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 LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINAR 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 HN 30 .aé6 vV.6 
 Conference 
 
 POlitics, 
 
 The Creatme 
 
 ON Christian 
 Nt of Crime 
 
 : 
 
 
 
C.O.P.E.C. Commission Reports. Volume VI, 
 
 THE TREATMENT OF 
 CRIME 
 

 
 C.0.P.E.C. COMMISSION 
 
 Vouvume I. 
 
 BOTT, 
 MC LTT. 
 labia 
 A 
 LUT, 
 Bae 
 VIII. 
 
 REPORTS 
 
 Tue Nature or Gop Ann His 
 PurRPOSE FOR THE WorRLD 
 
 EDUCATION 
 
 Tue Home 
 
 Tue RELATION OF THE SEXES 
 LEISURE 
 
 THe TREATMENT OF CRIME 
 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 
 CHRISTIANITY AND War 
 INDUsTRY AND PRoPERTY 
 Pottrics AND CirIzENSHIP 
 
 Tue Socrat FunctTIoN oF 
 THE CHURCH 
 
 Historica, ILLustTrATIONs 
 OF THE SocraL EFFECTS 
 oF CHRISTIANITY 
 
 
 
THE TREATMENT 
 OF CRIME 
 
 Being the Report presented to the ‘Conference on 
 Christian Politics, Economics and Citizenship 
 
 at Birmingham, April 5-12, 1924. 
 
 Published foy the Confevence Committee by 
 
 LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO. 
 39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON, E.C. 4 
 NEW YORK, TORONTO 
 BOMBAY, CALCUTTA, AND MADRAS 
 
 1924 
 
BASIS 
 
 Tue basis of this Conference is the conviction 
 that the Christian faith, rightly interpreted and 
 consistently followed, gives the vision and the 
 power essential for solving the problems of to-day, 
 that the social ethics of Christianity have been 
 greatly neglected by Christians with disastrous 
 consequences to the individual and to society, and 
 that it is of the first importance that these should 
 be given a clearer and more persistent emphasis. 
 In the teaching and work of Jesus Christ there are 
 certain fundamental principles—such as the universal 
 Fatherhood of God with its corollary that mankind 
 is God’s family, and the law “‘ that whoso loseth his 
 life, findeth it ”’—which, if accepted, not only 
 condemn much in the present organisation of 
 society but show the way of regeneration. Christi- 
 anity has proved itself to possess also a motive power 
 for the transformation of the individual, without — 
 which no change of policy or method can succeed. 
 In the light of its principles the constitution of 
 society, the conduct of industry, the upbringing 
 of children, national and international politics, the 
 personal relations of men and women, in fact all 
 human relationships, must be tested. It is hoped 
 that through this Conference the Church may win 
 a fuller understanding of its Gospel, and hearing 
 a clear call to practical action may find courage 
 to obey. 
 
 IV 
 
GENERAL PREFACE 
 
 THE present volume forms one of the series of 
 Reports drawn up for submission to the Conference 
 on Christian Politics, Economics and Citizenship, 
 held in Birmingham in April 1924. 
 
 In recent years Christians of all denominations 
 have recognised with increasing conviction that 
 the commission to ‘‘go and teach all nations” 
 involved a double task. Alongside of the work of 
 individual conversion and simultaneously with it 
 an effort must be made to Christianise the corporate 
 life of mankind in all its activities. Recent de- 
 velopments since the industrial revolution, the vast 
 increase of population, the growth of cities, the 
 creation of mass production, the specialisation of 
 effort, and the consequent interdependence of 
 individuals upon each other, have given new sig- 
 nificance to the truth that we are members one of 
 another. ‘The existence of a system and of methods 
 unsatisfying, if not antagonistic to Christian life, 
 constitutes a challenge to the Church. The work 
 of a number of pioneers during the past century 
 has prepared the way for the attempt to examine 
 and test our social life in the light of the principles 
 revealed in Jesus Christ, and to visualise the require- 
 ments of a Christian civilisation. Hitherto such 
 attempts have generally been confined to one or 
 two aspects of citizenship; and. great as has been 
 their value, they have plainly shown the defects of 
 
 v 
 
GENERAL PREFACE 
 
 sectional study. We cannot Christianise life in 
 compartments: to reform industry involves the 
 reform of education, of the home life, of politics 
 and of international affairs. What is needed is not 
 a number of. isolated and often inconsistent plans 
 appropriate only to a single department of human 
 activity, but an ideal of corporate life constructed 
 on consistent principles and capable of being applied 
 to and fulfilled in every sphere. 
 
 The present series of Reports is a first step in 
 this direction. Each has been drawn up by a 
 Commission representative of the various denomina- 
 tions of British Christians, and containing not only 
 thinkers and students, but men and women of large 
 and differing practical experience. Our endeavour 
 has been both to secure the characteristic contri- 
 butions of each Christian communion so as to gain 
 a vision of the Kingdom of God worthy of our 
 common faith, and also to study the application of 
 the gospel to actual existing conditions—to keep 
 our principles broad and clear and to avoid the 
 danger of Utopianism. We should be the last to 
 claim any large or general measure of success. ‘The 
 task is full of difficulty: often the difficulties shave 
 seemed insurmountable. 
 
 But as it has proceeded we have discovered an 
 unexpected agreement, and a sense of fellowship 
 so strong as to make fundamental divergences, where 
 they appeared, matters not for dispute but for frank 
 and sympathetic discussion. Our Reports will not 
 be in any sense a final solution of the problems with 
 which they are concerned. They represent, we 
 believe, an honest effort to see our corporate life 
 
 vi 
 
GENERAL PREFACE 
 
 steadily and whole from the standpoint of Christi- 
 anity; and as such may help to bring to many a 
 clearer and more consistent understanding of that 
 Kingdom for which the Church longs and labours 
 and prays. 
 
 However inadequate our Reports may appear— 
 and in view of the magnitude of the issues under 
 discussion and the infinite grandeur of the Christian 
 gospel inadequacy is inevitable—we cannot be too 
 thankful for the experience of united inquiry and 
 study and fellowship of which they are the fruit. 
 
 It should be understood that these Reports are 
 printed as the Reports of the Commissions only, 
 and any resolutions adopted by the Conference on 
 the basis of these Reports will be found in The 
 Proceedings of C.O.P.E.C., which also contains a 
 General Index to the series of Reports. 
 

 
LIST OF COMMISSION MEMBERS 
 
 The Commission responsible for the production of this Report 
 was constituted as follows :— 
 
 Chairman :—Francis ALLEN, Esgqg., J.P., M.B.E. 
 
 Members of the Commission :-— 
 BLAKE, THe Rev. Bucuanan, B.D., D.D. 
 Fellow of the University of Bombay; Minster of the United 
 Free Church of Scotland; Author of works on Old Testa- 
 ment and Prophets, and The Meaning of Suffering. 
 BLYTH, Miss N. 
 Probation Officer, Children’s Court, Tower Bridge, S.E. 1. 
 
 CLARKE-HALL, W., Esq. 
 Metropolitan Police-Court Magistrate. 
 
 DU CANN, C. G. L., Esq. 
 Barrister-at-law. 
 
 ELLIS, Miss Epitu. 
 
 HARLAND, B.T,, Eso.; J.P. 
 Justice of the Peace for Croydon. 
 
 LEESON, Ceci, Esq, 
 Secretary of the Magistrates’ Association. 
 
 LLEUFER-THOMAS, D., Esg., M.A. 
 
 Stipendiary Magistrate of Pontypridd and Rhondda; 
 Member of Executive and ‘‘ Treatment of Offenders ’’ Com- 
 mittee of Magistrates’ Association; Member of Justices’ 
 Visiting Committee of Cardiff Prison and of Licensing Com- 
 mittee, co. Glamorgan; President of Welsh School of 
 Social Service. 
 
 LYALL, Dame Beatrix Hupson, D.B.E., L.C.C., J.P. 
 Member of L.C.C. for E. Fulham; Member of Housing, 
 Parks, and Public-Health Committees, Old Age Pensions 
 Committee, and Central Appeal Tribunal. President of 
 Mothers’ Union (Lond.). 
 
 1X 
 
LIST OF COMMISSION MEMBERS 
 
 McBAIN, THE Rev. Canon, M.A. 
 
 Rector, Christ Church, Glasgow ; Warden of East End Settle- 
 ment; Hon. Canon of the Cathedral Church of St. Mary, 
 Glasgow; Magistrate of the City of Glasgow. 
 
 MURRAY, THE ReEv. S. GLANVILL. 
 Chaplain of Holloway Prison. 
 
 NEWMAN, Sir Rosert, Br., M.P., J.P. 
 Member of Parliament and Justice of the Peace. 
 
 POLWARTH, THE Rr. Hon. Lorp, C.B.E. 
 
 Chairman of H.M. Prison Commission for Scotland; also 
 of the Scottish Central Association for Probation, and of 
 Church of Scotland Committee for Social Work. 
 
 ROBINSON, KENNETH, G., Eso. 
 South American Merchant. 
 
 SANDERSON-FURNISS, Mrs. 
 Justice of the Peace for Oxfordshire. 
 
 TILLYARD, Pror. F.,'M.A., M.Com. 
 
 Barrister at Law; Professor of Commercial Law and Director 
 of Legal Studies at Birmingham University; Chairman of 
 the Birmingham Court of Referees, and (1916-1919) of the 
 Birmingham Munitions Tribunal. 
 
 The Commission are greatly indebted for valuable material and 
 help given by others, particularly to the special Scottish Group, 
 under Dr. Blake, who contributed a most useful report, and to 
 Mr. W. Stewart and the Rev. W. F. Howard. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Basis 
 GENERAL PREFACE 
 
 List of Commisston MEMBERS . 
 
 CHAP, 
 I. InrropuctTion 
 
 If. Tue Teacuine oF Jesus . 
 Ill. Tue Nature anp PREVALENCE oF CRIME 
 IV. Tue Causes or Crime 
 
 V. Tue TreatMent oF CRIME 
 
 (A) PrincrpLes anp PsycHoLocy 
 
 VI. Tue Treatment or Crime (continued) 
 
 (B) Practicat ‘TREATMENT 
 
 VII. Tue Treatment oF Crime (continued) 
 (C) SENTENCES 
 (D) Tue Prison System 
 (E) Tue Discuarcep Prisoner 
 
 (F) ApMInisTRATION 
 
 RECOMMENDATION 
 
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CHAPTER I 
 INTRODUCTION 
 

 
CHAPTER I 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 CRIMINAL reform is probably the most attractive 
 of all fields to the earnest social reformer. Apart 
 from the morbid interest which crime holds for all 
 sorts and conditions of men in a comparatively 
 peaceful society, serious-minded men and women 
 often find themselves engaged as jury members or 
 Justices of the Peace or as witnesses in the Criminal 
 Courts in the discharge of public duties. Moreover, 
 the immense publicity which crime and criminals 
 receive in an ubiquitous Press brings home the 
 subject to our daily lives. Again, this branch of 
 social study has a direct bearing on the most urgent 
 sociological problems of our time as well as upon 
 the deepest ethical problems of all times. From 
 this point of view, criminal reform has an especial 
 interest for thoughtful people. There is no need 
 here to touch on the fact that crime itself has a 
 special fascination for the thoughtless also through 
 the vivid and violent nature of its events; but this 
 curious result is the outcome: that criminal matters 
 are equally interesting to the thoughtful and 
 thoughtless, and both are therefore not adverse to 
 dealing with this subject. 
 
 This interest, so readily aroused, has produced 
 
 3 
 
CRIME 
 
 the popular impression that this branch of social 
 study is peculiarly easy. ‘This impression is erro- 
 neous. Yet it remains deep and widespread. Bar- 
 risters, engaged in other branches of the Law, 
 imagine that Criminal Law is easy; County Court 
 judges think that their brethren, the police-court 
 magistrates, have a comparatively simple task; the 
 man in the street can always tell you whether any 
 notorious accused person “ did it”? and what he or 
 she “ought” to get. Yet to those who actually 
 have first-hand experience of these matters, it is well 
 known that work connected with crime presents 
 appalling difficulties, particularly from the stand- 
 point of practical reforms. Only those engaged in 
 the practical work can be fully conscious of its 
 inherent difficulties, which are in inverse ratio to 
 the ease with which superficial judgments can be 
 uttered upon problems of bewildering complexity. 
 We therefore desire to record, at the outset, a 
 warning against the theory that crime and criminal 
 reforms are easy, and that this field of thought and 
 action furnishes a playground for the well-meaning. 
 As much as any other field of study—and perhaps 
 more than most—it calls for wide reading and 
 careful thought. Above all, it calls for acquaint- 
 ance with humanity, both in the abstract and with 
 individuals, and a readiness to come ourselves into 
 personal contact with its problems. 
 
 While warning the enthusiast of the fact that this 
 subject 1s not easy, it is necessary at the same time 
 to guard against the opposite danger of exaggerating | 
 its difficulties. Many earnest-minded men and 
 women who have actually experienced the diffi- 
 
 4 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 culties, come to regard them as almost insuperable, 
 and are tempted either to give up the apparently 
 hopeless task of reform, or to seek comfort in mere 
 palliatives. But we who are Christians cannot 
 permit ourselves to live in Doubting Castle or 
 perish in the hands of Giant Despair. Faith for- 
 bids. Though there may be no easy magical solu- 
 tion to be found in a formula, we may count 
 ourselves, in Browning’s words, but ‘“‘ baffled to 
 fight better,” recognising this, that to apply our 
 Christian principles to crime is not more difficult 
 than applying them in our own lives. And it is in 
 the faith that, by working upon these lines, we 
 shall find success, though not immediately nor 
 without toil, that the problem of crime should be 
 attacked. 
 
