THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 1910. SIR ROBERT STOUT AND CRIME.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10075, 24 August 1910, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 1910. SIR ROBERT STOUT AND CRIME.

o The Chief Justice, whenever he speaks upon a subject with which he is familiar—and with what subject is he not familiar?—generally contrives to say something which will contribute to the betterment »f society. His recent deliverance in Auckland upon the relation of eugenics to crime is worthy of the high-minded, philosophic man Sir Robert Stout has proved himself to be. Eugenics, in the modern acceptation of the term, is a movement for the improvement of the social condition of human kind. With the conclusions of the Chief Justice on the elements which contribute to crime, few will be found to disagree. That heredity plays an important part in providing the criminals of to-day, there is, unhappily, too strong eviproposed in certain States of America,

proposed in cerain States of America, of sterilising the unfit, is warranted by the hereditary taint, is another question. In British communities it has been thought sufficient to employ moral and scientific processes for the elimination of crime. That these will be slower in operation than the more extreme measures proposed in the United States, goes without saying. Albeit, the cure, if cure it can be called, will be more permanent. Sir Robert Stout is probably right when lie says that the punishment imposed upon a convicted person is not the- ; deterrent to crime that some may suppose. •'The deterrent is in the conviction itself. And in tin's connection it is not alone important that juries should be warned of the responsibilities de- j voiving upon them. Society itself is ] too prone to cloak the offences of

those who occupy high places, and ] not even,the judiciary; can be held entirely blameless when the administration of justice affects what is known as the higher strata. There has, indeed, been some room for the suspicion that there is one law for the rich and another for the poor. But, apart from this consideration, there can be little doubt that there

is room for reform, not only in our methods of treating the convicted person, but in the general treatment of those who are possessed of the criminal taint. It is a matter for satisfaction, therefore, to find the .Chief Justice, applauding the efforts of those eugenic societies • which have

recently come into existence in the Dominion. The comparison drawn by Sir Robert between the criminal records of the North and South Islands is most interesting at the present juncture. His conclusion that the diminution in crime in the South is due in a measure to the operations of No-license is probably correct. When he attributes the increase in crime in the North Island to the cliI matic conditions, he is, hxuvever, on

more uncertain ground. A more rational explanation would be the greater avenues existing for speculation, and the more varied nature of the employment, of those in the North. Wherever one finds commercial prosperity, he is almost certain to find employment for those possessed of the criminal instinct. Moreover, it is a matter of common knowledge that prisoners discharged from the gaols of the Dominion have been encouraged to come to the North, where more work is . generally offering for the casual labourer. It is rather a pity that the Chief Justice should have spoilt an otherwise admirable address by drawing conclusions which are obviously unsupported by facts.