THE DEMANDS OF THE AGE.
As this age demands a high order of talent and effort in the industrial, so it should demand and require great ability and power in the penal world.
The third of a century of the life of the National Prison Congress has witnessed great progress in the domain over which it has advisory power. Many problems pressing for solution demand the highest functions of those in control.
Do punishments deter men from crime?
Do the universal customs of the times foster and beget much of the crime committed?
Does war beget murder elsewhere?
Is social vengeance a failure, and are other means necessary to prevent crime?
Should not executives now clothed with power to terminate or shorten sentences of imprisonment also have power to lengthen terms of imprisonment or to change from a definite to an indefinite term whenever they become in possession of facts regarding the convict's previous life or present character, which were unknown to the sentencing judge?
Should not United States prisoners incarcerated in the various state prisons have the restrictions of the indeterminate sentence and the parole, thus securing a uniform system of treatment for all prisoners and greatly promoting the discipline?
Should we go back of the commission of crimes and ascertain if the State itself is not committing a crime in imposing and permitting conditions that beget crime?