 It is encouraging to be able to record that in 
 most of the numerous suggestions which have been 
 submitted for the consideration of this Commission, 
 something of this spirit is either explicitly or 
 implicitly expressed. ‘The suggestions have ranged 
 over a very wide and diversified tract of country 
 indeed, as is only to be expected from the nature of 
 the subject, and the room for different views, legal, 
 medical, humane, upon it. Hence the task of 
 collating these suggestions and presenting this sum- 
 mary has not been a light one, and now that it is 
 accomplished, two opposite schools of thought are 
 likely to be disappointed. ‘The first school is the 
 body of thinkers whose suggestions are Utopian (if 
 this word may be used in an inoffensive sense), in 
 that it is utterly impossible to apply them at the 
 moment in the world in which we live. This 
 
 5 
 
CRIME 
 
 disability is, we gladly recognise, no reason for ruling 
 them out of court entirely, but we hope that they, 
 on their part, will understand our need to stress the 
 practical reforms, and allow us to point out the 
 need for progress by stages. Half a loaf is better 
 than no bread, and it is useless to destroy a League 
 of Nations because one is in favour of the total 
 abolition of war to-day and not to-morrow. ‘The 
 second school is that of those who pin their faith to 
 some severely practical but limited method, such 
 as Borstal or the Probation system, and who imagine 
 that by the collection of facts and statistics upon 
 their pet method, we shall attain salvation. While 
 the contributions of this school have been most 
 valuable, we trust that those who belong to it will 
 forgive our pointing out the necessity of keeping a 
 sense of proportion. There is, alas! as Euclid told 
 a princeling, “no royal road to Geometry,” and 
 there is no infallible system for the healing of crime 
 in the body politic. Nevertheless, we have been 
 greatly indebted to this school for its contributions, 
 and we recognise the value of its specialised activities. 
 We have endeavoured not to lean more to the 
 school of Mary than to the school of Martha, and 
 while keeping our feet upon the solid material earth, 
 to hold aloft the banner of the spiritual ideal. 
 Perhaps it may be of value to explain briefly why 
 we adopt this attitude. States and their criminal 
 legislation, as we know them now, are the gradual 
 growth of the ages; they have not suddenly assumed 
 their present form. So that though they are 
 capable of further development and need much 
 
 improvement, they have a certain fixity of form 
 6 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 which determines the line of progress and prevents 
 a very great change or radical alteration—at least 
 immediately. The influence of Roman law was in 
 early days a powerful formative force—this is recog- 
 nised to-day by all English lawyers having to 
 acquaint themselves professionally with the Roman 
 system of Jurisprudence—and though higher ideals, 
 such as those of Christianity, have been in some 
 measure assimilated, it is obvious that the whole 
 conception of our Criminal Law makes it very diffi- 
 cult to embody the essential principles of Christ’s 
 teaching and to bring the system as a whole into 
 complete harmony with that teaching. 
 
 Hence when even skilled Christian reformers 
 endeavour to make changes such as are suggested by 
 their conviction of what the highest ideal requires, 
 they are met with the objection that their proposals 
 are too ideal and therefore not within the realm of 
 practical politics. ‘The reforms are stoned with such 
 stones as ‘‘ sentimental” and “ academic,” and the 
 proposals are considered as outside the possibilities 
 of realisation. Now, while we have to admit that 
 we cannot in one great act get complete Christian 
 changes made in the law or in its treatment of 
 those who have violated its provisions, or in any 
 sudden manner secure the acceptance of better 
 methods or higher principles, it is the bounden 
 duty of all who look for a further application of 
 Christian teaching to the treatment carried out by 
 the penal system (and in particular of those who 
 are concerning themselves with the inquiry now 
 before us) to concentrate their best thought on the 
 questions involved, and to flash such light as they 
 
 7 
 
CRIME 
 
 can upon the present situation. While we cannot 
 at once ‘‘ make all things new,” and therefore have 
 to accept and carry out much that we may deplore 
 in existing conditions, we have yet to be profoundly 
 thankful for much Christian improvement that has 
 taken place in the law and its administration in the 
 course of the last hundred years or so. We ought 
 to be no less thankful, too, for many indications of 
 a better spirit and attitude on the part of those 
 who make our criminal laws, and on the part of 
 those who administer them. All these represent 
 steps forward to our ultimate goal, and should be 
 fully and frankly recognised as such. Advance in 
 criminal and penal reform may be slow, but it is 
 sure, and in this lies the hope of its being abiding. 
 Finally, it is our deep assurance that, if individuals 
 and the community as a whole were more permeated 
 by the highest Christian ideals, the State which » 
 represents them would adopt a more earnest and 
 interested attitude to the improvement of social 
 conditions, and show a greater desire to diminish 
 existent crime and to prevent future crime. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 THE TEACHING OF JESUS 
 
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CHAPTER II 
 THE TEACHING OF JESUS 
 
 In considering this question, the most important 
 of all for ourselves as students of the criminal 
 problem, we are faced by no little difficulty. First, 
 the teaching of Our Lord is implicit rather than 
 explicit upon this subject, for He came into the 
 world as a Saviour and not as a social governor and 
 jurisconsult. Even where Christ’s teaching deals 
 directly with some phase of criminality, it is not 
 always easy, therefore, for us to discern the lesson 
 to be applied to the criminal system of our day. 
 This is largely due to the fact that Our Lord was 
 more concerned with the “ sinful” rather than the 
 “‘ criminal”? nature of thoughts, words, and deeds; 
 and that He regarded offences as offences against 
 God and man, and not so much as offences against 
 codes and States. 
 
 The distinction between “crime” and “sin” 
 needs to be clearly understood in considering Our 
 Lord’s teaching. That all crimes are not sins is 
 clear from the charges dealt with in our criminal 
 courts, ¢. g. failing to abate a nuisance or keeping a 
 live Colorado beetle. Indeed conduct may be 
 ‘criminal’ which is a benefit instead of being an 
 
 evil to the community, as in the case of Rex v. 
 II 
 
CRIME 
 Ward (4 Ad. and E., p. 384), where a defendant 
 
 erected a sloping causeway to the benefit of Cowes 
 Harbour. On the other hand, conduct may be 
 incredibly wicked and yet not break the criminal 
 law of England. A man who callously stood by 
 and watched a child drowning in a shallow trough 
 (to quote a famous example from a Cambridge 
 University professor of criminal jurisprudence) com- 
 mits no “‘ crime ” nor even a civil wrong according 
 to the law. Yet most people would call this a 
 crime unhesitatingly. Ethical crime and legal crime 
 are often distinct, but they may be combined in 
 one act. Just as the same man may be a father and 
 a brother, so the same act may be a crime and a 
 sin. It is necessary, however, to appreciate the 
 distinction when contemplating Our Lord’s teaching 
 and trying to apply it to present-day crime. | 
 
 We think that the first and most fundamental 
 thing is to endeavour to ascertain the great dis- 
 tinctive principles inherent in Our Lord’s teaching. 
 Such principles as Love and Redemption at once 
 occur to the mind, and we cannot but face the fact 
 that our criminal system is built up on entirely 
 opposite principles. Retribution rather than Re- 
 demption is still the keynote of ‘‘ sentences ” upon 
 criminals. We do not suggest that Retribution is 
 absent from the teaching of Christ or has no place 
 in a Christian system of criminal jurisprudence. 
 But Retribution must be the servant of Redemption 
 and never its master, and a very subordinate servant 
 at that, otherwise it is no more than intelligently 
 applied vengeance and cruelty. Punishment can 
 
 certainly never be tolerated for its own sake, and it 
 12 
 
THE TEACHING OF JESUS 
 
 may be doubted how far it ought to be tolerated 
 for the sake of others; at any rate ‘‘ exemplary ” 
 punishments and sentences imposed from “a duty 
 to Society ” ought to be very narrowly scrutinised. 
 We Christians are on firm ground when we preach 
 unceasingly that Redemption is the method of 
 Christ, and that punishment is only permissible 
 when it subserves the interests of Love. Gladly 
 we recognise that a great deal of worldly opinion is 
 slowly coming to recognise this cardinal goal of 
 Redemption as the correct aim of all efforts to deal 
 with crime. 
 
 Before dealing with the general teaching of Our 
 Lord, it will be as well to consider definite instances 
 when He was brought into relation with crime and 
 criminals. It is worthy of note in passing that Our 
 Lord was reproached with being the associate of 
 what would be called the ‘‘ criminal classes ”’?; of 
 publicans and harlots and sinners. ‘There is a lesson 
 here for us, namely, the need for our personal 
 contact, as working Christians, with those whom 
 the law calls criminals. “1 was in prison and ye 
 visited me,” is more convincing than “I was in 
 prison and ye expressed the most unexceptionally 
 Christian sentiments about similar cases from a 
 comfortable place outside.” Such contact should 
 be free from all suspicion of patronage: it should 
 be quiet, ordinary, human intercourse, so that one 
 becomes looked upon not as a semi-official person, 
 but asa friend. Difficult as it is in most cases to 
 establish such contact, there are yet rare spirits who 
 can succeed in so doing and their labours are amaz- 
 ingly successful. But the value of the contact is 
 
 13 
 
CRIME 
 
 not to the criminal alone. We venture upon the 
 paradox that the professing Christian can learn 
 much, even in spiritual things, from those whom 
 we call “ criminal” ; and certainly direct contact can 
 enlighten one as to the difficulties and complexities 
 of the problem of crime as no amount of reading 
 and argument can. Our Master loved “sinners ” 
 as individuals, and it is for us to do the same. 
 
 The instances in which Our Lord dealt directly 
 with matters of crime and penology have been 
 considered by one of our members and embodied in 
 a short paper. It may be that many people will 
 not agree with all that he says, but we think that 
 his conclusions will be found provocative of thought 
 and lead to further study by others of Our Lord’s 
 
 teaching. Our contributor says : 
 
 ““(1) While apparently accepting the judicial 
 system of His time and country, the allusions 
 which Jesus makes to judges and courts are 
 often flavoured with unmistakable irony. It is 
 hardly necessary to recall the magistrate who 
 investigated the widow’s plea, not on the merits 
 of the case, but from prudential motives and a 
 desire for tranquillity. Nor can we quite miss 
 the satirical vein in the advice to settle a case 
 out of court, as, whether the charge is fair or 
 false, there is a probability of lingering in prison 
 until the gaoler has drained his victim dry. 
 One has a feeling that irony is not entirely 
 absent from the elaborate gradation of liabilities 
 in the warning against anger—civil court, eccle- 
 siastical court, final judgment. The need of 
 
 14 
 
THE TEACHING OF JESUS 
 
 judicial procedure, however, is not by any 
 means denied, although the best instances of 
 this recognition brings forward at the same 
 time the thought of personal relations. In 
 St. Matt. xviii. the brother who has injured 
 another, is to be gained by private persuasion ; 
 if he is recalcitrant, one or two witnesses are to 
 be present at the next attempt; the third stage 
 is to bring the case before the congregation, 
 and if the force of public opinion does not 
 convince him of the need of amendment and 
 restitution, he can no longer be retained 
 within the fellowship whose spirit he is deter- 
 mined to violate. On critical grounds, this 
 passage is often suspected, as it is peculiar to 
 Matthew, and, like several other sayings in that 
 Gospel, is associated with words that sound 
 rather like a reflection of a more developed 
 ecclesiastical situation. But in the original 
 Aramaic the saying would probably sound far 
 less ‘ ecclesiastical’ (cf. Merx, Die wier Kano- 
 nischen Evangelien, 267 f.), and whether re- 
 ferred to the synagogue or to the small society 
 of Christian brethren, it recognises a principle 
 which is vital to the existence of any community 
 as well as to the peaceful working of any social 
 order. ‘The wrong-doer is to be won from his 
 folly if possible, great patience is to be exercised, 
 but wilful defiance of the common good as 
 defined by the general verdict is to be recog- 
 nised as self-exclusion from the privileges of 
 the common life. 
 
 “*(2) A special sternness is heard in the voice 
 
 15 
 
CRIME 
 
 of Jesus when He denounces offences against 
 ‘little ones.’ With all His sympathy for the 
 wayward and erring He stood as the protector 
 of the weak. ‘The interests of the children, 
 whether ungrown-up or over-grown, must not 
 be sacrificed to the cruelty or the callousness of 
 the strong. ‘lo put a stumbling-block in the 
 way of those whose characters were as yet 
 unformed was to forfeit any claim to mercy in 
 the present order. Better for a millstone to 
 be fastened round the neck of such a miscreant 
 and that he should be cast into the depths of 
 the sea. Of course allowance must be made 
 for Oriental hyperbole, but preventive discipline 
 for the selfish wrecker of heart and home is 
 better than the sacrifice of the helpless who 
 have not yet learned to stand alone. The 
 vigorous sanity of the teaching of Jesus exalts 
 compassion and pity and mercy, but has no 
 room for sentimentality. 
 
 (3) The late, but probably genuine, tradi- 
 tion of Our Lord’s treatment of the charge 
 against the woman taken in adultery is an 
 instance of the stress laid upon personal rela- 
 tions with those who have done wrong, rather 
 than an indication of His attitude towards the 
 law and the punishment of the guilty. It is, 
 however, a warning to judges and juries to 
 search their own hearts before condemning a 
 brother or sister, for the task of sitting in 
 judgment is a spiritually dangerous one. It 
 was for the wronged husband to take his suit 
 
 to the proper court if he sought redress and 
 16 
 
THE TEACHING OF JESUS 
 
 for release from a tie which had now lost its 
 sanctity. It was no concern of those meddling 
 theologians who were dragging this miserable 
 victim into publicity, while they gloated over 
 the salacious details of the case. Jesus was not 
 the constituted judge in such matters. But 
 there was one thing He could do. He might 
 lift her from a life of shame, and rekindle the 
 desire for better things, so that, like the harlot 
 who sought Him in the house of Simon the 
 Pharisee, she might regain her purity. 
 
 **(4) The ethical counsels about non-resist- 
 ance of evil, lending without hope of repay- 
 ment, turning the other cheek to the smiter, 
 unlimited forgiveness, are (it is suggested) 
 principles relating to the personal relationships 
 of members of the Kingdom of God, rather 
 than laws of the general social order to be 
 applied indiscriminately. Resentment of a per- 
 sonal insult, remorseless pursuit of a personal 
 debtor, irritation and loss of temper with a 
 personal opponent, are all shown to be un- 
 profitable. The grand aim of the son of the 
 Kingdom must always be the conversion of the 
 opponent into a friend, and if the saving sense 
 of humour is a weapon in one’s armoury, it 
 may serve not only to keep one’s own soul 
 sweet, but even to disarm the astonished 
 adversary. ‘The daring paradox about the two 
 garments and the rapacious creditor is a case in 
 point. But Jesus has not touched upon the 
 solemn duty of safeguarding the rights of others. 
 The whole meaning of the petition in the Lord’s 
 
 17 
 
CRIME 
 
 Prayer is degraded into a cynical mockery if we 
 interpret it, ‘ Forgive us our trespasses, as we 
 forgive them that trespass against our neigh- 
 bours.’ 
 
