THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1503, 27 July 1912, Page 12

THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM.

"CONTRAST TO THE FIRST. ELE- ■ SIBNTS OF CHRISTIANITY."

Canon Peter Green, of St. Phillip's, Sal-ford, addressing , , the annual meeting of the subscribers to the Ashtou Police Court llissionr on Junu 12 f said that ho was an anarchist—not a believer in the uso of bombs, but a philosophic anarchist. "I don't believe," ho said, "in force- in , the slightest degree. Our whole judicial system'is clean, contrary to the first elements of Christianity. To m«et evil with ovil, force with forop, sin with punishment, amL violence with violence is hot in ■ the least in agreement with the religion we- profess to believe. I am deeply convinced we have not yet reformed ono single man by pending him to prison. You may punish them, but you don't bring about reform. The only result of ponding a 1 lad to prison is to make him a confirmed criminal." Canon Green said the time was gradually coining when we would see the wickedness and absurdity of our whole judicial system and method of treating criminals. At present, however, neither the country nor tho criminal classes wero ripe for tho change. Nothing was niorc repulsive to him than the visit of the judges to tbo Cathedral. It wns representative of eocioty losing its temper and taking vengeance on those it could not control. A criminal was a person on whom society, had lost control, and the blame was equally divided, 'flip police court niissfbner alleviated Iho harshness and cruelty of 'Iho law. No one recognised tli.it wore than the magistrate, who knew tho utter hopelessness of tho work ho was doing, and that the whole system'was manufacturing criminals as fast as it could.