The relation of society to the individual has been one long conflict. This is necessarily true because every human organism has instincts, feelings and desires and is naturally impatient at any limitations placed upon it unless self-imposed. On the other hand, organized society functions to preserve itself, and if the activities of the individual are hostile to this preservation10 the individual must give way. Theorists of various schools are forever propounding11 social ideas, with the positive assurance that, if followed, they would work automatically and heal all social ills. But it must be evident that neither from history nor philosophy can any such theory be proved. Between the extreme anarchistic12 view that each person should be free of control by law, and the extreme socialistic view of an extension of state organization until all property and all industrial activity shall be administered by the state and collectively owned, social life in its relation to the individual is always shifting. No one can find the proper line, and if there were a line it would forever change. On the one hand, the power of the strongest element in social organization is always seeking to enlarge the province of the state. On the other hand, the individual unit following the natural instincts for its development is reaching out for more freedom and life. When the theorists in each camp manage to push so hard that both can no longer be maintained, the old organization of society breaks up into new units, immediately to re-form in some new way.
This struggle of contending forces is a prolific13 and unavoidable source of crime. When organized society goes too far, the individual units rebel and clash with law; when the units swing too far away from the social organization and defy the power of the state, almost automatically some sort of a new organization becomes the state. Whether this new one discards all old forms and laws and acts without the written law, is of no concern. It at least acts and sets limits to the individual life. If it were possible for all legislative14 bodies to meet and repeal15 all laws, the state would still remain; the people would live and automatically form themselves into a certain order and protect that order either by written law or vigilance committees. At least the people would act together.
The majority generally has some religious creed16, and to it this is all important. This creed is made up of observances, such as holy days, the support of the prevailing17 religion, the condemnation18 of witchcraft19 and magic, and the like. These and other doctrines20 often have been enforced upon those who have no faith in the regulations. The enforcement of such laws in the past has been by the most drastic penalties and has brought extreme suffering upon the world. No religious organization has ever seemed willing to confine its activities to propaganda, teaching and moral suasion; those methods are too slow, and the evils and consequences of disbelief are too great. Laws of this drastic character are still part of the penal21 codes of various states and nations, and well-organized bodies are always strenuously22 seeking to extend the application of such laws and re-enact at least a portion of the religious code that has been outgrown23.
Individuals have likewise found, or at least believed, that certain personal habits were best for them, for instance, abstaining24 from alcohol and tobacco in all forms. Not content with propaganda, they have sought to force their views upon others, many of whom deeply resent their interference.
It is not enough that certain things shall be best for the health and physical welfare of a community. This does not justify the wise law-giver in making them a part of the penal code. If so, the code would be very long. No doubt coffee and tea, and perhaps meat, are injurious to health. Most likely the strength of the community would be conserved25 if regular sleeping hours were kept and if great modifications26 or changes were made in dress. But this does not justify criminal statutes27. The code must take notice of something more than the general welfare. Unless the end sought to be attained28 is very direct and plain and the evil great so that a large majority believes in the law, it should be left to education and to other voluntary social forces.
A large part of the community has always attributed many criminal acts to intoxicating29 drinks. I am convinced that with such crimes as murder, burglary, robbery, forgery30 and the like, alcohol has had little to do. Petty things, like disorderly conduct, are often caused by intoxicating liquor, and these land a great many temporarily in jail, but these acts are really not criminal. Men have been temporarily locked up for over-drinking. If over-eating had been treated the same as over-drinking, the jails would often be filled with gluttons32. As to health, probably the glutton31 takes the greater chance. A very large percentage of deaths would have been materially delayed except for excessive eating. The statements ascribing crime to intoxicating drinks have generally been made by those who are obsessed33 with a hatred34 of alcohol. As a rule if one lands in prison and has not been a total abstainer35, his downfall is charged to rum. Statistics have been gathered in prison often by chaplains who, in the main, are prohibitionists and interested in sustaining an opinion. The facts are mainly furnished by inmates37 of prisons, a poor source from which to gather facts and draw deductions38, especially as to the cause of crime. Prisoners are interested in only one thing, and that is getting out. They understand perfectly39 well what kind of statistics the chaplain wants and these are given. It is the nature and part of the protective instinct of everyone to find some excuse for his acts. Alcohol has always furnished this excuse. It is a good alibi40; it is readily believed, always awakens41 sympathy and at once turns the wrath42 of a provincial43 community from the inmate36 of the prison to the saloon-keeper.
