ABSTRACT

In such a world no one suffered from the doubts and hesitations and the blurring of sharp lines which cause modern men to vacillate. A long course of rebellious writers has tried to persuade us that it is the wicked who prosper and that the rich, even if they do break the law, are not at all likely to be punished for doing so. Every student of history or sociology must be struck by the fact that the men who do the most harm are not the sort of criminals who are sent to prison but the sort to whom equestrian statues are put up. And so one is led to ask oneself in all seriousness: are criminals any worse than other people? And if not, what is the peculiarity which leads to their being sent to prison?