ave themselves well.
And, if it is the right of society that its members shall behave
themselves well, is it not the duty of society to so provide for their
education that each individual part may meet the demand which the whole
body asserts? And, further, as a majority of persons cannot individually
provide for their own protection, it is the duty of society, or the
state, or the government, to furnish the needed protection in the most
economical and effective manner possible. The state has no moral right
to jeopard property, life, and reputation, when, by a different policy,
all these might be secure; nor has the state a moral right to make the
security furnished, whether perfect or not, unnecessarily expensive. It
is the dictate of reason and the experience of governments that the most
effectual method of repressing crime is to diminish the number of
criminals; and, though punitive measures may accomplish something, our
chief reliance must be upon the education and training of children and
youth. The facts drawn from the experience of England and Scotland,
which have been quoted, lead to the conclusion that schools diminish the
number of criminals, and consequently lessen the amount of crime; but I
think it proper to add some extracts from a communication made, in
August, 1856, by Mr. Dunne, chief constable of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, to
the Secretary of the National Reformatory Union.[2]

"I know, from my own personal knowledge and observation, that, since
parental responsibility has been enforced in the district, under the
direction of the Secretary of State, the number of juvenile criminals in
the custody of the police has decreased one-half. I know that many of
the parents, who were in the habit of sending their children into the
streets for the purposes of stealing, begging, and plunder, have quite
discontinued that practice, and several of the children so used, and
brought up as thieves and mendicants, are now at some of the free
schools of the town; others are at work, and thereby obtain an honest
livelihood; and, so far as I can ascertain, they seem to be thoroughly
altered, and appear likely to become good and honest members of society.
I have, for my own information, conversed with some of the boys so
altered, and, during the conversation I had with them, they declared
that they derived the greatest happiness and satisfaction from their
change in life. I don't at all doubt the truth of these statements, for
the