiary education, the child +instead of being a burden can be a source of profit, we see those same +parents, who had abandoned him in his infancy, and apparently had +forgotten him altogether, go to him and win him back to them by their +entreaties, and finally on his discharge regain him by virtue of +parental authority. This indiscretion of evil parents ... is the way +that the first-fruits of correctional or charitable education are +corrupted and that a great many minors who would have become useful +members of society, are definitely lost to it." + +It may be heresy to criticise our public school system but it is more +than an open question whether we are not producing a generation of badly +educated people who are not aware of their own ignorance, who see no +dignity in labour and who prefer to make their living by speculation +rather than by work. The fault largely consists in estimating the +efficiency of a school or a teacher solely by the results obtained at +examination and making the children work for this end and this end only. +Their memories are taxed to the uttermost but no attempt is made to +develop them into reasoning, enquiring and labour loving beings. The +difficulty with which children in the sixth and seventh standards follow +the simplest arguments is simply amazing. The teachers, moreover, have +no opportunity for cultivating the art of pedagogy. Their whole time is +taken up preparing matter to pour into the child's mind. The bad +salaries that are paid can also have but one result, viz., the depriving +the State of the services of the most manly and most noble teachers and +having the work committed to those of the genus prig. + +Bad homes, bad schools and playgrounds only once removed from cattle +yards, will be, in this country, the most potent factors in producing +crime. + +=Alcohol.=--The influence of alcohol in the commission of crime is both +direct and indirect. We see its direct influence in those crimes which +are committed whilst the culprit is either in a state of intoxication or +else just recovering from such a state. To detect and trace its indirect +influence a much closer study is required. The inconsequent, lazy and +thriftless life of the criminal demands some sort of stimulant, and this +is found readily at hand in alcohol. Alcohol is not the cause of the +crimes of these people but it is closely associated with such cause. The +man who stabs another in a saloon is not then guilty of his first crime. +Under the influence of intoxication he has lost his power of +self-control and he commits a deed for which he may in a sober moment +have still a degree of moral abhorrence or be perhaps too much of a +coward to perform. + +Many criminals, whose crime requires a certain amount of nerve and +calculation, as e.g. assassinations, murders, robberies, swindlings, +etc., will not touch alcohol until their crime has been completed and +they have satisfied themselves that they covered up all trace of it. +They then often indulge in a debauch. + +In the lower courts, offenders will frequently plead as an extenuation +that they were intoxicated at the time when they committed their +offence. This is often done in order to escape the full penalty, and +such pleas are not to be relied upon in estimating the real influence of +alcohol. In the higher courts, for the same reason, criminals often +feign insanity, and in not a few of such cases they become their own +dupes by actually losing the possession of their senses. Drunkenness and +crime go together, although the increase in the consumption of alcohol +does not necessarily mean that crime has increased. Neither does the +reverse hold good. When crime appears first it is not long before all +forms of animal indulgence follow. Sometimes drunkeness appears first, +and when the home has been reduced to beggary, crime results. + +Under the immediate influence of drink, the crimes most commonly +committed are those against morality and the person. In countries where +the saloon is an institution, it is invariably the home of criminals and +the scene of many murders and deeds of blood. In France, e.g. out of +10,000 murders committed, 2,374 occurred in saloons. The indirect +influence of alcohol is perhaps more terrible than its direct influence. +There is this sad feature about it also that the greatest sufferers are +the victims, not of their own abuse, but of that of others. Many a +criminal tells the story, which is easily corroborated, of the days of +his childhood when his father came home drunk and the children for very +fear had to hide themselves or run out into the streets, often to sleep +wherever they could, and perhaps steal to satisfy the pangs of hunger. +Such children are quickly absorbed, the girls into the ranks of +prostitution, the boys into those of crime. Many too, by reason of their +parents' intemperance, are weaklings and unable to take their stand in +the ranks of honest labourers. Unless they are rescued by philanthropic +effort they very soon take to crime, and physically and psychically +present all the features of the "instinctive criminal." + +Of 12,000 criminals at Elmira, in nearly 36 per cent, was a drunken +ancestry to be clearly traced. + +To state exactly the influence of alcohol as a cause of crime will, from +the nature of the case, never be possible; but this much is certain, +that EVERY cause finds in it a strengthening contributary of +considerable potentiality. + +=Imitation.=--One of the principal characteristics of the criminal is +his excessive vanity. His great ambition is to gain notoriety and to be +talked about by the public. Almost every criminal has his hero in crime +whose deed he tries to emulate as nearly as possible; or, better still, +to outshine. Thus we find, that when some daring deed has been +perpetrated, there are not wanting others who quickly make an attempt to +imitate it. A prisoner tried to kill his comrade because a third man, +who was standing his trial for murder, was receiving in his estimation +too much attention from the public and especially "too many bouquets." A +murderer in New Zealand declared that the notorious bushranger Ned Kelly +was his ideal of a man. A certain priest, beloved by all, was found +murdered. None could account for the crime; afterwards it was discovered +to have been the act of a young criminal who performed it merely as an +act of bravado. Instances of this sort might be multiplied all tending +to show that the vanity of the criminal leads him, as far as his courage +will permit, to imitate the most daring deeds in crime. The witnessing +of executions and reading the accounts of fictitious and real crimes +often leads many into crime. As a deterrent to crime, it was once the +custom in England to conduct executions in public. Lombroso records it +as being his conviction that such publicity does, by the law of +imitation, lead more into crime than it turns from it. This he considers +is one of the most powerful arguments in favour of abolishing the death +penalty. Out of 167 persons condemned to death in England, 164 had been +present at executions. The reading of sensational novels or the +descriptive accounts of great crimes has a most alarming effect upon +those who are of an impressionable nature. These persons are to +themselves the heroes of an imaginary world. They will put on an air of +bravado, adopt a "swagger" style of attire, carry sharp knives and pose +before their companions as dare-devils. If not sufficiently courageous +to perform deeds of daring they will constantly be recounting imaginary +ones for which they will claim the authorship; or else they will be for +ever threatening to do something of a staggering nature. The more +courageous of these frequently become dangerous criminals while the +more timid descend into sneak thieves, or the assaulters and violators +of the persons of the defenceless. This inflammatory reading matter also +exerts an hypnotic influence over some which is almost irresistible. Dr +MacDonald ("Criminology" p. 131), gives the instance of a woman who +after having read of the dreadful crime of a Parisian mother, came to Dr +Esquirol and pleaded with him to admit her into his hospital, declaring +that since reading of this crime she was tormented by the devil to kill +her youngest child. Reading of the crime and vividly picturing to +herself the details of it, had resulted in the woman's mind being laid +hold of by a fascinating power which continually prompted her to kill +her own child. Her wish was granted and she recovered. + +In this case we have another instance of the "hypnotic influence of +circumstances." Firstly, the picture is deeply impressed on the mind; +next the moral sensibilities are hardened, and lastly the overt act is +committed. Tropmann who murdered a whole family of eight, confessed that +his demoralisation was due to the reading of sensational novels. The +publication of the details of crimes and the circulation of inflammatory +fiction is a most fruitful cause of further crime. One of the most +efficient safe-guards against crime and scandal is a sensitive public +moral tone. This is undoubtedly hardened by the publicity given to +sordid and gruesome details. One fails to see what good purpose can +possibly be served. Knowledge is power, but in this case, it is a power +for evil. The weak-willed readily obey the law of imitation, the +criminal is gratified at seeing the big headlines in the newspapers and +impelled to further crime, and some neurotics are positively hypnotised. + +Any serious attempt to suppress the increase of crime must take these +matters into consideration, and it will unquestionably prove abortive +unless a much stricter censorship is exercised over the publication of +the gruesome details of crimes and scandals and also over the sale of +the type of literature referred to. + + + + +Chapter IV. + +THE MANNER AND PHILOSOPHY OF PUNISHMENT. + + +The various punishments which are inflicted upon our law breakers are +fines, imprisonment, flogging, and death. + +=Fines= produce a very useful means of dealing with persons whose +offences show a tendency to crime rather than to actual criminality. In +many cases the self-respect of the offender has not been sacrificed, and +while under arrest the sense of shame is deeply aroused. The shock from +being brought face to face with the law is often sufficient in these +persons to check any further tendency towards crime. The imposition of a +fine will satisfy the claims of justice and inflict that degree of +punishment necessary to fix the idea of abhorrence towards crime in the +mind of the offender. In the case of boys charged with petty offences +fining is often a most valuable means of punishment. To dismiss with a +caution may lead to nothing; to imprison is invariably a most disastrous +course to pursue; to flog within a gaol may be too severe but to fine is +an excellent method. The parent has to pay the fine, and as the child's +offence is generally due to the want of parental control and discipline, +the punishment reaches right home and better control for the future +generally results. Where parental control is non-existent, and there +remains no possibility of creating it, other measures must be taken +which will supply a substitute for the discipline of home life. + +In some case of theft, minor assault, disturbing the peace, and other +offences which indicate a momentary and not very serious lapse of +self-control, or perhaps a somewhat vague conception of the supremacy of +the law, fines serve all the purposes of justice. A four-fold +restitution for all damage done might be taken as a standard to be +increased or diminished in exceptional cases. In all these instances the +culprit should be made to pay the fine himself even though it should +require a fairly lengthy period in which to liquidate it. Section 16 of +The New Zealand Criminal Code provides that the Court may exercise its +own discretion in imposing a fine upon any person whose offence rendered +them liable to a term of imprisonment. There are many cases, however, +even of first offenders, in which fining is quite useless. + +=Imprisonment.=--So much has been written describing the various prison +systems in vogue in different parts of the world that it is unnecessary +to do much more than briefly outline them here. + +(1). The congregate system. In which the prisoners are associated +together by day or by night or by both. Were the object to convert the +prison into a school of crime, no better system could be devised. The +standard of the lowest is the standard which must prevail under the +congregate system. + +(2). The solitary system. The extreme opposite of the congregate system. +The prisoners are allowed to have practically no communication with +anyone whomsoever. In some countries this system is made indescribably +cruel. At Santiago in Chili in one part of the prison the inmates are +employed upon useful work under most humane conditions, and yet in +another part of the very same building a most barbarous system exists. +Mr F. B. Ward (quoted in Penological and Preventive Principles) +describes what he saw in 1893:--"In this splendid model institution +there are noisome, slimy cells, where daylight never enters, in which +human beings are literally buried alive. Under the massive arches of +enormously thick walls, where even in the outside rooms perpetual +twilight reigns, are inner cells, two feet wide by six feet long, and +destitute of a single article of furniture. Until recently, those +confined in them were walled in, the bricks being cemented in places +over the living tomb. Now there is a thick iron door, which is securely +nailed up and then fastened all around with huge clamps, exactly as the +vaults are closed in Santiago Cemetery, and over all the great red seal +of the Government is placed--not to be removed until the man is dead, or +his sentence has expired. The tiny grated window is covered by several +thicknesses of closely-woven wire netting, making dense darkness inside, +so that the prisoners cannot tell night from day. There is no +ventilation except through this netting, and no opening whatever to +admit outside air into the tomb. Low down in the iron door, close to the +ground, is a tiny sliding panel a foot long by a few inches wide +arranged like a double drawer, so that food and water may be slipped in +on shallow pans and the refuse removed. Twice in every twenty-four hours +this panel is operated, and if the food remains untouched a given number +of days, it is known to a certainty that the man is dead, and only then +can the door be unsealed, unless his time is up. If the food is not +touched for two or three days no attention is paid to it, for the +prisoner may be shamming; but beyond a certain length of time he cannot +live without eating. Not the faintest sound nor glimmer of light +penetrates those awful walls. In the same clothes he wears on entering, +unwashed, uncombed, without even a blanket or handful of straw to lie +upon he languishes in sickness, lives or dies with no means of making +his condition known to those outside. He may count the lagging hours, +sleep, rave, curse, pray, long for death, dash his brains out, go mad if +he likes--nobody knows it. He is dead to the world and buried though +living. They told us that only one man has ever survived a year's +sentence there. Those that survive six months are almost invariably +drivelling idiots or raving maniacs." + +It was under similar conditions to these that the assassin of King +Humbert of Italy was incarcerated. Such a system shows a cruel +vindictive rage towards the criminal. Terrible as the offender's crime +may be, society must deal calmly and not lose self-control or give such +an exhibition of its own criminal ferocity. + +=The Separate System.=--Under which the prisoners are not allowed to +associate with each other, but receive frequent visits from gaolers, +warders, chaplains, and other persons who are likely to bring beneficial +influence to bear upon them. Each man has his own cell, in which he +sleeps and works. His exercise is conducted in such a manner as to +prevent contact with other prisoners. He is allowed books and given +daily instruction. Under this system perhaps the best results are +obtained. + +=The Silent System.=--A system under which the prisoners associate with +one another but are forbidden to communicate. This system cannot be +strictly enforced, and as it converts trifling matters into serious +offences, it makes the prison life a state of petty persecution. + +=The Combined System.=--A system which the prisoners are kept apart +during the night but work together during the day. This system has been +adopted in New Zealand, and in the following description of the value of +imprisonment it will be understood that it is to this system that +reference is made. + +A man is sent to prison because he has proved himself unfit to be at +liberty. His attack upon society was evidence of this, and society +punishes him by taking away the liberty which he has thus abused. His +dread of the prison increases as he comes under the shadow of its grim +walls, and, once having passed within, a feeling of remorse and +desperation seizes him. Its intensity or weakness will depend upon his +temperament. He is soon told in the most emphatic manner that he is to +regard himself as a felon; that he is to live with felons as a felon and +observe the habits of a felon. He is given a uniform coarse in texture +clumsy and grotesque in appearance and branded over with the broad-arrow +and with his prison number. In this garb it is impossible for a man to +preserve his sense of self-respect. If he should not be amenable to the +prison discipline he may be held up to ridicule by being compelled to +wear a parti-coloured uniform. However can a man be expected to reform +who is held up to the ridicule of felons? It matters not from which +class of life he is drawn, what his age is, or the nature of his +offence, he is thrown into the company of the worst criminals in the +land. If he were a cultured man, or a man who had known no associates in +his crime, or if his aesthetic taste was considerably developed it +matters not; he must do the same work and mix in the same company as the +most ignorant and most brutal. To utterly disregard these qualities is +to ignore the wide-open channels along which the most powerful +reformative influences may be transmitted. If his recovery is to be +considered these are most substantial assets. They are, as it were, "the +general health" of the patient suffering from a local lesion. Yet our +prison system not only ignores them but patiently sets to work to +destroy them, as if their possession were an additional offence on the +part of the criminal. Prisoners who try to keep aloof from their +associates may often be made to suffer very considerably for it. Others, +craving for some association, soon fall in with men whom they would have +regarded, a few days previously, as impossible companions. The almost +entire absence of elevating influences makes it easy for the +concentrated power of evil to become irresistible. The gloom of the +prison rises, the fear of the law vanishes and the new born tendency to +crime becomes a confirmed habit. A man needs either a very strong will +indeed, or else to be supported by powerful social traditions to enable +him to resist the evil influences of prison life. A few men do resist +and maintain their sense of self-respect in spite of all indignities and +bad influences. Some sink as under a torture; some sink and are enticed +and absorbed into felony. These last will plan their future crimes while +they are serving their first sentence. Henceforth the prison is their +home. + +What purpose is thus served? Why should a man who has lost self-respect +be continually reminded of it? If a man is diseased he is not placed +amongst filthy conditions and the emblems of sickness and death crowded +upon him. His removal from all unhealthy surroundings is the first +essential necessary for his recovery, and the same should be observed +with the criminal. He should be entirely removed from criminal +surroundings and efforts made to eradicate the criminality which has +expressed itself. Society has not the right to degrade a man, much less +to school him in crime. If he prove absolutely incorrigible (a very +difficult matter to ascertain) he should be banished from society for +all time either by life-long imprisonment or by death. If not, the +carrying out of his punishment must be performed with a very sacred +sense of responsibility. All manner of means are taken to relieve and +cure the physically sick; much greater surely should be the means +employed to heal the morally and socially sick. + +Another matter wherein our prison system might be justly criticised is +the scale of diet provided for the prisoners. No one asks that they +should be given luxuries, but it might at least be recognised even in +prison that one man's food is another man's poison, that one fattens +where another starves, and that variety is essential to good health. A +prisoner who was serving a very long sentence once said to the author, +"fancy having the same dinner every day of your life." Let one fancy it, +boiled beef every day except Sunday, when roast beef is provided. The +same meal every day, the same clothes to wear every day and all day, and +the same routine to go through. What wonder is it that in the confirmed +criminal many faculties appear to have atrophied. They have obeyed a law +of nature. The popular comment is no doubt--"what else do you expect? +They deserve it all, they have brought it upon themselves." We expect +that our criminals should at least be treated like the by-products of +our mills and factories, i.e. made the most of. Bitter prejudices must +give way to the dictates of reason and humanity. + +Practically the "combined system" produces no good results. It satisfies +neither justice, humanity, nor economy. Neither is it efficient to +afford protection to society. It satisfies prejudice and vengeance +alone. The only system of imprisonment which is of any value and which +the State ought to consider is one which converts the gaol in every +essential into a "crime-hospital." + +Concerning life imprisonment much apprehension exists in the public +mind. The prevailing idea is that this sentence implies incarceration +for a period of twenty years. This is due perhaps to the fact that in +England the sentences of "lifers" are reconsidered at the end of that +period, and in the majority of cases a pardon is granted. The New +Zealand prison regulations contain this section (116) "No rule for the +remission of life sentences will be laid down. Such sentences are passed +on persons guilty of the very gravest offences; and the Governor will +only extend the royal prerogative of mercy to such persons in +exceptional cases." Under certain conditions life imprisonment is the +only way of dealing with criminals who refuse to reform. Those +conditions do not exist in our New Zealand prisons, and a life sentence +served within their walls is the most cruel form of punishment our laws +allow. The prisoner enters the gaol with a long, dark, hopeless future +before him. As the years roll by not one ray of light brightens his lot. +He can never better himself. He suffers, he is meant to suffer, the loss +of all he holds dear (and even a murderer holds some things dear). This +absolute loss, this complete severance of all ties, produces a most +agonising mental state and afflicts the poor wretch with untold horrors. +He is made to drag out an existence under most unnatural conditions, +conditions in which every effort he makes towards self-improvement is a +useless one, every aspiration is routed, the natural affections crave in +vain for an object to fasten upon, and where an artificial atavistic +process is set in motion so powerful as to defy the resistance of all in +time. This is no imaginary picture, a man is a man, and one of the +cruellest tortures to submit him to is to deprive him absolutely of hope +and make good his evil because it requires an effort which is useless, +and evil his good because it is easier and costs the loss of nothing. +Perhaps the majority of lifers are those whose sentences have been +commuted from the death penalty. Such a sentence is in reality the death +penalty carried out under slow process extending over many years. +Gradually remorse and despair do their work upon the natural instincts, +the mind and the body. The man becomes brutalised, insane and dies. An +exception here and there may be pointed out; but given twenty men of +same age and good health, and sentence ten to twenty years, and ten to +life imprisonment, and the chances are that (under reasonable +conditions) the ten with the defined sentence will survive it, whereas +of the lifers the majority will be insane within twelve years. The +following testimony will, however, be of greater weight:-- + +The Directors of the State Prison in Wisconsin in their report for 1881 +add:-- + +"The condition of most of our life prisoners is deplorable in the last +degree. Not a few of them are hopelessly insane; but insanity, even, +brings them no surcease of sorrow. However wild their delusions may be +on other subjects, they never fail to appreciate the fact that they are +prisoners. Others, not yet classed as insane, as year by year goes by, +give only too conclusive evidence that reason is becoming unsettled. The +terribleness of a life sentence must be seen to be appreciated; seen, +too, not for a day or a week, but for a term of years. Quite a number of +young men have been committed to this prison in recent years under +sentence for life. Past experience leads us to expect that some of them +will become insane in less than ten years; and all of them, who live, in +less than twenty. Many of them will, doubtless, live much longer than +twenty years, strong and vigorous in body perhaps, but complete wrecks +in mind. May it, therefore, not be worthy of legislative consideration +whether life sentences should not be abolished and long but definite +terms substituted, and thus leave some faint glimmer of hope even for +the greatest criminals?" + +Sir E. Du Cane stated in 1878 before the Royal Commission on Penal +Servitude Acts:-- + +"I myself do not think much of life sentences at all. I would rather +have a long fixed term. I think all the effect on the public outside +would be gained by a shorter period." + +Mr W. Tallack, late Secretary of the Howard Association, writes in his +"Penelogical and Preventive principles":-- + +"Of life imprisonment it may be conclusively pronounced very bad in even +the best form of it. Years of enquiry and observation have increasingly +forced this conviction upon the writer.... A fixed limit of twenty years +would greatly aid the discipline of its subjects. And what is of more +importance so far as the public are concerned, it would, in most cases, +avail to practically incapacitate or effectually deter the persons who +pass through it from any repetition of their crime. The mere natural +operation of age, decay, and disease would tend towards this result; and +not only so, but it would, in a considerable proportion of cases, render +the limit of twenty years a virtual sentence in perpetuity by the +intervention of death. But meanwhile the elements of hope and other +desirable influences would be largely present, notwithstanding." + +To say the least of it our criminals have a claim for humane treatment, +and no sentence should have a greater duration than twenty years. The +term also should be fixed when the sentence is imposed. + +=Flogging.