“THE ELEMENTS OF CRIME.”

Gisborne Times, Volume LXVIII, Issue 10736, 6 November 1928, Page 7

“THE ELEMENTS OF CRIME.”

| ' (By BORIS BRASOL.) The Oxford University Press, | which publishes this notable booh, I states tliat it “will long occupy a merited place among the standard books of the lawyer, the psychologist, • the scientist and,the general reader.” [ Mr. Brasol was formerly Prosecutt mg Attorney of the St. Petersburg : Supreme Court and is a noted au--1 thority on criminology. Professor John H. Wigmore, Professor of Law in North-western University and'former President of the American institute of Criminal Law, and Dr. William A. White, author of “Insanity and Criminal Law,” furnish introductions to the book. The chapter which is of special interest to you is that Which deals with “Crime: Its Relation to Legislation and Procedure,”, from which we have I made these citations: —, 1 “If, for any reason, the laws themI selves stand in conflict with’tho desires, customs, ideals and tendencies • of a large number of citizens, then the natural condition of social fric- , tion is intensified. “A law winch prohibits and makes punishable a deed morally repulsive, L containing an element of danger to i the community, is' easily put into i effect because it has, as a rule, the . backing of the whole- nation; the proI liibited act ■in this sense becomes a ; ‘mala in se.’ But a statute -inter- ! dieting a practice which, ‘in se” is not immoral, and, consequently, does not shock social conscience, is not likely to enlist active support on the part of the community in its enforcement. - - ' . ' “An enactment which irritates or is opposed Uy the -people is liable to cause reaction aiming at the repeal of the defective hill. Public resentment to such legislation, forcibly or cunningly wrought upon a nation, usually assumes three different courses : “(a) Orderly agitation favoring . the repudiation of the particular law: “(h) Evasion of its consequences; and “(c) Its direct violation..' “The most alarming feature of national prohibition, seems to he tho impetuous spread of intoxication • among American children. “Government meddling with private affairs is always a dangerous policy. No state in the world is capable of regulating every manifestation of public taste or individual inclinations. •' General standards of morality and social manners cannot be radically changed or lifted by the passage of prohibitive laws. In fact, the lawmaking, epidemic is a social calamity, especially when the State undertakes to prevent such activities as do not interfere with the safety and comfort-.of the;- people' as a whole-. ‘ ‘ The theory of - democratic government is founded upon three vital principles:— “(a) The faith in the sound judgment and goodwill of the majority of the people; “(i») Their ability to govern t-hem- ' selves ; -and' " “(c) Their determination to abide by the laws created by themselves. ' 'v i 1 * “A government which through legislation attempts to teach the people how much they should eat, when and what they should drink, what they "should or should-not, wear,' and why .they should not smqke—deliberately repudiates the- practice of self-govern-ment." . • ■ “The- criminogenic effect of. meddlesome :gnd' prof usive legislation,is selfetvidient;. .the more- police laws, searches and coercive measures,—the more lawbreakers the State is artificially Breeding.”*** 'K' ' ;'