DEWITT CLINTON
Mistakes in the criminal justice system have been with us from the birth of the nation.
The “liberal arts” at the time included the mechanical and technological arts and sciences including agriculture and manufacturing technologies.
Even in the 19th century advanced thinkers suspected that positive rewards were more effective in shaping behavior than negative reinforcement which was proven in the 20th century. However, monetary rewards for obedience to laws was and is impractical as Clinton pointed out in this quote.
In calling for universal free public education, Gov. Clinton of New York said:
In early America, as today, there was a substantial element of American society who distrusted intellectuals and education. They saw education as promoting inequality and leading to an aristocracy. Reading was actually attacked by many on the grounds that one’s thinking skills would atrophy. (Today we worry about TV eroding reading skills.) “Summum bonum” is Latin meaning “the Highest Good”.
Clinton was a founder of the society.
DeWitt Clinton, whose name was almost always spelled De Witt during his lifetime and until the late 20th century, was an American politician and naturalist. He served as a United States Senator, Mayor of New York City, and as the sixth Governor of New York. In this last capacity, he was largely responsible for the construction of the Erie Canal. Clinton was a major candidate for the American presidency in the election of 1812, challenging incumbent James Madison.
