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THE LAW AND ECONOMIC PROGRESS
249

prison there, and a South Carolinian, who held a similar position in his state. The Iowa man told about the beauty of the Iowa law and how, instead of making hopeless criminals, the idea was to fit up the prisons so well that the men would receive encouragement, hope, and also the decent necessities of life, with occasionally little comforts. The idea, he said, was not to utilize the prisoner by making him a mere hopeless animal. The South Carolina man listened in wonder. "Why," said he, "how do you-all keep them out of prison? If we had such conditions down in South Carolina we would have all of our poor white people and our negroes in jail."

The laws must be adapted to the economic, industrial and social conditions of each community, for the different communities vary in America.

Is it not a sensible and safe thing to create some bureau on a large scale for the study of comparative law and jurisprudence?

Diagram VII is suggestive of the manner in which this comparative law—which may be termed, for lack of a


Diagram VII
Diagram VII

Diagram VII


better name, "Jurisprudence of statute law"—may be used so that it may be of some direct help to the legislator.