“THE ELEMENTS OF CRIME”

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 501, 2 November 1928, Page 12

“THE ELEMENTS OF CRIME”

By BORIS BRASOL The Oxford University Press, which publishes this notable book, states that it “will long occupy a merited place among the standard books of the lawyer, the psychologist, the scientist and the general reader.” Mr. Brasol was formerly Prosecuting Attorney of the St. Petersburg Supreme Court and is a ndted authority on criminology. Professor John H. Wigmore, Professor of Law in North-western University and former President of the American Institute of Criminal Law, and Dr. William A. White, author of “Insanity and the Criminal Law,” furnish introductions to the book.

The chapter which is of special interest to you is that which deals with “Crime: Its Relation to Legislation and Procedure,” from which we have made these citations: “If, for any reason, the law's themselves stand in conflict with the desires, customs, ideals and tenencies of a large number of citizens, then the natural condition of social friction is intensified.

“A law which prohibits and makes punishable a deed morally repulsive, containing an element of danger to the community, is easily put into effect because it has, as a rule, the backing of the whole nation; the prohibited act in this sense becomes a ‘mala in se.’ But % statute interdicting a practice which, ‘in se,’ is not immoral, and consequently does not shock social conscience, is not likely to enlist active support on the part of the community in its enforcement.

“An enactment which irritates or is opposed by the people is liable to cause reaction aiming at the repeal of the defective bill. Public resentment to such legislation, forcibly or cunningly wrought upon a nationusually assumes % three different courses:

‘ (a) Orderly agitation favouring the repudiation of the particular law': , “(b) Evasion of its consequences; and i “(c) Its direct violation. ’’The most' alarming feature of national prohibition seems to be the impetuous spread of intoxication among American children. ‘‘Government meddling with private affairs is always a dangerous policy. No State in the world is capable of regulating every manifestation of public taste or individual inclinations. General standards of morality and •social manners, cannot be radically changed or lifted by the passage of prohibitive laws. In fact, the lawmaking epidemic is a social calamity, especially when the State undertakes to prevent* such activities as do not interfere with* the safety and comfort of the people as a whole. "The theory of democratic government is founded upon three vital principles: “(a) The faith in the sound judgment and goodwill of thfe majority of the people: “(b) Their ability to govern themselves; and “(c) Their determination to abide by the laws created by themselves. “A government which through legislation attempts to teach the people how much they should eat, when and what they should drink, what they should or should not wear, and why they .should not smoke —deliberately repudiates the practice of self-govern-ment.

“The criminogenic effect of meddlesome and profusive legislation is selfevident: the more police laws, searches and coercive measures—the more lawbreakers the State is artificially breeding.”—Advt.