=--This is an extremely unpopular form of punishment, owing to +its abuse in the old convict stations and in the army and navy. Yet +there is a great deal to be said in its favour. In 1898 the Howard +Association instituted an enquiry among the most competent authorities +as to what were the best methods of dealing with juvenile offenders. +Nearly 40 replies were sent in answer to their circular of enquiry, and +with but one or two exceptions these replies advocated whipping as the +most expedient method. The Chief Constable of Liverpool +stated:--"Whipping has been found a most efficient and HUMANE +punishment. During the last FIVE YEARS 489 boys were once +whipped. Of these, only 135 have been again convicted. Of the 135, 44 +were whipped for the second time. Of the 44 only 10 were convicted a +third time, and 2 only for a fourth time. No other punishment can show +such a record...." + +Our Criminal Code describes a whipping as being a punishment of not more +than 25 strokes with the cat-o'-nine-tails inflicted upon a person of +not more than 16 years of age. A flogging is limited to not more than 50 +strokes and not less than 25 inflicted upon a person of over 16 years. +Three floggings at intervals for one offence is the maximum amount of +castigation allowed. + +A description of the "cat" may not be out of place. The handle is round +and of uniform diameter of one inch. It is about 30 inches in length and +is light as cork. The "tails" (nine in number) are made of cord similar +to fishing cord, about an eighth of an inch in diameter and 33 inches in +length. In each tail a strand is taken out, wound round and put back, +thus making a bob. There are 27 of these bobs in all. A flogging with +such an instrument would no doubt be very severe, but it need not draw +blood nor leave marks for all time. A flogging properly administered +should produce sharp stinging pain and leave no bad results whatever. +Then it becomes a very useful punishment to use upon such men as those +whose crimes are characterised by cruelty. Men who violate, torture, or +frighten women, who are cruel to children or take advantage of the weak, +imbecile or defenceless might well be punished with a flogging. In fact +it is questionable whether any punishment is so effective. These men are +cowards one and all; they do not dread the lazy life of the prison, but +a flogging has great terrors for them, and its moral value is +considerable. In bygone years men who were flogged were often worse than +before. The flogging had demoralised them. These floggings were, +however, shockingly cruel. Nothing is to be admitted but the sharp +swishing and this, when properly carried out, is totally without any +objectionable feature. + +There seems no necessity to combine a flogging and a long term of +imprisonment under one sentence. The maximum punishment of three +floggings might be given within a period of two months, and the culprit +then in most cases discharged. As to the advisability of ordering more +than one flogging a great deal might be said. Fifty lashes and the man +discharged within a week would be sufficient for the majority of cases. +For a very brutal crime or for a second offence of the same nature, a +second flogging after a period of days might be thought necessary. The +very greatest care, however, must be exercised in the administration of +this punishment. The crimes of brutality rightly arouse the indignation +of the public, but there is no need to show a brute that society can be +a greater brute than what he is. Being a brute, leniency invariably +fails, but unimpressionable to these methods as his moral and humane +instincts are, his skin remains sensitive, and through it his instincts +may be appealed to and quickened. Flogging makes him consider that the +practice of brutality is in direct variance to his own personal +interests and comfort. From this he may be led to moralise further. + +Gangs of boys who are becoming a nuisance to the neighbourhood they +infest are quickly broken up if their ring-leader is treated to a dozen +strokes that he will not feel inclined to boast about. The mercifulness +of this punishment is seen in its power in thus effectively stopping the +tendency to crime. Larrikins, unnatural husbands and fathers, brutes and +torturers, cattle maimers and stack burners, all see their personal +interests lying in a very different direction to that which leads to the +"cat." + +=Capital Punishment.=--The authority to take the life of a fellow-man is +based on God's word to Noah, "whoso sheddeth man's blood by man shall +his blood be shed;" and upon the abstract idea of justice "a life for a +life." These words in no sense contain a command to us of this century +to execute all murderers without exception. For the present state of +civilisation a new principle has been evolved which is, that when a man +shows himself to be unchangeably hostile to society then his life may be +forfeited. As the methods of dealing with criminals improve so the word +LIBERTY is being substituted for the word LIFE. The sin on the +man's soul may be left to God; all that men has to deal with is his +anti-social attitude. If impossible to change this attitude then either +death or life imprisonment must result. This very question of +possibility is so uncertain that few modern criminologists care to +adjudicate, and most regard the death sentence as anticipating too much. +Life-imprisonment, under the highest moral influences, becomes life-long +by and only by the continued resistance of the criminal. It is not the +objectionable form of punishment previously described for it encourages +the man to put forth his best effort to improve, and substantially +rewards these efforts, even to granting him his liberty if he persevere +with them. Punishment by death is becoming more and more unpopular. The +dislike of juries to bring in a verdict of "guilty" in a murder case is +sufficient testimony to this. In the crowds who sign petitions for the +reprieve of the condemned, the hysterical element is too prominent to +make any other estimate possible. But the reaction is steady, and it +will not be long before capital punishment becomes a thing of the past. +To abolish it before a suitable substitute were provided would be +mistake. + +Gradually society is awakening to the fact that the condition of the +criminal ought to be ameliorated, and that there can be no real +amelioration which does not make definite efforts for the prisoner's +reform. The aim should be to assist every man to recover by his own +effort the place in society from which he has fallen. No man is +incapable of improvement, and under a wise systematic discipline most +men do improve. A remarkable witness is found in the experience of Dr +Browning who was engaged as Surgeon-superintendent of convict ships +between 1831 and 1848. Of one voyage from Norfolk Island to Tasmania he +was in charge of 346 "old hands." These men had agreed to take terrible +revenge upon some of their comrades who had been employed as constables +over the others. Under Dr Browning's instruction and discipline their +purpose was abandoned. He landed the men in Tasmania without having +inflicted a single punishment upon the voyage. He remarks:--"The men +were given to me in double irons; I debarked them without an iron +clanking among them. I am told that this is the first and only instance +of convicts removed from Norfolk Island having had their fetters struck +off during the voyage, and being landed totally unfettered. They were +almost uniformly double-cross-ironed and chained down to the deck, +everybody being afraid of them. I was among them at all hours and the +prison doors were never once shut during the day. To God be all the +glory." Three Governors of Tasmania expressed their high opinion of Dr +Browning's system and of its subsequent effects upon their behaviour. +(Vide "Christianity amongst Prisoners." Howard Ass.:) + +In the famous Dartmoor prison and at Borstal in Kent experiments are +being made to secure a greater number of reformations among the younger +convicts. It is too early to estimate the value of the systems being +tried, but they are being watched with much hope and expectation. In +America there is a decided tendency to substitute State reformatories +for prisons, especially in the case of the young. The Elmira Reformatory +has been established for more than a quarter of a century, and its +claims to have reformed 82 per cent. of the men committed to it has been +upheld by the special enquiry instituted in 1890. + +If these different systems were more closely studied there would result +a great awakening as to the possibilities of the criminal, and society +would discover that its best interests were served by reforming its +offenders and making them moral and industrious servants of the State, +instead of by committing them to institutions where they were brought +into contact with consecrated villainy and where the unwholesome +influence is calculated to confirm them in criminal habits and make +them a constant menace and expense to the community. That our criminal +population is on the increase, and that the proportion of recidivists +grows larger every year, is scarcely to be wondered at in the midst of +such influences. Notwithstanding all that has been done to improve the +state of prisons from what they were even fifty years ago, yet the motto +"once a criminal always a criminal" is often too sadly true. The report +of the English commissioners of prisons shows that amongst those who +have been convicted during the year 1902, 51.9 per cent. of the men and +70.6 per cent. of the women had been previously convicted. In the past +these results were regarded as inevitable. Now they are regarded with +much disquietude. Formerly they were supposed to point to a defect in +the criminal, now they are understood to prove a defect in the penal +system. The reason for this defect lies in having regarded certain +objects as primary which are in reality only secondary. These objects +have been defined to be the deterrence of crime by the example of +punishing criminals; the repression of crime by the infliction of +punishment, and the protection of society as a consequence. The +deterrent value of the penal system has been greatly reduced by the +small amount of dread which it excites in the criminally disposed. The +representative value is of a minus quantity. Crime is assisted more than +it is crippled. The protection of society is secured only during the +period of incarceration. At the end of that period the criminal must be +discharged and he goes forth often a more skilful criminal than before +and with a vow to take vengeance upon society. + +Regarding these objects as secondary the reformation of the offender has +been acknowledged as primary by criminologists, and they turned their +attention to study the criminal pathologically, to enquire into the +causes of crime and also to make trial of the best methods for securing +reformation. "Punishment the principle and reformation the incident," +was the theory of the old school. The New school reverses the order to +"Reformation the principle and punishment the incident." Obviously this +course renounces the old principle of retaliation and vengeance and +embraces that indicated by Christ in his precept "bear ye one another's +burdens." + +=The Philosophy of Punishment.=--The threatening attitude of the +criminal towards the peace and welfare of society makes it an obvious +necessity that society should protect itself against him, otherwise he +would soon master the situation and reduce social order to barbarism. + +What are the steps which it must take? It must first remember that its +right to punish is not an inherent, but a delegated one. Though its +powers are sovereign in the sense that there is no appeal from them, yet +they must not be exercised in an arbitrary way. So far as there is a +capacity for the realisation of responsibility to God so far must that +responsibility be observed. Where this responsibility is disregarded, +society immediately becomes the greater criminal itself even though its +deeds may be done in the name of the majority of its members. As history +is not without examples of this abuse of a sacred trust neither is it +without instances of the Divine interference expressed in the +destruction of a community which had offended after this manner. This +responsibility must be acknowledged firstly--in the end to be attained; +and, secondly or subsequently--in the means by which it is attained. We +are generally informed that our penal systems exist for the purpose of +repressing crime, and that punishment is thus inflicted upon the +criminal in order that others may be deterred from following his +example. Reformation is sometimes suggested. The public, however, +concerns itself very little about its criminals and much less about the +objects which its penal system is supposed to secure for it. The +attitude of the general public towards the criminal is undoubtedly a +vindictive one. His sentence is discussed from this point of view only, +viz.:--will the suffering that he will have to undergo be sufficient to +accord with the enormity of the crime he committed? The end which is +understood is simply suffering, expiatory suffering; suffering which +neither man nor society has any right whatever to inflict upon a human +being. The old principle of an eye for an eye, while in accord with +abstract justice, was often made the occasion for abuse, and the largely +prevailing conception of justice amongst us to-day is precisely the +abuse of that same principle. Society does well in returning upon its +criminals the consequences of their acts, but the consequences should be +a natural return and not an artificial one. The criminal should see that +by his attack upon society he is excluded from all the benefits of its +system. He has isolated himself and this isolation is of itself +miserable, and will, if persisted in, become intolerable. Its final +state is Hell, a state in which society is destroyed while the social +instinct remains and craves in its unquenched agony. It is perfectly +right to show the wrong-doer the ultimate end of his chosen course, but +there is no warrant for the strenuous effort which is made to force him +towards it. A criminal's punishment should be made purgatorial and not +internal. The old penology regarded him as a hopeless individual and +proceeded with its hellish tortures without undue delay. Beneath its +system no reforms were possible, and the fact that none were ever made, +was pointed to in order to justify its horrors. Society took no interest +in them whatever while they were being pushed lower and lower down the +social scale, but met them at the lowest steps, and, halter in hand, +gravely professed the utmost concern in their future and eternal +welfare. + +So far, society has failed to recognise the end of the punishment it is +entitled to impose. In the words of Dimitri Drill, a Moscow publicist, +the new penology expresses that it "renounces entirely the law of +retaliation as end, principle, or basis of all judicial punishment. The +basis and purpose of punishment is the necessity of protecting society +against the evil consequences of crime either by the moral reclamation +of the criminal or by his separation from society; punishment is not to +satisfy vengeance." We must not jump to the hasty conclusion that herein +is meant that the criminal must be treated very gently and coaxed back +to more virtuous paths. What is meant is that his punishment should be +made purgatorial and not infernal. The process of reclamation is +accompanied by far sharper pains than those which are expiatory, but +they are the pains of a healing surgery and not those of a soul +destroying brutality. Where the means for reclamation fail then +separation from society is advocated. Separation in the midst of +influences which would always tend to awaken the desire to reform and +which would give immediate assistance to that desire when awakened. + +Thus the recognition of this fact that the authority to punish offenders +against its law has been, by God, delegated to the social institution, +brings with it a recognition of the responsibility which accompanies +such authority. + +In primitive times most offences were punished by the death penalty, not +as a vindictive measure but because the offender was hopeless and +society helpless. That is, the social state being of a very simple +order, any infraction of its laws would declare the offender a most +pronounced criminal, bitterly hostile to society and irreclaimable by +such social machinery as then existed. The death penalty when inflicted +must ever be so regarded. Not as a life for a life but as the punishment +inflicted upon one who has by his own conduct given complete evidence +that his recovery to the social state is impossible. In this century of +civilisation it is incumbent to look upon the criminal as being in a +measure a by-product of society and to deal with him accordingly. +Outside of society crime is impossible, therefore society accounts for +crime and is also in a measure responsible for it. To this measure +exactly (although the measure itself can never be determined with +exactitude) is the criminal by-product. In a large measure he is +responsible (entire responsibility is conceivable), and it is this sense +of responsibility which makes it possible to carry out his treatment. + +Large industries find that their by-products are an important asset and +to disregard them would be ruinous. Mr Frazer in his book "America at +Work" states that the expenses of the meat-packers of Chicago for 1901 +amounted to L150,244,848. The sales of meat realised L124,263,998, and +yet a net profit of L6,767,638 resulted. What appears to be a paradox is +explained by the fact that a sum of no less than L32,748,488 resulted +from the sale of by-products. All the waste must be turned to dollars. + +Commercial advance has certainly out-stripped social advance, and +apparently for the reason that whereas in commerce a pig's tail is +regarded as an important asset, in our social system the criminal and +the weakling are regarded as a heavy liability. When the point of view +is changed society will advance more rapidly. So, too, society finds +that it must utilise its by-products and to devise means which it can +bring to bear upon the criminal, so as to bring him to a state of +usefulness. The enormity of the crime and the degree of criminality are +alike impossible to estimate, therefore it is also impossible to define +a punishment which makes an attempt to recognise any of these qualities. + +It is, however, quite possible to determine within very fair limits the +continuance of the criminal habits, also the value from a reformatory +point of view, of various social influences, and further there exists +the power to apply these influences. To sum up--society possesses within +itself the power to reform its criminals (to utilise its by-products) +and to determine when they have been reformed. + +Separation from society is rendered absolutely necessary by the +criminal's own behaviour, if by his behaviour he shows that he is not +capable of using freedom profitably. But if his separation is to serve +any real purpose whatever it must be accompanied by an educational +process which will work him back to that point where he left the social +track and then so propel him forward that he may recover his lost +ground, and when restored to society be enabled to identify himself with +its progressive system. + +So far our penal system is a mistake. Whatever it may be theoretically, +practically it is only vindictive. Its failure has caused some to +despair and others to reflect. + + + + +Chapter V. + +ELIMINATION--DR. CHAPPLE'S PROPOSAL. + + +In the last chapter it was shown that capital punishment sought for its +justification in the theory that certain criminals had assumed an +attitude of permanent and aggressive hostility towards society. Their +presence in society is regarded as a menace to human life, and no moral +improvement is expected to result from their imprisonment. So hopeless +is this class of criminal regarded as being that, so it is declared, no +other policy save that of extermination can be considered. + +In primitive society criminals were less numerous than in our own time; +but those that did then exist belonged, almost all of them, to the worst +type. There being no public institutions for the administration of +justice, practically one course only remained open, and that was, that +the person wronged should seek to avenge himself as best he could, and +the death of the wrong-doer was generally the satisfaction that he +sought. As civilization has advanced, criminals have become more +numerous; but they have taken to crime by more gradual steps. Society, +too, has deprived the individual of the right of wreaking his own +vengeance, and has erected institutions for the purpose of determining +guilt and apportioning punishment. From the days of Noah, deeds of blood +and other crimes of a serious nature, have been punished by death and +from then, until this present day, the one idea underlying the +administration of justice has been that society should get rid of its +criminals as speedily as possible. Repression alone was thought to be +efficacious, reformation was scarcely thought of. + +Of late years the criminal has been more carefully studied by his +fellow-beings. Some have studied him as a monster and believed him to +have the heart of a beast; others have studied him as a man and had +faith in his possibilities. The former have noticed the failure of +repressive methods, such as flogging and other penal severities, and +have in despair been led to advocate that the only possible remedy is +that of extermination. The latter have discovered that the failure of +these repressive methods but imposes upon society the obligation of +adopting a system of an entirely different order and with an entirely +different object, viz: a system for the reformation of the criminal. + +The "exterminators" have studied the criminal objectively and have had +regard to his crimes only; the reformers have studied him subjectively +and have had regard to his possibilities. The policy of the +"exterminators" must be condemned on this