ut the
indeterminate sentence of today is often a menace to freedom and a means
of great cruelty and wrong. The indeterminate sentence can only be of
value in a well-equipped prison where each man is under competent
observation as if he were ill in a hospital. And this should be
supplemented with an honest, intelligent parole commission, fully
equipped for thorough work. Until that time comes, the maximum penalty
should be fixed by the jury, the parole board retaining the power to
reduce the punishment or parole. No two crimes are alike. No two
offenders are alike. Those who have no friends on the outside are
forgotten and neglected after the prison doors have been closed upon
them. Some men now are confined much too long; others not long enough.
No doubt, owing to the imperfections of man, this will always be the
case.

At present no penal institutions have the equipment or management to
provide against such shortcomings. They never can have it while men
believe punishment is vengeance. When the public is ready to provide for
the protection of society and still to recognize and heed the impulses
of humanity and mercy, it will abolish all fixed terms. As well might it
send a patient to a hospital for a fixed time and then discharge him,
regardless of whether he is cured or not, as to confine a convict for a
definite predetermined time. If the offense is one of a serious nature
that endangers the public, the prisoner should not be released until by
understanding or education, or age, or the proper form of treatment, it
is fairly evident that he will not offend again. When the time comes, if
it is the day of his incarceration, he should be released. The smallest
reflection ought to teach that for many crimes, especially for many
property crimes, it is hopeless to release a prisoner in an environment
where he cannot survive. An environment adjusted to his heredity must be
found by the state.

All indignities should be taken away from prison life. Instead the
prisoner should be taught that his act was the necessary result of cause
and effect and that, given his heredity and environment, he could have
done no other way. He should by teaching and experience be shown where
he made his mistakes, and he should be given an environment where he can
live consistently with the good of those around him.

Various reforms have been urged in the treatment of criminals and in
criminal procedure in the courts. Most of these impress me