 *““(s) Nevertheless there are two ways in 
 which this teaching of Jesus is seen to be 
 capable of a wider application. The Kingdom 
 of God is in its first beginnings a fellowship of 
 men who own the kingship of Jesus and are 
 controlled by a common loyalty to the mind 
 that was in Christ. But it is to spread its 
 leavening influence until the whole of the 
 society has accepted the Christian view of God 
 and the world. From this it follows that, as 
 the Christian attitude captures the imagination 
 of society, the main concern about the criminal 
 will be to bring him into a network of personal 
 relations rather than to consider his abstract 
 relationship to an impersonal system of law. 
 
 *“*(6) But inasmuch as the ethical teaching of 
 Jesus is rooted and grounded in religious ideas, 
 we cannot ignore the place given to retribution 
 in the theology of the Gospels. A careful study 
 of the teaching of Jesus in the light of compara- 
 tive synoptic criticism has brought several con- 
 siderations to the fore. The contrast between 
 the contemporary conception of the vindictive 
 judgment of God as set forth in the late Jewish 
 apocalypses and the absence of thought of the 
 angry God in the Gospels is full of meaning. 
 The parabolic method of teaching is not to be 
 confused with the allegorical, so that attributes 
 
 belonging to the king, or the nobleman, or the 
 18 
 
THE TEACHING OF JESUS 
 
 master of the house in such stories must not be 
 transferred to God. Moreover, a tendency to 
 heighten the apocalyptic imagery in some of 
 Our Lord’s sayings is sometimes discernible, 
 especially in St. Matthew’s report of the 
 teaching, and this leads to the suspicion that 
 in some other sayings, where synoptic criticism 
 does not come to our help, the words of Jesus 
 may have received some eschatological colouring 
 in passing through the minds of his Jewish 
 reporters. (This question has been worked out 
 very fully by Miss Dougall and Mr. Emmet in 
 their book, The Lord of Thought, especially 
 ch. xii, xiv, xix). This is not to belittle the 
 terrible realism of our Lord’s warnings about 
 sin. But retribution is seen to be internal rather 
 than external in its operation. In the region 
 of character sin works out its dreadful conse- 
 quences, and as there is continuity between 
 this life and that which is to come, the doom 
 of the future is added to the disabilities and 
 the deterioration which are suffered in the 
 present life. Of course moral degeneracy is 
 not without its painful results in the external 
 world, as the parables continually remind us. 
 But the leading thought concerning punish- 
 ment is that of an immanental teleology. 
 Forgiveness is, therefore, not the remission of 
 penalty more or less arbitrarily imposed from 
 without as an equivalent for the evil done by 
 the transgressor. It is a saving influence intro- 
 duced into the roots of character. The pangs 
 of hunger and the discomforts of the swine- 
 19 
 
CRIME 
 
 herd’s life were suffered as the direct result of 
 months of riotous waste, and they served their 
 purpose in awakening regretful thoughts of 
 the distant home no longer dull and uninviting. 
 But the father’s kiss of reconciliation, his word 
 of forgiveness, and the reinstatement of the 
 recovered son in a place of trust fertilised the 
 roots of character and made possible the 
 recovery of the desire to work hard and to 
 serve the common interests of the farm and 
 household. It would, however, be as wrong to 
 overlook the wholesome effect of the painful 
 experience in the far country as to ignore the 
 speedy restoration that followed the free for- 
 giveness by the long-suffering father.” 
 
 Another group of contributors to this question 
 of the teaching of Jesus upon criminal matters has 
 furnished us with a joint report which is as follows : 
 
 “The view of those organising the present 
 inquiry is that the highest ideals are expressed 
 in Christianity, or, to put it more correctly, in 
 the new spirit breathed into the world by 
 Christ, and the new and higher attitude towards 
 men and women taught and urged by Him. 
 This new spirit and attitude is a challenge to 
 the best in us: it ever makes the highest 
 demands upon us, and calls forth the best. It 
 cannot, however, become a hard-and-fast code. 
 It must remain what it was at the first, a living 
 inspiration, and a never-to-be-exhausted appeal. 
 
 We are apt to rest on the past; it urges us 
 20 
 
THE TEACHING OF JESUS 
 
 on to a better future, to that best which is to 
 be. What in Christ is so unique is His personal 
 appeal, rather than any set regulations or rules. 
 He gives the world principles ever capable of 
 fuller and wider application as conditions 
 improve, and not fixed laws, so definite and 
 stereotyped that they resist all improvement, 
 presenting a static element out of all relation 
 with a living, throbbing universe. 
 
 — “(1) To Christ the power of overcoming 
 wrong and evil was that of personal goodness 
 embodied and expressed in persons, as in 
 Himself. He had no belief in force of any 
 kind as a permanent or effective remedy. 
 What we would emphasise is that while in 
 certain circumstances and as a temporary 
 measure, force may be used, as expressed in the 
 use of the civil power as ordained by God, and 
 as used by Christ Himself in cleansing the 
 Temple, which He called His Father’s House, 
 He did not rely upon it, refusing to use it in 
 His own defence, and saying, ‘ They that use 
 the sword shall perish by the sword.’? Moral 
 diseases had to be cured by moral methods ; 
 ‘ wrongdoing, He saw, resulted from a suspicion 
 and wrong attitude created by ignorance of 
 the truth and reality of things. Hence it 
 could only be ended by those who know these 
 things so moving with a new spirit to the help 
 of their fellows, that those who were apparently 
 unable to do the right, and were led continually 
 to do the wrong, might learn a better way. 
 The good man has to put an end to all causes 
 
 21 
 
CRIME 
 
 of wrongdoing in himself, and in the outward 
 state of things, so far as it comes under his 
 control, and so far as he can influence other 
 good men to exercise a similar control, that, 
 existing causes of wrongdoing being removed, 
 others may cease their evil ways. ‘The respon- 
 sibility of each for all is here a fundamental 
 truth, for no man can live to or for himself in 
 a detached or isolated manner, however much 
 he may try to do so. For we are all bound up 
 in one whole, and in such a way that if ‘ one 
 member suffer, all suffer together with him.’ 
 “‘(a) Thus in a moral State, such as that in 
 which we live, there can be no neutrals nor 
 mere observers. Each and all are vitally con- 
 cerned, for what damages or hurts any one 
 part of the whole damages and hurts every 
 other part: what affects the well-being of the 
 whole affects every part, and what affects any 
 part affects the whole. In this way the respon- 
 sibility of each individual for the well-being of 
 others is a fundamental principle, which can 
 only be ignored or violated by anyone to his 
 own loss. It thus follows not only that the 
 true citizen will not do anything that may 
 hurt another or cause him loss or suffering, but, 
 in virtue of his very goodness, must actively 
 concern himself in doing his utmost to remove 
 all cause of loss or suffering or hurt either in 
 himself or in others, or in the condition of 
 things. If, ¢. g., he sees anything wrong, he is 
 bound to report it, or if he sees anyone in a 
 
 state of mind or body likely to do what is 
 22 
 
THE TEACHING OF JESUS 
 
 wrong or in the act of wrong doing, he is 
 under obligation to take immediate steps to 
 prevent the wrongdoing being done, or to 
 report the matter to those in authority, so that 
 the wrong may be put right. If anyone knows 
 or is aware of causes working out harm to the 
 community and takes no steps to prevent the 
 harm, or fails to report the state of things, he 
 becomes by his acquiescing in an evil condition 
 as guilty as those who are actually causing the 
 wrong. It is unfortunately too often true that 
 the authorities do not get the assistance of the 
 public that they should. 
 
 “*(b) Just as there is a supreme need for the 
 development of a social conscience on the part 
 of individuals, so there is an equal necessity for 
 the development of a similar conscience on the 
 part of the whole community. A high com- 
 munal sense of what is best for the general 
 interest, and for a wise and efficient adminis- 
 tration of the law, is of the greatest importance. 
 The danger, however, is always present that 
 what is the duty of all is the duty of none, and 
 is therefore neglected. This high communal 
 conscience will come as the result of the develop- 
 ment of individual responsibility, under the 
 guidance of which and in a wise and helpful 
 way each may be his ‘ brother’s keeper.’ It is 
 a true and essential maxim: ‘ Salus reipublice 
 lex suprema.’ 
 
 **(2) In a barbarous or semi-civilised com- 
 munity each individual seeks to vindicate him- 
 self by taking action for himself against the one 
 
 23 
 
CRIME 
 
 who has done him wrong, but in an ordered 
 State the duty of self-vindication has been 
 handed over to a recognised authority, and the 
 State becomes responsible. But the necessity 
 for vindication still remains. ‘The wrong done 
 to the individual has to be adequately dealt with, 
 for that is a wrong done not only to the indi- 
 vidual, but tothe community. The wrong is not 
 something abstract, but actual and concrete, and 
 has to be treated assuch. ‘The State must deal 
 not only with the wrong-doer, but also with the 
 victim of the wrong action. The condition of 
 the victim of the wrong, as far as possible, 
 must be restored to the state in which it was 
 before the wrong was done, and so reparation 
 for loss or damage by the wrong-doer must be 
 made good. Here making good is not some- 
 thing abstract or legal, some satisfaction of law, 
 but a definite reparation. And if this were 
 enforced, it is believed, a very powerful deter- 
 rent force would immediately come into opera- 
 tion. Whatever treatment is meted out to the 
 wrong-doer must bear some definite relation to 
 the wrong done. Any treatment that does not 
 include full justice to the sufferer, and such 
 dealing with the wrong-doer as will cause him 
 to feel his personal responsibility, is unjusti- 
 fiable. Whatever penalty is suffered should do 
 these two things: (1) make good the loss done, 
 and (2) have the effect of adequately reforming 
 the wrong-doer. It is quite true that the State 
 should in some way mark its sense of the wrong 
 that has been done. But this should not stand 
 24 
 
THE TEACHING OF JESUS 
 
 as 1t were by itself. It can never be sufficient 
 to view the wrong-doer simply as a breaker of 
 a law which has to be vindicated, but in relation 
 to the whole circumstance of the case. Thus 
 while seeking to vindicate the law, the Courts 
 will remember the victim of the wrong action, 
 and what would be an adequate treatment of 
 the wrong-doer so as to prevent him repeating 
 his offence. 
 
 “¢3) When in the teaching of Christ, in 
 harmony with the highest ethical principles, 
 emphasis is laid upon the importance of the 
 motive in the case of every action, attention is 
 at once called to the question of the character 
 of the wrong-doer. And the responsibility of 
 the State to deal well and wisely with all those 
 elements and factors which are contributory in 
 any degree to the formation of character at 
 once appears. Society is damaged not only by 
 single acts, but by the character of the persons 
 by whom these acts are committed. A merely 
 negative policy of repression or punishment, 
 which does nothing for the improvement of con- 
 ditions and the betterment of character, espe- 
 cially in the formative years of our young people 
 when they are all under the control of the 
 State through Education Authorities, is felt 
 increasingly to be wrong. Something more 
 positive and preventive than punishment 1s 
 required. 
 
 **(4) A very high obligation, therefore, rests 
 on our Courts of Justice, to whom the adminis- 
 
 tration of the law is entrusted, to be more 
 25 
 
CRIME 
 
 concerned in some distinct and definite way 
 with the causes of wrongdoing than they are. 
 They deal at present with the facts of the case, 
 and base their decisions on the precedents of 
 commen law, trying the impossible task of fitting 
 the sentence tothe crime. ‘The wrong-doer may 
 be more sinned against than sinning. Wrong- 
 doing is often a disease, and the question which 
 ought to be before the Court nearly always 1s, 
 what treatment does this accused person require, 
 rather than what sentence should be pro- 
 nounced ? 
 
 “It is urged by some that medical or other 
 evidence as to the character of the accused is 
 quite impossible, but that after the facts have 
 been proved, the mental or physical state of the 
 prisoner may be considered with a view to the 
 nature of the sentence. 
 
 “On the other hand, it is urged that all the 
 circumstances leading up to the case should be 
 fully examined and dealt with before the 
 indictment is drawn up. Guilt cannot be 
 proved until this is done. ‘The business of the 
 Court will be one of equity and largely the 
 improvement of social conditions by throwing 
 light upon them.” 
 
 It is no disparagement of the above contributions 
 
 to this subject to say that we think that the subject 
 of the teaching of Our Lord as it affects crime 
 needs a great deal of further study and deeper 
 thought by all of us. Certain broad conclusions do 
 emerge, however. First, that in the age-long 
 
 26. 
 
THE TEACHING OF JESUS 
 
 struggle between Humanity and the Human Law 
 Our Lord was no vindicator of legalism. ‘“* The 
 Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the 
 Sabbath.” Human considerations must override 
 purely legal ones. Secondly, that Our Lord’s mis- 
 sion was Redemption, and that therefore our criminal 
 system, if it is to be a Christian criminal code, must 
 proceed upon redemptive lines. ‘Thirdly, that the 
 Forgiveness and Love which Christ taught, must 
 have their place in criminal jurisprudence and 
 penology as in every other walk of life. (In passing, 
 we note that forgiveness is “* reconciliation,” not 
 necessarily the “ letting off of consequences,” and 
 that forgiveness implies repentance as a preliminary 
 to reconciliation.) We do not imagine that in 
 stating these three broad principles we have satis- 
 factorily covered the whole ground of Christ’s 
 teaching; far from it. But we do feel that, if the 
 principles we have enumerated are firmly grasped 
 and courageously applied to criminal matters, we 
 shall come within measurable distance of reaching 
 the Christian ideal. 
 
