n a new principle has been evolved which is, that when a man
shows himself to be unchangeably hostile to society then his life may be
forfeited. As the methods of dealing with criminals improve so the word
LIBERTY is being substituted for the word LIFE. The sin on the
man's soul may be left to God; all that men has to deal with is his
anti-social attitude. If impossible to change this attitude then either
death or life imprisonment must result. This very question of
possibility is so uncertain that few modern criminologists care to
adjudicate, and most regard the death sentence as anticipating too much.
Life-imprisonment, under the highest moral influences, becomes life-long
by and only by the continued resistance of the criminal. It is not the
objectionable form of punishment previously described for it encourages
the man to put forth his best effort to improve, and substantially
rewards these efforts, even to granting him his liberty if he persevere
with them. Punishment by death is becoming more and more unpopular. The
dislike of juries to bring in a verdict of "guilty" in a murder case is
sufficient testimony to this. In the crowds who sign petitions for the
reprieve of the condemned, the hysterical element is too prominent to
make any other estimate possible. But the reaction is steady, and it
will not be long before capital punishment becomes a thing of the past.
To abolish it before a suitable substitute were provided would be
mistake.

Gradually society is awakening to the fact that the condition of the
criminal ought to be ameliorated, and that there can be no real
amelioration which does not make definite efforts for the prisoner's
reform. The aim should be to assist every man to recover by his own
effort the place in society from which he has fallen. No man is
incapable of improvement, and under a wise systematic discipline most
men do improve. A remarkable witness is found in the experience of Dr
Browning who was engaged as Surgeon-superintendent of convict ships
between 1831 and 1848. Of one voyage from Norfolk Island to Tasmania he
was in charge of 346 "old hands." These men had agreed to take terrible
revenge upon some of their comrades who had been employed as constables
over the others. Under Dr Browning's instruction and discipline their
purpose was abandoned. He landed the men in Tasmania without having
inflicted a single punishment upon the voyage. He remarks:--"The men
were given to me in double iro