it was the theological systems of the ancient world fighting to keep
Christianity out, or Christianity fighting to preserve itself, the same
cruel, bigoted, fanatical majority has been found to do its will, and
the same reasons and excuses have served the law from the earliest
times down to today.
A letter of the younger Pliny, who was then governor of Bythinia-Pontus,
a province of Rome, asking the Emperor Trajan for instructions in
dealing with the early Christians shows how persistent are intolerance
and bigotry. This might have been written yesterday to seek advice in
the suppression of opinion and punishment for sedition in any of the
most advanced governments of the modern world, as it was in the most
advanced of the ancient world. The letter is here reproduced as an
interesting exhibit of human nature and it fixity.
Pliny, the younger, was born in 61 A.D. and became governor of the
province of Bythinia-Pontus about the year 112 A.D. under the Emperor
Trajan. In the discharge of his duties as governor, Pliny discovered
that the conversion of many of his subjects to Christianity had resulted
in a falling off of trade in the victims usually purchased for
sacrifices at the temples and in other commodities used in connection
with pagan worship. As a good governor, Pliny sought to remedy this
economic situation, and his plan was to restore his subjects to their
old forms of worship. Thus he was brought into contact with
Christianity. The following letters, one from Pliny to Trajan, and the
other, Trajan's reply, show the situation. These documents are from the
Tenth Book of Pliny's Correspondence, Letters 97 and 98.
PLINY ASKING INSTRUCTIONS OF TRAJAN ON TRIALS OF CHRISTIANS
It is my invariable rule, Sir, to refer to you in all matters where
I feel doubtful; for who is more capable of removing my scruples, or
informing my ignorance? Having never been present at any trials
concerning those who profess Christianity, I am unacquainted not
only with the nature of their crimes, or the measure of their
punishment, but how far it is proper to enter into an examination
concerning them. Whether, therefore, any difference is usually made
with respect to ages, or no distinction is to be observed between
the young and the adult; whether repentance entitles them to a
pardon; or if a man has been once a Christian, it avails nothing to
desist from his error; whether the very profession of Christianity,
unattended with any criminal act, or only the crimes themselves
inherent in the profession are punishable; on all these points I am
in great doubt. In the meanwhile, the method I have observed towards
those who have been brought before me as Christians is this: I asked
them whether they were Christians; if they admitted it, I repeated
the question twice, and threatened them with punishment; if they
persisted, I ordered them to be at once punished: for I was
persuaded, whatever the nature of their opinions might be, a
contumacious and inflexible obstinacy certainly deserved correction.
There were others also brought before me possessed with the same
infatuation, but being Roman citizens, I directed them to be sent to
Rome. But this crime spreading (as is usually the case) while it was
actually under prosecution, several instances of the same nature
occurred. An anonymous information was laid before me, containing a
charge against several persons, who upon examination denied they
were Christians, or had ever been so. They repeated after me an
invocation to the gods, and offered religious rites with wine and
incense before your statue (which for that purpose I had ordered to
be brought, together with those of the gods), and even reviled the
name of Christ: whereas there is no forcing, it is said, those who
are really Christians into any of these compliances: I thought it
proper, therefore, to discharge them. Some among those who were
accused by a witness in person at first confessed themselves
Christians, but immediately after denied it: the rest owned indeed
that they had been of that number formerly, but had now (some above
three, others more, and a few above twenty years ago) renounced that
error. They all worshipped your statue and the images of the gods,
uttering imprecations at the same time against the name of Christ.
They affirmed the whole of their guilt, or their error, was, that
they met on a stated day before it was light, and addressed a form
of prayer to Christ, as to a divinity, binding themselves by a
solemn oath, not for the purposes of any wicked design, but never to
commit any fraud, theft, or adultery, never to falsify their word,
nor deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up;
after which it was their custom to separate, and then re-assemble,
to eat in common a harmless meal. From this custom, however, they
desisted after the publication of my edict, by which, according to
your commands, I forbade the meeting of any assemblies.