 Tested in the light of these leading principles, 
 how does our criminal system stand? ‘The inquiry 
 is too vast for complete answer here, but we can and 
 do say that our system, as we know it, is in most 
 respects un-Christian, and in many respects anti- 
 Christian. We indicate a few of the well-known 
 respects in which our criminal system fails. ‘Take 
 criminal trials. It is un-Christian that the money- 
 less accused should go undefended (as he generally 
 does) while rich men can always purchase skilled 
 and trained advocacy. Such palliatives as “ dock- 
 
 27 
 
CRIME 
 
 briefs” and ‘‘ poor prisoners’ defences” hardly 
 touch the fringe of this problem. Or take the 
 scales of punishment. It is un-Christian that such 
 heavy sentences should be given for offences against 
 property and such light sentences for offences against 
 persons. ‘The Christian Faith holds personality far 
 more sacred than material property, “‘ which moth 
 and rust doth corrupt.” Or take the nature of 
 criminal penalties, which are the infliction of seizure, 
 suffering and even slaughter. Or take the attitude 
 of the community to the discharged prisoner, which 
 is so cold and Pharisaical because he has “ lost his 
 character ” (which really means only his temporary 
 reputation), that generally he cannot obtain honest 
 work and is forced back into crime for a livelihood. 
 The heartrending catalogue can be continued almost 
 indefinitely, and the deeper one’s investigations go. 
 into what is sometimes described as “ criminal 
 justice,” the more one realises the faults and failures 
 of the existing system from the Christian standpoint, 
 and the need for its reform being undertaken by 
 the efforts of Christian people. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 THE NATURE AND PREVALENCE OF CRIME 
 

 
CHAPTER III 
 THE NATURE AND PREVALENCE OF CRIME 
 
 We have already indicated that a distinction must 
 be drawn between the sinful and the criminal nature 
 of any act, but it is necessary to look into this 
 matter more closely. We have to inquire into the 
 nature of crime in order to understand what it is, 
 for it is useless to propose remedies unless the nature 
 of the disease is exactly known. Everyone of course 
 imagines that he or she knows what a crime is until 
 asked to state their definition, when they find that 
 in reality they do not know. 
 
 What is a crime? ‘That simple-looking question 
 has taxed the ingenuity of trained lawyers and 
 writers upon jurisprudence for generations. It has 
 even been suggested that the difficulty is insoluble, 
 and it is not to be wondered at that many of our 
 helpers have blundered over it. ‘“‘ An action is 
 called a crime when it is viewed in relation to the 
 laws of the land and is a violation of any of these,” 
 suggests one group of contributors to our discus- 
 sions. Clearly this is not so. An infraction or 
 violation of the laws may merely give rise to an 
 action for damages and be what lawyers call 
 a civil, as opposed to a criminal, wrong. Our legal 
 system has always drawn a distinction between 
 
 31 
 
CRIME 
 
 offences which are “ mala in se” and “ mala pro- 
 
 hibita.”” Sir William Blackstone in the great clas- 
 sical text-book of English Law called Commentaries 
 on the Laws of England, dealing in the fourth volume 
 with “ Public Wrongs” or Crimes, gives two dis- 
 similar definitions. Mr. Justice Stephen’s definition 
 has also been criticised by modern writers. Many 
 attempts have been ae to propound a general 
 definition of crime which shall distinguish wrongs 
 which are criminal from those which are merely 
 *¢ civil.””, Moreover, as the distinction between 
 crime and other legal wrongdoing is not peculiar to 
 Great Britain, but is familiar in every civilised 
 country, attempts have naturally been made to 
 attempt to express a definition of crime which shall 
 be applicable not: merely to England, but to all 
 countries in which this distinction between civil 
 and criminal law prevails. 
 
 If professional writers on jurisprudence and prac- 
 tising lawyers feel this difficulty in defining the 
 difference between criminal and civil offences, it is 
 to be expected that we shall find greater difficulty. 
 Austin, the great English Jurisconsult, is generally 
 considered to have suggested the true principle of 
 demarcation between a crime and other infractions 
 of the law when he defines a crime’s distinctive 
 attribute as the fact that “ its sanctions (7. ¢. punish- 
 ments) are enforced at the discretion of the Sove- 
 reign.” ‘This means that the punishments of 
 criminal procedure are only remissible by the 
 Crown and not by any private person. But in 
 England even the Sovereign cannot pardon the 
 sending of a person into prison outside England in 
 
 32 
 
NATURE AND PREVALENCE 
 
 breach of the Habeas Corpus Act, and a public 
 nuisance while unabated is unpardonable by the old 
 common law. All this serves to show the inherent 
 difficulty in defining a “‘ crime” in the eyes of the 
 law, and the necessity of distinguishing it from a 
 civil wrong. 
 
 “Crimes are wrongs remissible by the Crown if 
 at all” is a good working definition from the legal 
 standpoint, and “ forms of legal wrong recorded by 
 the law as specially injurious to the community ” 
 an instructive general description of the nature of 
 the crime. 
 
 We need not pursue the legal definition further. 
 Our task is wider than the lawyer’s, for we have to 
 regard these public wrongs from the ethical as well 
 as the legal standpoint. Which then are morally 
 crimes and which of the so-called crimes can we 
 ignore? At once it is clear that there is a whole 
 body of State-created “crime” dealt with by 
 criminal courts and by imprisonment, which we can 
 ignore for our purposes, because this crime is venial 
 indeed from the moral and spiritual standpoint. 
 To neglect to obtain a certificate of exemption from 
 vaccination, or to fail to take out a licence for a dog 
 or gun, to leave a car in the street, to forget to 
 comply with some minor statutory regulation in- 
 volving even less moral turpitude, may be a “‘ crime,” 
 but no one thinks of such offenders as criminals. 
 These ‘‘ quasi-criminal matters”? are outside our 
 purview altogether. ‘The crime of which we have 
 to take cognisance has two elements, namely, 
 that it breaks the law not merely of man but of 
 God. 
 
 D 33 
 
CRIME 
 
 But while legal “ crime ” on the one hand is too 
 broad for our purpose, on the other hand it is too 
 narrow. We have already alluded to the case of a 
 man who stands idly by rather than stretch out a 
 hand to save a drowning infant as not being a 
 criminal offence according to law. ‘This, however, 
 is unquestionably a real crime. Again, it is a legal 
 crime for a man to rob me of my purse containing 
 twopence, but it is not a legal crime if he robs me 
 of my wife by seduction. Adultery, again, is a real 
 crime. Instances can easily be multiplied to show 
 that there are ethical crimes as well as legal crimes, 
 and many of these ethical or real crimes our criminal 
 law entirely fails to take into account. In some of 
 these cases of course the criminal law needs strength- 
 ening and extending, but in others it is clearly 
 undesirable to bring ethical crime within the reach 
 of the law. ‘Thus a man who intends to steal an 
 umbrella from a club and actually takes an umbrella 
 in pursuance of that intention is clearly a thief. 
 But if the umbrella turns out to be his own he has 
 committed no theft at all in law. Legal crime 
 consists of two elements, (a) a mental element of 
 will or intent, (4) a physical act or omission— 
 « Actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea,” as English 
 lawyers say—whereas ethical crime may consist of 
 the mental condition only. When Garrick said that 
 as Richard III he felt as a murderer, Dr. Johnson 
 retorted, “‘ Then he ought to be hanged,” meaning 
 that ethically he was a murderer if he harboured 
 murderous feelings. It is the murderous feeling 
 that makes the murderer, not the mere physical 
 blow, for if one strikes by accident and kills, one is 
 
 34 
 
NATURE AND PREVALENCE 
 
 neither legally nor ethically a murderer, but the 
 mere victim of a misfortune. 
 
 We feel that it is upon the ethical standard of 
 crime, which includes the major part of “ legal ” 
 crime, that we professing Christians ought to work. 
 This seems to be in harmony with the Gospel 
 teaching : 
 
 “Ye have heard that it was said by them of 
 old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever 
 shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment : 
 
 “ But I say unto you, That whosoever is 
 angry with his brother without a cause shall be 
 in danger of the judgment... . 
 
 ““'Ye have heard that it was said by them of 
 old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery : 
 
 “ But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh 
 on a woman to lust after her hath committed 
 adultery with her already in his heart.” 
 
 Unless we look upon crime from the ethical 
 standpoint instead of the merely legal one, we shall 
 never understand the real nature of crime. One of 
 our contributors points out: ‘ The question is not 
 so much the actual wrong that the accused has 
 committed, but what are the underlying causes 
 which made him commit it. It is only when these 
 causes have been fully considered and taken into 
 consideration that true justice can be administered.” 
 We venture to add, “ and that the wrong-doer can 
 be reclaimed.” ‘The underlying causes may be 
 external to the criminal, such as drink, environment, 
 lack of education, etc., and with external causes we 
 
 35 
 
CRIME 
 
 deal in a subsequent part of this Report. But on 
 the other hand they are often purely internal, and 
 it is important that we should realise that theft, 
 assault, murder and the like are first conceived in 
 the heart and brain before they are born into the 
 world of deeds. 
 
 Before leaving this topic of the nature of crime, 
 it is necessary to deal with one other aspect. What 
 of those legal crimes which may not be ethical 
 crimes at all, since they arise from virtues? As 
 historical examples take the “treason” of Flora 
 Macdonald or George Washington, or other crime 
 committed from political motives, such as a seditious 
 speech by a man or woman of normally blameless 
 life. What of petty regulation-breaking called 
 “crime”? Considering such examples, we lay it 
 down that the limitation of the idea and nomen- 
 clature of crime to such legal wrongdoings as offend, 
 more or less violently, our moral feelings is very 
 desirable. Such a limitation we think naturally 
 suggests itself to reasonable men’s minds and is 
 implicit in our ordinary conversation about crime. 
 This exclusion of certain matters now termed 
 “criminal” from the denomination of crime is 
 important, and has practical bearings as regards 
 ** political ” and “‘ juvenile’ crime. It follows that 
 such offenders should not be incarcerated in criminal 
 prisons with real criminals. Light has been shed 
 upon this whole matter by a group of our helpers 
 as follows : 
 
 ** If the law labels a man a criminal who is 
 
 acting according to conscience in the high realm 
 36 
 
NATURE AND PREVALENCE 
 
 of religion and doing no harm to another, the 
 law is bad. Before God and all good men a 
 man who thus suffers for well-doing ranks as a 
 benefactor of his race and is blessed in his 
 deed. It is worthy of notice in passing that 
 those who may violate petty local regulations, 
 such as may be necessary to preserve order in 
 the streets, need not be labelled in the criminal 
 class or placed along with them. ‘This applies 
 to a large number of juvenile offences. . . . It 
 is a common mode of speech to speak of a 
 criminal as one who violates not only the law 
 of the land but the moral law itself; hence it 
 is desirable that this name be not given to 
 those in whom no criminal tendency has been 
 discovered. 
 
 *¢ Laws which invade the realm of conscience 
 and interfere with such actions as do no harm 
 to another should not be on the statute book 
 of a civilised State.” 
 
 With regard to the prevalence of crime, it 1s 
 essential to ascertain the most frequent form of 
 - crime, and if possible the reasons for its committal. 
 But it is not necessarily accurate to assume that, 
 because in one or two particular years the numbers 
 of offenders increase, the general tone of morality 
 of the public is lower or vice versa. It may be the 
 culminating effect of some Act of Parliament or 
 such special circumstances as the war, which affects 
 the life of the nation in a way that opportunity for 
 crime is lessened or increased. 
 
 The receptions into prisons of those sentenced by 
 
 o7 
 
CRIME 
 
 the ordinary Courts averaged from 1909 to 1914, 
 158,782 a year; from 1914 to IgI19 the average 
 dropped to 53,068 a year, owing doubtless partly 
 to the extraordinary circumstances of the war, but 
 particularly to the passing of the Criminal Justice 
 _ Administration Act, 1914, which permitted time for 
 payment of fines in lieu of automatic commitments. 
 
 The receptions of the twelve months ending 
 31st March, 1920, were 35,439; for 1921, 43,916; 
 for 1922, 47,126; and for 1923, 47,371. 
 
 The higher figures for the last three years must 
 to a very large extent be due to unemployment, 
 which gradually but surely demoralises a man and 
 causes him to drift into prison. Relaxation of home 
 restraint partly due to the absence of the men at 
 the war, general laxity of conduct owing to abnormal 
 social conditions, and dishonesty in trying to supple- 
 ment reduced salaries after an accustomed high rate 
 of living during the period immediately following 
 the war, all these, including the unfortunate mania 
 for betting, contribute to the general increase in 
 crime since 1919. 
 
 The receptions into prison of debtors or on civil 
 process have risen from 1830 in 1916-19 to 12,995 
 in 1922-3. ‘This increase is composed of cases of 
 non-payment of wife maintenance, bastardy arrears, 
 or arrears of income tax, but there is no increase in 
 ordinary County Court debtors. Here again may 
 be traced the aftermath of war. Ill-assorted mar- 
 riages made hastily, payments for illegitimate chil- 
 dren, and the shirking of responsibilities, sometimes 
 through inability to pay owing to unemployment, 
 all these contribute to these startling figures. 
 
 38 
 
NATURE AND PREVALENCE 
 
 Of the 47,371 receptions in prison for the year 
 1922-3, 37,336 were men and 10,035 women; of 
 these 59 per cent. (22,108) and 84 per cent. (8937) 
 respectively had been previously convicted. It is 
 interesting to note the following particulars of these 
 convictions : 
 
 14,540 men and 3004 women. Ito 5 times. 
 
 3,134 Db) 99 1120 9 6 bb) 10 39 
 25352 9 9 1186 9 II 5,20 ;, 
 Bre ish MEER ii hy over; 20° 4, 
 
 These figures do not indicate any great reforming 
 influence of prison life in the past, but do show the 
 great difficulty of redeeming persons when once 
 accustomed to prison, and the need of trying every 
 possible alternative in preference to a first com- 
 mittal. 
 
 Among men, by far the larger number of offences 
 are for larceny, drunkenness, assault, false pretences, 
 and burglary, in the order named; among women, 
 drunkenness, prostitution and larceny contribute the 
 greater number. Under severe restrictions during 
 war-time, a reduction of 85 per cent. of the amount 
 of public drunkenness was effected, and despite 
 relaxations in peace-time, drunkenness is still much 
 less than that prior to the war. 
 
