THE BLIND GODDESS.

Shannon News, 10 December 1926, Page 2

THE BLIND GODDESS.

". ' '-r4 ' A question which must often agitate the minds of men of impeccable character and moral rectitude is one which to weaker individuals must make a strong appeal.: , The question is—- " Whether is it better to steal, suffer a light punishment, and accept a gener-ous-effort by the authorities to make a better man of him than .to continue to work hard for a small amount and end up with say, the old-age pension? Such a question appears silly and but there is no.doubt about it that in view of recent happenings it is one vvhich has been the subject of considerable discussion. That the question .should be raised at all; is regrettable evidence of the fact, : that public, opinion is not completely "Au fait" with ihe administrators' of our criminal code. It,, is, becoming increasingly difficult to reconcile, decisions and the results' ,of decisions of Magistrates, Judges and the Prisons' Board throughout £ur land. . The vagaries of justice to-day arc manifold. There is a new spirit apparently in the air with- respect to the uplift of the offenders. While we all applaud the Christian sentiments of the new zeal for ,'penal reform yet there as no doubt that the result of the theories in practice has meant the escape of many incorrigibles from sharp corrective punishment. We i recognise the difficulties which face the authorities ,in administering the laws relating to release either befdre or after serving the sentences of the Court. -Bach individual .case ought to be taken on its merits, we admit; But there seems , to,.be a tendency to release prisoners'very shortly after serving a small* portion of the penalty. In our opinion there should be no release until such time as an absolutely punitive and corrective period has expired. Another difficulty seems to be the various'opinions held by those in authority on. the points relating to sentences, terms of imprisonment, terms'of proba,tion,, and whether probation should or should not be granted. It would almost seem, in view of some cases, that there is a, law for the rich and a law for the poor. An, auctioneer recently appropriated his customer's funds and received three years probation. His defrauded customers suffered '.heavily, the Everest penalty he received was that he was not allowed to again engage in business as an auctioneer, and he will have to pay the State £SO towards , the expense of his prosecution. On the other hand and almost at the same time a married woman, aged 41, received 14 days hard labour for shoplifting. No talk of reclaiming her—she is made an example of as a deterrent to those many others w'ho escape detection. . There are all sorts of arguments for and against imprisoiH nicnt, but crime is on the increase, and administrators should' take care in determining whether or not'the growingpractice of attempting tti reclaim offenders by probation which gave 7(30 offenders conditional liberty last year is decreasing the measure of protection, due to the community.