After receiving this account, I judged it so much the more necessary
to endeavor to extort the real truth, by putting two female slaves
to the torture, who were said to officiate in their religious rites:
but all I could discover was evidence of an absurd and extravagant
superstition. I deemed it expedient, therefore, to adjourn all
further proceedings, in order to consult you. For it appears to be a
matter highly deserving your consideration, more especially as great
numbers must be involved in the danger of these prosecutions, which
have already extended, and are still likely to extend, to persons of
all ranks and ages, and even of both sexes. In fact, this contagious
superstition is not confined to the cities only, but has spread its
infection among the neighboring villages and country. Nevertheless,
it still seems possible to restrain its progress. The temples, at
least, which were once almost deserted, begin now to be frequented;
and the sacred rites, after a long intermission, are again revived;
while there is a general demand for the victims, which till lately
found very few purchasers. From all this it is easy to conjecture
what numbers might be reclaimed if a general pardon were granted to
those who shall repent of their error.
TRAJAN TO PLINY
You have adopted a right course, my dearest Secundus, in
investigating the charges against the Christians who were brought
before you. It is not possible to lay down any general rule for all
such cases. Do not go out of your way to look for them. If indeed
they should be brought before you, and the crime is proved, they
must be punished; with the restriction, however, that where the
party denies he is a Christian, and shall make it evident that he is
not, by invoking our gods, let him (notwithstanding any former
suspicion) be pardoned upon his repentance. Anonymous information
ought not to be received in any sort of prosecution. It is
introducing a very dangerous precedent, and is quite foreign to the
spirit of our age.
Civilization is largely a question of new machinery and methods. It is
not the humanizing of men. It is plain that no matter what the time or
age, the characteristics of man remain the same. His structure does not
change; his emotional life cannot change. New objects and desires may
control his feeling, but whatever the aim of the age and place, the same
inherent emotions control.
Intolerance has been one of the great sources of evil all down the ages.
It is practically certain that neither time nor education has made man
more kindly in his judgment of his fellows or more tolerant in his
opinions and life. All that education can do is to remove some of the
inducing causes that have always brought the sharp conflicts and
awakened the cruelty of man.
Every civilization brings new evils and new complexities which man meets
with the same machine and the same emotions. It is fairly certain that
no nobler idealism or no finer feelings have been planted or cultivated
in man since the dawn of history, and when it is thoroughly realized
that man's structure is fixed and cannot be changed it seems as if none
could be developed.
XXXI
THE CONVICT
Human nature is so weak and imperfect that, at its best, it needs all
the encouragement it can get. The comradeship of friends, and the
attitude of the public and acquaintances are of the greatest importance
in effecting the development of most lives. Sooner or later the
convicted man is turned out either on probation or parole, or at the
expiration of his sentence. He was probably none too strong a man before
his conviction. His heredity was poor in most cases, and his environment
completed his downfall. He faces the world again with a serious handicap
that he did not have at first. If he had just recovered from a severe
illness, everyone he met would do all he could to help him; his
environment would be made easier than before his confinement in the
hospital; and especially from the conditions that placed him there, both
society and his neighbors would try to see that he should, as far as
possible, be saved. If he had been one of those who could live only by
means of his own work, and if on account of himself or his family he had
been obliged to over-strain, an easier place would probably be found
for him. The chances of going to the hospital the second time would be
very much less than they were the first time. Even his experience in
confinement would be of use, and through that experience he would be
taught to live and preserve his health.
The discharged prisoner is met in an entirely different way. The
ex-convict is under doubt and suspicion from the start. On the slightest
provocation he is reminded of his past. He is always under suspicion
unless, perhaps, he professes a change of heart. Such a change implies a
physical process which is impossible. Some sudden exaltation may furnish
him a new emotion for a time, but this can last only while the stimulus
has power to act. It will soon pass away and the man will be himself
again. It may be possible that here and there is a nature of such an
emotional temperament, that religion or socialism or single tax or some
other strong conviction may possess him until such time as his feelings
begin to cool and change, when he will be safe. But most men are
inherently the same when they come out of prison as when they go in.
Under right treatment they may gain a little more wisdom as to life that
will help them make adjustments; or they may be relieved from some
burdens, or placed in an environment of less stress and strain where it
will be easier to live. In those cases, the attitude and help of the
community are all-important.
