THE UNFIT.
Academical discussions on the important questions of the jjvoparration of the unfit may hav« .some effect in stirring the public to notion. The only utility discussion has is tlwt it may lead to action. The other day the Hon. Sir Robert Si out. Chief Justice, in his lecture on "What Eugenics Mean," showed how heredity ■affected families and individuals. He said that one family in America had produced '2(10 criminals, but lie came nearer home by showing that one Xew Zealand family had been sending criminals to the courts for 30 years. There is the fact, but during that 30 years the only means open to t.lio State in protection of society was to punish these people for possessing an hereditary taint tlie.V could not help. U is, indeed, (lie only means that is allowed the State at present. Hut the Chief Justice showed that some of the States had handled the subject practically. Til Xew Zealand, as we know, the habitual criminal may be "indeterminately sentenced." There is no single record that -an habitual criminal, is curable, but there are plenty of records showing that an habitual is frequently released after a period shorter by years than that prescribed for lesser offenders. The States referred to by the Chief Justice have declared that the habitual criminal, after :i specified number of convictions, shall not lie able to produce his hind. X ntil if, is proved that this system, if generally applied, would dec use the world of criminality its utility is not certain. Jt is at least certain that a large proportion of criminals do not owe their abnormality to heredity. It is likewise certain that na-
ture is sporadic in these ma Iters, and frequently produces tin- until, and tin; criminal haphazard. When the surgeon supersedes t.he gaoler as :i eurative or punitive power, the sum of human knowledge in regard to human abnormality will need to he greater than it now is.
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Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 324, 10 June 1911, Page 4
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327THE UNFIT. Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 324, 10 June 1911, Page 4
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