Even if prisoners were unlike others and wished to tell the truth about themselves, they have not the art and understanding to give the causes of their plight44. No man, however intelligent, can do this, least of all one of inferior brain power, little education and not trained in dealing45 with facts. The prison inmate, like everyone else, knows only that he followed what seemed to him the line of least resistance, and that every step in his course was preceded by another and that there was a reason for what he did. Most likely he does not know the reason. In the hours of his despair he goes over his life in every detail, at every crossroad, and at all the forks where paths branch, always wishing he had gone the other way.
While this is true, he could know neither the dangers that lurked46 along other roads, nor the fact that he had no choice about the way he went. All he knows is that he stumbled along a certain path which led to disaster. All the paths of life lead to tragedy; it is only a question as to how and when. With some, the evil day is longer delayed and the disaster seems not so hard to bear.
In a sense, all the classifications as to the cause of crime are misleading and worthless. Your existence is the result of infinite chances and causes appalling47 in their number. Out of a thousand eggs, one is fertilized48 by perhaps one of a billion sperms49, and from this you have been given life. Each of your parents and grandparents and so on, back for two hundred thousand years of human ancestors, and back to infinity50 before man was born, was the result of the same seemingly blind and almost impossible hazard. The infinitely51 microscopic52 chance that each of us had for life cannot be approximated. All the drops of water in the ocean, or all the grains of sand upon the shore, or all the leaves on all the trees, if converted into numbers and used as a denominator, with one for a numerator, could hardly tell the fraction of a chance that gave us life.
The causes of human action are infinite, and no cause stands isolated53 from the rest. In the first place we cannot tell the meaning of the word "cause" when applied54 to a problem of this sort. In law the ordinary rule for a "proximate cause" is "an event or happening in the direct line of causation, not too remote, that has led to the result, and without which the result could not have happened." But this means nothing. Infinite are the causes which have led to every act, and without each one of the infinite causes the act could not have resulted. If it be something that affected55 a life, and had it not happened then the life would have drifted somewhere else. In the end it would have reached the same harbor of Nirvana. But the life would not have been the same. A drop of water falls on the Rocky Mountains, it trickles56 along, going around through pebbles57 and grains of sand; it joins with others, meets trees and roots, winds and twists perhaps for hundreds, even thousands of miles before one can tell by what channel it will reach the sea. Infinite accidents determine even which sea it shall finally reach. The most radical58 advocates of social control are never at a loss to lay their fingers on causes or to know what would have happened if something else had not happened; they never hesitate to forbid seemingly innocent acts because they are certain that evil will follow. They are contemptuous of one who wants to preserve the semblance59 and spirit of freedom.
Life has none too much to offer where men are left to control themselves, and to be forbidden to follow your inclinations60 and desires because sometimes they may result disastrously61, is to give up what seems to be a substance for what is most likely a shadow.
All we can tell about the man whom we are pleased to call a criminal, is that he had a poor equipment and met certain influences, motives62 and conditions, called environment, on his journey. We know that at a given time the journey has reached a certain point; it has met disaster or success, or most likely indifference63. At a certain point he has reached a prison or is waiting for the hangman to tie a noose64 around his neck. Is heredity responsible? We know of many who apparently65 started out with an equipment no better. These may be business men and congressmen and deacons in the church. While we do not know and cannot know the trend and relative strength of the instincts in the various machines or the emotions that these and the whole equipment produced, apparently an equipment as poor as that of the criminal has met success, or at least kept its possessor out of jail. Was it then his environment? We have known men placed in the same environment, perhaps a brother, conquering difficulties and bringing success from what seemed to promise certain defeat. Why did one fail where the other conquered? Was it the "will" that caused one to be the "captain of his soul"? What then is the "will" and who gave the weak will to one and the strong will to another? And, if each was born with a certain "will" or the capacity to make a certain "will", who then is responsible for the result? Or, does the word "will" mean anything, as usually applied?