 The receptions in prison in 1912-13 for drunken- 
 ness, assaults, etc., were 52,149; in 1920, 8752, and 
 in 1922-3, 11,019. ‘This reduction is so remarkable 
 that it would appear a proof of the efficiency of 
 control of hours of sale, together with diminution 
 of the strength of what is sold. Further improve- 
 
 39 
 
CRIME 
 
 ment may well be sought along the same lines, 
 which have proved so successful during the last 
 few years. ‘Turning to youthful offenders, aged 
 16-21, by far the greater number of offences among 
 lads were for larceny. ‘There were in 1922-3, 2967 
 receptions in prison (exclusive of Borstal), of which 
 47 per cent. (1397) had been previously convicted. 
 The total receptions for lads are considerably less 
 than two years ago, but still in excess of pre-war 
 numbers, whereas those of girls have fallen to the 
 pre-war average, and are half those for the year 
 1920-21. It appears that girls are more amenable 
 to home restraining influence than lads, who are 
 often led away by a strong-minded ringleader— 
 probably at first by love of adventure, which 
 develops, if undirected, into the serious forms of 
 larceny and burglary. It should be added that 
 unhappy home conditions contribute largely to 
 juvenile crime. 470 lads and 46 girls were sent to 
 Borstal Institutions in 1922-3, as compared with 
 504 lads and 56 girls in 1921-2. It is stated that a 
 large number of these girls turn out satisfactorily, 
 and while admitting gratefully that these Institu- 
 tions are a great advance on anything previously 
 attempted for juvenile offenders, it is hoped that 
 further experiments will be made as to such methods 
 of treatment, so as to get the best possible results. 
 At the conclusion of this section of the Report, it 
 may be helpful to sum up briefly our conclusions 
 upon the nature of crime. Legal crime is, we | 
 suggest, at once too broad and too narrow for 
 definition. From it must be subtracted those 
 offences which do not offend the moral nature of 
 40 
 
NATURE AND PREVALENCE 
 
 mankind, and to it must be added those ethical 
 offences which the law does not classify as crimes at 
 all. ‘The criminal code ought to be more firmly 
 based on ethics than it is, and a distinction drawn 
 between real crime and the so-called crime which, 
 ethically speaking, is either not criminal or at worst 
 venial. This would lead to a strong distinction 
 also being drawn in classification and treatment 
 between the criminal and the non-criminal offender, 
 which we think is both necessary and desirable. 
 
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CHAPTER IV 
 THE CAUSES OF CRIME 
 

 
CHAPTER IV 
 THE CAUSES OF CRIME 
 
 AN assumption lies behind a great many judicial 
 sentences and punishments that crime is due to the 
 innate wickedness of the individual. ‘That there is 
 evil in the nature of all of us, even the saintliest, is 
 undoubted, though in comparatively few does that 
 evil express itself in criminal acts. But to what 
 extent is crime due to the inherent depravity of 
 individuals? And to what extent is it due to 
 external factors operating upon the individual but 
 for which the community as a whole is responsible ? 
 
 Criminologists formerly held that all crime was 
 due to an innate depravity. A murderer was not an 
 ordinary being in the view of the old school; 
 criminals, like poets, were born and not made. 
 There was, according to the Italian school of 
 Lombroso, Garofalo and others,} “an anthropo- 
 logical criminal type,” and this theory met for a 
 long time with wide acceptance. According to the 
 believers in this school you can recognise the criminal 
 by pathological signs visible in the skull, face and 
 
 1 Cesare Lombroso’s book, L’uomo delinquente, is still an 
 
 extremely popular work upon criminology. (See the Fournal of 
 Soc. of Comparative Legislation, 1910, pp. 220-228). 
 
 45 
 
CRIME 
 
 eyes. Elaborate charts, diagrams and _ statistics 
 have been solemnly thrust upon the world and some 
 psycho-pathologists actually allocated different eye- 
 colours to different classes of criminals, murderers 
 generally having chestnut-brown eyes, and thieves 
 slate-blue! An English parliamentary Blue Book 
 (The English Convict, 1913) tabulated detailed 
 medical analyses concerning 3000 grave offenders. 
 The results lead inevitably to the conclusion that 
 there is no such thing as a pure “ born-criminal 
 type”; and one’s experience of criminals leads to 
 a similar conclusion. 
 
 Most criminals are much like other men, and it is 
 by gradual steps that they have fallen. ‘This con- 
 clusion is quite compatible with the familiar fact 
 that there are those who, from innate instinct 
 (perhaps an atavistic inheritance from an early stage 
 in mankind’s development), or from defective mind, 
 are, so to speak, “ born” criminals. Such criminals, 
 however, are comparatively few in number and we 
 do not believe that even these are hopelessly irre- 
 claimable. We suggest they ought to be segregated 
 (2. e. subjected to non-punitive detention in what 
 should be more of the nature of an asylum than a 
 prison, for such born unfortunates deserve pity and 
 care rather than additional suffering inflicted upon 
 them). Such segregation must be for an indeter- 
 minate period except where treatment, either 
 medical, spiritual, or both, prove successful in bring- 
 ing the subject into a condition that makes it safe — 
 to release’ him. Experiments on these lines have 
 been made successfully at Camp Hill and should 
 be further carried out. 
 
 46 
 
THE CAUSES OF CRIME 
 
 Turning to the great mass of crime, we find that 
 its causes must be sought outside the individual 
 himself. Recent developments in criminology have 
 disclosed the great complexity of these causes and 
 their intimate association with sociological and 
 industrial problems. ‘The importance of gauging 
 the causes correctly is manifest. It is only when the 
 causation has been fully appreciated that justice 
 can be administered, and before we can cure crime 
 we must attack its root-causes. Some of these 
 root-causes are well known to all, such as Poverty, 
 Unemployment, Drink, Betting and Gambling, 
 Sweating and Slum-life, Ignorance, False Standards 
 of Life: (2. ¢. false romanticism from evil literature 
 and “* the pictures ”’). 
 
 We proceed to consider some of these causes in 
 greater detail. 
 
 (1) Poverty.—The relation of poverty to crime, 
 while not essential, is that inability to supply the 
 needs of the body, mind or soul may lead to wrong 
 ways of meeting these needs. Sheer poverty, how- 
 ever, 1s rarely the only cause of any criminal act. 
 Dr. Devon points out that the number of criminals 
 is in direct proportion to the density of the popu- 
 lation. While no one panacea for preventing the 
 production of criminals can be brought forward, 
 it is quite possible to maintain that the abolition 
 of sweating and slums, the cessation of unemploy- 
 ment or irregular employment, and other social 
 injustices out of harmony with a fair interpretation 
 of the principles of Christian brotherhood, would 
 in their conjoint and accumulated influence diminish 
 crime. 
 
 47 
 
CRIME 
 
 Attention should be drawn to the breeding of a 
 criminal population by discharged prisoners who are 
 not by any means reformed persons, and those of 
 more or less mental defect in our midst. If only 
 prisoners capable of performing worthily their social 
 and civic duties were released, and all mentally 
 defective persons were prevented from marrying 
 by being detained in suitable homes, a chief cause 
 of the production of criminals would be removed. 
 The presence of a large criminal population at our 
 door in the chief cities must have a deleterious 
 influence on the young. Just as there is a floating 
 population of “ins and outs” in connection with 
 our workhouses (so called), there is also a similar 
 floating population of “ins and outs ” in connection 
 with our prisons. It is quite true that very many 
 living in good social conditions, with so many 
 educational advantages, owe much of their ability 
 to resist temptation to their more happy lot. But 
 the fact that from the most pleasant circumstances 
 of life criminals have come, forbids any sweeping 
 generalisation as to the influence of satisfactory 
 outward conditions. 
 
 (2) Unemployment.—This cause (already referred 
 to) is, of course, very closely bound up with poverty, 
 but it has not quite the same effect. It accounts 
 for a large amount of crime against property and 
 applies particularly to juveniles. Boys leaving school 
 at fourteen years of age, and finding it impossible 
 to obtain work, are loafing around the streets with 
 no means of occupying themselves, and without 
 money to spend. They form gangs, the worst 
 element of which becomes predominant, with the 
 
 48 
 
THE CAUSES OF CRIME 
 
 consequent result of theft and house-breaking. 
 Where it is impossible to obtain employment for 
 these, some healthy occupation such as continued 
 education should be found. It is unnecessary to 
 dwell on the deteriorating effect of unemployment 
 on character in every walk of life. 
 
 (3) Bad housing condttions—These lead to im- 
 morality, incest, drunkenness, assault, cruelty to 
 children, and marital unhappiness. Overcrowding 
 does increase crime, but it must be insisted that it 
 is useless to abolish so-called slum areas, unless the 
 moral outlook and character of the inhabitants is 
 raised. ‘They prefer the rough style of life to which 
 they have been accustomed, and merely migrate 
 to another locality, and reduce it to the same 
 unhealthy condition as the previous one. 
 
 (4) Drink.—This is the official heading for the 
 largest number of crimes committed. It is often, 
 however, a symptom of underlying causes rather 
 than itself the cause of the crime. While people 
 commit offences of violence under the immediate 
 influence of drink, and particularly excessive bouts 
 of drinking, offences of misappropriation are seldom, 
 if ever, so committed. ‘The drunkenness of the 
 expert criminal, if he is ever foolish enough to give 
 way to it, is his relaxation after the commission of 
 the offence, not the instigation to the committal 
 of it. True; some criminals are teetotalers and 
 many drink who do not commit crime. Yet “I 
 was in drink, sir,” and ‘‘ It was the drink did it ” are 
 perhaps the commonest pleas in the police courts. 
 A group of our Scottish helpers write upon this 
 subject as follows : 
 
 rE 49 
 
CRIME 
 
 “The majority of Judges have put on record 
 that the use of alcoholic liquors has been very 
 largely associated with crime, and especially 
 with crimes of violence (not so much with those 
 of theft). It is believed that such crimes 
 arise not so much from chronic drinking, as 
 from sudden excesses which lead men to be 
 violent and to do things which they never would 
 do in their sober moments. ‘The use of alcohol 
 weakens self-control, paralyses the organs, blurs 
 the vision, and dulls the conscience. Wherever 
 prohibition has been adopted, crime has been 
 greatly reduced. War conditions and the high 
 price of drink may have accounted in some 
 measure for the reduction of crime. But in 
 two towns near Glasgow where “ No licence ” 
 was adopted by the people in 1920 the number 
 of police cases has been wonderfully reduced 
 (Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch). ‘The usual police 
 courts did not require to meet, and the police 
 force lessened in number. But social conditions 
 conduce to resort to public-houses, and such 
 excessive drinking, with its wasteful expenditure, 
 tends in turn to increase the badness of the 
 conditions. The unsatisfactory housing con- 
 ditions in which so many live drive men out of 
 such houses and clearly prove the need in most 
 districts of workmen’s clubs where they could 
 have free social intercourse, without the drinking 
 bar. Man is a social being, and more should 
 be done in all our districts to provide suitable 
 social centres, bright and cheerful places where 
 men and their wives might spend a restful 
 
 5° 
 
THE CAUSES OF CRIME 
 
 and pleasant time. It is not enough simply to 
 close public-houses; something more worthy 
 of the name must take their place. A public- 
 house, however, cannot be reformed so long as 
 drink is sold in it for private gain. ‘To improve 
 social conditions is the subject of the Com- 
 mission on Housing. Here it is sufficient to 
 press the point that if the many contributory 
 causes of crime are to be removed, attention 
 must be given to housing, and the provision 
 of social centres and places of recreation. And 
 this is especially the case in connection with the 
 young and rising generation. If not wisely 
 helped by clubs their future is endangered. 
 
 “A Government deeply concerned in social 
 conditions on which so much depends should 
 charge itself with the elimination of public- 
 houses badly conducted, betting and gambling 
 dens, and such places of amusement (certain 
 cinema or picture houses, and low theatres) 
 as refuse wise control and pander to a depraved 
 taste. The case of habitual drunkards requires 
 serious attention. A large number of murders 
 are simply the last of a series of assaults that 
 have taken place when the murderer was 
 drunk. Such a result was almost bound to 
 happen sooner or later, and steps should have 
 been taken to prevent it. Might it not be 
 made illegal to sell or supply alcoholic liquors 
 in such cases to known persons who have been 
 before the Courts for assaults ? ” 
 
 (5) Betting and gambling —The Commission notes 
 es 
 
CRIME 
 
 with regret the great increase of betting and gamb- 
 ling among all classes, and the consequent lowering 
 of the moral standard, which so frequently results 
 in embezzlement and other crimes. It appeals for 
 a strong lead in this matter, such as the formation 
 of a League, the members of which should undertake 
 to combat this growing evil. 
 
 (6) Lack of education.—That education diminishes 
 criminality, statistics clearly show. ‘The proportion 
 of illiterates amongst the criminal classes is much 
 higher than amongst the law-abiding. A true and 
 worthy system of education tends greatly to reduce 
 crime, as it would teach the common duties of life 
 and citizenship, and give to the young a saner view 
 of those relations which bind society into one. The 
 essence of a true education is social, and therefore 
 moral and religious, emphasising the responsibility 
 of all and each for the highest well-being in this 
 life, as the only basis and hope of well-being in the 
 life to come. . Without this essential element the 
 advantages of knowledge may be wrongly employed. 
 Some of the greatest criminals, such as those guilty 
 of forgery, embezzlement, and kindred offences, 
 have had high intellectual qualifications and no 
 development of the social or religious conscience. 
 
 (7) False standard of life-—This is closely related 
 to the lack of true education. The responsibility 
 of certain sections of the Press which debauch the 
 morals of the community is now being recognised 
 and we are glad to note the prospects of wise legis- 
 lation to control this evil. Indecent publications 
 are on sale to adolescents in shops of a certain 
 character in our great cities and the nuisance should 
 
 52 
 
THE CAUSES OF CRIME 
 
 be stopped. ‘The cause of a certain amount can be 
 traced to the misuse of the cinema in which vice 
 is sometimes portrayed as romantic and interesting. 
 
 Besides these common causes, we desire briefly to 
 draw attention to what might be called “ uncon- 
 scious ”? causes for which the ordinary non-criminal 
 citizen cannot divest himself‘of responsibility. ‘The 
 14th chapter of Romans seems to give us what 
 should be the keynote to the Christian citizen’s 
 attitude towards the weaker or tempted brother. 
 “That no man put a stumbling-block or an occasion 
 to fall in his brother’s way,” says the 13th verse ; 
 or again in I Cor. viii. 9, we read, “‘ Take heed 
 lest by any means this liberty of yours becomes a 
 stumbling-block to them that are weak.” We 
 are our brother’s keeper to a far greater degree than 
 many of us realise. How many people have first 
 given way to temptation by finding money lying 
 about, the owner apparently having no knowledge 
 of how much he should have. Jewellery left about 
 in rooms of private houses, hotels or restaurants 
 has caused the downfall of many, as has the flaunting 
 of jewellery and wealth among a crowd of poor 
 people. We know that the habit in shops of having 
 quantities of goods displayed on counters or outside 
 leads to great dishonesty; the temptation is too 
 strong to be resisted. We also feel that brewers, 
 distillers and owners of shares in public-houses 
 cannot divest themselves of all responsibility for the 
 evils that so often come from drunkenness. Many 
 persons who make but little profession of religion 
 refuse to invest in such shares, and yet some 
 religious leaders derive wealth from these sources. 
 
