Dr. R. H. Gault Urges Curb on All Defectives

The community is constantly menaced by the release from the bridwell of prisoners suffering from feeblemindedness and infectious diseases, according to a report submitted to the Chicago Council Crime Commission Monday by Prof. Robert H. Gault of Northwestern University.
The report shows that such prisoners are usually "repeaters," often committing a new crime shortly after serving out their time for an old one. In the language of Prof. Gault, they exhibit a tendency towards "recidivism."
Examinations were made of sixty-one women prisoners in the bridewell. "In forty-five out of the sixty-one," says the report, "there is an unmistakable evidence of infections which make these people exceptionally dangerous to the health of the community at large the moment they are released from prison."

Find 132 Prisoners Insane
It was found that betewen January 1 and August 20 of this year there were 132 insane prisoners in teh bridewell. The conclusion was reached that all the prisoners serving their fourth or fifth terms are mentally defective. They are turned loose at the expiration of their terms, according to the report.
"There is a strong probability that these offenders will be repeated transgressors against the law," said Prof. Gault.
"She has been in and out of the house of correction during a period of at least fourteen years. Cherishes the delusion that she is the rightful owner of a great estate that is being withheld from her. Paranoiac.

Misled by Fancy Work
"The beautiful symbolic embroidery that she produces impresses the uninitiated as evidence of a high degree of intelligence and artistic skill. She is one of a great army whose repeated minor [unclear] offenses retard the courts, add to our sense of social insecurity, and to the financial burdens of the [illegible]."
He makes the following recommendations.
Establishment of farm colonies for diseased and feeble minded prisoners.
Provision for hospital facilities where necessary.
Sentencing of offenders to institutions "until cured."
Creation of a commission of experts to sit at the bridewell with power to send insane and infected prisoners to appropriate institutions.
Prof. Gault was assisted in his investigation by Dr. H. C. Stevens, director of the psychopathic laboratory at the University of Chicago.