19 



whether the facts which criminate him are true or not. 

 That no man was bound to furnish evidence against him- 

 self, in other times, may have been a shield for the innocent, 

 but to-day it is a shelter which the guilty alone seek. If 

 this shelter were destroyed, the punishment of crime would 

 be more speedy and certain. It is not the severity but the 

 speedy certainty of punishment which deters. When jus- 

 tice follows offence with halting and uncertain step, then 

 crime flourishes and criminals multiply. 



There are other matters of interest in the adminiS(,tration 

 of criminal law to which I should like to call your attention 

 if time permitted. I should like to dwel! upon its merits 

 as well as its defects. My justification in speaking of 

 these things to you is that they are matters of practical 

 concern to you all, and of especial importance to the 

 County whose name your society bears. They are matters 

 upon which the public mind does not commonly dwell, and 

 it is only by now and then directing it to these neglected 

 corners of the social fabric that that thought and discussion 

 arises which is so essential to progress toward stronger and 

 better institutions. It is only by arousing the interest and 

 attention of the people that reforms in our social methods 

 can be attained. The old times in Essex County when a 

 crime was so rare that it startled the neighborhood in which 

 it occurred, have passed away, and there is to-day a con- 

 stant struggle between the community and the evil doers in 

 its midst. The methods which were satisfactory a half 

 century ago are inadequate to-day. Although I may not 

 have convinced you of the truth of any of the propositions 

 I have attempted to maintain, yet if I have in any degree 

 directed your attention to a subject of great and increasing 

 importance, I have in some measure repaid you for the 

 honor which this invitation has done me. 



