But it is to the records of the Children's Society that one must go for reliable statistics of the potential criminal, as there the only systematic study of their conditions is made and recorded by one of the greatest neurologists in the country, Dr. Max Schlapp, of New York. As a specialist in nervous diseases he has been connected with the Children's Society and the Children's Court, where he has had wide opportunities for observing the relation between delinquence and mental defectiveness. In cases of viciousness or feeble-mindedness exhaustive studies have been made by Dr. Schlapp. And the extent to which society is daily at the mercy of uncontrolled potential criminality is alarming.
"Feeble-minded children and feeble-minded men," says Dr. Schlapp, "are roaming about the streets of New York to-day as free agents. Parents are not compelled by law to put a feeble-minded child in custody. Yet that feeble-minded child unsuspected as such, amiable and care-free as he usually is, is potentially a criminal, and at any moment may commit a crime. That child is permitted
to grow up without restraint, except such as the parents exercise, and this has no effect whatever in these cases. The child is allowed to marry and bring forth children of his own kind, more feeble-minded and more dangerous. There is no system designed to pick out from the community persons so afflicted, and no law whatever to prevent their untrammelled movements.
"The city street is a recruiting ground for the gangster because it is full of defective children, mental and moral, who are potential criminals. This question has never been seriously considered. When brought under corrective restraint it has hitherto long been the custom to herd all the cases together while serving time. But in 1894 the German Government woke up to the fact that 3 to 7 per cent. of city children and those of isolated rural communities contain the 'moron,' or intellectually defective type, together with the moral imbecile."
Investigation showed recently that in a reformatory near Berlin 63 per cent. of the inmates were abnormal, while over 50 per cent. were seriously defective or menaces to society. This has since been shown to exist in all the leading nations—England, France, Italy, where, by the way, the Camorrist type is the equivalent for our New York gangster. In the Elmira Reformatory 38 per cent. are, as a rule, feeble-minded and consist of types that repeat their offense against society or commit some other crime.
There is only one way to prevent these types from becoming a menace. Restrain them while they are still developing; keep them from becoming free agents in the community they menace. Types continually come up in the Children's Society and the Children's Court. They are carefully studied. From the actions of the child, from his parents and family history, from the frequency with which he repeats some offense particularly pleasing to him, and by virtue of psychological tests and careful medical examinations the examiners are able to pick out children who should receive scientific care and treatment.
"The characteristics of the feeble-minded are usually deceiving. One expects to find them with low brows and furtive looks and more or less vicious in appearance
after they develop criminal tendencies. One would expect them to show stupidity at a glance. On the contrary, they are sometimes bright on the surface, amiable, good-tempered under trying conditions, and almost likeable for their external social side. This is particularly true of the high grade defectives. The lower order may be taciturn, gloomy and retiring, and these traits may be noticed almost from infancy. But as they grow up their social nature may be developed, and they too may give the appearance of amiableness. One notable thing about them is their pose of frank innocence. In this they are engaging, and almost convincing.
"The street type that makes a gangster is practically the same if cruder in development. These children usually exhibit absolutely no sign of affection for their parents, no sympathy, and are notably cruel toward animals. One boy we had in the Children's Society persistently killed all the dogs and cats his family kept. Finally, when they ceased keeping the animals he got at the canary cage and killed the bird by pulling the feathers out singly. He had no compunction about lying, and looked you right in the eye when he lied. Otherwise he was charming and natural."
While moral insanity is hereditary, yet it can be produced in one generation. An alcoholic man with clean antecedents may leave tainted descendants. The only way to combat these conditions in the city is to have strict registration of all feeble-minded and insane. The state should discover them, examine them through public officials, and segregate them. Not only physicians, but school teachers and officials in public institutions should detect them. There should be in each state an institution for feeble-minded delinquents.