The Dominion. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8,1913, CRIME & SENTIMENT.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1849, 8 September 1913, Page 6

The Dominion. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8,1913, CRIME & SENTIMENT.

In an .article which appeared in our leading columns on Saturday, reference was made .to the enervating effect on our national character of the coddling tendencies of modern educational methods. The severer elements of school life have gone out of fashion, and the pupils are so pampered and spoilt that on going out' into the world they are disinclined to face the battle of life with that moral. and intellectual vigour which the spirit of . discipline inspires. There is a growing desire in the community to take things easy, and a young man who finds real pleasure and interest in his work is too often regarded as a disturbing factor in the general jjo-as-you-please.. This prevailing dislike of hard work for which the weakening of parental control- in the home and the relaxing of school discipline are largely responsible is making its evil consequences felt in Various ways. The report of the magistrates on juvenile offonders, which was presented to Parliament last week, states that a largo proportion of the charges dealt with involved dishonesty, and the principal underlying causeof juvenile lawbreaking is lack of proper supervision and discipline on the part of parents. If the average lad is unwilling to work he is almost suro to get into mischief, for idleness often begets crime, and the best antidote to wrong-doing is right-doing—in other words, honest work. This connection between idleness and crime is further Bhown in the latest report of the Prisons Board, in which the opinion is expressed that the basis of all reformatory treatment must be labour. "To carry out this programme there would need to bo warder-instructors specially skilled in the work in which the prisoners would be engaged. Proper workshops would be necessary, permitting disciplinary supervision apart from instruction, and the prisoners ought to be allowed some payment for work efficiently done." These suggestions are very reasonable, for if prisoners are to bo converted into useful members of the community they must be taught to work, and they ought also to be given every chance of earning an honest living after they have served their sentences. Every effort should cer-1 ta-inly. bo made to reform the criminal, but the punitive aspect of prison life ought not to be overlooked. There is a sickly sentimentalism abroad, and a number of soft-hearted people exist in every community who would like _to see the coddling; methods which are now so fashionable in the home and the school introduced into the gaols. They would'like to forget the elementary truth that wrong-doing merits punishment, and that it is a fundamental principle of justice, as well as a necessary precaution for the protection of society, that if a man intends to commit a crime he should do so with the clear understanding that "the equal retribution must be made." Our prisons exist for the punishment and reform of wrongdoers and for the protection of socioty, and none of these aspects should bo lost sight of. They are not simply moral hospitals, and it is a great mistake to. waste on criminals those feelings of sympathy and compassion which rightly belong to the inmates of hospitals, asylums, and charitable institutions that have been established for the alleviation of poverty and suffering. Punishment should be regarded as "law's awful minister," aud should be sufficiently severe to act as a. deterrent and a warning without being degrading or brutal. Of course, if man is not responsible for his actions punishment of any kind would be quito unjustifiable, hut tho whole

system of tho administration of just'ico is based on the assumption that, ' with the exception of young children and the inmates of mental hospitals, members of the community are capable of distinguishing between right and wrong, and aro rc- . sponsible for the choice they mako. Even those people who hold _ the theoretical belief that freewill is an , illusion generally recognise tTiat society is bound to act as if its members were free, and must praise virtue and punish vice. In doing so they are only following the example of the Greek philosopher who taught that* mankind is in the hands of an inevitable destiny. On one occasion he caught his servant in the act of ■ thieving, but when ho was about to • administer chastisement the thief remarked: "Was I not destined to rob ?" "Yes," replied tho philosopher, "and to bo punished also"— ■ and he punished him. [ An interesting correspondence has been going on in tho London Times recently regarding tho best means of suppressing the criminal class. Mr. ' W. S. Lilley vigorously protests against tho maudlin sentimentalisra that is so prevalent at the present time in regard to the question, and [ quotes the statement of Kant, the great German phiiosopher, that . "punishment must be justified as punishment, that is, as mere evil for ; its own sake, so that the punished • person when he looks thereon must himself confess that right is done to him, and' that his lot is entirely commensurate with his conduct." Suffering is the natural outcome of dis- , obedience to law—natural, moral, or social. This principle should first be i vindicated in our prisons, and then the most effective' influences should be brought to bear to reform the offender both for his own sake and for the sake of tho community. There is. however, a certain type of criminal upon whom every kind <sf reformatory treatment appears to be wasted. Offenders of this type aro deliberately, at war with society, and it is an utterly mistaken policy to lock them up for a while and then let them loose again to prey upon honest folk. As Me. Lilley states, "it is supremely just that one whoso whole existence has been a perpetual revolt against civilised society should be cut off from civilised society. And the most hardened of habitual offenders could not deny, when this fate overtakes him, thai his lot is entirely commensurate with his conduct." It is> in the interests of the community that such men should be permanently segregated and prevented from reproducing their kind. Tho present state of knowledge does not warrant any confident pronouncement regarding the precise effects of heredity on character, but statistics show that certain criminal strains have the power of perpetuating themselves, and that more effective steps ought to bo taken to countcract this evil tendency.