ground, viz: that they have +made but a half study of their subject, and they do know, and they +refuse to listen to, of what the criminal is capable. Neither do they +estimate the capacity of the enormous social power that may be attached +to the criminal's own, but feeble, effort so as to raise him up, even +from the deepest depths of vice and villainy. The careful subjective +study--the truly humane study--of the criminal, has shown that all +theories which would declare any man to be incapable of improvement, are +to be condemned absolutely. The possibilities of reform exist in every +case, and the probabilities are never to be denied. None can gainsay +this statement nor can it be termed extravagant, for with the imperfect +machinery now in use results are being attained which justify every +syllable of it. Yet in the face of these results, the "exterminators" +still proclaim their policy. They bid us be deaf to the voice of +prejudice and follow the true light of science, ever remembering that we +are passing through a wonderful stage in social evolution! But the +policy that they adopt belies that which is indicated in all this fine +talk. They say that we must exterminate the criminal, and this is +nothing less than an acknowledgement that, to their minds, the problem +of the criminal is one of outer darkness and that we have no means of +ever penetrating it. They would take us back to a period anterior to +Adam. + +Prejudice, indeed, needs to be overcome, but it is the prejudice that +prefers vengeance to mercy. And if we follow the true light of science +it will lead us to discover that the criminal is best got rid of by +converting him into a useful citizen, or to be more exact, society's +best effort is to be directed towards separating the crime from the +criminal. + +Recently a Wellington medical gentleman (Dr Chapple) published a work +entitled "The Fertility of the Unfit." The problem which this gentleman +attempts to grapple with in his book is the disproportionate rate of +increase among the numbers of the unfit to the fit members of society. +Under the classification of the unfit he places all those persons who, +on account of mental, moral or physical defect, constitute a burden to +society. These are, principally, the epileptic, the pauper, the insane +and the criminal. These either will not, or cannot support themselves +adequately and legitimately. For their treatment support and correction, +hospitals, asylums, charitable aid boards, gaols and other institutions +have had to be established, and the upkeep of these has become a great +burden which necessarily has to be borne by the healthy, moral and +industrious section of the community. + +Dr Chapple draws attention to the undeniable fact that there is a +tendency on the part of those unfit to increase at a greater ratio than +the fit. The rate of increase during the past twenty years has been so +great and so disproportionate as to make the cost of their maintenance +become an increasingly heavier one for the individual taxpayer to bear, +and to cause for this and other reasons, a considerable amount of alarm +in the minds of those who have the welfare of society at heart. + +The Doctor believes that the cause of this proportionate rate of +increase is to be found in the methods adopted largely among certain +classes for the prevention of child-birth. + +In the conclusion of his book he states that sexual inhibition on the +part of the better classes accounts for their smaller rate of increase +as compared with the rate of the inferior classes. We cannot accept this +conclusion without more evidence. We want to know definitely whether the +natural rate of increase among the better classes is really lower than +that existing among the inferior classes. That is to say, are the ranks +of the defective being swelled by the influence of heredity or by some +extensive force recruiting from among the ranks of the fit? Another +question is this: Since the use of preventives is available to both +sections alike, the Doctor accounts for the supposed natural +disproportion by assuming that the better classes restrain themselves. +Is he right? Using the word "restrain" in its absolute sense we beg +leave for most emphatic doubt. In an enquiry such as this is, the only +factor of any real importance as accounting for a diminished birth-rate, +is the use of preventives. If this method is confined to the better +classes, we must refuse to call them any longer our "best stock," for, +if they are not producing a defective offspring, they are, as the recent +Australian Birth-Rate Commission has made abundantly plain, speedily +making defectives of themselves, besides being guilty of lowering the +social moral tone and hardening its sensibility. We are strongly of the +opinion that the diminished birth-rate does not account for the increase +in the number of criminals and defectives further than that the use of +preventives discloses a species of criminality. + +Nevertheless, Dr Chapple proposes, not so much to restore the +equilibrium as to get rid of the defective altogether. He assumes that +defectives are born and not made, and then makes enquiry into the best +possible means for the prevention of their birth. After passing several +methods in review, he accepts an operation known as tubo-ligature as +being the best from all points of view. This operation will render the +female permanently sterile without having any deleterious effect upon +her health. Absolutely no result follows, he assures us, but sterility. +If the wives of all defectives were operated upon in this way, Dr +Chapple assures us that the problem concerning the defective would +speedily be solved and society would be the happier and wealthier in +every way. The proposal might give something of a shock to the moral +conscience but such a shock would only unfit us for our work. The +criminal is upon us, he threatens us, and we must protect ourselves. The +necessities of the case are so pressing and so urgent that we seek for +the most effectual remedy and use it unhesitatingly when we have found +it. Here it is, says Dr Chapple, and its morality is determined by the +relief which it, and it alone, is able to bring. + +What are we to do? Why, sterilize the wife of the defective. As the +criminal is most harmful of all defectives he is summoned to come +forward first and to bring his wife with him, when behold, the man +turns up alone. Where is his wife? Why, he hasn't got one. Has Dr +Chapple considered this fact? Did he know, when he made the statement +that it was a matter of common observation that the criminal was among +those who had the largest families, did he know then that the criminal +rarely married? It cannot be said that the criminal's wife is as rare as +the Great Auk's egg, but Havelock Ellis states that "among men criminals +the celibates are in a very large proportion." And Fere further supports +the value of the statement for our present purpose by saying that +"criminals and prostitutes have this common character, that they are +unproductive. This is true also of vagabonds, and of the idle and +vicious generally, to whatever class they belong." + +Two years' experience as a prison chaplain may not be of much value, but +it certainly conveyed the impression that the majority of the criminals +were young men who were unmarried. + +But Dr Chapple adduces evidence. He tells us of a family in which there +were 834 persons the descendants of one woman. Of this family 76 were +convicts, 7 were murderers, 142 were beggars, 64 lived on charity. Among +their women 181 lived disreputable lives, and in 75 years this family +cost their country L250,000 in alms, trials, imprisonments, etc. What +family is this? If the following comparison is conclusive in its results +then it must be the "Jukes" family. + + Dr Chapple's + Case. The "Jukes" + + Number estimated 834 834 + " definitely traced 709 709 + " of criminals 76 76 + " convicted of murder 7 7 + " of beggars 142 142 + " receiving alms house relief 64 64 + Illegitimates 106 106 + Period reviewed 75 years 75 yrs. + Cost to State L250,000 L250,000 + +If it will be allowed that the agreement in these nine lines of +statistics establishes the identity between the two cases, then the +evidence may be examined. + +In the first place, the "Jukes" family is the most exceptional one known +in the history of crime, and it must be treated as an exception and not +as an example. In the second place, these 834 persons were not descended +from one woman in 75 years but from FIVE women who were the legitimate +and illegitimate daughters of an old Dutch back-woodsman who lived in a +rocky part of the State of New York and who is known to criminologists +as "Max Jukes." My authority for declaring that there were five female +ancestresses during the period reviewed as against one, stated to be the +case by Dr Chapple, is Mr R. L. Dugdale, who made a close personal +investigation of the life and records of the family. He himself +collected the statistics that are given above and which are identical +with those given by Dr Chapple's authority, Prof. Pellman, and +therefore one must conclude that Prof. Pellman has studied the case at +second hand and, in this important detail, is in error. + +That 834 persons should have descended from five persons in 75 years +covering five generations, exclusive of the 5 ancestresses, does not +strike us as evidence of an exceedingly prosperous birth-rate. If there +had been another thousand descendants it would not allow for an average +of 3 children to grow up and marry in each family. We may then set aside +the contention that the "Jukes" were enormously prolific. + +Still the "Jukes" were an enormous cost to their country, and surely we +should prevent such a family ever appearing in our midst. The answer to +this is that the "Jukes" have only appeared once, and, so far as our +community is concerned, our social progress makes their reappearance +absolutely impossible. The "Jukes" were a tribe of vagabond outlaws. +They gained a livelihood by fishing, hunting, robbery, and intermittent +work. They lived in a rocky, inaccessible region in the lake country of +the State of New York. Their criminals were able, with a considerable +measure of success, to defy the police, and travellers very rarely +approached the vicinity of their habitat. Some drifted into the towns +and villages. A proportion of these supported themselves by honest +industry, and a proportion became a burden upon the rates; Such nests of +criminals can exist only in partially civilized countries. The advance +of civilization extinguishes them. Nowhere in New Zealand could such a +tribe prey upon and defy society for a period of two weeks together. The +criminals that we have to deal with are those which society produces not +those which it extinguishes. + +But if the "Jukes" were at all reproductive what is the difference +between them and other cases of criminals? Principally this, that the +"Jukes" formed a little society of their own in which marriage and +co-habitation was the rule. Of their women 52 per cent. were +disreputable; but Dugdale refuses to call them prostitutes, but rather +harlots, indicating that their marital relations were of the order of a +progressive polyandry and by no means unproductive. Under these +conditions, a fairly large natural increase is not to be wondered at. + +No such family has, nor could, exist in the midst of our civilization, +but as the case is advanced, not to show a distinct species of +criminality, but rather as an example of the rate of natural increase +that may be expected of a criminal family, we will examine and compare +the conditions of life existing among the "Jukes" and the criminal that +we have to deal with and thus discover features among the latter which +militate against a large birth-rate; but which are not present among the +former. + +Our criminals, for the most part, commence their career of crime at an +early age. The Rev. W. D. Morrison of Wandsworth Prison, England, +declares that the most criminal age is reached between the years of +twenty and thirty. This holds good, he says, for Europe, Australia, and +the United States. + +It is a mistake to suppose that a man first commits crime and then +plunges headlong into vice. Though true in some cases, it is exactly the +reverse course which is followed in the majority of cases. After having +passed with a measure of success through the milder domestic and +scholastic spheres, the youthful criminal become a failure in the +severer social or industrial sphere. Some criminologists go so far as to +say that the majority of criminals have displayed distinct evidences of +criminality at so early an age as sixteen years. Whatever may have been +the cause for committing crime, the crime itself shows that the youth +refuses to acknowledge the obligations which an organized society lays +upon him. This refusal extends practically throughout the social order, +and neither is it confined to this order, but extends also to the moral +order and is shown in a total disregard for the matrimonial state. The +youth gives way to natural appetites and associates himself with women +of low repute. He is of wandering habits, works, when he does work, but +intermittently, is restless, and totally disinclined towards matrimony. +Socially, industrially and morally he is unstable. It is these +conditions of his life which so contrast him with that species of +criminality which the "Jukes" family presents. And it is these same +conditions which support the statement of Fere and Ellis, that he is +generally a celibate and non-productive. Concerning the progeny of the +female criminal there is little to say except that the causes which +chiefly account for the male criminal operate to produce the prostitute +among women, and therefore criminal women are in a very small minority. +Of these criminal women, Lombroso says that they are monsters who have +triumphed over the natural instincts of piety and maternity as well as +over their natural weakness. They are bad mothers, and children are a +burden to them from which they will readily rid themselves. + +Notwithstanding Dr Chapple's evidence, it is conclusive that his +statement that criminals have the largest families, is entirely opposed +to fact, indeed the exact reverse is the case. + +So far as the criminal is concerned, one may well ask whether he has not +set himself to the useless task of threshing straw. + +The question concerning the proportionate rate of natural increase among +all classes of society is one which provides one of the fundamentals +upon which Dr Chapple has based his proposal. Instead of enquiring into +the actualities of this question he has assumed them, and from his +assumption proceeded to his result. His assumption that the better +classes use preventive means which the inferior classes do not use, is +open to challenge; that there might exist among the inferior classes +causes peculiar to these classes which militate against their increasing +naturally, he has failed to notice. There do exist such, and so potent +as to disprove entirely his statement that the problem is one for the +solution of which we must search deep down in biological truth. The true +solution will not be found in biological truth but in sociological +truth, and there fairly near the surface. + +As Dr Chapple's evidence entirely fails, the conclusions of expert +criminologists must be accepted, viz., that criminals are +characteristically unproductive, and that, among male criminals, the +celibates are in a large majority. As, from these reasons, the vast +majority of criminals cannot be the descendants of a criminal ancestry, +obviously tubo-ligature will not meet the case. + +So far indeed the criminal descendant from criminal stock has alone been +considered, whereas a large number of criminals have come from a drunken +or from a pauper ancestry. Statistics indicate that 33 per cent. of +criminals come from an intemperate ancestry and 2 per cent. from a +pauper one. But in both cases, environment has a great deal more to be +held responsible for than has heredity. It is the conditions of the home +life which make the drunkard's child a criminal, and the same applies +with equal force to the pauper's child. So that, if drastic measures are +to be taken with these classes, surely such measures will proceed +gradually from the mean to the extreme, and severe measures will not be +employed until milder ones have failed. Where the question is one of +environment it is the man's character and habits which have to be dealt +with and not his nature. Environment is always capable of modification, +and, when improved, the result is invariably a beneficial one for those +concerned. So that the least that may be said for the criminal +descendants of drunken ancestors is that a better way exists and should, +by all moral laws, be first adopted. + +Further difficulties, of a physical, rather than moral nature, also +exist. + +And here again Dr Chapple has assumed another fundamental position. Is +it too much to require of him that he should prove that, where criminals +have sprung from a defective ancestry, this defect should be invariably +transmitted? That, in short, a criminally defective ancestry is an +invariable cause producing a criminal descent. (Note.--By criminally +defective ancestry we mean the ancestry from which criminals spring. It +may not itself be criminal. It may be drunken or pauper.) Such an +important question cannot be assumed; positive proof is demanded, and +this is nowhere forthcoming in Dr Chapple's book. + +If it were allowed that criminals were the most prolific of all classes +of society, this question of heredity would still have to be cleared up +before such a proposal as tubo-ligature were seriously discussed, for +surely so drastic a remedy would never be employed except under the most +positive conditions, that is to say, that this operation would never be +employed until it had been ascertained, with scientific precision, that +the birth of degenerates, and degenerates only, was being prevented. + +Dr Chapple failing to illuminate us upon this point we inquire, does a +criminally defective ancestry invariably convey to its offspring a taint +disposing it towards crime? Or can it ever be ascertained that a certain +given ancestry will certainly produce criminals? + +In the treatment of the subject of heredity it has been made clear that +on account of the vicious habits of the criminal he is apt to transmit +to his offspring a physical defect which will make it difficult for him +to adapt himself to the conditions of the society in which he is placed. +This difficulty becomes almost, though not quite, insurmountable when +the environment is one in which the practice of vice and dishonesty is +easier than that of virtue and thrift. + +The transmission of a taint which is a cause of criminality cannot be +denied, but the close investigation of the criminal and of his family +has revealed the fact that among the comparatively few criminals who are +parents they do not all transmit a taint or defect to their offspring, +nor among those from whom a taint has been transmitted has it +necessarily been transmitted to every child. + +The "Jukes" family being the most exceptional of all cases in which +criminal heredity may be observed can be investigated for the purposes +of discovering the extreme affirmative which the question proposed can +give. The answer is an emphatic no. When the "Jukes" intermarried there +was, strange as it may seem, almost an entire absence from crime in the +family following upon such union. When they married into other +families, crime frequently made its appearance. This, at least, shows +that an hereditary taint is not invariably conveyed. It may be claimed +that it proves that, under certain conditions, such taint is conveyed; +but in cases of this nature we do not reach our particular and exclusive +affirmatives anything like so rapidly as we reach our particular and +exclusive negatives. The negative is often obvious, the affirmative +generally remote. It may be that by cross marriages the element of +virility, necessary to maintain criminality, is sustained: but if that +were so it would be expected that pauperism would necessarily result +from consanguineous marriages which is not so far the case as to +indicate cause and effect. A more plausible suggestion is that in +consanguineous marriages there is a tendency for the family ties to be +reunited and the family ideal restored. Such, of course, effectively +disposes of criminality. Of the three grandsons of Ada Jukes, who were +themselves the sons of her one illegitimate son, their family report is +as follows:--The first was licentious, a sheep-stealer, quarrelsome, and +an habitual drunkard. He married a disreputable woman and had several +children. Of his seven boys, five were criminals. The second grandson +kept a tavern and a brothel and was a thief. He married a brothel +keeper. Of his six sons, two were criminals. The third grandson was +industrious but occasionally intemperate. He married a woman addicted to +the opium habit. Of his four sons, none were criminals. These are +fairly average cases, and they, at least, affirm very distinctly that +the criminal does not always transmit a taint to his child which will +dispose that child towards crime. + +Although in the cases cited above only some 40 per cent. of the children +were criminals, it must, however, be observed that a great deal of +criminality goes unpunished, so that we might fix the average at 75 per +cent. and be more exact. Of the 75 per cent. we must find out whether +their heredity or their environment was the cause of their being +criminal. Dugdale's observations led him to conclude that heredity is a +latent cause which requires environment for its development. These 75 +per cent., however, will be referred to again. There being 25 per cent. +honest and industrious, brings us face to face with a question affecting +the morality of Dr Chapple's proposal. + +Since then all the children of criminal ancestry are not themselves +criminal or likely to become criminals through an hereditary taint, can +a proposal be accepted which would not only prevent the birth of the +hereditary criminal, but would also prevent the birth of several persons +who would have become good and useful citizens. + +Thus far only the criminal descended from a criminal ancestry has been +considered, whereas, as was stated previously, there are a considerable +number of criminals termed "hereditary" criminals who are descended from +a drunken ancestry. The proportion of these is about 33 per cent. of +the whole. The impossibility of the success of Dr Chapple's remedy is +very apparent from the insurmountable difficulties that would be +experienced in determining with exactitude when a person was so +degenerate in his own system as to make it positive that his prospective +offspring would be born a criminal defective. Uncertainty, in this +matter, reigns supreme. + +There must remain then but very little support for Dr Chapple's proposal +when we discover firstly:--that the criminal is very rarely a parent, +and secondly:--that in every case a taint is not transmitted from parent +to child. Its sphere of effectiveness is restricted by the very +circumstances of the case, and even within that restricted sphere its +operation would be most clumsy for it would prevent the birth of all a +criminal's children, good and bad alike. Thus it would become both a +moral and economic failure. + +Dr Chapple has taken it for granted that a criminal's rate of increase +is at least equal to the average if not indeed, for certain reasons, +considerably greater, and that he in all cases transmits an hereditary +taint to his offspring. Then he seeks for a remedy whereby the +transmission of this taint may be avoided and he can find none other +than one which prevents the very possibility of the prospective child +being born. Before coming to such a drastic conclusion enquiry might +have been made to discover whether there might not exist a remedy which +would be a remedy in the truest sense. That is a remedy which would, +while it would prevent the transmission of the taint, yet it would not +interfere with reproduction. Such a remedy would be in fact a method for +the reformation of the criminal, for if the criminal were reformed the +problem would be solved. If he were transformed into an honest and +industrious man then the transmission of the criminal taint is at once +prevented. There are some, however, who maintain that the criminal is +incorrigible and that reformatory agencies have invariably failed. They +look upon all attempts on behalf of the criminal as a useless +expenditure of energy and money. This question of the possibility or +otherwise of the reform of the criminal must now be settled before we +can proceed further. + +Is the criminal incorrigible? Some criminals do not ever reform because +they cannot. These are