Society is not entirely to blame for looking on him with suspicion. It
knows he once failed. It has been taught that this failure was due to a
moral delinquency outside the law of cause and effect, and society is
naturally suspicious that he will offend again or molest the community
in some other way. Had he been confined because he had not the strength
to meet his environment; had the law put him in custody under expert
control until he gained the strength for his battle with life; or had a
new environment been provided under scientific direction as in the case
of a hospital patient, society would then take another view and do all
it could to help him. New comrades and associates would surround him to
show him the way, and they would make his burden lighter. Instead of
this, he comes out with his ability to adjust himself to life lessened.
If a crime is committed in his community he is blamed or at least
suspected. He is known to the police and often "rounded-up." This
directly interferes with his employment, places him at a disadvantage
with his associates, and drives him into the company of others who feel
that the world is against them and that a life of crime is all there is
left to follow. It is not hard to see how men come to be "repeaters." It
is hard to understand when they do not.
XXXII
ISOLATION AND STERILIZATION
The growing belief that crime comes largely from the subnormal has
created a more or less definite demand for the isolation of the moron
before the commission of crime and for the sterilization of certain
misfits, especially after conviction. Both of these methods are very
drastic, and while society must and will adopt any way that seems to be
necessary to protect itself, still before accepting such drastic
remedies it should be very clear that the danger is sufficiently great
to justify the means, that the desired result will follow and that no
other means will bring about the end.
In this discussion it should be remembered that the mental
classification of children and grown-ups is only in its infancy, that
much that is freely stated is still in the realm of theory, and that
time and patience in making investigations and classifying facts are
most important in arriving at correct results.
The really intelligent are as abnormal as the defective. The great
masses of men are rather mediocre, and those above and below are
exceptions. This depends on how broad is the class included in the
normal. There are no sharp divisions anywhere; above, the normal shades
imperceptibly into those of unusual intelligence, and below it fades
just as gradually into the sub-normal. While defectives are more apt to
commit crimes, in the main this is because their environment is too hard
for their machine.
The sub-normal are probably more tractable and less disposed to the
emotions that lead to criminal acts than are the more intelligent. Their
crimes are especially noticed because they seem to be without any
serious motive and often shockingly brutal. City life most readily
uncovers the sub-normal. This is true because the strain is far greater
in the city than the country. There are exceptions to this rule,
particularly those portions of the country that are barren and
unproductive territory into which the venturesome and obvious unfits are
drawn.
The prisons are not the only places which are inhabited by the
sub-normal and the misfit. The hardest and most disagreeable and most
poorly paid labor is largely done by this class of people. Very few
people of superior intelligence and education do manual labor and the
more disagreeable the manual labor, the more certain it is that the job
is done by the sub-normal and the misfit. A large part of the farm
labor, the odd jobs and common labor in small towns, the cheaper labor
on railroads, in factories and all industrial plants is given to this
sort of men. In the country and small village, where life is easy, this
class seldom makes trouble and is hardly known. These men and women
easily and naturally fall into a place in the industry and society of
the village and are often among the most useful members.
A general examination of all men to discover the defective and the
sub-normal, coupled with a demand that all such be sent to some place of
confinement, would meet with such a protest from all classes seriously
affected as to end not only the demand but the further agitation of the
subject. Any such law, if carried out, would not only seriously increase
the cost of all industry, but in many instances would make it impossible
to carry it on. It is hardly conceivable that above the idiot, society
shall make examinations and tests and confine or sterilize large classes
of people who have not yet developed anti-social tendencies, but who on
account of feeble intellects might sometime commit crime.
The world has ample data at hand to show more humane and at the same
time much cheaper ways, even methods that will yield a profit. These
ways have been abundantly illustrated by history and can be witnessed in
operation every day.
England was repeatedly conquered and settled by brigands and misfits.
When her people grew more homogeneous and orderly she sent her
anti-social to New Zealand and to Virginia. In New Zealand with its
opportunities these outcasts and their descendants prospered and were as
orderly and conventional as the English society that banished them for
England's good. The colonies in Virginia with access to land and a
chance to make homes for themselves established a social order and
formed communities more prosperous than the ones that sent them out.
Many of their descendants are now successful and important members of
every western state.
In fact, most of the European immigrants who have settled in the United
States were the poor and the outcast, the misfits of European countries.
With better opportunities and a chance to build up homes in a new land,
their descendants are at least the equals of those who stayed behind.
