ABSTRACT
A criminal sentenced to penal servitude for life, or for 20 years, may, if he only conforms with ordinary care to the prison regulations, encourage a reasonable hope that he will shortly find himself once more at large to prey upon society. The true theory of punishment is that it should punish and deter, and the reformation of the criminal is only secondary and subordinate to this primary object. The great mass of the crime of the country is committed by men who have come out of prison, having obtained indulgence and the shortening of their term for so called good conduct. It is the habit of philanthropists to regard crime as a sort of individual aberration of mind, to be counteracted by care and moral treatment. The balance between these two determines the choice of the man whose education or propensities lead him to think of living at the expense of the public.