insane. Some do not because they will not; but +these may. The many who pass through our gaols and show no signs of +reform does not prove that although they may reform they never will. If +nine hundred and ninety-nine cases were observed of men resisting reform +it would not prove the impossibility of reforming the thousandth. It +would point to the difficulty, the remote probability or the need of +different methods; but it would not determine the impossibility. When +the term "incorrigible" is applied to certain criminals it does not mean +that these men are incapable of reform; but they are RESISTING +reform; and no one can tell when or whether the most obstinate of these +will surrender his will to the dictates of conscience and commence a +life of reform. The possibility is always an open question. No better +testimony can be brought forward than that of Mr Z. R. Brockway, late +Superintendent of the New York State Reformatory at Elmira. Mr Brockway +is one of the pioneers in reformatory work and is considered the +greatest living authority upon the subject. Some 10,000 felons have +passed through their hands. Speaking at the Fourth International Prison +Congress held in St. Petersburg in 1890 he said:--"There is a sense in +which nothing that lives is incapable of betterment, and so strictly +speaking there are no incorrigible criminals. If it is possible to grasp +the thought and cherish it, we should endeavour to discover in the very +worst characters some spark of humanity which unites us all in ties of +relationship, some secret soul-chambers where superhuman influences may +find lodgment, and so with good leaven pervade the whole man; at least +we may find in our sphere a field for most fascinating scientific +research and experiment. + +"I record it as my own conviction, after nearly a lifetime spent with +and for criminals, that alike for all, corrigible and incorrigible, the +aim to accomplish reformation is a true one. It most surely supplies all +possible repression upon the criminal classes in society.... The aim of +reformations is absolutely essential to any good degree of public +protection from crimes.... Mr F. Ammetybock, Director of the +Penitentiary of Vridsloselille, Denmark, added:--I would not dare charge +as incorrigible one of the 3,000 criminals who have been confided to my +care.... During my career as a prison officer, I have seen many +criminals who offered, humanly speaking, characteristic signs of +incorrigibility and who now and for a long time had led respectable +lives.... I believe that other prison officers as well as +philanthropists, can confirm the truth of my experience, and I hope that +many will protest against the theory of incorrigibility and place in the +balance their experience against purely abstract ideas." + +On the other hand, it must be admitted that several criminologists +emphatically declare that the "instinctive" criminal (or "born" criminal +to use Lombroso's term) is incorrigible. Garofalo takes such a hopeless +view of the matter as to demand his elimination by death, but none of +these men, eminent criminologists as they may be, have studied +reformatory science experimentally. Mr Brockway's testimony should be +taken as final seeing that of the 12,000 felons who have passed through +the Elmira Reformatory, 82 per cent. have reformed, i.e., have not +returned to criminal practices. The statistics for the year 1903 are as +follows:-- + + Total number of those paroled 445 + Served well and earned absolute release 143 + Correspondence and good conduct and + maintained (parole not expired) 238 + Died, doing well until time of death 1 + Released by Special Executive + Clemency, doing well 1 + Returned to Europe by permission 1 + ---- + 384 or 86 per cent + + Returned to Reformatory for violation + of parole 15 or 33 " + _Probably returned to crime._ + Those who ceased correspondence + while on parole and were lost sight of 37 + Known to have returned to crime 9 + -- + 46 or 10 " + +It will be seen that while the Reformatory claims only 86 per cent. of +reforms, there were only 9 persons (or 2 per cent. of the whole) who +were KNOWN to have certainly returned to crime. + +This exhibit is conclusive. Reformatory Science, which is yet but in its +infancy, can already deal successfully with by far the greatest +proportion of criminals, and this success at this stage guarantees a +much larger measure in the future. It is clear then upon the statements +of the highest authorities that the criminal is not incorrigible, and +that the prison (penal) system compares so unfavourably with the +reformatory system that it ought to be abolished in favour of it. The +system in vogue at the Elmira Reformatory will be described in a later +chapter, and there it will be shown that the methods employed are upon a +most scientific basis and that the results obtained cannot fail to +satisfy the most exacting. It will be seen that by a "reformed" man is +meant a man who can and will adapt himself to the conditions of society; +a man sound in mind, healthy in body, industrious and honest in habit. +Concerning this man's progeny, what have we to fear? It is in this way +that we may dispose of the proportion of 75 per cent. of criminal +children descended from criminal ancestry. It should here be again +observed that the majority of criminals commence their career in crime +at a very early age, and that therefore the reform of almost all +criminals may be undertaken before they are likely to become parents. +Again, true reformatory science forbids the release of any criminal from +custody who has not given satisfactory evidence of reform. + +Thus reformatory science effectually guarantees society against the evil +that Dr Chapple has proposed to eradicate, and it does it by a method +compared with which tubo-ligature is most crude. + +The criminal is either set free as a reformed man or is to be kept in +captivity because his resistance to reformatory discipline has shown him +to be unfit to rightly use his liberty. + +Not only are the chances of his becoming the parent of criminally +disposed children effectually removed but he is himself transformed from +having a negative to having a positive social value. + +Dr Chapple's study convinces him that the cause of the startling +increase of crime, insanity, and pauperism is to be found "deep down in +biological truth. Society is breeding from defective stock." Dr Waddell, +who writes the preface of the "Fertility of the Unfit," is so alarmed as +to declare that "our civilization is in imminent peril of being swamped +by the increasingly disproportionate progeny of the criminal." The most +superficial observation of the life of the criminal would have shown +both these writers that criminal habits militated substantially against +the probability of a natural increase. + +To repeat what Fere and Havelock Ellis both emphatically declare that +the criminal and the pauper do not reproduce their kind is but to show +that the cause of the natural increase of the criminal is NOT +to be found in biological truth, neither is our society in any danger of +being swamped by an increasingly disproportionate progeny of the +criminal. In short, society has no enemy in Nature. + +The true cause for the increase of the numbers of the criminal is to be +found in sociological and not in biological truth. As Lacassagne says: +"Society has the criminals that it deserves." + +Dr MacDonald, W.S. Expert in Criminology, writes to the author, "As to +tubo-ligature, or the like, it would not be supported by scientists." + +If, however, there were absolutely no scientific objection to the +proposal that the Doctor advances, if, that is, the basal facts were +exactly he assumes them to be, would then his remedy be secure from +attack? Most emphatically not. For is it not possible, nay with the +present shrinking from maternity so widespread, is it not highly +probable that the measure would be greatly abused? Thousands as the +Doctor himself says would avail themselves of it to-morrow, and for the +simple reason that they wish to escape from the responsibilities of +bringing up children. Thousands would no doubt repudiate their debts +to-morrow if they might do so with impunity, but their wish in the +matter scarcely establishes the course as being a desirable one or one +calculated to promote the happiness of society. + +From the revelations of the Birth-rate Commission and from other +enquiries it is most evident that tubo-ligature would be very largely +abused indeed. + +But it may be said that it were far better that the woman shrinking +maternity should employ this method than that she should use the +preventive drugs that she does. This is but to acknowledge the morality, +or at least the necessity for the use of preventives and does nothing +less than to charge the Deity with having made laws for the governing of +the Natural Order which have got altogether out of hand and have +involved His creatures in confusion. + +Is it not a question whether marriage becomes a necessity when children +are to be avoided? The evil to which Dr Chapple's remedy would run, is +one in which the moral sentiment of society would be so hardened that +the reason for marriage would disappear from the knowledge of man. + +There is a great difference between this operation taking place from +pathological reasons and its being performed simply as a deliverance +from maternal responsibilities. In the latter case it is performed at +the will of the woman who thus shows that she has conquered the maternal +instinct, and as such she is a monster for she has contradicted her +nature. Lombroso declares that these are the women that commit the most +hideous crimes and that they are incorrigible. + +The Birth-rate Commissioners stated that the use of preventives was +having a most injurious effect upon the health of the women who used +them. + +Clearly then Morality and Nature are both opposed to their use. + +If men and women are becoming so selfish as to be determined to live +contrary to their nature then Nature will deal with them according to +Her terrible manner. If they are in an extremity and find that our +social system makes it impossible for them to undertake the +responsibilities of parentage, then the reorganization of our social +system is a matter for urgent consideration. + +But Dr Chapple would only intensify the evil instead of remedying it. + +What he practically says is this:--Regard yourselves for the moment as +being brute beasts and discuss the question upon that level. Murder the +social instinct; murder the compassionate spirit; disregard the Divine +Law and stifle all faith in the Providence of God; let the mission of +life be the enjoyment of pleasure; shrink from the marriage that might +be a burden, and dissolve the happy marriage should indications of +future burdens present themselves. He would have us compelled to take +our betrothed to a medical board and shamelessly confess ourselves. +Confess ourselves under circumstances which would know no secrecy. He +would have us regard our wives from the standpoint of selfishness and +lust alone. But we are not brutes we are human, and we have instincts +which the brutes have not. + +NOTE.--Dr. Chapple includes among the defectives not only the +criminal but also the lunatic, the epileptic and the pauper. How far +tubo-ligature would meet the cases of these defectives seems very +uncertain. The information which the Doctor gives us, for the most part, +is in direct opposition to him. On pages 74-76 he gives the history of +eight families which it will repay to examine. + +Cases I.--Cancer, consumption and epilepsy in the family. In the third +generation there are seven persons, of whom five married. The only +healthy member left five children, three were childless and one who died +at 56 left five children. That is to say, twelve children represent the +fourth generation. + +Case II.--Insanity, idiocy and epilepsy. Of five persons the one sane +member only has a family. Nine children, some (how many?) imbecile. + +Case III.--Drunkenness, insanity. Seven children, two died of +convulsions. One an idiot, one a dement (suicidal), one repeatedly +insane. These three are scarcely likely to be chosen in marriage. One +peculiar and irritable, one nervous and depressed. + +Case IV.--In third generation there are two epileptics and one +imbecile--scarcely likely to marry. Seven others are dead. (S. P.) + +Case V.--From an insane parent we have three children, one excitable, +one dull and one imbecile. + +Case VI.--A family of mutes and scarcely relevant. + +Case VII.--Drunkenness, epilepsy, etc. In the third generation "family +now extinct." No indications of tubo-ligature having been performed. + +Case VIII.--Apparently the issue in the second generation is from two +parentages. There are fifteen persons accounted for. Seven died in +infancy of convulsions. Epilepsy, scrofula, and idiocy can claim one +each. One was drowned, and four are healthy. That is, of seven surviving +children, four are healthy. + +In all from fifteen parents there is the alarming increase of fifty-six +persons. Of these eleven are healthy, fourteen are not described, +fourteen are defective and seventeen are dead. The total number of +living descendants, representing no less than the third generation of +seven families, is but thirty-nine. These figures can scarcely be quoted +to prove the "fertility of the unfit," but that is the title that stands +over them. As to the hereditary tendencies that they propagate, more +information is required. + +It is a well known fact that in cases of hereditary defect there is a +tendency for the defect to appear at either an earlier or later stage +in life in each successive generation (Mercier). In the first case the +family dies out, in the second case it recovers itself. In cases of +congenital defect, there is very little to fear. The lunatic is locked +up and the epileptic is avoided. + +Nature deals most successfully with these cases. She saves where +possible and destroys when recovery is hopeless. Very slowly perhaps, +but very exactly--never making a mistake, and in her slowness she is but +giving man an opportunity to contribute something towards the recovery +she aims at. + +=The Case of the Epileptic.=--The number of epileptics in whom the +disease may be traced to hereditary causes is estimated to be about 33 +per cent. of the whole. This is indeed a very large percentage. It does +not, however, follow that in all the cases or in by any means a large +proportion of them, the parents were also epileptics. Authorities are +not agreed as to the influence of heredity as a predisposing cause; but +it is recognised by all that the children of insane, neurotic, +hysterical or neuralgic parents are liable to become epileptics. Also +that alcoholism in the parents conveys a predisposition to the child. +The hereditary cases are therefore to be divided amongst all these +causes. In what proportion it would be difficult to estimate; but very +few persons in whom epilepsy has developed marry, and as 75 per cent. of +the cases are said to begin under the age of 20 years, and very few +after 25 years (cases of hereditary epilepsy have been known to develop +at so late an age as 65 and 70 years) it limits the number of +epileptics who marry to a very narrow margin. For even these few, +marriage should, however, be entirely out of the question. In cases, +where from syphilis or shock epilepsy is developed in the married adult +we should expect to find treatment imposing a restriction upon the +freedom of the patient somewhat similar to that provided for lunatics. +In almost every rank of society the developed epileptic would be +excluded from marriage by the law of sexual selection, and as the great +majority develop epilepsy before coming to a marriageable age, few +epileptic children can claim a developed epileptic ancestry. + +The number of cases, where epilepsy results from an epileptic ancestry, +is estimated by Sir Wm. Gowers at 22 per cent. of the whole. These cases +are to be distributed between the developed form and the petit mal. As +the petit mal often escapes observation Dr Chapple's method would only +apply to those cases of the marriage of persons who were afflicted with +the major form of epilepsy, which means that perhaps not more than 10 +per cent. of the number of epileptics could be prevented from coming to +birth. If a ten per centum reduction is to be considered as solving the +problem in the case of epileptics what will the 86 per cent. of reforms +among criminals be valued at? + +=The Case of the Pauper.=--Paupers may be divided into two classes, +those whose poverty is due to misfortunes and those whose poverty is due +to vicious idleness. Those whose poverty is due to drink or crime are +not properly to be classified as paupers. Society regards them as +primarily drunkards and criminals. Of these two classes the first are +generally to be found making a courageous fight against adverse +circumstances and feel their position keenly. They are deserving of the +compassion of society. Their families, it is true, are a burden upon +private and institutional charity, but only a temporary one and after a +while become the very means of recovering the broken fortunes of their +parents. Very large sums are spent in relieving the necessities (often +in providing the luxuries) of the undeserving poor, but this fact should +not be made the basis of a charge against the deserving but helpless +poor. My own acquaintance with the poorest parts of one of our largest +cities leads me to believe that very little charity ever reaches the +truly deserving poor. They battle on and keep their sad condition as far +from public observation as possible. The undeserving are very clamorous. +These two incidents are by no means uncommon, they are fairly typical. +(a) I was called one night to baptise a dying child. The mother stated +that she was too poor to buy a few necessaries ordered by the doctor. I +purchased these myself and brought them to the mother. The next morning +she sent to say the child was dead and would I lend her money to wire to +the father. As he was in work I thought a collect telegram was more +suitable. In the evening a request came for monetary assistance to +provide the child with a coffin and to purchase a plot in the cemetery. +A clergyman who does that sort of thing might as well keep a private +cemetery, undertaker and monumental mason of his own. I refused to do it +and came in for a good deal of abuse. The mother appeared at the funeral +in a new black silk dress! + +(b) A crippled woman who earned her living by ironing. She made on an +average 10s per week. I suggested to her the advisability of applying +for an old age pension and proceeded to fill in her papers. When she +discovered that she was two months under the age of 65 she was horrified +at what she thought an attempt on her part to swindle the Government. + +These cases speak for themselves. People seem afraid to refuse to give +alms for fear of being called uncharitable, yet they have not the +charity to investigate the cases brought before their notice and see +that their relief is intelligently bestowed upon worthy persons. Some +religious societies are cruel sinners in this respect. The consequence +is that a premium is put upon professional begging and we have plenty of +it. Society will never murmur against the burden of the deserving poor. +Concerning the life of the poor, however, Korosi gives these +statistics:--The average age of the rich is 35 years, of the well-to-do +20.6 years, of the poor only 13.2 years. These statistics are supposed +to hold good for all large towns. The average life of the pauper (that +is the vicious pauper) will be shorter still seeing that in his idle, +vicious life the parent refuses to acknowledge his responsibilities +towards his children and makes no effort to save them from perishing +through want and proper healthful conditions. The numbers of the pauper +may increase, but it is seen then that they do not live to any great +length of life. The pauper has, however, a certain rate of increase and +his children are brought up in pauper habits. To the criminal population +they add about 2 per cent. of the whole. They constitute a burden, not +very great, but one which society resents. To adopt tubo-ligature might +relieve both society and the pauper, but its moral effect would be that +the pauper would regard his vice as acknowledged and approved by +society. To say that there are no other remedies, remedies which would +compel the pauper to earn his living, is an appalling confession of +failure on the part of society. + + + + +Chapter VI. + +THE OBLIGATIONS OF SOCIETY TOWARDS THE WEAK. + + +The last century is admittedly one in which was witnessed the greatest +advances in civilization that the world has ever made. All classes in +society may be said to have benefited. The rich have been given greater +opportunities for the enjoyment of their riches and an enlarged sphere +of usefulness opened to them. The poor have had their lot so greatly +ameliorated, that given health, very few men in these colonies at all +events, are poor except it be their own fault. The art of healing can +now restore to health millions who, had they lived in an earlier +century, would have suffered agonies. A universal education has opened +the doors of colleges and universities and made it possible for those +born in the humblest conditions of life, to attain to the most +distinguished positions in the land. The private has become the general; +the office boy the judge; the peasant boy the President; the +full-blooded aboriginal has graduated through our universities and been +called to the Bar; and no man can urge class distinction as being the +cause of his failure in any ambition that he has faithfully pursued. All +classes have benefited; almost all classes have advanced. + +Undeniably this advance has brought greater happiness into the world; +whether it will continue will entirely depend upon what basis it is +intended to secure this advance. + +With an increase of wealth and leisure there is the danger of +demoralisation. Our society may substitute a false aim for its true one. +Already there are an illimitable number of social reformers who are +prepared to describe in very definite terms what is the state of +perfected society and what laws are necessary for immediate enactment in +order that we might rapidly reach that state. We all acknowledge the +existence of the prophetic vision, but we limit its range and regard him +most audacious who declares that he can describe the heaven in which +society shall finally shelter itself securely from all that prey upon +her. Advance as quickly as we may, there is a limit to our speed, and +the future being all unknown we scarcely like to take it at a plunge. +Nevertheless, these social reformers do a good work--their schemes are +at least suggestive, and moreover they point out signs of the times. +They show us unmistakably that with our advance there is a tendency to +become more and more selfish and to regard with less true charity the +condition of the weak. One social reformer will say that there will not +be any suffering because therapeutics will have overtaken every disease +that the flesh is heir to, or better still, that some new discovery will +have made it possible to heal all sicknesses without the tedious work of +surgeons and nurses. Healing will become a pastime like table-turning. +Neither will there be any criminals because the whole social state will +be so happy, contented, and knit together that inducement to crime will +cease. Others will treat the criminal "scientifically," ensuring reforms +at the rate of 100 per cent. with lightning-like rapidity. Which all +practically amounts to this, that the problem concerning the future of +the weak is shelved. To study it deeply would spoil our best theories +and therefore it must be got rid of. Dr Chapple has done nothing more +than shelve it, for as we have seen his remedy is both practically and +morally impossible. Like all others it betrays the selfish spirit. Like +them it regards the weak as if they were nothing less than an +intolerable incubus on society, a grit in its bearings. It may be that +our social advancement will account for this. In old time when +communities were small and fixed, the burden of nursing the helpless +necessarily fell upon those who were immediately related by ties of +blood or neighbourhood, but now the many changes in the method of living +and treatment, has made this to a large extent impossible. Institutions +have everywhere sprung up, and it is invariably to the advantage of our +sick and afflicted that we should commit them to these institutions, +which practice has engendered the belief that all our social obligations +can be discharged by monetary payment. Not for one moment need we +entertain the idea that this belief will ever become a dominating one. +Charitable influences are more powerful. Nor