[Letter] 1923 June 7, West New Brighton, N.Y. [to] Mr. Carl Schurz Lowden
Title
[Letter] 1923 June 7, West New Brighton, N.Y. [to] Mr. Carl Schurz Lowden
Subject
Lowden, Carl Schurz
Criminals--Rehabilitation.
Capital punishment.
Punishment in crime deterrence.
Description
Markham writes to Lowden about the treatment of criminals. He opposes capital punishment and penitentiaries; he is in favor of rehabilitating the character of criminals.
Creator
Markham, Edwin, 1852-1940
Source
Edwin Markham Archive, Horrmann Library
Date
6/7/1923
Contributor
Wagner College, Staten Island, NY
Rights
Please contact the Horrmann Library at Wagner College for rights to use this digital image.
Format
image/jpeg
Language
eng
Type
Text
Identifier
MarkhamSchurzLowden1
Text
West New Brighton, N.Y. June 7, 1923
Dear Mr Carl Schurz Lowden:
Capital Punishment? No, I do not stand for it. First, I do not think that severe punishment necessarily acts as a strong deterrent. It is certainty of punishment, not severity of punishment, which subdues the criminal mind. Second, I think that we should look on the criminal as a diseased person, an unfortunate who needs restraint and mental medicine. Let him be placed under the care of a high-minded and earnest persons for observation, education and discipline; and there will then be ground for hope that “he will come to himself” as the prodigal did when he was feeding on husks in a far country. This savior work should be placed in the hands of persons inspired by the noblest spiritual aims. I should also like to see the gloomy penitentiaries disappear with the other specters of the dark ages. I fancy that it would be possible to place our prisoners on some guarded island, where they would be furnished seed and tools for cultivating the fields and producing the food they consume. Indeed, they could be encouraged to build their own houses and to organize their own social order, and thus lay the foundation for the creation of character. Of course the time to begin to educate men is a long time before they become criminals. We need to go back to eugenics and the “borning” of better babes. But this is another and a longer story.
Cordially yours:
Edwin Markham
Dear Mr Carl Schurz Lowden:
Capital Punishment? No, I do not stand for it. First, I do not think that severe punishment necessarily acts as a strong deterrent. It is certainty of punishment, not severity of punishment, which subdues the criminal mind. Second, I think that we should look on the criminal as a diseased person, an unfortunate who needs restraint and mental medicine. Let him be placed under the care of a high-minded and earnest persons for observation, education and discipline; and there will then be ground for hope that “he will come to himself” as the prodigal did when he was feeding on husks in a far country. This savior work should be placed in the hands of persons inspired by the noblest spiritual aims. I should also like to see the gloomy penitentiaries disappear with the other specters of the dark ages. I fancy that it would be possible to place our prisoners on some guarded island, where they would be furnished seed and tools for cultivating the fields and producing the food they consume. Indeed, they could be encouraged to build their own houses and to organize their own social order, and thus lay the foundation for the creation of character. Of course the time to begin to educate men is a long time before they become criminals. We need to go back to eugenics and the “borning” of better babes. But this is another and a longer story.
Cordially yours:
Edwin Markham
Data Digital
2009
Digitization Specifications
IBM ThinkCentre Intel Pentium 4 3.06GHz running Windows XP Professional Version 2 Service Pack 2; Epson Expression 10000XL scanner; Master Scanner Settings: 24-bit RGB, 400 dpi resolution; File Format: TIFF; Compression: none; Reference Images resized and converted with Adobe Photoshop CS2 version 9.0.2: 8-bit RGB; 400 ppi resolution; Compressed jpeg.
Collection
Citation
Markham, Edwin, 1852-1940 , “[Letter] 1923 June 7, West New Brighton, N.Y. [to] Mr. Carl Schurz Lowden,” Edwin Markham Digital Archive, accessed May 3, 2024, https://markham.omeka.net/items/show/539.