 . 53 
 
CRIME 
 
 Again, employers and their wives have a direct 
 responsibility in this matter, as also have owners 
 of working-class houses. We are well aware that 
 slums are more often created by the tenants, but it 
 is not always so, and some owners in smug, pious 
 prosperity are the real criminals who create lesser 
 ones. Perhaps the greatest unconscious cause of 
 incipient crime is want of discipline in child training, 
 whether at home or at school. ‘The very poor and 
 the very rich are often the chief delinquents. 
 Among the rich, self-indulgence is often a matter 
 of course; at the other extreme, want of space 
 and want of time render satisfactory home-life 
 almost impossible, regular hours and habits are non- 
 existent and a strangely easy-going life seems to be 
 the rule. Unless self-control is taught when young, 
 it cannot be practised in later life. Temptations 
 come to all, and he who has no sense of his responsi- 
 bility to his God or his neighbour for his actions 
 will sooner or later end in disaster. | 
 
 In closing we must speak of the old-fashioned 
 power of example. What may be safe for us may 
 by example cause others to offend. What to us 
 seems to be harmless may be to others the first step 
 on the path to dishonour and degradation. So let 
 us remember that ‘‘ We that are strong ought to 
 bear the infirmities of the weak and not to please 
 ourselves,” for our great Example, “ even Christ, 
 pleased not Himself.” | 
 
CHAPTER V 
 THE TREATMENT OF CRIME 
 

 
 
 
 
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CHAPTER V 
 THE TREATMENT OF CRIME 
 (A) PrincipLes AND PsycHoLocy 
 
 THERE are five different ways in which offenders 
 have been treated, and which have been adopted in 
 varying degrees with more or less persistency. 
 The system of treatment, however, has grown up 
 almost casually, and no logical attempt has been 
 made to link up the various ways in one adequate 
 and perfect co-ordinated code of legislation. The 
 present stage is still largely one of experiment. 
 Hence results are not definite, and discussion ranges 
 over a wide field. It is obvious that the practice 
 that prevails in different parts of the country and in 
 different kinds of Courts varies to an extraordinary 
 extent. A supreme effort at co-ordination is the 
 need of our time. 
 
 The ways of treatment may be arranged as 
 follows : 
 
 (1) The Retributive, or that which aims at express- 
 ing by means of punishment inflicted by the State 
 the sense of moral indignation on the part of the 
 community at the wrong done. It is something 
 that disturbs the balance of justice and requires 
 immediate attention. The wrong-doer must there- 
 fore suffer. The right must be vindicated, for this 
 
 57 
 
CRIME 
 
 function has been handed over by the injured to 
 the State. 
 
 (2) The Deterrent method. Here the principle 
 is to warn others of the danger of similar wrongdoing, 
 and by showing that punishment follows all wrong- 
 doing to restrain others from committing any offence 
 against the law. 
 
 (3) The Preventive method seeks to prevent the 
 repetition of the offence by those who have done it 
 already. Here the emphasis is laid upon the effect 
 punishment has upon the wrong-doer. 
 
 (4) The Reformative method would dispense with 
 punishment, and use such a method as would 
 eradicate the criminal tendency, and secure that 
 the wrong-doer should not only cease to do wrong, 
 but learn to do well; in other words, become a 
 good man and a worthy citizen. 
 
 (5) The Causative or Radical method would deal 
 not alone with the particular person accused but 
 would search for and discover the causes of crime in 
 the community, and then take adequate and com- 
 plete steps by means of legislation to bring about a 
 condition of things in which these bad causes shall be 
 removed, and everything that “‘ hurts or destroys ” 
 be taken away from the body politic. 
 
 Upon these five principles one of our contributors, 
 a well-known London magistrate, comments : 
 
 “The first, viz. the retributive, has occupied. 
 far too large a part in the administration of 
 justice in the past and constituted at one time 
 the great object of punishment, as shown in the 
 
 doctrine of ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a 
 58 
 
THE TREATMENT OF CRIME 
 
 tooth’; the Hebrew restriction on even more 
 savage methods of revenge. In the light of the 
 teaching of the Gospels it is submitted that 
 retribution should no longer play any part 
 whatever in the administration of criminal 
 justice. The main object of punishment should 
 be reformative, and this not merely on moral 
 or sentimental grounds, but in the best interests 
 of the State itself. Prison statistics show 
 that no less than 66 per cent. of all serious 
 crimes are committed by persons who have been 
 previously convicted. If, therefore, the State 
 desires to diminish criminality, it can best do so 
 by reforming those who have fallen into crime. 
 The deterrent element in punishment must 
 always, of course, remain a necessary, but not 
 the chief element. The exaction of ‘ damages ’ 
 played a large part in Anglo-Saxon law, but was 
 practically abandoned under the Normans, 
 and since that date has been far too little 
 employed. ‘The Criminal Justice Administra- 
 tion Act of 1914 has re-introduced this valuable 
 principle and has empowered the courts to 
 order compensation by the offender to the 
 person whom he has wronged. The law, it is 
 submitted, has no right to impose suffering on 
 anyone merely because it is suffering and because 
 the sufferer has done a wrong. Unless such 
 suffering is reformative in its effect it has no 
 justification. 
 
 “It is only in very recent years that the 
 treatment of the criminal by reformative 
 methods has seriously entered into the policy 
 
 59 
 
CRIME 
 
 of the State. The idea is, however, gaining 
 ground rapidly and 1s clearly in conformity with 
 the Christian ideal. Solitary confinement ofa 
 man whose whole trend of thought is almost 
 necessarily evil can only have upon him 
 disastrous results. This principle of solitary 
 confinement is gradually playing a smaller part 
 in modern prison treatment, and within the last 
 few years the attempts of the Prison Com- 
 missioners to introduce education and a higher 
 standard by means of lectures, music, and above 
 all the admission of visitors from outside, is a 
 very great step in the right direction. All 
 prisoners should receive visits from those whose 
 conversation, sympathy and interest would 
 develop what is best in the criminal instead of 
 leaving him, as under the old system, to batten 
 upon the evil of his own heart.” 
 
 We have suggested that some adequate means 
 should be taken to prevent the repetition of a wrong 
 action, and to deter others. Imprisonment by 
 itself is not enough, as witness the frequent return 
 of discharged prisoners, and the annual addition 
 of prisoners for the first time. Has the State the 
 right to deal with an accused person with a view to 
 deter others, and so make one person “ the whipping- 
 boy for another”? ‘The appeal to fear as a deterrent 
 is not the highest motive. What is wanted is better 
 and fuller instruction, so that the right may be 
 loved and the wrong detested. Certainly far more 
 consideration should be given to the reformation 
 
 of the wrong-doer, and to the removal of the causes 
 60 
 
THE TREATMENT OF CRIME 
 
 of wrongdoing, than has ever yet been given. This 
 should be a first charge on the State and all its 
 Courts of justice. 
 
 In our criminal courts it is hardly too much to say 
 that the prevailing practice has been to deal with 
 facts and the law applicable to them rather than with 
 the causes of the wrong and the circumstances of the 
 accused. ‘I’here is a tendency to increasing agree- 
 ment among alienists and modern students of 
 psychology that crime is more generally the result 
 of a disease or defect than something to be punished. 
 If that is the case, it is obligatory on the State to see 
 that suitable treatment be meted out. “ Investi- 
 gation has shown that the criminal 1s to a large extent 
 defective mentally and physically, and proper 
 medical advice may remedy and make him a decent 
 member of society. In practically every case some 
 mental defect is found’? (Dr. Hamblin Smith). 
 “* Uninvestigated criminals are an expensive luxury.” 
 
 Sir George Newman has been pressing the impor- 
 tance of regular medical examination for all children, 
 and if this were done, and medical treatment given, 
 the general moral as well as physical health of the 
 community would be much improved. Statistics 
 which would be carefully preserved might then be 
 available for all local authorities in dealing with cases. 
 Right of liberty only appertains to those persons 
 who are capable of contributing to the well-being 
 of society and of discharging their social duties. 
 Wise restraint and observation are required wherever 
 this is not done. The bogey of personal right and 
 liberty requires to be very carefully examined in the 
 light of social well-being. 
 
 61 
 

 

 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 «THE TREATMENT OF CRIME |. yl 
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CHAPTER VI 
 THE TREATMENT OF CRIME (continued) 
 (B) PracticaL TREATMENT 
 
 Tue methods required to carry out the above 
 principles have now to be considered in some detail. 
 The best and most helpful method of dealing with 
 delinquency that has probably ever been introduced 
 to the criminal administration of this country is the 
 Probation Act. It is not only scientifically sound 
 in principle but is in entire accord with the Gospel 
 teaching. Sir Robert Wallace, Chairman of the 
 London Sessions, recently claimed that 95 per cent. 
 of the cases placed by him upon probation were 
 successful. Judge Atherley-Jones, K.C., states that 
 75 per cent. aresuccessful. Ifthe actual percentage 
 were only 60 or 70, this method of treatment would 
 more than have justified itself. ‘Io put the matter 
 on its lowest ground of economy, the cost of looking 
 after one man on probation for an entire year is no 
 more than the keeping of him in prison for one week. 
 Prison is rarely, if ever, reformative in its effects, 
 a view in which the Lord Chief Justice of England 
 recently concurred in a public speech. Probation 
 is reformative, as has been seen in a vast number of 
 
 cases. 
 F 65 
 
CRIME 
 
 Imprisonment, again, is often as severe a punish- 
 ment upon the wife and children of the criminal 
 whose home is broken up, and who are frequently 
 driven into the streets, as it is upon the offender 
 himself. Probation, on the other hand, not only 
 tends to reform the criminal but also to improve 
 the whole conditions of his family life. It is sub- 
 mitted that there 1s no way at the present time in 
 which the Gospel principles can more effectively 
 be made dominant in criminal administration than 
 by the use in all possible cases of the Probation Act. 
 The recent appointment by the Home Secretary 
 of an Advisory Committee to make better provision 
 for the carrying out of the Act is a step in the right 
 direction. | 
 
 Next the extension of the exaction of damages to 
 make good the loss or repair the harm done. It is 
 not merely to satisfy the injured person, for some 
 persons may not press the point of their own personal 
 loss. ‘This may also be covered by insurance against 
 burglary and the loss would fall on the Insurance 
 Company. It is important that the principle of 
 reparation be laid down as one of a binding obliga- 
 tion. If by wrong done the balance of justice has 
 been disturbed, and someone suffers, that suffering 
 must be met. ‘This principle has been expressed in 
 the Criminal Justice Administration Act, 1914. 
 Definite parliamentary approval has thus been given 
 to this important principle, and it should be strictly 
 carried out. It is believed that one of the strongest 
 deterrents against committing wrong would be the 
 definite knowledge that all goods stolen would 
 
 require to have their value replaced, and all] damage 
 66 
 
THE TREATMENT OF CRIME 
 
 done to property have to be repaired. The in- 
 stalment principle of payment would be adopted, 
 and during the period of repayment the consciousness 
 that the amount deducted from wages to meet this 
 charge was the result of wrongdoing would work 
 effectively to the giving up of wrongdoing. It is 
 also to be noted as of value that if only parents had 
 the knowledge that their boys or girls, on whose 
 earnings they may to some extent have to depend, 
 will have to make good, they will of necessity be 
 more alive to their parental responsibilities in 
 watching and instructing their families. 
 
 Does it not seem strange that the State, to which 
 the individual citizen has handed over his right to 
 vindication, should be so negligent in seeing justice 
 done to the wronged? In most cases they are 
 allowed to suffer. Suffering supposed to be measured 
 by the gravity of the offence has been inflicted 
 by the courts. In other words, an attempt has 
 been made to “ fit the punishment to the crime,” 
 a very difficult and almost impossible task. Now 
 the suffering should bear some definite relation to 
 the wrong done. Imprisonment for a longer or 
 shorter period, which implies the loss of liberty, 
 but offers advantages to some prisoners in regular 
 meals, a clean bed and good air, may not mean any 
 suffering at all. Any such short sentences, followed 
 by other similar ones, only bring the law into con- 
 tempt. The record of short sentences pronounced 
 upon certain prisoners, and the return of such persons 
 on the lapse of a period longer or shorter after their 
 discharge, is painful in the extreme. Hence it has 
 been urged by many peers that there should be 
 
 7 
 
CRIME 
 
 some form of severe punishment which could be felt 
 and remembered, such as birching without imprison- 
 ment. On the other hand, it is maintained that 
 birching is neither reformative nor deterrent. 
 Force is no remedy of a permanent or abiding kind. 
 It is known that those who have been birched have 
 in many cases again appeared at the bar. Thus 
 opinions differ, and complete statistics are desired. 
 
 (1) Fuveniles (under 16). Juvenile delinquents 
 comprise “children” from 7 to 14, and “ young 
 persons ” from 14 to 16; and in London are brought 
 before a Children’s Court. ‘This is held, with one 
 or two exceptions, in a room of a separate building 
 from the police court, and the constables do not 
 wear uniform. Many of these children, boys 
 especially, have been taken by their parents on 
 previous occasions to the police station “to get a 
 warning ” from the police; and in some cases this 
 has perhaps been a useful thing. But kind and 
 friendly as most constables are to the children, in 
 no way should Probation work be connected with 
 the police, nor, under the circumstances, should a 
 constable be made a Probation officer, for his former 
 work would militate against his success in the latter. 
 The great function of the Probation officer is to be a 
 friend of the child and his parents. 
 
 All constructive work must face criticism, and it 
 is especially easy to criticise Probation work among 
 children. It has only been tried in this country for 
 about fifteen years, and on a limited scale. But 
 there is a growing feeling that it is the best method 
 of dealing, not only with juvenile delinquency, 
 
 but with delinquency as a whole; for surely there 
 68 
 
THE TREATMENT OF CRIME 
 
 is more chance of preventing crime by getting at a 
 child than of curing it when he is older. No one 
 has a better opportunity of getting at the child 
 than the Probation officer, who is looked on as the 
 friend of the family, because the parents realise 
 that he is working with them to keep the child 
 in bis own home and to try and reform him there. 
 At the same time we must not forget that there are 
 many sad and terrible cases, where the home sur- 
 roundings are such that the child ought to be 
 removed from them, and from parents who do not 
 deserve the name. In such homes the children 
 may be the victims of unnatural crimes, and bear 
 the burden of knowledge and sadness far too heavy 
 for their years. Here the School of the Guardians 
 and the Industrial and Reformatory Schools are a 
 refuge in which hundreds have been helped and 
 saved; and many of these schools are worked with 
 good results, by up-to-date methods. Yet even 
 in these sad cases it would be preferable to get some 
 “fit person,”’ a relative if possible, to take the child 
 and preserve his home-life—in a better home than 
 his own. 
 
