Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 1.djvu/773

Rh appear careless, trivial, cynical, personal, passionate, hurried or undignified, it would be impossible to ally to the brute force of law the might of those ideals and feelings that rule the average man. Hence the wig and the robe, the cocked hat and the sword, the "O yes, O yes!" of the crier, the "Guilty or not guilty?" the kissing of the book, the "So help me God," the "May God have mercy on your soul!"

Those who would apply to these proceedings the same tests that will do for a committee meeting, the session of a school board, a business conference, or a newspaper interview, quite overlook the nature of the problem. The task of dispatching business, of discovering the guilt or innocence of the greatest number of accused people in the least possible time, is quite subordinate to the impression made on the minds of actors and beholders. While formalities that have lost meaning and impressiveness become mere obstructive mummery to be got rid of as soon as possible, it is still true that the more good ceremony is used in trying people, the fewer there will be to try. In the light of the foregoing the effect on the public morale of the undignified and demoralizing procedure of many of our American police courts presided over by vulgar minded political henchmen needs no comment.

The punishments of a social, moral or religious nature attending legal guilt are not legal punishments, being neither allowed for nor inflicted by the minions of the law. They are supplementary pains with which society sees fit to surround the primary pains. But they are none the less important because indefinite. Could we imagine a society in which prison or pillory carried no hint of shame, caused no forfeiture of public esteem, no loss of religious peace, no wound to self-respect—and this is the case of political offenders in many countries—its legal penalties would have just the deterrence they would have in the hands of brigands pirates, invaders or despots. It is when this wholesome alliance between society and the police is broken that virtue departs out of the law and it ceases to bind men. In a democratic country without a specialized police under central authority a breach