All we can tell is that a certain equipment met a certain environment, and the result was early disaster. A change of even the slightest factor of environment might have saved the victim from hanging, so that he could die a respectable and peaceful death from tuberculosis66 or cancer.
After all, the inevitable67 tragedy that in some form marks the end is not so important as the sensations and experiences that one meets on the road. Life is hopeless and colorless indeed if these experiences are chosen for the wayfarer68 and the sensations are enforced or denied, as the case may be. Nothing recompenses the individual for the denial of his chance to follow his own path.
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1
cults
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| n.迷信( cult的名词复数 )；狂热的崇拜；（有极端宗教信仰的）异教团体 | |
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justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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violations
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| 违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸 | |
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lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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supervision
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| n.监督，管理 | |
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refractory
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| adj.倔强的，难驾驭的 | |
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justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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interferes
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| vi. 妨碍，冲突，干涉 | |
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philosophical
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| adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的 | |
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preservation
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| n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持 | |
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propounding
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| v.提出（问题、计划等）供考虑[讨论]，提议( propound的现在分词 ) | |
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12
anarchistic
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| 无政府主义的 | |
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prolific
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| adj.丰富的，大量的；多产的，富有创造力的 | |
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legislative
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| n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的 | |
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repeal
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| n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消 | |
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creed
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| n.信条；信念，纲领 | |
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prevailing
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| adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的 | |
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condemnation
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| n.谴责; 定罪 | |
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witchcraft
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| n.魔法，巫术 | |
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doctrines
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| n.教条( doctrine的名词复数 )；教义；学说；（政府政策的）正式声明 | |
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penal
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| adj.刑罚的；刑法上的 | |
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strenuously
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| adv.奋发地，费力地 | |
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outgrown
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| 长[发展] 得超过（某物）的范围( outgrow的过去分词 )； 长[发展]得不能再要（某物）； 长得比…快； 生长速度超过 | |
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24
abstaining
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| 戒（尤指酒），戒除( abstain的现在分词 )； 弃权（不投票） | |
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25
conserved
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| v.保护，保藏，保存( conserve的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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modifications
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| n.缓和( modification的名词复数 )；限制；更改；改变 | |
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statutes
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| 成文法( statute的名词复数 )； 法令； 法规； 章程 | |
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attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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intoxicating
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| a. 醉人的,使人兴奋的 | |
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forgery
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| n.伪造的文件等，赝品，伪造（行为） | |
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glutton
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| n.贪食者，好食者 | |
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gluttons
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| 贪食者( glutton的名词复数 )； 贪图者； 酷爱…的人； 狼獾 | |
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obsessed
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| adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的 | |
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hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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abstainer
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| 节制者，戒酒者，弃权者 | |
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inmate
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| n.被收容者；(房屋等的)居住人；住院人 | |
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inmates
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| n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 ) | |
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deductions
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| 扣除( deduction的名词复数 )； 结论； 扣除的量； 推演 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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40
alibi
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| n.某人当时不在犯罪现场的申辩或证明；借口 | |
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41
awakens
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的第三人称单数 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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42
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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43
provincial
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| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
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44
plight
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| n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定 | |
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45
dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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46
lurked
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| vi.潜伏，埋伏（lurk的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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47
appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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48
Fertilized
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| v.施肥( fertilize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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49
sperms
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| 精子( sperm的名词复数 ) | |
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50
infinity
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| n.无限，无穷，大量 | |
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51
infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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52
microscopic
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| adj.微小的，细微的，极小的，显微的 | |
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53
isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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trickles
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| n.细流( trickle的名词复数 )；稀稀疏疏缓慢来往的东西v.滴( trickle的第三人称单数 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动 | |
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pebbles
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| [复数]鹅卵石； 沙砾； 卵石，小圆石( pebble的名词复数 ) | |
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58
radical
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| n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的 | |
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semblance
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| n.外貌，外表 | |
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inclinations
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| 倾向( inclination的名词复数 )； 倾斜； 爱好； 斜坡 | |
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disastrously
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| ad.灾难性地 | |
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62
motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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63
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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64
noose
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| n.绳套，绞索（刑）；v.用套索捉；使落入圈套；处以绞刑 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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tuberculosis
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| n.结核病，肺结核 | |
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67
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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wayfarer
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| n.旅人 | |
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