 There should be co-operation between the 
 Probation officers and the District Organisers of 
 After-care Work, and in this way the voluntary 
 work, so useful in probation, can best be supplied. 
 The Probation system at present varies in detail a 
 good deal in the different Children’s Courts in 
 London, but in main outline it is much the 
 same. With regard to the number on probation, 
 most Probation officers consider that Sir John 
 Dickinson’s suggestion of a maximum of sixty cases 
 
 69 
 
CRIME 
 
 for each officer should not be exceeded if good 
 individua?work is to be done, and it must be remem- 
 bered that the mere number does not give any idea 
 of the work required. 
 
 A Note on Child Assault—One of the most 
 unpleasant portions of our criminal system relates 
 to the handling of cases of indecency involving the 
 detailed evidence of young girls. Very few people 
 realise the horror of a cross-examination upon points 
 normally considered to be unmentionable between 
 men and women, but which in such cases have to 
 be put with brutal frankness by a man to a young 
 girl in the presence of other men. We appreciate 
 the difficulties of counsel faced with this hateful 
 task in the performance of his duty to the prisoner. 
 But we are strongly of the opinion that the time 
 has come for an inquiry into this matter, and the 
 opinion of Judges and eminent practitioners at the 
 Criminal Bar should be taken as to the practicability | 
 of amending the procedure so far as this can be done 
 without injustice to the accused. Very drastic 
 recommendations as to the substitution of women 
 for men have been suggested to us, but these are, we 
 fear, utterly impracticable at present. The necessity 
 for women’s assistance in such cases we fully recognise 
 and desire to lay stress upon. (Attention is drawn 
 to an article upon this subject written by Mr. G. B. 
 Shaw for the Six-Point Group in Time and Tide, 
 Feb. 23, 1923, p. 210.) 
 
 (2) Adolescents and young offenders (16-21). ‘The 
 Prison Commissioners urge that a greater use be 
 made of the Probation Act for these cases. Indus- 
 trial Schools and the modified Borstal system are 
 
 7O 
 
THE TREATMENT OF CRIME 
 
 provided for cases where institutional treatment 
 is deemed necessary, but it is recognised that it is 
 always a pity to remove first offenders from normal 
 life. It is for this reason that probation is so 
 valuable. The Borstal system is so famous that we 
 do not think it necessary to enlarge upon its methods 
 or its valuable and wonderfully successful reformative 
 influence in this Report. But we think it desirable 
 to urge the special need of sympathetic under- 
 standing and treatment by the courts of crimes due 
 to the ferment of adolescence. 
 
 (3) Adults—Some special classes are dealt with 
 below : 
 
 (a) First offenders—We reiterate the need for 
 probation and the application of the Act which 
 applies to first offenders. 
 
 (b) Mentally defective persons—The Prison Com- 
 missioners speak of prison as “a place intended for 
 fully responsible persons, sane in body and mind.” 
 Writing in 1922, Hobhouse and Brockway gave it 
 as their opinion that, owing to the limited scope of 
 the Mental Deficiency Act and administrative 
 difficulties, ‘‘ approximately two-thirds of the mental 
 _ defectives who are sent to prison are still legally 
 condemned to remain there.” The Prison Com- 
 missioners, in their Report for the year ended 
 31st March, 1923, draw special attention to this 
 matter, and urge the direct committal by the courts 
 of such persons to an institution for defectives. The 
 confinement of lunatic or semi-lunatic persons in 
 prison is at once cruel and foolish. The prison 
 régime is not suited to such persons, and is indeed 
 likely to injure them. ‘They are a serious handicap 
 
 7t 
 
CRIME 
 
 to the improvement of prison conditions, and their 
 release on the conclusion of their sentences leaves 
 them a danger to themselves and the community. 
 We commend the mental examination of persons, 
 which is at present carried on under special con- 
 ditions at Birmingham prison, and we advocate the 
 extension of such methods. 
 
 (c) Debtors—The Prison Commissioners in their 
 latest Report deplore the large increase in the 
 number of persons in prison as debtors, or on civil 
 process. (Ihe number of such persons in 1922-23 
 was 12,995). We approve their recommendations, 
 viz. that every opportunity be given for payment 
 by instalment, or even by attachment of wages, 
 and that full information about the debtor’s cir- 
 cumstances should be obtained in every ¢ase before 
 the order of commitment is issued. 
 
 (d) Unconvicted prisoners ——Unconvicted prisoners 
 are “in law presumably innocent ” and detained 
 for “safe custody only.” Their confinement in 
 prison, as at present, either awaiting trial or pending 
 examination and inquiry, or even simply to have 
 their finger-prints taken, inflicts a social stigma and 
 even leads to serious contamination from intercourse 
 with depraved types. We are of opinion that bail 
 might more freely be granted than is the case in 
 some Courts. ‘The wish of the police is too often 
 the only matter taken into account. Reformers 
 have long urged the establishment of remand homes, 
 and we are glad that the Prison Commissioners in 
 their recent Report say: ‘‘ We should like to see 
 remand homes provided which would have no 
 connection with the prisons.” 
 
 72 
 
THE TREATMENT OF CRIME 
 
 The Probation System.—A great deal of matter 
 has been sent to us dealing with Probation, and we 
 have already indicated our whole-hearted approval 
 of this Christian system, and our recognition of its 
 past success as indicating the most hopeful line of 
 advance for the future. Considerations of space 
 prevent us from incorporating in this Report a full 
 description of this system and we can only give 
 a few recommendations for its development. 
 
 (1) Many country magistrates and others do not 
 realise the value of this system. It is not “ grand- 
 motherly legislation,’ but a system whose success 
 is vouched for by many professional judges of 
 eminence and Metropolitan magistrates who are 
 by no means “ sentimentalists.” 
 
 (2) Wherever possible, both a man and woman 
 Probation officer, for obvious reasons, should be 
 appointed to a court to “ advise, assist and befriend.” 
 
 (3) Courts in county areas in poor neighbourhoods 
 need them as much as Police Courts. Some have 
 obtained voluntary officers, and this course might 
 be more generally followed. 
 
 (4) The expense of the system is borne by the 
 Local Authorities, but it is submitted that the State 
 should pay half at least, as(on the lowest grounds) 
 the system effects an enormous saving to the State. 
 The Magistrates’ Association has reached a similar 
 conclusion. 
 
 (5) Great care is necessary in making appoint- 
 ments. The work is arduous, calling for rare 
 qualities of mind and heart, as well as first-hand 
 knowledge of and sympathy with the lives of the 
 poor. The work is truly a vocation. 
 
 73 
 
CRIME 
 
 (6) Probation officers should attend all sittings 
 of the Court and should be in touch with the 
 District Organiser of After-care Work, the local 
 Education Authority and such voluntary charitable 
 organisations as he may find useful as co-operative 
 agencies in his work. 
 
 (7) The officers should have a recognised status 
 and be adequately paid. Magistrates ought to take 
 a strong personal interest in their efforts and give 
 every help and encouragement. The formation 
 of a Probation Committee, which without inter- 
 ference would assist the officers, is suggested. 
 
 We desire to urge magistrates to study the 
 system and to visit prisons, remand homes, mental 
 deficiency, industrial and reformatory schools, etc., 
 so that they may have a first-hand knowledge of the 
 places to which they commit offenders. 
 
 The Probation system as at present in force is 
 imperfect. We desire to see it perfected and applied 
 in every criminal court in the land, but we record 
 our satisfaction that the principle should have been 
 adopted as a great step in the direction of the 
 Christian ideal. As one of our contributors well 
 says on this subject, “ If the laws made by man are 
 to work for the ultimate good of mankind, they must 
 be founded and built on the Law of God.” 
 
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 CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE TREATMENT OF CRIME 
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CHAPTER VII 
 THE TREATMENT OF CRIME (continued) 
 (C) SENTENCES 
 
 Ir is a commonplace that the effect of prison life 
 is in most cases, and indeed almost invariably, 
 detrimental. Imprisonment does not act as a deter- 
 rent for two-thirds of those who have been pre- 
 viously imprisoned (see Hibbert ‘fournal for April 
 1910). The system, not the officials, is responsible 
 for this. We regard it as unfortunate that those 
 sentenced for the first time may be thrust into the 
 company of old offenders. Lord Kimberley’s Com- 
 mittee recommended in 1879 that first offenders 
 should not be sent to prison with habituals. We 
 recommend a classification of prisons and prisoners 
 (instead of district prisons), including a separate 
 prison for first offenders. 
 
 The short sentence.—No training is possible under 
 a short sentence, for time is required to teach the 
 benefit of continuous work. Formerly considered 
 merciful, the short sentence is increasingly seen to 
 be, in many cases, opposed to the interests of the 
 prisoner. ‘The fear of prison goes, and that is all 
 that a short sentence frequently accomplishes. It 
 has increased recidivism. 
 
 77 
 
CRIME 
 
 The long sentence.—There is reason to hope that, 
 if the inmates of prisons are being trained instead 
 of being merely confined, long sentences may become 
 valuable. ‘The length of sentence should be deter- 
 mined by the consideration of the time and training 
 necessary to reform the individual under sentence. 
 Too long sentences unfit men for outside life. 
 
 The indeterminate sentence-—Under a system of 
 indeterminate sentences much good might result. 
 The prisoner would realise the importance of his 
 own efforts in fitting himself for freedom. It is 
 not open to either of the objections of the other 
 two and would not sap the will to work. We 
 recommend experiments upon this type of sentence. 
 
 A Note on Capital Punishment 
 
 ‘“‘ Capital Punishment,” as the death-penalty is 
 euphemistically called, is usually argued with refer- 
 ence to the crime of murder. But the widespread 
 belief that only the crime of murder is so punishable 
 by the laws of England is incorrect. In addition to 
 murder, the setting-fire to a king’s ship or dockyard 
 or any ship in the port of London is, by the Dock- 
 yards Protection Act of George III, still punishable 
 by death. So also is piracy if accompanied by an 
 act endangering life, by an Act of Victoria. ‘Treason 
 also is punishable by death, and Roger Casement 
 was executed for this offence in 1916. Nor are all 
 killings punishable by death. Murderers under the 
 age of sixteen are not liable to the death-penalty ; 
 and the killing must be of a “ reasonable being ” 
 (e.g. not an unborn child), “‘ with malice afore- 
 
 78 
 
THE TREATMENT OF CRIME 
 
 thought,” the “ death following within a year and 
 a day.” Various other forms of slaughter are ranked 
 by the law as (1) manslaughter, (2) justifiable 
 homicide, (3) excusable homicide, and are not liable 
 to the death-penalty. 
 
 The case for and against the death-penalty has 
 been exhaustively set out in a recent book on 
 Capital Punishment by Bowen Rowlands, in which 
 the author takes neither side. Some of the chief 
 arguments “‘ for” are: 
 
 (1) Deterrence.—lIt is argued that nothing less 
 than the fear of his own death will deter the 
 prospective murderer. In some countries mur- 
 der is said to have increased as the result of 
 abolition, leading to a restoration of the 
 penalty. 
 
 (2) Cost.—To inflict the cost of maintaining 
 a murderer throughout the remainder of his 
 life is suggested to be unjust to the community. 
 
 (3) Anti-sentimentalism.—Advocates of the 
 death-penalty suggest that opponents are actu- 
 ated by “ weak sentimentality.” ‘The State’s 
 right to require the life of its citizens as in war 
 
 is upheld. 
 Some of the chief arguments “ against ” are : 
 
 (1) Non-deterrence-—That executions do not 
 deter is proved by the fact that murders con- 
 tinue. Fear of death does not deter from war 
 or suicide. ‘The “ deterrent ” argument of the 
 other side is challenged. 
 
 (2) Historical analogies—Death was formerly 
 
 79 
 
CRIME 
 
 inflicted (in comparatively recent times) for the 
 theft of a post-office letter or a sheep. Its 
 abolition for petty crime led to decrease, not 
 increase, in spite of prophecies of many eminent 
 judges and bishops. 
 
 (3) Encouragement.—It is argued that a cheap 
 sensational Press with its ‘ lionising ” of mur- 
 derers on trial does actually encourage others 
 to seek notoriety. Also many murderers actually 
 escape all punishment owing to the reluctance 
 of juries to send to death where there is the 
 slightest doubt. 
 
 (4) Possibility of mistake-—A mistake in con- 
 demnation cannot be rectified. 
 
 (5) Human life sacred—Life ought to be 
 sacred and the State should set its members an 
 example by holding it so. 
 
 Two phases of the subject call for special notice : 
 (1) the proposed exemption of women and (2) the 
 question whether Christians can lawfully place the 
 duty of shedding blood upon the shoulders of fellow- 
 men (executioners) and make them professional 
 blood-shedders. ‘The suggested exemption seems 
 not justifiable ; if capital punishment is wrong, it is 
 wrong for both sexes. As to (2), this must gravely 
 exercise the conscience of all Christians. 
 
 The Committee of the Howard League is of 
 opinion that capital punishment should be limited 
 to murders of a deliberate and premeditated nature. 
 A number of the Committee are strongly in favour 
 of abolition. A Bill has recently been introduced 
 into Parliament (March 1924) with this object. 
 
 80 
 
THE TREATMENT OF CRIME 
 
 We find a difference of opinion upon the subject 
 amongst our contributors with a leaning upon the 
 whole towards abolition. We point out first the 
 differences between legal “‘ murder ” and the offence 
 of the sixth commandment, widened by Christian 
 interpretation according to the words of Christ as 
 recorded by St. Matthew. We also point out that 
 Our Lord prayed for His murderers and that His 
 mission was redemptive, and that as Christians,. our 
 first aim should be the prevention of murders, which 
 would render discussions of the penalty needless, 
 We plead for further study of this question by 
 individuals and recommend a Government inquiry. 
 This question, like all others, must be regarded in 
 the light of fundamental Christian principles, and 
 we are deeply impressed by the words of a group of 
 our contributors : 
 
 “We feel that to cut short a life under 
 these circumstances (7.¢. where there is no 
 opportunity of remedying mistake or reforming 
 the criminal) is indefensible from the Christian 
 position. .. . The Christian will preach un- 
 ceasingly that redemption is the method of 
 Christ, and that punishment is only permissible 
 when it serves the interests of love.” 
 