must we charge the authors +of selfish systems with being as uncharitable as their systems. They +give expression to a fairly strong and somewhat universal sentiment, a +sentiment which we would perhaps disown at once upon its being unmasked +and which many refuse to obey upon its appeal to them to act in +accordance with its principles. This indicates that society sees many of +its assailants in but a half-light. It observes neither their malice nor +strength but only a dark ugly form which irritates us and which we would +if we could banish by an act of will. + +This being impossible we must meet our assailants in a clearer light and +destroy them. How can this be done, since it would mean the destruction +of evil and the powers of evil? Then it cannot be done, but since evil +feeds itself upon its victims we can greatly diminish its power and +influence by rescuing all who fall within its grasp. Many we know we +cannot rescue for there are certain types of disease mental and bodily +which defy our skill and some of all types of moral disease also defy +our effort. Still it would be better to say that we do not rescue them, +than that we cannot, for what was incurable yesterday is curable to-day, +and the most deadly diseases are giving clear evidence that their powers +to baffle science are fast giving out. That they will give out, +scientific men confidently hope. Neither is this hope groundless for +past success warrant it and there again point to another assurance, +almost a guarantee. The miracles of healing which Our Lord wrought were +not only to confer relief upon the suffering, not only to give evidence +of His Divinity, but also to promise the triumph which would reward the +efforts of man seeking to assist his afflicted brother. We will never +heal by a word, neither will we raise the dead, for in these works of +might we have peculiar evidence of the Divine Providence; but Christ's +miracles seem to promise that He, the Light of the World, will yet grant +the fullness of that illumination by which the works of healing are +done. + +The sick, it is true, receive greater compassion from their fellowmen +than the abnormal, the insane and the criminal. But these latter also +demand our consideration if for no other reason than that they menace +society. To exterminate them is impossible. A persecution with that end +would defeat itself, and the persecutors would become morally infinitely +worse than the persecuted. + +Secondly: their consideration is demanded from the fact that society has +produced the evil plight of very many of them. In the great advance, +they have fallen and been trampled on. Their right to fall may be +denied, but whose right was it to trample on them? To declare it to have +been inevitable that they should be trampled on, simply excuses guilt +but not obligation. And the obligation is to make reparation as far as +possible. + +Thirdly: because what should be a valuable asset to society, +contributing substantially to her strength, becomes a hostile power +weakening her and hindering her progress. Any of these three +considerations received separately is sufficient to convince us of our +obligations to this uglier section of the weak, when combined their +force is very great. But when we speak to them of peace do they not make +them ready to battle? No, their case is not so hopeless as that. David +lived under the Mosaic Dispensation, and Moses could give but the law +whereas Christ has given His Life. Our method will determine everything. +Good advice, good books, good laws will do but little; good work will +accomplish all. "The greatest good of the greatest number" is a false +ideal and absolutely unworthy either of our charity or our science. "The +ultimate good of all" is the end society is destined to accomplish, and +anything less is too little for her, anything more is impossible even to +conceive. + +In working towards this ideal, which we cannot describe with greater +definiteness, we are bound to recognise that GOODNESS is our +safe and only guide. The general direction of our advance in the past we +can easily trace, but the purpose of the devious paths through which we +were led is too difficult to understand. Our present puzzles us, our +future sometimes appals us. Some rush ahead to see what lies before us +and come back injured and pass away as pessimists, others hesitate to +advance at all. We cannot outstrip our guiding pillar of light; but +following it we are safe to advance. And in following, one of the first +convictions that comes home to us is that we must allow no waste, +neither in the lives of others nor in the energies of ourselves. With +this conviction soon comes the startling fact that the energies we are +allowing to waste are identically those which were given to us to save +the lives of others which are wasting. A wonderful independence exists +among us. The social system is bound together by ties of nature, and not +merely by those of commerce or benefit. Man is social, not merely +gregarious. He enters into the life of his fellow-man and establishes +relations which we are bound to call spiritual. Through the media of +these relations, influences traverse which are of the most profound we +know. These relations when established compel us to acknowledge our +duties to one another and give us a delight in discharging them. This +delight in turn becomes the power, which opens the eyes to the +realization of the great principle of self-sacrifice. Egoism and +altruism are not to be mutually exclusive. To seek our own happiness is +not to be indifferent to the happiness of society. For what is +happiness? not pleasure, but self-realization, and we cannot realise +self without realising society. + +This interdependence which exists between man and man, and which makes +it possible for us to influence one another so powerfully for good or +for evil, points out to us that the true aim of every man, namely, to +unite his work with that of his fellow-man in a grand co-operative +undertaking for the advancement and betterment of society regarded as a +whole and with regard for its units. We cannot realise self if engaged +in competition man against man in order to satisfy private ambition. Our +object should be to unite and our hostility be provoked, not against one +another, weak or strong, but against the powers which attack us +individually and collectively. + +Necessity then lays the obligation upon us to give our first attention +to the rescue of the weak. It was the recognition of this obligation +which sent the Christian-Maidens into the suburbs of Rome seeking the +exposed offspring of unnatural parents. To say that they would have been +better dead, is to speak with that facility which requires neither +mental nor moral perception. + +It is the recognition, in part, of this obligation which accounts for +hospitals, asylums and other charitable institutions. Hence also we +endeavour to shelter those born deficient in mental or moral power. Dr +Chapple seems to think that the result of all this is that we have made +a pretty mess of society. He says, of these weaklings, that Nature has +decreed that they should die. A most unscientific statement. Are these +charitable efforts to be regarded as profane interference with the +sacred decrees of Nature? Nature's decrees are inviolate and none can +disturb them. Because these weak, if left unaided, would perish, is that +to say that Nature has decreed that they should die? If so, we must say +of a man, stricken with typhoid fever, that Nature has decreed that he +should die, and that any effort to save him would be but a profane +interference on our part with Nature. + + What does Nature say of these that + they do not live, + they cannot live, or + they must not live? + +History has shown that in the past they do not live. + +But in order to discover the decree of Nature we must make a full and +exhaustive enquiry into the possibilities which exist under the laws of +Nature. So far as this enquiry has advanced it has been made quite clear +that the charitable effort of man will recover many that would otherwise +perish. The whole science of therapeutics is based upon this discovery. + +Dr Chapple says of defectives that they do live but that they must not. +Two arguments he brings forward. The first is that Nature has decreed +that they should not. This must be a secret communication, for it is not +universal knowledge, and the operation of Nature's laws certainly +appears to contradict it. The second argument is that they are a burden. +The burden analysed amounts to this:-- + + (a). They are a misery to themselves. + (b). They are too costly. + (c). They hinder the progress of society. + (d). They threaten to overwhelm society. + +(a). Who can tell whether the weak are absolutely a misery to +themselves. Pain is a mystery which cannot be solved, although to the +suffering its benefits are well known. If they would be better out of +the way might they not be left to decide that matter for themselves? +They, knowing best, cry to us for help. If we were merely gregarious +creatures like wolves or sharks we would tear or destroy them in their +misery; but as social beings we are bound to answer their cry. To cry +for help is instinctive with them, and to respond to the cry is +instinctive with us. Surely this is the voice of Nature and this is the +decree of Nature. + +(b). If this argument be admitted then we are bound to declare that the +one aim of both society and individual is to amass wealth. The idea is +too sordid for further consideration. + +(c). So far from hindering the social progress they most powerfully +assist it. The mere bearing of one another's burdens has the most +refining and deepening influence upon character. It is most active in +creating and establishing our relations one with another. Compassion for +the suffering creates a tie between them and us. The intention to help +requires our co-operation with others, and so the bond extends uniting +first individuals then groups and then the whole of society. Nor must we +forget the immense advance in surgery and medicine which is due entirely +to the consideration of the lot of the apparently hopeless. Had these +even been allowed to perish we should still have needed our surgeons and +physicians in a well equipped society, if only to teach us how to +prevent seizure by dangerous complaints. + +A short time ago many died from ailments which surgery can to-day cure +with but very little suffering on the part of the patient. Is not this a +substantial gain which the bearing of the burden of the weak has brought +to man? To mention other triumphs is but to enlarge. If therefore Nature +has spoken there can be no doubt that it was to give a promise that she +would reward diligent research by revealing the cure of all the ills our +flesh inherits. Thus assured, scientific men are most zealously studying +the most deadly and most obstinate diseases. Against plague, smallpox, +and consumption they can at least give us an effective protection, and +almost hourly we expect to hear the shout of triumph accompanying the +announcement that the victory over cancer has been gained. When stricken +with these diseases we immediately fall into the ranks of the unfit; but +we will thank society for having borne its burden when the healing art +is brought to such an excellence that, when so stricken, we may soon be +restored to the ranks of the fit. The benefit which the past confers +upon us declares imperatively our obligation to the future. + +(d). Do they threaten to overwhelm? The power of disease is being +overcome, and therefore the number of the diseased is being lessened. By +being cured, instead of dying, these increase the proportion of the +strong to the weak. The obstinacy of certain hereditary diseases but +asserts the necessity of prosecuting study more enthusiastically. + +But if the strong limit their increase they cannot demand that +exterminating methods should be applied to the weak in order to restore +the proportion which they, the strong, have thus by their selfishness +disturbed. Nature gives adequate protection so far as numerical increase +is concerned, and no scientific man will dare to state that this +protection may be disregarded and another demanded. + +The Government of India has been charged with pursuing a suicidal policy +in safeguarding the natives against plague and smallpox and in +preventing human sacrifice. Their numbers will increase, food supplies +will give out, or, worst of all, they may become so powerful as to wrest +the supremacy from the European. Charity, however, demands that these +measures shall be taken, and the terrors of the future are at best +hypothetical. This is but another case in which consideration for the +unknown future is apt to hinder us in the discharge of our known duties +to the present. History assures us that the guarantee of the future lies +in the fulfilment of these duties. The height of absurdity is reached +when the attempt is made to establish the proportions of the future. +Such efforts defy man. + +The burden of the weak is the burden of the strong, and in the bearing +of it is brought into view the grand and true ideal of society--the good +of all. + +Man is endowed with natural powers for assisting his weaker brother, +and, above all these powers he has, through supplication the means of +engaging the Divine Influence, which simply defies all calculation +against the possibility of reform or recovery. + +Where charitable effort in the past has not succeeded it is because it +has not gone far enough. Building institutions is sometimes due to a +craze and not charity. Thus evils are sometimes accentuated and not +mitigated. Such failures must spur to redoubled effort. Hope was never +larger than at present. + + + + +Chapter VII. + +THE NEW PENOLOGY. + + +The old method of dealing with criminals was based entirely upon a +doctrine of vengeance. The criminal was regarded as being in every way a +normal man, a man who deliberately chose to be a criminal. The +possibility of a criminal's moral sense being defective, of his not +being able to bring his actions under the control of his will, or of +some other sad handicap existing, was never contemplated. His crime was +looked upon as a desperate act, for the committal of which he was +absolutely without any excuse. The consequence was that an elaborate +system of torture was devised in order to deal with him. Readers who are +familiar with such books as Marcus Clark's "For the term of his natural +life," and Charles Reade's "It is never too late to mend," will require +no further description of the horrors of "the vengeance system" which +was supposed to be the only rational method of dealing with criminals in +the days of the convict settlements. + +Since then, popular vengeance has considerably relaxed and the devising +of painful forms of punishment has become almost a lost art. The +new-born science, with its first powers of articulation, loudly repeat +the words of Revelation, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the +Lord." A system of vengeance instituted by man against man is +impossible. As has been stated in a previous chapter, the new penology +repudiates all such systems. The amount of pain which an individual is +to be called upon to suffer may well be left to the higher tribunal. The +obvious duty of man to his fellow-man who is depraved, is to endeavour +to recover him. There is no satisfaction in punishing him, but there is +every satisfaction in reforming him. + +The new penology covers the investigation and study of every +circumstance surrounding the criminal as such. No circumstance is so +trifling as to be passed by, every detail is carefully studied with the +object of discovering what the criminal is and how he came to be such, +what are his possibilities, and by what methods those possibilities may +be reached. + +Maconochie ventured upon the bold assumption that the criminal was a +human being, and this assumption proved to be justified. In 1840 he was +sent to Norfolk Island to take charge of 1400 double-convicted felons +there. He describes them in these words:--"For the merest trifle they +were flogged, ironed or confined in gaol for days on bread and water. +The offences most severely punished were chiefly conventional; those +against morals being little regarded, compared with those against +unreasonable discipline. Thus the horrid vices with acts of brutal +violence, or of dexterity in theft and robbery, were detailed to me by +the officers with little direct censure, and rather as anecdotes +calculated to astonish and amuse a new-comer. While the possession of a +pipe, a newspaper, a little tea, etc., or the omission of some mark of +respect, a saucy look or word, or even an imputation of sullenness, were +deemed unpardonable offences. They were fed more like hogs than like +men; neither knives, forks, nor hardly any other conveniences were +allowed at tables. They tore their food with their fingers and teeth, +and drank out of water buckets. The men's countenances reflected +faithfully this description of treatment. A more demoniacal looking +assemblage could not be imagined; and nearly the most formidable sight I +ever beheld was the sea of faces upturned to me when I first addressed +them. Yet three years after, I had the satisfaction of hearing Sir +George Gipps ask me what I had done to make the men look so well?--he +had seldom seen a better looking set." + +Maconochie had invented the mark system (the principle of the +indeterminate system) and made the prisoners' liberation depend upon +their conduct and character and not upon the original offence. +Maconochie's experience led him to write in after years to a friend, "if +you would try a social-moral one (prison system) you would soon get +important results. If our punishments were first of all made +REFORMATORY, and generally successful in this object the +prejudices of society against the early criminal would abate." Inspired +with this hope of reforming the criminal and restoring him to society +as a useful member, philanthropists began the exhaustive study of the +criminal. In prisons where the value of this science is recognized the +criminal upon his entry is subject to a most thorough examination, every +item of his family history is carefully enquired into. Information +concerning the occupation, education, health and character of all who +are nearly related to him is obtained, as also the moral and economic +conditions of his home life, and the character of his associates. He +himself is studied for the existence or traces of disease; for +abnormalities, arrested or exaggerated physical and mental development. +The strength of his various muscles, the vitality of his organs, his +mental and nervous capacity, and his moral susceptibility are all +estimated. His powers of self-control are determined. His disposition is +carefully studied. His opportunities in life, his educational +advantages, his early career, the nature of the crime, the immediate +influencing circumstances, as provocation, hunger, cold, atmospheric +disturbances are all noted. + +Such is a brief outline of the examination, the object of which is to +discover as far as possible the real cause which led to the crime, what, +if any, were the social, physical, psychical and provocative elements +contributing to the cause; what their value; and what are the most +promising lines upon which the criminal's reform may be directed. He is +by no means regarded as a passive product of forces over which he has no +control, nor his crime as the consequence of himself. It is essential +to the success of all reformatory discipline that moral responsibility +must be recognised and observed. In fact it may be said, that +reformation is complete when moral responsibility, insisted upon by the +discipline, becomes at last acknowledged by the man. + +Perhaps it may be thought that it is not possible to conduct such a +study with anything like accurate results, and that the greater part of +it would be mere guess work, as e.g. the determining the capacity of +a man's nervous system or his degree of moral susceptibility. This is +quite a mistake. There is nothing whatever of a speculative quality in +the results advanced by criminologists. Their methods are exact and +compare equally with those for the investigation of other phenomena. + +It is not claimed that the absolute or the relative value of the data +collected is as yet determined, nor yet that any one investigation has +been exhausted; but this much can be claimed, that the results obtained +are of high practical worth and justify the assurance that the solution +of the problem concerning the criminal will soon be reached. + + + + +Chapter VIII. + +THE PREVENTION OF CRIME. + + +The result of Criminological studies has indicated most clearly that no +measures for the prevention or repression of crime will ever be adequate +which are not based upon a scientific system of education. Whatever this +system may prove to be, it must have one distinct aim, and that is to +train all its members to love, and to work for, the social state. This +aim must be accomplished most thoroughly no matter what the cost may be. + +The decreasing birth-rate points to other conclusions than the obvious +one that a large number of persons must be using preventive means. It +points to a widespread selfishness which regards children as an +intolerable burden, as in fact nothing less than a grievous misfortune. +It is obvious that where children are so regarded a blight has fallen +upon the domestic life. Home cannot be the brightest spot on earth to +them; neither can the father and mother be their sympathetic guides, +counsellors, and protectors. Nor can those children be studied (by those +who alone have the special faculty for studying them) in order that +their secret aims and ambitions and the difficulties which obstruct +these aims and ambitions, may be understood. + +It follows then that from parental selfishness a great number (and close +observation leads one to believe that by far the greater proportion) of +the children of this generation and in this colony, are growing up with +less care and attention being bestowed upon them than what their parents +are prepared to bestow upon even their very horses or their dogs. This +factor of parental selfishness cannot be ignored either academically or +practically. It must in some way be overcome, or at least its influence +for harm must be considerably reduced. + +It would be interesting to discover how far this parental selfishness +was a deviation from true parental pride. Possibly it may not be so very +great as the vast difference in results may lead us to suppose, and if +this be so the reorganisation of the child's educational system will not +be insuperably difficult. + +In many homes where there are more than two or three children, there is +a total lack of domestic sympathy and pride. The children are not taught +to love one another nor to understand and help one another. Adult +influence is very seldom brought to bear upon them, and, worst of all, +parental influence is either wanting, deficient or injurious. What +children suffer from this want in the development in their natures must +of necessity be, and it unquestionably is, sufficient to handicap them +throughout their whole life. Parents profess that they have done their +best with this or that child and that they have failed, but the fault +largely lies in the parents undertaking the task with every expectation +of failure, and the chief characteristics noticed by the child have been +the parental irritability, impatience and incompetence. Having estimated +these the child then knows exactly how to gain its own ends and has +sufficient determination to persevere until it does. A certain amount of +harsh treatment will suffice, until the child is old enough to rebel, in +order to keep it in check, or, as is just as often the case, the child +may be allowed to have its own way entirely. Under such circumstances it +is not a matter of great wonderment that the child should be looked upon +as a burden to be fed, clothed, and tolerated until it is old enough to +"do something" for itself. + +But our school system is also at fault, for by it our children are +crammed with an amount of information the whole, or even the greater +part, of which very few of them will ever use. Imagine the object, if +one can, of spending the precious hours of a child's educational life in +teaching it the names of every dozen or so of the different towns of +each county in the United Kingdom, and at the same time entirely +neglecting its moral training and giving very little attention to the +physical. + +If a child be bright he has every consideration from his teachers and +receives from his companions the opprobious nickname of "Teacher's Pet." +He gains a reward, perhaps a medal, and at the annual distribution of +prizes the speech-makers point to the coming legislators and successful +men of business in a manner which conveys to this scholar the idea that +the one thing to live for is to gain an exalted position in the world. +This would not be so bad in itself, were it not that the love for honest +labour is not inculcated at the same time, and consequently the children +imagine that they are going to be pitchforked into prominence. As an +evidence, witness the speculative spirit so universal among our youth. +They hope to make their way in life simply by "striking it lucky." +Personally I have spoken to a large number of boys about the ages of +from fourteen to sixteen years and I have never yet been able to find a +boy who could tell me definitely what he would like to be. His father +looks about for something for him to do without any knowledge of the +boy's possibility of greatest success lying in one well marked +direction. The boy remains in a billet only so long as he fails to get +another with a greater wage attached to it, and when perhaps twenty +years of age are reached he is conscious of where the true lines of his +destiny lie; but it is then too late for him to begin the necessary +education, and the consequence is that his life loses its inspiration. +Now it is quite possible that if our school system were so reorganised +that parents saw as a result that their children developed a true love +for labour and worked with definite purpose, that they would take a more +intense pride in them and enter more sympathetically into their labours +and ambitions. The education of the child would thus be brought to react +upon the parent and tend immediately to reorganise the domestic life +and bring it closer to the Hebrew conception, which conception when +realised would most thoroughly solve the problem of the moral +regeneration of the race. It is impossible for the State to have to +commence to educate the parent except by reactionary methods and by +compelling the observance of all legitimate obligations. That our +present school system does not react favourably upon the parent must be +obvious from what has already been said. In the past when only the +fortunate few were able to secure the advantages of a good education, +they, for the most part, recognised the greatness of their opportunity +and prosecuted their studies with zeal. But to-day, with an universal +educational system the value of these opportunities is, by the child and +sometimes by the parent, very much lost sight of. The child needs now a +stimulant, something to arouse and sustain his interest in his work. He +should learn to regard his school work with pleasure and his home with +affection. + +The three principal standpoints from which education is regarded +are:--(a) the utilitarian, (b) the disciplinarian, and (c) a compromise +between the two. + +The Utilitarians consider that an educational system should store the +mind of the child with such knowledge only as shall be of direct value +to it in its after life. The disciplinarians consider that a child's +education should content itself with so developing the faculties that +when matured they may be adequate for such mental tasks as the after +life or vocation may provide. The middle course is held by those who +endeavour to train the faculties of the child in the manner prescribed +by the disciplinarians, but in so doing, they employ the mind upon +exercises, the accomplishment of which, is of immediate and permanent +value. + +The education system in New Zealand is constructed upon the utilitarian +basis. The children's minds are crammed with knowledge--USEFUL +knowledge let it be called--and they are encouraged to be diligent +because of the great benefit this knowledge will be to them when they +become men and women--which development the child of eight expects will +be attained sometime before the end of the world, and will then come by +chance. The reward of the child's labour is thrown into the far distant +future, and is so entirely lost sight of as an inspiring factor, that +artificial rewards have to be provided and the child ponders over his +lessons in the hope of winning one of Ballantyne's or Henty's "Books for +Boys." + +Now, the facts of a child's life demonstrate conclusively that the child +is capable of having all its interests absorbed in its work. The +diligence with which it will build up a doll's house out of a soap box, +a jam tin, a few stones and any odds and ends that it can lay its hands +on, is sufficient evidence of this. The child loves to make things for +itself, and its affection for the rude creations of its own mind is far +greater than that for its most gorgeous and expensive toys. Upon the +recognition of these facts, the kindergarten system is based. + +In Sweden a very successful attempt has been made to construct the whole +of the primary system upon this basis, and for this purpose Sloyd has +been introduced into the schools. Certain Sloyd exercises have made +their appearance in our New Zealand schools and have met with somewhat +severe criticism, the whole system being condemned as being ideal +theoretically, but valueless practically. It took many years before the +Swedish system was perfected, and it should follow obviously that a very +partial experiment, such as the colonial one has been, gives no idea of +what value the complete system may achieve. + +By Sloyd, we understand a system of educational hand-work. The children +are employed upon various kinds of hand craft with the object of +developing their mental, moral, and physical powers. The object is +NOT to make artisans of the children, although undoubtedly +those children who afterwards become tradesmen find that the educational +principles of their trade has already been grasped by the intellect, but +the same will apply to those entering any legitimate vocation without +exception. + +Although there are many different kinds of Sloyd, woodwork has been +discovered to be the most useful, and it alone survives the severe tests +imposed. A glance at the accompanying table will explain what is meant. + +COMPARATIVE TABLE OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF SLOYD. + +Key: +A - Does it accord with children's capability? +B - Does it excite and sustain interest? +C - Are the objects made useful? +D - Does it give a respect for rough work? +E - Does it train in order and exactness? +F - Does it allow cleanliness and neatness? +G - Does it cultivate the sense of form? +H - Is it beneficial from an hygienic point of view? +I - Does it allow methodical arrangement? +J - Does it teach dexterity of hand? +------------------+--------+--------+---------+--------+-----------+ +Branches of Sloyd.| A | B | C | D | E | +------------------+--------+--------+---------+--------+-----------+ + | | | | | | +Simple Metal Work |Yes & No|Yes |Yes |Yes |Yes & no | +Smith's Work |No |Hardly |Tolerably|Yes |No | +Basket Making |No |Hardly |Tolerably|Yes |No | +Straw Plaiting |Yes |Yes? |Yes |Yes & no|Yes | +Brush Making |No? |Yes?? |Yes |Yes? |Tolerably | +House Painting |No |No |Yes & no |Yes |No | +Fretwork |Yes? |No & yes|No & yes |No |Yes | + | | | Yes | | | +Bookbinding |No |No & yes|Tolerably|Hardly |Tolerably | + | | | | | Yes | +Card-board Work |Yes & no|Yes? |Yes |No |very high | +Sloyd Carpentry |Yes |Yes |Yes |Yes? |Yes | + | | | | |partly (not| +Turnery |No |Yes |Yes? |Hardly |quite No) | +Carving in Wood |Yes? |Yes & no|Yes & no |No |Yes | +Clay Modelling |Yes |Yes |No |No |Yes & no | +------------------+--------+--------+---------+--------+-----------+ + From "Theory of Sloyd," Salomon. + +Table continued + +------------------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------- +Branches of Sloyd.| F | G | H | I | J +------------------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------- + |Tolerably| | | | +Simple Metal Work | No |Yes |Yes? |Yes |Yes +Smith's Work |No |No? |Yes & no|Perhaps |No +Basket Making |Yes? |No |No |No |No +Straw Plaiting |No & yes |No? |No |Yes |No +Brush Making |Yes |No |No |No |No +House Painting |No |No |No |No |No +Fretwork |Yes |No & yes|No |No & yes|No + | | | | | +Bookbinding |Yes? |No |No? |Perhaps |Tolerably + | | | | | +Card-board Work |Yes |Yes? |No |Yes |No? +Sloyd Carpentry |Yes |Yes |Yes? |Yes |Yes + | | | | | +Turnery |Yes? |Yes |No |No |No +Carving in Wood |Yes |Yes & no|No |Yes |No +Clay Modelling |No |Yes |No |Yes |No +------------------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------- + + +The objects of Sloyd are:--(a) to instil a taste for, and love of, +labour in general. + +NOTE.--(For this analysis of the Sloyd system the author has +based his study upon Herr Salomon's works "The theory of educational +Sloyd" and "The Teacher's hand book of Sloyd.") + +Children love to make things for themselves and prize their own work +much more than ready made articles. The educator should follow Nature's +lead and satisfy this craving. By a skilful direction of the child's +interest a love for labour in general is instilled, and rewards are +found to be unnecessary, the children being only too eager to achieve. +To sustain their interest in the work they are engaged upon must be +useful from THEIR OWN STANDPOINT. The work should not be +preceded by fatiguing exercises, but the first cut should be a stroke +towards the accomplishment of the desired end. The exercise must afford +variety. The entire work of the exercise must be within their power and +not requiring the aid of the teacher to "finish it off." It must be real +work and not a pretence; and the objects should become the property of +the children. To give children intricate joints to cut is of no real +value. The child has no genuine interest in what are simply the parts of +an exercise, it must make something complete and useful in itself. To +make a garden stick accurate according to model is of more value than to +make the most intricate joint. One may say that the child who could do +the one could do the other, but that is not the point, for the object +is not merely to gain manual dexterity but to develop all the faculties +of a child, and this is what the complete exercise achieves and in what +the partial exercise absolutely fails. + +(b) To instil respect for rough, honest, bodily labour, which is +achieved by the introduction of the work into schools of all grades so +that ALL classes of the community may engage upon it, and by the +teachers taking pride in it themselves, and by their intelligent +teaching of it to their classes. + +(c) To develop independence and self-reliance. The child requires +individual attention, the teacher must not tell too much, the child +should endeavour as far as possible to discover by experiment the best +methods for holding and manipulating tools, and also to be allowed as +much free play as possible for its judgment. + +(d) To train in habits of order, exactness, cleanliness, and neatness. + +Which are acquired by keeping the models well within the children's +range of ability, demanding that the work shall always be done in an +orderly manner and with the greatest measure of exactness that the child +is capable of. How far cleanliness and neatness may be instilled is +apparent from the nature of the work. + +(e) To train the eye, and the sense of form. To cultivate dexterity of +hand and develop touch. + +The models are of two kinds:--rectilinear and curvilinear. The former +are tested by the square, the rule and the compasses, but the accuracy +of the latter depends upon the eye, the sense of form and that of touch. +This training enables the child to distinguish between good and bad work +and to put a right value upon the former, to understand the right use of +ornament, and also cultivates the aesthetic taste upon classic lines. An +enormous number of jerry built articles are sold, which the public +readily buy simply on account of their ornamental appearance. If the +ability to distinguish between good and bad work were more universal it +would go far towards improving trade morality. + +(f) To cultivate habits of attention, interest, etc. The success of the +work requires that the mind shall be closely concentrated upon it. The +nature of the work excites the interest of the child, and under careful +direction this interest is sustained throughout. A genius has been +described as a man capable of taking pains--a master of detail. Sloyd is +eminently suited for concentrating the attention upon the details of +work and for training the Sloyder to be thorough and never content with +"making a thing do." + +The desire of the child to finish the work and to finish it well, +overrides any element of impatience or irritability that may be in his +character, and in a natural way introduces the elements of patience and +perseverance in his work. These qualities are not confined to his Sloyd +work but extend throughout his character, so that he realises that the +work of life all contributes to some definite aim. + +(g) Uniform development of the physical powers. Statistics collected +from any country show that many forms of disease before unknown among +the young, are now very prevalent among the children taught in the +schools. These diseases are attributed to the many hours during which +children are required to sit and to the bad positions they assume during +those hours. Skoliosis--curvature of the spine--a serious disease, as it +produces displacement of the internal organs, nose bleeding, aenemia, +chlorosis, nervous irritation, loss of appetite, headache, and myopia, +are diseases which are declared by experts to accompany the present +system of education. + +Sloyd when properly taught tends to develop the frame according to the +normal standard. It may not be as good as gymnastics in this direction: +but it has this advantage that it trains the pupil to engage in his work +in such a manner as not to hinder nor stunt the development of his body, +and not to cramp the vital organs in such a manner as to interfere with +the discharge of their functions. The pupils are taught to use both +hands and to develop both sides of the body. The following chart from +Herr Salomon's work will show to what degree the body may develop on a +lopsided manner when one side only is used in performing work. The chart +shows the sectional measurement of the chest of a boy of thirteen years +of age who for three years had worked at a bench using the right side +only. + +The foregoing brief analysis may show the ends which Sloyd is destined +to accomplish, and upon the value of those ends no explanation is +required. Habits of industry, patience and perseverance are inculcated. +The child learns to know his own power and how best to use it. His +tastes are cultivated and he learns to love work and understand the true +dignity of labour. Such results are not the results of the copy book but +they are permanently impressed upon the child's character. That such an +education must react upon the parent is obvious. The child's life is +full of aim and he does everything with a purpose, and in such a child +only the most depraved parent will fail to take interest, and children +have this characteristic, that they force their knowledge upon the +notice of their parents whenever they can. The boy who begins to learn +house painting soon expresses the wish to paint his own home; if +carpentry, he wishes to build a shed; if joinery, he wishes to make a +table; and how often one notices a home where tidiness and order are due +to the educated child, and where taste in furnishing is accounted for by +the daughter's cultivated aesthetic taste. Children then, so trained as +the Sloyd system provides, may contribute enormously to the happiness +and brightness of the home life. Instead of regarding them as a burden +their parents will behold them with delight and pride, and instead of +looking out for "something for them to do," indifferent whether it be +driving a cart, selling in a shop, or clerking in a lawyer's office, +they will find that the child himself has a definite idea of where his +after course should lie, and they will do their utmost towards assisting +him to follow it. + +[Illustration: _To perceive the amount of distortion, fold the paper +along the axis of the diagram, and hold it between the eye and the +light._ + +_From "Theory of Sloyd"_--SALOMON.] + +It cannot be supposed that Sloyd will succeed in the midst of +incongruous surroundings. To train the eye to a sense of the beautiful +in a dirty schoolhouse is somewhat difficult. The glorious handiwork of +God will not be taught in the playground which, with its mudholes, ruts, +and filth, more resembles a cattle yard than anything else. A school and +its grounds must at least show that the authorities themselves really +appreciate the lessons they are endeavouring to have instilled into the +minds of their scholars. So, too, a similar system must underlie the +method of teaching the ordinary lessons at the school desk. How many +children will say "I love history but I detest dates"? What value are +the dates? Let history be taught as Fitchett teaches it in his "Deeds +that won the Empire" and the end will be accomplished, patriotism will +be inspired, and the nation loved. Dates, names of deeds, causes of war, +international policies may easily be introduced incidentally. Let +geography be taught as Fraser teaches it in his "Real Siberia" or Savage +Landor in his "In the Forbidden Land" and the map will be studied with +interest and the subject never forgotten. Let the notation be dispensed +with until the child understands the problem or theorem and Euclid will +become fascinating. + +Without a shadow of doubt the best preventive of crime is an universal +system of education so designed that the whole interest of the child is +absorbed in its work. An absolute solution of the whole problem +undoubtedly requires that the religious education of the child be also +undertaken and effectively carried out. The question of the religious +education of the young is one which is exciting attention throughout the +whole of the English speaking world. There are those who advocate that +instruction in the Bible lessons should be given by teachers during +school hours to the scholars attending the Government schools, and there +are those who vigorously oppose such a course. + +The advocates base their arguments upon their belief that no system of +education which ignores religious teaching can be effective or complete. +Their opponents declare that it is unjust to call upon the teachers of a +secular education to give instruction in religion, or for the State to, +in any way, subsidise the various religious denominations or to +supplement their efforts in this particular direction. Both sides +petition the Government and both sides prepare the people for a possible +referendum upon the question. + +The State cannot be expected to regard the matter from other than a +purely utilitarian standpoint. "Will it make the people better +citizens?" it enquires. "Will it lesson crime and promote honesty, +thrift and loyalty?" These questions still remain unanswered, and in the +midst of so much rationalistic teaching, and especially with the +example of the noble lives of many rationalists before it, the State +believes that there is room for much difference of opinion, and +therefore it cannot move in the matter. The advocates of religious +education seem to take it for granted that their beliefs are +unassailable and that they are simply fighting against the powers of +Darkness: but they forget that they are doing very little to bring +others to hold the same convictions as themselves. It should not be a +difficult task to answer to the utilitarian position with an emphatic +affirmative and to bring conclusive evidence to support that +affirmative. Where, it may be asked, are to be found the men who are +leaders in thought and action who have, without any religious influence +whatever, risen from the depths of misery, crime and filth? Where are to +be found the families now living in honesty and virtue, though still in +poverty, families in the midst of which every form of wickedness was +once to be seen, who owe nothing to religious influence? The rationalist +may claim that when his educational theories are adopted and put into +practice all dens of misery and vice will disappear, but he cannot +support his statement with convincing proofs. The teacher of religion is +infinitely better off. While he strenuously supports the adoption of +better and larger educational effort, he insists that, in order to gain +the active co-operation of those on behalf of whom it is to be employed, +religious influences must be brought to bear, and for the support of his +statement he need only say "open your eyes and look around you." + +The influence of religion in regaining criminals cannot be gainsaid by +any, and the United States Educational Report for 1897-98 declares that +it is most important for the inculcation of sound morality, that +children should, from a very early age, be brought under the influence +of good religious teaching. + +When the State is convinced that religious education is an absolute +necessity, it will approach the question of ways and means with a +determination that a satisfactory solution must be arrived at, and what +it will then demand is not so much an emasculated Bible as the bringing +to bear upon the children of the vital regenerative influences of +religion. + + + + +Chapter IX. + +SOME AMERICAN EXPERIMENTS:-- + +THE PROBATION SYSTEM. + +THE ELMIRA SYSTEM. + + +=The Probation System.=--In several of the States of America an attempt +has been made to devise a substitute for imprisonment in the cases of +persons convicted for minor offences. + +The State of Massachusets was the first to take the lead by initiating a +somewhat elaborate system of probation. + +Briefly described, it is an attempt to reform a prisoner +OUTSIDE. + +Imprisonment for minor offences has had many bad features and should, +where possible, be avoided. Firstly, there is the stigma that attaches +to every man who has worn the broad-arrow. Secondly, there is the loss +of self-respect which, together with the contaminating influences +existing in a prison, often convert the minor offender into the hardened +criminal. Thirdly, there are the hardships that the wife and family are +called upon to endure while the bread-winner is in gaol and not earning +wages. + +The Probation System seeks to overcome all these difficulties. Instead +of sentencing an offender to a period of imprisonment, the judge +confides him to the care of the probation officer for a period +co-terminous with that which he would otherwise have had to spend in +prison. The minimum period of this sentence is six months, and the +average about twelve months. + +In the cases of female offenders and of youths under the age of 18 years +the probation officer is usually a woman; for adult males, a man acts as +officer. + +The officers are invested with very considerable authority. It is their +duty to keep the very closest watch over their wards and to report +continually upon their behaviour. They frequently visit the homes and do +their utmost to become acquainted with the conditions of the home and +industrial life under which their wards live. The visits are so arranged +that they by no means imply an official errand, the officers endeavour +to discover the weaknesses of their wards and the temptations to which +they are most likely to succumb, and as far as possible to remove them +out of the reach of these temptations or to strengthen them against +their power. Some officers provide for meetings to be held for those +committed to their charge. Especially is this the case with those who +have the charge over youthful offenders. At such meetings games, +edifying entertainment and instruction are provided. It is also quite +competent for an officer to receive the wages of a probationer. In these +cases, he will give the man's wife a sufficient sum to meet the ordinary +household expenditure, allow him enough for his personal expenses, and +retain a small sum to be returned when the period of probation has +expired. This course is invariably pursued in the case of drunkards. A +drunkard may, upon the authority of the probation officer, be forbidden +to enter a public-house or to enter it during certain hours only, and he +may also be obliged to remain at home after a certain hour. In fact, the +probation officer may make almost any such rules that he thinks best to +be observed by his ward, and there is always the threat of being sent to +prison to discharge his sentence, if he should refuse to behave properly +when under probation. + +To have an officer constantly watching over a man may affix a certain +stigma to the man, but even so, it is not indelible nor nearly so great +as that which the prison leaves behind it. To make this disadvantage as +small as possible, the officers wear no uniform and, within their +prescribed area, work among the convicted and unconvicted alike. + +The type of officer required is not easily found. Of humane instincts, +and yet a firm disciplinarian, well educated, competent to give good +advice and able to gain the affections and confidences of those amongst +whom they work, is the type of person required. The ex-soldier or the +ex-policeman is just the man who is NOT wanted. The advantages of this +system Miss E. P. Hughes thus sums up:-- + +Firstly.