THE HABITUAL CRIMINAL 63 



explanation is that it was the boys with worst natural 

 quahties who on the whole committed offences against the 

 law earher in life. They had in consequence the longest 

 reformatory training; but, when coming out, their bad 

 quahties began to tell once again and soon led them to a 

 hfe of crime. No doubt many who have been led astray 

 mainly by the force of bad example can be and are put on 

 the right road by care and training; and this fact amply 

 justifies the existence of institutions for this purpose. But 

 here we have a proof of the existence of hereditary quah- 

 ties tending to promote crime which cannot be denied. 



Those criminals who have the worst predispositions wiU 

 do most harm to posterity by having children. We should, 

 therefore, ascertain as well as we can which classes of 

 criminals have the worst natural quahties. The men who 

 receive heavy punishments have often committed crime 

 requiring at aU events skill, inteUigence, and courage. 

 Habitual criminals, who commit many trifling offences 

 against the law, need have only courage enough to face a 

 trivial punishment and the attendant disgrace. Moreover, 

 they are found as a rule to be very stupid, and often lazy, 

 bad-tempered, thoughtless, and decidedly inferior in 

 strength and other bodily quahties. They take to crime 

 early in life, and they far outnumber what are generally 

 caUed the worst offenders. For aU these reasons it is the 

 habitual offender — that is, the person often convicted of 

 petty offences — to whom most attention should be paid 

 when considering how to diminish crime in the future. 



We see, therefore, that it is on all accounts desirable that 

 habitual criminals should have few children. But how 

 is this result to be brought about, whilst at the same time 

 giving a fair chance to all who have failed through bad 

 surroundings to get on their legs again ? It is now generally 

 admitted that prison does no good to the criminal himseff ; 

 for the more often he is shut up, the more certain he seems 

 to be to commit another crime. Short imprisonments do 

 nothing, moreover, to lessen the size of the family. The 

 best plan would be to treat the habitual criminal in three 



