verage age was higher, only five per cent
passed the test. In the work house--the home of the "down and
outs"--only one per cent passed. The health tests employed were those
for admission to the army. It was likewise found by the same commission
that of those in good health or fair physical condition, eighty-five per
cent were self-supporting, while only eighteen per cent of those in
poor physical condition took care of themselves.

Disease and ill health, when found so generally, are in themselves
indications of a defective system, and such machines are constantly
exposed to temptation. Their needs are ever present and their poverty
great. Sickness and disease weaken or destroy such inhibitions as the
unfortunate are able to build up, and they readily yield to crime.

XXV

THE GOOD IN CRIMINALS

The criminal is confronted in court with an indictment charging him with
a violation of the law. He is a human being, like all others, neither
perfect nor entirely worthless. He has some tendencies and inclinations
which the world calls good for lack of a better term, and some that it
calls bad for the same reason. In this he is like the jury and the
judge. The strength of the different tendencies is not the same in any
two machines. The judge and jury are interested in determining whether
he is good or bad; that is, better or worse than they themselves. In
theory he is tried on the charges contained in the indictment.

In most cases by a constant stretching of the rules of evidence his
whole life may be involved. That is, proof may be offered of any act of
delinquency that constituted a violation of the law, if in any way
similar, or in any way connected with the one charged in the indictment.
He cannot meet these charges by proving the acts of kindness and charity
and real worth that are rarely absent in any life. The proceedings show
how bad he is, not how good. He may be able to call witnesses to show
that up to the time of the bringing of the indictment his reputation for
honesty was good; but he cannot show that he supported his grandmother,
or helped his aunt, or educated his younger brother, or gave his money
to the poor. All the good is irrelevant to the issue. This does not
prove that he did not commit the act. It might clearly prove whether on
the whole he should go to jail. Through this process he feels that the
law and proceedings are unfair and that he is condemned, when, in fact,
he is as good as tho