--Instead of a few highly-paid officials and many badly paid +warders, you have a number of independent, well-paid probation officers, +chosen for their knowledge of human nature, and their skill in reforming +it. + +Secondly.--Far greater adjustment of treatment to individual cases. + +Thirdly.--The stigma of the prison is avoided, and while great care is +taken that the prisoner shall be strictly controlled and effectively +restrained, his self-respect is carefully developed. + +Fourthly.--The family suffers less. The home is not broken up, the wages +still come in, and if the prisoner is a mother and a wife, it is, of +course, most important that she should retain her position in the home. + +Fifthly.--The prisoner does not "lose his job," nor his mechanical +skill, if he is a skilled workman. "I was told that six months in prison +will materially damage this in many cases." He does not lose his habit +of regular work. + +Sixthly.--He has one intelligent friend at his side to give him all the +help that a brother man can. And this friend has the unique +opportunities for studying his case, and has also an extraordinary power +over his environment. + +Seventhly.--Good conduct and a capacity for rightly using freedom is +constantly rewarded by a greater freedom. + +Eighthly.--It is far cheaper than prison. The prisoner keeps himself and +his family, and one officer can attend from sixty to eighty prisoners. + +=The Elmira Reformatory.=--"The New York States Reformatory at Elmira" +is the official designation of this institution. It was established in +1875 and had for its first superintendent a Mr Z. R. Brockway. + +Mr Brockway had from the age of nineteen years been working in an +official capacity among prisoners, and his religious beliefs led him to +acknowledge that the men committed to his charge had their place in the +redemption of the world. + +Maconochie's humane method of dealing with the criminals of Norfolk +Island attracted his attention, and from Maconochie's mark system he +evolved the now famous indeterminate sentence. + +When the New York State established a Reformatory at Elmira, Mr Brockway +was placed in charge and given practically a free hand in the adoption +of such methods as he deemed most likely to effect the permanent reform +of the men committed to imprisonment there. A restriction was placed +upon the age of the offenders who should be admitted, the law reading +thus:--"A male between the ages of 16 and 30, convicted of felony, who +has not heretofore been convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment +in a State prison, may, in the discretion of the trial court, be +sentenced to imprisonment in the New York State Reformatory at Elmira, +to be there confined under the provisions of the law relating to that +reformatory" (vide section 700 Penal Code). + +This by no means implies that all the inmates are first offenders. Many +of them have been in juvenile reformatories, penitentiaries, and houses +of correction, so that in some cases a considerable advance in the +career of crime has been made before they are handed over to the +authorities at Elmira. Again, only felons are received, not minor +offenders. + +The principles upon which the reformatory system is based are +practically those set forth in the declaration of the National Prison +Congress held in Cincinnati in 1870 as follows:-- + + 1. Punishment is defined to be "suffering inflicted upon the + individual for the wrong done by him, with a special view of + securing his reformation." + + 2. "The supreme aim of prison discipline is THE + REFORMATION OF CRIMINALS, not the infliction of + VINDICTIVE suffering." + + 3. "The progressive classification of prisoners based on + character, and worked on some well adjusted mark system, + should be established in all prisons above the common gaol." + + 4. "Since hope is a more potent agent than fear, it should be + made an ever present force in the minds of the prisoners, by + a well devised and skilfully applied system of rewards for + good conduct, industry, attention to learning. Rewards, more + than penalties, are essential to every good prison system." + + 5. "The prisoner's destiny should be placed, measurably, in + his own hands; he must be put into circumstances where he + will be able, through his own exertions, to continually + better his own conditions. A regulated self-interest must be + brought into play and made constantly operative." + + 6. "Peremptory sentences ought to be replaced by those of + indeterminate length. Sentences limited only by a + satisfactory proof of reformation should be substituted for + those measured by mere lapse of time." + +The old system of penology may be described as "so much suffering +inflicted for so much wrong done and with the object of expiating that +wrong." + +The principles upon which the reformatory system is founded must be +clearly grasped before the system itself can be understood. Criticism is +frequently levelled against it on the ground that the prisoners are +given "too good a time." This criticism is based upon some theory that +vindictive retaliation is the attitude that should be assumed towards +the criminal. When this theory is renounced, then the system stands or +falls according as it accomplishes the objects for which it is designed. +When it is asked why should a prisoner in captivity be better looked +after than he would be if left in his old haunts of crime, the question +must be answered from the prisoner's point of view, and he will candidly +reply that the prison which deprives him of his freedom until his +reformation has been effected is not the place which has any attractions +for him. The life of discipline and industry does not at all agree with +his idea of blissful surroundings. Upon admission at the reformatory, +the prisoner is placed in the middle of three grades of classification. +From this grade he can, by industry and good behaviour, advance to the +highest grade. If he should prove refractory, he sinks to the lowest or +convict grade. Each grade has its own particular privileges, these being +of course at their maximum in the highest grade. They consist chiefly in +a better diet, better bed and freer access to the library. His fate is +practically placed in his own hands. If he shall show himself +industrious and shall apply himself diligently to the task set before +him he may make such progress in his grades as will secure his release +after a comparatively short period of detention. If, on the other hand, +he will not exert himself to embrace the opportunity, he is kept under +detention until the maximum limit of his sentence is reached. The +authorities urge for legislation making the sentence absolutely +indeterminate, so that those who resist the reformatory measures may be +kept in prison for a period co-terminous with that of their resistance. +The principles upon which the system is founded are developed in a +course of training described as a three M course, i.e. mental, moral and +manual. The machinery consists of, the indeterminate sentence, the +school of letters, the trade school, and the gymnasium. + +=The Indeterminate Sentence.=--The ideal Indeterminate sentence provides +that when once a criminal falls into the clutches of the law he shall be +deprived of his liberty until he has given satisfactory evidence that he +is able to conduct himself as an honest and industrious citizen. It +makes no distinction between different crimes, such as to provide that +the man who embezzles shall receive a longer sentence than the man who +commits arson or vice versa, but makes the restoration of liberty depend +entirely upon reformation. It refuses to tolerate the idea that any +criminals should be at large to prey upon society, and it thus imposes +upon society the obligation to undertake the reform of all criminals. +This IDEAL sentence, however, does not exist. At Elmira, the +authorities are obliged to recognise a maximum, so that if at the expiry +of this maximum, the prisoner should have made no progress towards +reform he must, nevertheless, be discharged. Since, however, a man may +at Elmira reduce a sentence of ten years to something like 22 months, a +great incentive is given to him to identify himself with the efforts +being made on his behalf. From every point of view the indeterminate +sentence in the case of those sent to reformatories appears the most +reasonable. The business of the trial court is concluded as soon as the +question of guilt is determined. The judge has not imposed on him the +impossible task of measuring out a punishment which in its severity +shall exactly accord with the degree of crime committed. The question of +the prisoner's sanity is not left to the jury to decide but to qualified +alienists. Neither does this question determine his GUILT but +only his RESPONSIBILITY. No account has to be made of the +provocation from which the prisoner suffered at the committal of his +crime. If but a small degree of criminality exist, the safest adjustment +of punishment is to be found in the indeterminate sentence. From the +social point of view, it gives the best safeguard to the society. It +guarantees that a criminal once convicted shall cease to prey upon +society. He will either reform and return to society as a useful member +thereof and a contributor to its wealth, or else, refusing to reform, he +will never regain his liberty. This sentence lays it down that society +ought not to tolerate criminals in its midst. Imprisonment for a fixed +period under our present penal system serves but to exasperate the +criminal, and at the end of his sentence, when he is a more dangerous +criminal than ever, the law demands that he shall be released. It is +only by indeterminate sentences that society obtains the guarantee it +may justly demand. For its effect as a means of discipline a prisoner +will give his own experience. The following extract, was written by an +inmate of the Reformatory in 1898:--"From the view-point of a 'man up a +tree' I would say that the character of our sentence has everything to +do with furnishing a motive which induces and stimulates us to a degree +of activity we could never acquire under a fixed penalty. Where, under a +definite sentence, we would spend most of our time crossing off days +from the calendar and lay awake nights counting over and again the +amount of time yet necessary for us to serve before the dawn of freedom, +now every moment is utilised in taking advantage of all opportunities +for improvement that are offered, well knowing that only by advancement +in the trade-school and school of letters, together with strict +compliance with the rules of the disciplinary department, can liberty be +earned. And the word earn is used advisedly, for a man to get along in +this reformatory can be no sluggard but must be alert, ever ready to +advance and not drag behind." + +The ideal sentence, so far as an incentive to reformation goes, would be +an ABSOLUTELY INDETERMINATE ONE, where a man must either reform +or remain in prison for life, for where would be the welfare of society +considered if a man be released prepared to prey upon it as he did +before imprisonment? In the case of the absolutely indeterminate +sentence there is a motive that will quicken every energy and arouse the +dullest to life and exercise, for he would be fighting for life and +liberty--liberty that could never be his until he had shown by his +conduct that ready compliance with all requirements here was intended, +and willingness to discard the old and detrimental habits, taking on new +and profitable ones. The fact that a man could get along in here would +indicate his ability to live in accord with society in the outside +world. + +Under such a system no one fit to be released would fail to gain it. +Why? Because the motive is so strong as to force the most unwilling to +willingness; because a man who would rather rot in prison than try to +regain his freedom by legitimate means is better off where he is. He +would only be a stumbling block to society in general if he were set +free, and would sooner or later land again in some penal institution or +other, and thus his life would be wasted, and public funds wasted in +arresting, discharging and rearresting the useless drone, the balance of +whose life would be passed in various prisons of the country. + +That the indeterminate sentence furnishes a powerful motive for +reformation is shown daily in this institution. You have only to watch +the student over his books, or mechanic over his tools to see the effort +that is being made to win that golden prize--a parole. How that motive +is undermined or taken away entirely when the sentence is definite is +readily perceived by taking a cursory glance over the records of men +sentenced here for a definite period. The greatest percentage of them +are careless, insolent, and furnish most of the class that goes to form +the nucleus of the lower or convict grades. Why? Because there is +nothing to work for. No parole can be gained by attention to duty. Time, +and time alone, counts for this class. Only to pass time and get to the +end of the sentence, that is all. No one can make a study of, or even +look about him and compare the records made by definite and indefinitely +sentenced men, without becoming a warm advocate of the indeterminate +sentence. The longer the maximum sentence of the man sent here, the +greater is his effort to travel along the straight and narrow path, +picking up such advantages as offer him through his stay in this +institution. The longer the maximum the stronger the motive, the smaller +the maximum, the smaller effort to earn a release. For example, men sent +here with two or two and a half years as the limit of their maximums, on +an average, remain here longer than those with a five, ten or twenty +years maximum hanging over them. The reason is obvious--the motive is +strengthened or weakened according as the sentence is lengthened or +shortened. The deterrent value of the absolutely indeterminate sentence +would be enormous. Not a question of a few months or years would the +criminal have to face; but a period which would not terminate until he +either reformed or died. As we have seen it gives a tremendous stimulus +to reform, and it would likewise give a powerful check to criminal +tendencies. Thus it relieves the Judge of an impossible task, is most +satisfactory to society, and most humane to the culprit. + +It may be urged that since liberation would depend in a measure upon +proficiency in the trade-school and school of letters, that some +criminals whose criminality might be of a lesser degree, would be at a +greater disadvantage than others. That is not so. The system is +obviously a very complicated one, and only the bare outlines are being +given here. In operation it is absolutely fair, neither is any +inducement offered to commit crime for the benefits which the +trade-school confers. The managers know no such defect in their system +or otherwise they would report it. They have a free hand in the +employment of their methods, they are continually experimenting, and +they owe no devotion to "red tape." + +A further advantage that the indeterminate sentence has, is that it +provides for a second period of probation. A man may behave himself well +in prison but upon his release betake himself immediately to his old +surroundings and then to his old habits. The most critical moment is +when the prisoner steps outside the gaol walls and finds himself a free +man. The habits of industry and good conduct acquired when in +confinement have to be accommodated to new conditions, and if unassisted +the task is often too great. The consequence is that he falls away and +rejoins his old companions and soon becomes a recidivist. The +indeterminate sentence allows for his freedom being regained gradually. +Having given evidence of reform and of abilities to support himself, +employment is found for him, and he is granted a parole. That is he is +released conditionally. For the next half year he must report himself +every month, and if at the end of that period he has behaved well he is +granted absolute discharge. Opportunity is thus given for him to +establish himself gradually amidst the conditions of free social life. +The sense of freedom comes without shock, and when it comes, the +critical period has long since passed away. + +Should he violate his parole in any way, he is rearrested and may be +called upon to serve the maximum penalty for his crime. + +=The School of Letters.=--As has been said the system of the Reformatory +is classified under the headings of mental, moral and manual. There is +no sharp distinction between all three, inasmuch as no mental or manual +training is considered of any value which does not also assist to +develop the moral character of the pupil. + +The whole aim of the system is to develop minds and bodies, arrested in +their growth, in order that they may become more susceptible to moral +influences, and that habits of correct thinking and useful industry may +be established. Every prisoner upon entering the institution is assigned +to the school of letters, care being taken that the task imposed upon +him is well within his mental grasp, but at the same time shall require +an effort on his part in order to master it. + +The school is divided into three sections--The Primary, the Intermediate +and the Academic or Lecture division. Each section is subdivided into +classes and each class again subdivided into groups. The usual method of +making the lower classes large and the upper classes small is exactly +reversed at the Reformatory. There may be as few as twenty pupils in the +lower classes and as many as two hundred in the upper ones. The school +is under the management of a director who is assisted by a competent +staff of civilian teachers, as well as by a number of the inmates +themselves. Some of the prisoners, being illiterate, have to commence +their education at the very bottom of the ladder. Others, according to +the education they have received, enter the course at higher points. In +the case of foreigners much of their education consists in teaching them +the English language and instructing them in American customs and +manners. The training is of immense advantage to them. + +The classes are held in the evening and the routine of the Reformatory +is so arranged that throughout the whole of the prisoner's waking time +he is kept employed. + +From the elementary instruction in reading, writing and arithmetic, +given to illiterates, the course progresses so as to include History, +Civics, Political Economy, Ethics, Nature study and Literature. Attached +to the school there is a well stocked library from which books are +issued under regulations relative to good conduct and progress made. +There is also a weekly paper issued within the institution called "The +Summary," to which the prisoners may contribute articles. Attendance at +the school is in all cases compulsory. The inmate has no option +whatever. He is not consulted as to what course of study he would like +to pursue but this is chosen for him and he is set to it. In selecting +his course, every attention is paid to the man's abilities, tastes and +attainments. No useless studies are undertaken. Every study must be of +value from a reformative point of view and also from an educational one. +That is, it must serve to correct bad and wandering habits of thinking +and to cultivate good and consecutive habits. It must assist to broaden +the outlook of life and to bring the individuals into living touch with +the life and traditions of the country to which he belongs. It must +serve to inspire hope, confidence and zeal. It must cultivate a taste +for the beautiful, a love for the natural, and an adoration for the +Divine. When released, the student must find himself equipped with such +a knowledge as will enable him to steadily advance in his station of +life. And yet there is on an average, only two years in which to impart +such an instruction. How is it done? Firstly, nothing useless is taught, +the object primarily aimed at being the formation of character. +Attendance is therefore compulsory, and attention and application are +necessary in order to obtain a parole. Monthly examinations are held and +failures at these gives a set-back in the matter of obtaining a release. +A failure, however, may be overtaken by extra exertion during the next +month. However distasteful it may be to the prisoner to study regularly +and methodically, or however difficult his former irregular life may +have rendered this task, yet it is so intimately bound up with his +interests that he soon finds a motive powerful enough to correct mere +dis-inclination. He must work and work at his best, and invariably he +does so. + +Upon entering the class room each student receives a printed slip which +gives an outline of the lesson to be studied. This serves to convey an +idea of the amount of work to be undertaken, to show the progressive +steps and to prevent any idle speculation concerning the development of +the lesson. These slips are kept by the student and they are made the +basis of the monthly examination. These examinations are conducted with +great strictness. In order to pass 75 per cent. of the maximum number of +marks must be obtained, and marks are given for exact knowledge only. +For instance, if in a sum in arithmetic a right method is employed but a +wrong answer given no marks are rewarded. The student has shown an +inability to use his knowledge. In other subjects the men in answering +their questions must give the exact "how," or "why," or "when," or +"where," or "which" before their work will pass. They may write sheets +but it will not count if they miss the point. They soon find therefore +that in order to pass their examinations they must pour forth all their +energies upon their work. Needless to say, no catch questions are ever +introduced, neither does the examination task exceed the men's +abilities. + +When English literature was first introduced the men regarded it as an +imposition. They did not know what the new study meant nor what was +expected of them. A great amount of coaxing and gentle treatment was +necessary to overcome the general bewilderment. The first examination +passed off measurably well. Soon a change took place and English +literature rose rapidly to become the most favourite study. The demand +upon the librarian for the supply of English and American Classics +became so great that special restrictions had to be placed upon their +issuance. + +Marked success from a Reformatory point of view has attended this study, +and the men enthusiastically enter upon a new and broader life. + +The late Prof. S. R. Monks, for twelve years Lecturer at the +Reformatory, says:--"But does such education contribute to the +reformation of the criminal and the protection of the public?" +Unqualifiedly and unhesitating I answer, Yes. Men are found to acquire +in this school month by month a growing application of better things, a +readier apprehension of truth and a heartier sympathy with virtue, and +best of all, a greater capacity for sustained and consistent effort in +practical undertakings. These transformations are the successive steps +of a real reformation, and every step puts the man at a greater and +safer distance from past shiftlessness and viciousness. "The virtues," +says Felix Adler, "depend in no small degree on the power of serial and +complex thinking," but, continues that practical philosopher, "the +ordinary studies of the school exercise and develop this faculty of +serial and complex thinking. Any sum in multiplication gives a training +of this kind." It is hardly possible to exaggerate the benefit that true +education will confer on one who has come under the condemnation of the +law. His improved education will counter-balance some of the disgrace of +his past criminality; it will with industrial training extricate him +from the hopeless mass of ignorant unskilled labour where competition is +always hottest and most perilous, it will teach him, better than he +could know without it, the relative value of things; it will so elevate +his thoughts and refine his tastes that the path of duty in its roughest +and steepest places, will yet steadily attract his footsteps. + +The charge is sometimes made that the criminal is made more dangerous by +education. The assertion begs all it carries. It assumes that education +strengthens character but does not transform character which is false +for it does both.... No man can use his mind in the careful +investigation of moral principles, and become thereby merely a more +dangerous cheat. No man who has opened his eyes to see the revelations +of eternal wisdom and goodness written in letters of light on all the +handiwork of Nature, can be made thereby merely a more dangerous +villain. On the contrary, every hour of honest search after reality, of +careful industry governed by principles and lined to accuracy, every +hour spent in happy contemplation of wisdom and goodness, wherever +manifested will make the man forever the better for it. + +=Physical Culture.