The Delinquent (Vol. IV, No. 1), January, 1914Various
History
The Delinquent (Vol. IV, No. 1), January, 1914
Various
Prisons -- Periodicals
None of the men whipped in Delaware is punished to the point that very
great physical torture follows. Such a lashing would create a martyr
of a criminal, and this must be avoided.
Criminals of the type that hold up trains, raid banks and rob
Government buildings are jealous of their reputations in the
underworld. Once whipped they become objects of derision and contempt
in their own circles. Some of these men are inordinately vain. It is
quite likely that this vanity, affectation or love of even doubtful
glory deters them from invading Delaware and daring the post.
Notice how the arrest of a notorious yeggman is always followed by
accurate reports of his record. Study these records and you will seldom
see that the prisoner was whipped in Delaware. It is idle to assume
that these men are afraid to come to Delaware because we have police,
a militia and all the other agencies for the enforcement of law. These
are common to all communities. They are not in any degree afraid of
the physical punishment involved in a Delaware whipping. Many of them
in friendly boxing bouts are more thoroughly beaten up every few days
while exercising. It is the preliminaries, the mental picture of the
trial, the solemnity of the sentence, the ignominy of the performance,
and, last of all, the contempt, ridicule and humiliation at the hands
of their consorts, male and female, that produce the result first on
the individual whipped, and ultimately upon all of his kind.
If there was nothing to it but a mere flogging by a prison warder
of doubtful authority; simply one man in brief authority beating up
another man but temporarily in his keeping, there would be, could be,
no such result, and the whipping of criminals would probably degenerate
into revolting performances with attending scandals. The Delaware
system precludes any such possibility.
The women of the nation lead in all humanitarian work as they should.
In every large city in the United States, except Wilmington, Delaware,
some brute is sent to jail every day or so for wife beating. Chicago
has had to establish a Court of Domestic Relations for the almost
exclusive benefit of women who have been whipped by beasts who swore to
love and honor them. Delaware will never need any such court so long as
the whipping post is so near the court house and in such great favor
with our judiciary. There is no Judge sitting in Delaware who does not
strongly favor the last for wife beaters.
Some of our good friends who call themselves penologists,
philanthropists, humanitarians and prison reformers overlook one all
important matter in their crusades. This essential is the prevention of
crime. Without discussion I will agree to everything that any of them
propose for the health and education and reformation of a criminal, but
I still insist that he is best off when he is kept from crime.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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