the criminal is confronted in court with an indictment charging him with a violation of the law. he is a human being, like all others, neither perfect nor entirely worthless. he has some tendencies and inclinations which the world calls good for lack of a better term, and some that it calls bad for the same reason. in this he is like the jury and the judge. the strength of the different tendencies is not the same in any two machines. the judge and jury are interested in determining whether he is good or bad; that is, better or worse than they themselves. in theory he is tried on the charges contained in the indictment.
in most cases by a constant stretching of the rules of evidence his whole life may be involved. that is, proof may be offered of any act of delinquency that constituted a violation of the law, if in any way similar, or in any way connected with the one charged in the indictment. he cannot meet these charges by proving the acts of kindness and charity and real worth that are rarely absent in any life. the proceedings show how bad he is, not how good. he may be able to call witnesses to show that up to the time of the bringing of the indictment his reputation for honesty was good; but he cannot show that he supported his grandmother, or helped his aunt, or educated his younger brother, or gave his money to the poor. all the good is irrelevant to the issue. this does not prove that he did not commit the act. it might clearly prove whether on the whole he should go to jail. through this process he feels that the law and proceedings are unfair and that he is condemned, when, in fact, he is as good as those who judge him. neither can he show the circumstances that hedged in his way nor the equipment with which he entered life. under the legal theory that he is "the captain of his soul," these are not material to the issue. neither can he show the direct motive that caused the conduct. it may have been a motive that was ideal, but the question involved is, did he violate the law?
he is convicted and sent to prison. as a rule, he will some time be turned back into the world. he needs careful treatment, involving instruction and an appeal to that part of his nature which may awaken sympathies and produce emotions that will make him more of a social being on his return to the world. in the loose language of the world, it is necessary for him not only to learn how to curb the evil but how to increase the good. his imagination should be cultivated and enlarged. the responses to better sentiment should be strengthened. this can be furthered only by skilled teachers who are moved by the desire to help him. the process should be similar to a hospital treatment. instead of this, he is usually surrounded by men of little intelligence or education, men who have no fitness for the task; he is governed by strict rules, all of them subjecting him to severe penalties when violated. every action in the prison reminds him of his status. with the exception of a few strong men who need suffering for their development it can have but one result. he must come out from prison poorer material than when he went in. there are only two reflections that can keep him out of trouble in the future: the remembrance of the past and the fear that a similar experience might come to him again.
when it is remembered that the greatest enemy to happiness and life is fear; when we realize that the constant battle of the primitive man was with the fear that peoples the unknown with enemies and dangers; when we remember that in some way, fear of poverty, of disease, of disaster, of loss of friends and life is the ever-present enemy of us all, it is evident that nothing but harm can come from the lessons of fear that are drilled into the victim in prison. life furnishes countless ways to be kind and helpful and social. it furnishes infinite ways to be cruel, hard and anti-social. most of these anti-social ways are not condemned by the law. whether the life is helpful and kindly or hard and selfish can never depend upon the response of an organism to fear, but upon the response of an organism to the kindlier and more humane and sympathetic sentiments that to some extent at least inhere in the constitution of man.
it is a common thing for prisoners, even during the longest term, to be more solicitous about mother, child, wife, brother or friend than about themselves. it is common for them to deny themselves privileges, presents or favors to help other inmates. the consideration and kindness shown by unfortunates to each other are surprising to those who have no experience with this class of men. often to find real sympathy you must go to those who know what misery means. pride and coldness are usually due to lack of understanding, and life alone can bring understanding. every intelligent man engaged in efforts to improve and help either criminals or children or any others, knows the need of an appeal to what passes as the better nature. help does not come so much from directly inhibiting the bad as by extending the area of the higher emotions. to pull up weeds in a garden without planting something in their place is a foolish task. the human being is like the garden. something must grow in the soil. if weeds are pulled up and nothing planted nature will grow more weeds. some feelings and emotions always possess every person. the best that is incident to the machine should be found and this be cultivated and extended until it dominates the man. courts and prisons have no machinery to cultivate the best in their victims; they are always looking for the worst, aiding and promoting it until the prisoner is driven to hopelessness and despair.