=--This Department of the Reformatory falls into three +divisions--the Gymnastic, the Military and the Manual. + +=The Gymnastic.=--The idea of a gymnasium within a gaol must deliver no +small shock to the prejudices of many, but in studying the Elmira system +we must endeavour to keep before us the end which the authorities are +aiming at, viz., the restoration to society of their criminals in a not +only harmless state but in their most useful state, and this can only be +made possible by the most careful and thorough training of the mind, +body and soul. + +Neither is there any cause to think that the prisoners are getting too +good a time, and that, being treated better than the industrious worker, +a premium is being offered to crime. The investigation of the +authorities has revealed no case in which a man has entered the +institution on account of advantages offered. To criminals they are not +realised as advantages. They understand them only as the rough road +leading to their release, and it is about the last thing for men of +shiftless, lazy, inconsequent habits of mind and body, to suppose that +they are having a good time when sent to a gymnasium every morning for +two hours' steady work. Work which brings all the muscles of the body +into play and which demands the fixed attention of the mind and its +submission to the word of command from the instructor, is many times +more distasteful than the "hard labour" of lazily cracking stones. + +Until 1900 the whole prison population went through a regular gymnastic +course. This is now changed and assignments are made to the gymnasium +only upon the certificate of the physician. All new arrivals however +spend a period, averaging about five weeks, in the "awkward squad," half +of whose morning time is spent in the gymnasium. They come in a very +ungainly looking set of men. Many are undersized, underweight, rickety +and diseased in body and generally of a slovenly, unmanly appearance. A +multitude of causes have been at work to produce this condition. +Chiefly, these are a bad ancestry, foul atmosphere of their dwellings, +their idle dirty habits, intemperance and sexual abuse. + +The course of treatment prescribed for these is one which brings into +exercise all their latent muscular power. Special attention is paid to +deformities and weaknesses resulting from any cause whatsoever. + +Turkish baths, swimming baths and massage also play an important part in +their treatment and help to bring the dregs of disease, the results of +excessive drink and the use of tobacco, out of their systems. + +The effects of such treatment are at the end of a few weeks very +apparent. The body is supple, the carriage is erect, the cutaneous, +circulatory, muscular and nervous systems are in a healthy state, and +the stupid, bewildered or stolid expression has given way to one of +manly concern. + +At the end of five weeks most of the men graduate from the awkward squad +and engage in the work of other departments. Some, however, for various +reasons have to remain for a longer period of physical exercise. + +The majority of these are classified into three groups: + +I. Mathematical Dullards. II. Deficient in self-control. II. Stupids. +These groups are described by Dr Hamilton Wey in his report for 1896 as +follows:-- + +Group I.--The Mathematical dullards. These were incapable of solving the +most elementary problems in Mental Arithmetic or else did so with +hesitation and difficulty. They were instances of sluggish and dragging +walk, and presented a sleepy or dreamy appearance at work or in repose. +They suggested arrested mental growth. From a careful study of these men +by observation and immediate contact exercises were selected that would +tend to act upon their defects. In addition the exercises prescribed +necessitate the direct employment of their mathematical faculties. The +following schedule was adopted, though subject to constant change as +occasion for change presented itself. The exercises of their group as +with others are confined to one hour's practical work five days per +week. The men receive a daily rain bath and rubbing down immediately +after their exercises. With this group the hour is divided into sessions +of half-an-hour each, subdivided into periods of fifteen minutes. The +first fifteen minutes are devoted to light calisthenics executed by +command with loud counting and simultaneous movements. This is followed +by 15 minutes of marching and facing movements with step counting. The +first 15 minutes of the second half hour are occupied in the laying out +of geometrical fields for athletic events. Employing the 50ft. tape and +the 2ft. rule with divisions of an inch. After being instructed as to +dimensions they are required to lay out the following:-- + +(a) Baseball diamond; (b) basket ball field; (c) track for 30 and 40 +yards running races; (d) placing of hurdles at intervals, in harmony +with established athletic field rules. The closing 15 minutes embraced +practical work, viz., high and long jump, hop skip and jump, high +kicking, target throwing, etc. + +Group II.--Those deficient in self-control. The members of Group II, +compared with those of Groups I and III, are physically of better +quality. In general appearance they show a better all-round physical +development, and in some instances the deteriorating effects of sexual +abnormality were not so apparent, this class would, in the performance +of athletics, compare favourably with the scholar outside prison walls. +In the general performance of their work they have shown more interest +than either Group I or III, and in some instances have acquired skill in +some of their athletic branches. The tendency of the athletics selected +for this group by the Gymnasium Director was of a nature conducive to +the cultivation and encouragement of self-control and self-reliance +among its members as shown by the spirit of good-fellowship displayed by +the successful towards the unsuccessful player, and in a measure +subduing the ebullition of passion and the spirit of jealousy that +formerly influenced their every notion in competitive contests.... It +can be safely asserted that one essential feature in athletics, viz., +will-power, which was conspicuous at the first by its absence, has been +strengthened and inculcated, especially in this group. + +It was observed by the Director that perhaps by their exuberance of +animal spirit, the men were prone to make frequent excuses for changes +from one game to another, instead of striving to excel in one branch. +Another observable feature was the attempt to shirk the exercises which +required any exertion on their part. These defects have been remedied, +not entirely, but sufficiently to justify the efficiency of athletics as +a fact in the production of self-control; and instances can be cited of +complete subordination of will to the controlling powers. + +Group III.--The Stupids. The members of this group are not far above the +standard of feeble-minded boys. They are what might be termed "all-round +defectives." The object of the athletics selected for this group has +been to awaken and arouse them from that lethargic state into which they +periodically relapse. This has been in a measure accomplished, a great +aid to which has been the daily rain bath. The following physical +defects (some of which have been remedied wholly or in part) come under +my observation: general weakness, weak chest (respiratory organs), bent +carriage of the body, stiffness of wrist, joints, and clumsy movements +of fingers, spinal curvature, extreme (comparative) development of right +arm. To overcome these defects systematic exercise was necessary, +including free-hand exercises, club-swinging, dumb-bell exercise, etc., +meted out according to the respective deficiencies and requirements of +the men. This group also spent one half-hour in practical outdoor +gymnastic and athletic work. After a general resume of the work +accomplished it can safely be asserted that outdoor athletics and +gymnastics have proven to be in a measure, a prophylactic for a number +of the ills which these three groups of defectives are subject to. + +=Military Instruction.=--Military drill was introduced into the +Reformatory as a direct outcome of the Prisons Bill of 1888 which +forbade all machine labour in prisons being conducted for profit. The +statute requiring the "shutting down" of all industrial plants the work +of the institution was practically brought to a standstill. In this +difficulty the management conceived the idea of forming a military +regiment. Most beneficial results immediately followed. The men began to +walk with more erect carriage and to respond to quick words of command. +Besides this, the open-air exercise developed their lung-power and +stimulated their circulatory system. A pride in their performance was +also inspired by the opportunity given to rise through the different +ranks to that of lieutenant. Above all, good habits of discipline were +cultivated. Although the circumstances that rendered necessary the +introduction of military drill have passed away, yet the organization +has been found of such great reformatory value that it has become an +integral part of the Elmira system. + +The regiment consists of sixteen companies, four companies to the +battalion, company roll of about seventy. The colonel's staff is +composed of colonel, four majors, inmate adjutant, and sergeant-major, +and national and state colour-bearers. The uniforms are blue, black, and +red, corresponding to the grades. White belts, with nickel buckles, are +worn and white cross-belts. Proper insignia of rank is also worn. Dress +parade is held daily at four p.m. on the regimental grounds, or, if +weather be inclement, in the armoury. + +So far as is possible the regiment is drilled on exactly the same lines +as those observed by the United States army. + +=Manual Training.=--Manual training was introduced into the Reformatory +in 1895. The number of men who had been in the institution for a +considerable period of time and upon whom the ordinary reformative +measures exerted little influence rendered the adoption of some other +means absolutely necessary. The men, with whom the ordinary methods +failed, belonged to the defective classes already described as +mathematical dullards, deficient in self-control, and stupids. The +habits of vice seem to have wrought such a destructive work upon the +will-power of these men that in order to repair it some potent influence +would have to be brought into operation. The conception was to entirely +disengage the mind of its connection with the past and to concentrate it +upon healthy, useful and interesting work. Habit produces character, and +if the old habits of thought could be destroyed and new ones implanted +it would naturally follow that the character would be improved and +developed. The character of the normal man requires for its development +a moral, religious, intellectual and physical training, and the abnormal +man requires the same, in a greater degree. + +It was with this knowledge that the managers introduced manual training +into the Reformatory. As the usefulness of manual training (Sloyd) is +described in a preceding chapter no more need be said upon its value as +a factor in education now. It needed the greatest skill on the part of +the managers to adopt the various Sloyd exercises to the requirements of +the different defectives, but each year has given additional proof of +their success, and its inclusion in the reformatory system was amply +justified. In 1899 it was discontinued on account of the small +appropriation that was made for the maintenance of the institution, +making it necessary to curtail expenses. + +Before the abolition of Sloyd the following course was employed for +defectives:-- + +(With each year the group was divided into three terms, there being 17 +weeks in each term and 35 hours in each week.) + + +GROUP I.--(Mathematical Dullards.) + +FIRST TERM. + +Mechanical drawing, Sloyd, athletics, and calisthenics, clay-modelling, +and mental arithmetic. + +SECOND TERM. + +Card-board construction takes the place of clay-modelling. + +THIRD TERM. + +Wood-turning instead of card-board construction. + + * * * * * + +GROUP II.--(Deficient in self-control.) + +FIRST TERM. + +Athletics and calisthenics, geometric construction involving the +intersection of solids, etc., wood-turning, pattern making, mechanical +drawing and Sloyd. + +SECOND TERM. + +Athletics and calisthenics, wood-carving, clay-modelling, mechanical +drawing and Sloyd. + +THIRD TERM. + +Athletics and calisthenics, chipping and filing, moulding, mechanical +drawing and Sloyd. + + * * * * * + +GROUP III.--(Stupids.) + +FIRST TERM. + +Athletics and calisthenics, free-hand drawing from solids and familiar +objects, elementary Sloyd, clay-modelling, mental arithmetic, and +sentence building. + +SECOND TERM. + +Sloyd, free-hand drawing, wood-carving, mental arithmetic, and +calisthenics. + +THIRD TERM. + +Sloyd, free-hand drawing, wood-turning, athletics and mental arithmetic. + +=The Trades' School.=--Of all crimes, about 95 per cent. are committed +against property. It therefore appeared imperative to the management of +the Reformatory that every man passing through the institution should +be taught a useful trade so that he would be able to provide an honest +and sufficient livelihood for himself and for those who would be +dependent upon him. For this purpose the trades' school was established +and a regulation passed that all men entering the Reformatory without +the knowledge of a trade should be required to learn one before they +would be granted a parole. + +Under conditions of free life it would be impossible to teach these men +a trade. In their haunts of crime the criminals live a lazy ambitionless +life and regard work as an evil to be avoided; the reformatory system, +however, captures his interest on behalf of industry by making his +liberty depend upon his having reached the status of an honest and +enthusiastic tradesman. + +Two or three days after his arrival the newly committed prisoner is +personally interviewed by the superintendent. This interview, which is +in the nature of an exhaustive examination, generally discloses the +species of criminality to which his crime belongs. This knowledge is +made the basis of the plan which is then formulated for the course of +treatment to which he will be submitted. + +In the selection of a trade, the prisoner is given the opportunity of +choosing for himself. If the choice show sincerity and intelligence, he +is applied to it. If, on the other hand, it should reveal mere +indifference or a desire to shirk hard work, the managers take all +matters into consideration and select the trade for him. Once placed at +a trade he is given to understand that he will be kept rigidly to it and +no release from imprisonment granted until his progress has satisfied +the authorities. Changes from one trade to another are rarely granted, +and then only when the learner has given unmistakable signs that he +cannot succeed at his first task. Within the trades school, his identity +is not lost sight of. Day by day, a record of his conduct and also of +his progress is kept. Every persuasive means is used to awaken his +understanding to the fact that his best interests are to be served by +habits of industry and application. The whole system is an appeal to his +desire for freedom. Freedom is offered to him but at a distance, and he +can reach it by no other means than that of following a given road, the +direction of which is very clearly pointed out to him. + +The work is graduated according to his ability to make progress, and +care is taken to so arrange his course that he shall be taught +thoroughly all the fundamental principles of his trade. The ordinary +apprentice works so that he will be able to fulfil the orders that are +given to his master. The consequence of this is that two ideas exist, +the apprentice having the desire to learn a trade, his master desiring +to profit by his work. The end of the apprentice is served by constantly +advancing to new work, even though this should mean the loss of time and +the waste of material; his master's object is attained by keeping him +at that work which he learns quickest and giving the difficult work to +more experienced men, consequently he passes through his time and learns +but very little. Now, the pupil of the Elmira trades' school is not +considered to have completed his course until he has gained a thorough +knowledge of every department of his trade. Besides the practical +instruction given in the workshops, classes are also held in the +evenings and instruction given in mechanical drawing so that the men may +be able to understand any plan that may be put into their hands, and +also to draw plans for themselves. Trade journals are subscribed for and +circulated among the men. + +The value of this industrial training extends beyond the providing the +means of obtaining an honest livelihood, for by making release depend +upon success, interest is thereby combined with industry. This +combination is bound to react upon the voluntary system and produces a +moral effect. Again it re-acts, this time beneficially upon the +character of the man. + +The following is a list of all the trades taught in the Reformatory:-- + + Barbering + Bookbinding + Brass-smithing + Bricklaying + Cabinet-making + Carpentry + Clothing-cutting + Electricity + Frescoing + Hardwood-finishing + Horseshoeing + House-painting + Iron-forging + Machine-wood-working + Machinist's + Moulding + Music + Paint-mixing + Photo-engraving + Plastering + Plumbing + Printing + Stenography & typewriting + Shoemaking + Sign-painting + Steam-fitting + Stone-cutting + Stone-masonry + Tailoring + Telegraphy + Tinsmithing + Upholstery + Also, + Mechanical-drawing + +In the year 1903 there were 1986 pupils instructed in these trades. + +=The Results of the System.=--English critics have regarded the system +as being somewhat extravagant and as placing the honest labourer at a +disadvantage to the criminal. This criticism has been considerably +weakened of late years and the results investigated instead of being +imagined. The most careful investigation has made it impossible to deny +that the Reformatory achieves all that it claims to, viz.:--that it +contributes nothing to the strengthening of the criminal habit[1] and +therefore it is not a partial remedy, and that it actually returns to +society as useful citizens no less than 82 per cent.[2] of those +committed to it. + +Lombroso speaks of the system as a practical application of the results +of the science of Criminology. + +Should the system be adopted in other countries, it would need to be so +translated that it would accord with the traditions and customs of the +people. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] It is generally supposed that such a system cannot act as a +deterrent to crime. The American delegates to the International Prison +Congress (held in Paris in 1895) declared that the obligation imposed +upon the prisoners, in such institutions, to raise themselves by mental +as well as by industrial labour, into higher grades as a necessary +condition for liberation, is felt by many of them, to involve so much +exertion, that they would rather be consigned to some ordinary prison, +where self-improvement is not specially enforced. This system, they +declared, was more deterrent than was generally supposed. + +[2] Of some 13,000 criminals who have passed through the Reformatory, +the number known definitely to have returned to crime is a little less +than 1 per cent. of the whole! + + + + +Chapter X. + +CONCLUSION. + + +The reader will have formed his own conclusion. He may conclude that the +author has a sentimental affection for the criminal and would have all +disturbers of the public peace treated with more compassion than the +hard-working and honest labourer. But that reader will have jumped to +his conclusion from his preconceived prejudices. The reformation of the +criminal is no chimera, it has been undertaken for thirty years and +every year has seen better results. The results for 1903 (86 per cent. +of reforms) ought to convince the most sceptic that the reformation of +the criminal is the true aim for society to pursue. + +Another reader may ask why, if all these results are so good, does not +the Government adopt some such system as the Elmira one instead of +continuing the present obsolete penal system. The New York State +Government experiences a difficulty in finding, for their reformatory +staff, men who will undertake their work with a real sense of mission. + +Nor is this the only difficulty. If New Zealand is going to undertake +the reformation of its criminals and to restore them to society as +honest and industrious persons, society itself must be prepared to drop +its prejudices and suspicions and receive the men at their present +worth, and not forever stamp them as outcasts. Nothing less, then, is +required than an earnest desire among all classes to recover those among +men who have fallen into villainy and vice and to receive back among +their ranks all those who, having responded to the efforts made on their +behalf, can make a claim upon the confidence and good-will of society. + +But the reformation of the criminal is not the only obligation laid upon +society, there is also the education of the child. It is frequently +being stated that criminals are on the increase; it has been shown that +this increase is not a national one, it must be then that for some +reason the practice of virtue is becoming more and more difficult, +whereas that of vice is becoming increasingly easier. Recruits are +steadily joining the ranks of crime, and when one sees that, as a result +of their home and school training, the rising generation is developing +all the characteristics of the criminal, a somewhat alarming conclusion +very strongly suggests itself. Society has the criminals that it +deserves. It may fail to recover those who have entered upon a criminal +career, or it may be actually guilty of manufacturing criminals. What +are we doing? New Zealand has this hope, that its traditions do not +fetter it, and its institutions are young and plastic. + + +THE END. + + + + + +------------------------------------------------------+ + | Transcriber's Note: | + | | + | Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the | + | original document have been preserved. | + | | + | Typographical errors corrected in the text: | + | | + | Page 12 Gcd changed to God | + | Page 12 criminoligists changed to criminologists | + | Page 14 violaters changed to violators | + | Page 20 effrontry changed to effrontery | + | Page 24 tpyes changed to types | + | Page 34 healty changed to healthy | + | Page 35 alcholic changed to alcoholic | + | Page 46 physichological changed to physicological | + | Page 74 maxium changed to maximum | + | Page 80 Obviviously changed to Obviously | + | Page 93 removed duplicate word "and" | + | Page 98 Chappel changed to Chapple | + | Page 98 celebate changed to celibate | + | Page 104 exacttitude changed to exactitude | + | Page 111 Chappel's changed to Chapple's | + | Page 116 syphillis changed to syphilis | + | Page 121 unkown changed to unknown | + | Page 128 aguments changed to arguments | + | Page 133 consideraly changed to considerably | + | Page 134 Charle's Reades changed to Charles Reade's | + | Page 137 removed duplicate word "of" | + | Page 140 approbious changed to opprobious | + | Page 141 abont changed to about | + | Page 143 demonstate changed to demonstrate | + | Page 144 kindergartem changed to kindergarten | + | Page 148 betweeen changed to between | + | Page 151 removed duplicate word "the" | + | Page 163 destinction changed to distinction | + | Page 178 defficient changed to deficient | + | Page 180 prophylasic changed to prophylactic | + | Page 181 lins changed to lines | + | Page 184 indiffererence changed to indifference | + | Page 186 stone-masonery changed to stone-masonry | + +------------------------------------------------------+ + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Plea for the Criminal, by +James Leslie Allan Kayll + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A PLEA FOR THE CRIMINAL *** + +***** This file should be named 28632.txt or 28632.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/6/3/28632/ + +Produced by Jonathan Ah Kit, Barbara Kosker, Mark C. 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