 (D) Tue Prison System 
 
 The history of recent prison administration in 
 England consists of the shifting of emphasis from 
 retribution to reformation, and the present system 
 is an amalgam combining these two aims. Mr. 
 
 Mott Osborne has summed the matter up thus : 
 G SI 
 
CRIME 
 
 “The prison system endeavours to make men 
 industrious by driving them to work; to make 
 them virtuous by removing temptation; to 
 make them respect the law by forcing them to 
 obey the edicts of the autocrat; to make them 
 far-sighted by allowing them no chance to 
 exercise foresight; to give them individual 
 initiative by treating them in large groups; in 
 short, to prepare them again for society by 
 placing them in conditions as unlike real society 
 as they could well be made.” 
 
 It has been truly said, “ Prison makes the good 
 prisoner rather than the good citizen.” In our 
 view, the application of Christian principles demands 
 that the reformation of the criminal be regarded as 
 the true object to be sought, and by “ reformation ” 
 we mean helping a man to help or develop himself. 
 We recognise the importance of deterrence, but we 
 believe that to reform the criminal is the best means 
 of deterrence. 
 
 We now consider some of the main aspects of 
 prison régime. 
 
 (1) Prison labour—The difficulties of organising 
 work in prison are obvious; ¢. g. it is seldom that 
 a*man can be employed at his own trade; the 
 capacity of prisoners is below the average; and 
 many are not skilled at any work; the varying 
 lengths of sentence make it difficult to classify the 
 prisoners ; competent trade instructors are expen- 
 sive; prison workshops are as a rule ill equipped ; 
 there is difficulty in obtaining regular contracts, 
 
 and in marketing prison products. 
 82 
 
THE TREATMENT OF CRIME 
 
 We approve the statement that “there is no 
 reason why, because a man or woman is put under 
 control, he or she should not continue to earn an 
 honest living,” and the further principle that, “in 
 all prison industries, the first consideration must be 
 training for future honest livelihood.” It follows 
 that every effort must be made to teach a trade to 
 young offenders, and that the standard and con- 
 ditions of work must, as nearly as possible, approxi- 
 mate to industrial conditions outside. We recom- 
 mend for consideration the arrangements for work 
 in the Maison Centrale, a women’s convict prison 
 in France, where the women work in a large factory, 
 managed by a manufacturer who teaches them and 
 pays them wages. In America, excellent work has 
 been done by convicts on the land and in lumber 
 camps, with, in some cases, almost as good results 
 as in free labour. We recommend that, where 
 possible, rewards and privileges be granted for good 
 work, rather than punishments inflicted for bad 
 work. We recommend the introduction of hobby 
 work in the evenings, the proceeds of the sale of 
 such work to be credited to the prisoner, after 
 deducting cost of materials. 
 
 (2) Education—Many of the same difficulties 
 obtain as we have enumerated in the case of prison 
 labour. We may specially mention the lack of 
 trained teachers and the objection to large classes 
 for fear of contamination. The Prison Commis- 
 sioners, in their recent Report, state with regret 
 that in elementary education no advance has been 
 made since last year, simply because “‘ money cannot 
 
 be found to pay as many teachers as are required.” 
 G2 83 
 
CRIME 
 
 We are glad to welcome the greater use that is 
 being made of voluntary workers from outside. We 
 emphasise the need for more voluntary help in this 
 direction. 
 
 In passing, we urge that proper writing materials 
 to good-conduct prisoners, and larger use of educa- 
 tional books, be granted. The Prison Commis- 
 sioners pay a high tribute to the value of the lectures 
 which are now regularly given in prisons, and also 
 the concerts. 
 
 (3) Religion and Church services—We believe that 
 the acceptance of reformation as the aim of the 
 prison system would make the religious services and 
 the work of the chaplains of much greater value. 
 The chaplain is officially regarded as caring for the 
 reformative side of prison work, but the religious 
 value of his ministrations is damaged in the eyes of 
 many of the prisoners because he is regarded as an 
 official of a penal system. ‘The time of a prison 
 chaplain is so much occupied by routine work that 
 he has far too little time and opportunity for visiting 
 and talking to the prisoners. The Prison Com- 
 missioners report that, at chapel service, the warders 
 have been removed to the back and sides of the 
 chapels, and no longer sit on raised seats facing the 
 prisoners. ‘hey report, ‘‘’The change is success- 
 ful.” We recommend that more help be given to 
 the chaplain by outside clergy. 
 
 (4) Letters and visits—We recommend that more 
 frequent letters be allowed, both because lack of 
 news is, in some cases, a needless hardship to the 
 prisoner, and even more important because it inflicts 
 suffering on his innocent relatives. We are glad to 
 
 84 
 
THE TREATMENT OF CRIME 
 
 see that the Prison Commissioners now state that 
 “local prisoners, so soon as they are received on 
 conviction, are now allowed to write one letter to 
 their relatives or respectable friends, and to receive 
 a reply.” We are further pleased to note that the 
 Commissioners are improving the conditions under 
 which prisoners are visited by their family and 
 friends. But the number of friendly visitors at 
 some prisons is inadequate, and we urge those 
 willing to help to write to the Discharged Prisoners’ 
 Aid Society. 
 
 (5) Food, dress, etc—Until recently the principle 
 that ‘‘ diet may be made a just and useful element 
 of penal discipline” held the field. As a guiding 
 tule, we recommend the opposing principle, viz. 
 that “‘ diet ought, on no account, to be made an 
 instrument of punishment.” ‘The Prison Commis- 
 sioners report experiments in collective dining, and 
 they add, “The public opinion of the common 
 table promotes a certain amount of decency in eating 
 and talking, and tends to raise the tone of the 
 party.” We hope that further experiments may 
 be made in this direction. 
 
 We note that the broad arrow is to be abolished, 
 and also that shaving with safety razors is now 
 being allowed. Further, Bedford Prison has already 
 been equipped with new clothing and cell furniture, 
 including looking-glasses. ‘These changes indicate a 
 changing point of view. 
 
 (6) The silence rule-—While this has been abolished 
 in its absolute form, silence is still characteristic of 
 prison régime. We recognise the difficulty of allow- 
 ing free conversation between prisoners, but the 
 
 85 
 
CRIME 
 
 present position is unsatisfactory, as it makes deceit 
 a practical necessity—for a man must talk. Also it 
 renders the prisoner ever liable to be reported, and 
 puts him at the mercy of a disagreeable officer. 
 We recommend further experiments in allowing 
 conversation among prisoners. There is some evi- 
 dence that the experiment of permitting talking at 
 exercise has not been a great success, as It was 
 found that the conversation was of a low type, and 
 quarrels sometimes resulted. We incline to think 
 that conversation should be about some definite 
 subject, and it is in this connection that debates are 
 so valuable. 
 
 (7) The prison staff—No detailed reforms of the 
 prison system can be effective unless the prison 
 staff is imbued with a new spirit. For the penal 
 character of discipline, with its military form and 
 mechanical rigidity, there must be substituted a 
 supervisory and instructional system where the 
 warder is a supervisor and instructor. Warders 
 must be such men as can safely be encouraged to 
 speak to prisoners, and to take an interest in their 
 welfare. 
 
 (8) Preventive detention—We have already re- 
 ferred to the excellent results obtained among the 
 peas at Camp Hill. Under the provision of the 
 
 revention of Crime Act, 1908, a special régime 
 was set up at that prison, which was reserved for 
 old and hardened criminals. ‘There is solid ground 
 for hoping that the same methods of greater freedom 
 and encouragement of personal initiative would 
 produce results as good, or better, if applied to 
 
 younger prisoners. We recognise that sickness and 
 86 
 
THE TREATMENT OF CRIME 
 
 mortality rates in English prisons are highly credit- 
 able, and we have no fear of further reforms making 
 prison attractive, for the loss of personal liberty and 
 personal disgrace never can be so. 
 
 In conclusion, we may mention the results 
 achieved by Mr. Mott Osborne in America by 
 means of self-government by prisoners. We can 
 freely commend the spirit of such methods, while 
 admitting that risks are involved, and that their 
 application to English prisons would be difficult. 
 None the less, a beginning has been made, and the 
 Prison Commissioners report that there can be no 
 doubt about the value of such experiments. 
 
 (E) Tue Discuarcep Prisoner 
 
 A most urgent question for all Christian workers 
 is the after-care of the prisoner upon his release. 
 With this is also bound up the care of his wife and 
 children during his incarceration. As things are, 
 the position of the discharged prisoner is one of the 
 greatest difficulty, though much has been done by 
 organised Christian bodies and the Discharged 
 Prisoners’ Aid Society. So also is the position of 
 dependents left to fend for themselves with the 
 bread-winner gone. Generally the guardians will 
 not give outdoor relief, but will take the mother 
 and children into the workhouse—thus depriving 
 the prisoner of a home to go to on release and 
 making an ill situation worse. 
 
 At present, ordinary employers fight shy of the 
 ex-prisoner. Philanthropic employers also are dis- 
 couraged by failures and loss. If our recommenda- 
 
 87 
 
CRIME 
 
 tion that prisons should become reformative agencies 
 and prisoners should be under indeterminate sen- 
 tence until fit for release were accepted, and were 
 carried out, the position would improve. 
 
 The system of ticket-of-leave and police visitation 
 tends to hinder the re-establishment in honest 
 employment. We should prefer to see supervision 
 in the hands of Parole officers unless and until 
 police supervision of any particular individual should 
 prove necessary owing to a return to crime. We 
 urge that Churches and Brotherhoods and un- 
 attached social workers might form a representative 
 Committee to deal with cases under the guidance 
 of a Parole officer, to obtain employment, give 
 advice, and afford sympathy and friendship to 
 discharged prisoners. 
 
 (I) ApMINISTRATION 
 
 (1) Police——The general reports on the fairness of 
 the police are fully borne out by our inquiries upon 
 the whole. But we strongly urge the employment of 
 women as well as men in every police force. Women 
 and children should as far as possible be dealt with 
 solely by women, and the selection of women for 
 this work should be carefully made after full 
 training. 
 
 (2) Lhe courts —That the administration of jus- 
 tice in this country is pure and free from bribery is 
 generally acknowledged and we gladly recognise this. 
 But drastic suggestions for the alteration of legal 
 procedure which would involve the admission of 
 
 “evidence”? at present considered “irrelevant ” 
 88 
 
THE TREATMENT OF CRIME 
 
 by lawyers have been put before us, ¢. g. considering 
 a neutral medical report before beginning a trial. 
 Some of these suggestions, ¢. g. that a lega] judgment 
 should not be based on precedent, involve revolu- 
 tionary changes that need skilled and very careful 
 consideration indeed. We feel that such matters 
 need further and much more detailed inquiry before 
 pronouncing upon them, while we sympathise with 
 the spirit that prompts the raising of them. 
 
 But we agree that wealth and social standing still 
 give an accused an unfair advantage over his poorer 
 brother, though the advantage is less to-day than 
 ever before, and the excellent modern tradition of 
 British judges in acting as “ Counsel for the unde- 
 fended prisoner” is a great help. We think this 
 tradition might be more inculcated amongst the 
 unpaid magistracy. The Bar and the Law Society 
 might be asked to provide voluntary defences, but 
 this needs further exploration. We are of opinion 
 that promotion to high judicial office should not 
 be determined by services to political parties, but 
 by legal qualifications, high character, fitness for 
 the office and general merit. 
 
 CONCLUSION 
 
 The Commission cannot conclude its Report 
 without expressing its thanks to all who have 
 co-operated in its work by sending in such a wealth 
 of material. ‘They feel they must emphasise the 
 necessity for regarding this subject of Crime not as 
 an isolated phenomenon, but as a matter intimately 
 related to the home, to education, to the social and 
 
 89 
 
CRIME 
 
 industrial order, and to religion. In their view 
 there is a supreme need not merely for the reform 
 of the criminal for the sake of himself and the 
 community, but for the realisation of a communal 
 responsibility to create such social conditions— 
 especially for the younger generation—as may assist 
 our “criminal” brethren and be in harmony with 
 the ideals of the Christian religion and the example 
 of its Divine Founder. 
 
 Signed : 
 Francis ALLEN. (Chairman). 
 BucuHaNAN BLAKE. 
 Nina M. T. Brytu. 
 W. Crarxe Hatt. 
 C. G. L. Du Cann. 
 Epiry E xuis. 
 B. T. Harwanp. 
 D. Lireurer-THomas. 
 Cecit LrEsson. 
 Beatrix Hupson LyYAtt. 
 Joon McBain. 
 PoLWaRTH. 
 F. Trniyarp. 
 
 Note. Owing to their absence it was impossible 
 to secure the signatures of Mrs. Sanderson Furniss 
 and Mr. K. G. Robinson. 
 
 The members of the Commission who having 
 co-operated in the preparation of this Report and 
 attach their signatures do so as individuals and in 
 no way commit the Churches or Societies of which 
 they are members. 
 
 go 
 
THE TREATMENT OF CRIME 
 
 The acceptance of the Report by a signatory 
 denotes agreement with the general substance of 
 the Report, but not necessarily with every detail. 
 
 RECOMMENDATION 
 
 This Conference accepts the report of “‘ The 
 Treatment of Crime,” and would urge upon all 
 Christians, corporately and individually, the duty 
 of :-— 
 
 (1) Promoting a deeper and more thorough study 
 of the causes of crime, and of the principles 
 which should govern all treatment of offenders 
 and criminals ; 
 
 (2) Working to remove the social evils which are 
 direct incentives to crime; 
 
 (3) Interesting themselves and others in the actual 
 work and experiments being made by prison 
 and other authorities, who are hindered and 
 prevented, through lack of whole-hearted 
 public opinion and support, from carrying 
 into effect measures and reforms of real 
 improvement and advance, and for which, in 
 many cases, fresh legislation is unnecessary. 
 
 (4) Recognising their responsibility not only for the 
 prevention and treatment of crime, but also 
 for the restoration of offenders to their place 
 in the Christian society. 
 
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