The growth and development of the United States westward from the
Atlantic seaboard has been effected by the poorer and less intelligent,
but often the more venturesome, who constantly turned West to get
cheaper land and a better chance. The residents of these western states
compare very favorably with those who still reside in the sections of
the country which these pioneers left behind. It cannot be shown that
the less intelligent have criminal natures. All that can be shown is
that they have a poorer equipment to meet the stress and strain of
life. To make most of this class safe, all that is needed is fairer
conditions and an easier environment. If society could only recover from
the obsession that what is necessary to regulate man is plenty of
prisons and harder punishments, it would be fairly easy and infinitely
cheaper to improve the environment from which crime springs than to
visit vengeance on the victim.
The effect of education is very great. Many a subnormal and backward
person has been educated so he could take a place in life that those
with a much greater natural ability could not fill.
Beyond the segregation of the imbecile, the insane and those who have
committed crime, it is dangerous to go. The course of preventing crime
lies in the other direction, better opportunity and an easier life.
It has grown to be a commonplace in the discussion of crime to speak of
isolation and sterilization as the proper treatment of the criminal and
defective. This is generally done without any clear understanding of the
laws of heredity.
The laws of the transmission from parent to child of traits and
tendencies are not yet well enough known to justify any attempt to
interfere with the function of life, except in the case of the idiotic.
It is plain that crime cannot be inherited. Certain defects in the brain
and nervous system can be and are inherited. No brain or nervous system
is perfect, so the problem is one of the incapacity which causes the
maladjustment. Crime results from defective heredity when applied to the
environment. It comes from the inability of the machine to make the
necessary adjustments of life. The making of the criminal is largely a
question of his fortune or misfortune in the environment where he is
placed. It is absurd to say that one inherits the tendency to rob or
rape or burglarize or kill. He may inherit an unstable organization that
in certain hostile environments will lead him to any of these crimes.
For that matter all men inherit the organization that will bring these
results if the environment is sufficiently hard. Society may in many
ways place too high a value on human life. Still we punish men who place
too low a value on the lives of others, and the state should be very
slow to destroy life or the capacity for life.
There is much to learn, much to explain about the mysterious workings of
heredity, before man can undertake to say that he has the wisdom or
justice to choose the ones who should be the bearers of life to the
future.
It is most common to find in the same family various degrees of
intelligence. Now and then a man of such high powers and faculties is
born that he is regarded by scientists as a "sport" who defies all
known laws in his origin. Often one person in a family is of commanding
strength, while the rest are commonplace.
The insanity and disease that afflict many men of genius is well known.
Grasset in his book _The Semi-Insane and the Semi-Responsible_ has given
a long list of eminent names. Many great authors have depicted insanity
in their most gifted characters. Genius is frequently an indication of
insanity. It is a wide departure from the normal.
The obscure and lowly origin of many of the world's greatest men seems
to point to the fact that Nature has methods that man cannot comprehend
and with which it is not wise for him to interfere. The fact is that
genius, or even great strength or ability in the parent, is by no means
sure to be handed down. In fact, it is very rare indeed that such
unusual traits persist. That sterilization should follow as a punishment
for sex crimes is without any sort of logic except that sterilization
relates to sex. The whole idea is born of the hatred or loathing of
certain crimes.
Generalizations have been made from a few poorly authenticated cases,
and these generalizations have gone far beyond anything that the
evidence can justify. It does not follow that because the father and son
have black hair, or the mother and daughter have blue eyes, or that
their mannerisms are similar, that inheritance is responsible for
character, much less for crime. Certain things are clearly traceable to
heredity. Other things may be the result of association or what to us
must still be accident.
Often the fact is pointed out that great progress has been made in the
culture of plants and the breeding of animals. This is true. No
intelligent farmer to-day would think of raising any but the best stock.
He takes pains with the breeding of his cattle. If he wants rich milk
and butter, he breeds Jerseys or Guernseys. If he wants a larger
quantity of milk and a fair beef animal, he breeds Holsteins. If he
wants beef only, perhaps he raises Durhams. At any rate he knows what he
wants and breeds that kind. Similarly the horse-raiser will breed for
race horses or dray horses as the case may be, and the system works with
almost mechanical certainty. He gets what he wants and would never think
of raising scrubs and taking a chance on results. The effect of
selective breeding and culture is beyond dispute, and to many it seems
obvious that all that is needed to perfect the human race and wipe out
misery and crime is to supervise human breeding in the same way, so that
the species may be controlled.