Library Collections: Document: Full Text

The prosecutor in dropping the case said: "Legally, Ford is not guilty, but morally he is, and I wish that I could punish him, for he deserves it."

"Would you punish a child of nine years?" I could not help asking "would you send a child of nine to state's prison?"

"Perhaps you are right, perhaps that is the way to look at it," the prosecutor answered.

In jail ample opportunity was afforded to study Ford at leisure. Although his mentality was proven to be on the whole little superior to Beckie's it was of a different type from hers. The chief difference, however, seemed to be in their characters. Instead of indifference at his fate Ford showed a profound interest in what was in store for him.

"Do you think they can punish me?" he kept repeating with pitiful insistance. "I know I done wrong and I'm not sayin' this 'cause I'm in here, but when I get out I'm going to lead a different life. I'm going to join church and me and May's going to live like man an' wife ought to."

There was no possibility of questioning the sincerity of his intentions. But Ford, like all mentally defective persons, and like all children, is open to suggestion and unconsciously takes on the attitude of those with whom he is conversing. For the moment their attitude is his, and without any though of insincerity, he is capable of changing completely round in an incredibly short space of time. What he lacks is the power to hold a directing idea, which would enable him to follow any chosen course of action; nor has he any conception of right conduct beyond what the impulse or desire of the moment may inspire.

Anxious to draw out his ethical ideas I took occasion to question him about the conduct of some of his friends. His brother George, for instance, has been in three different state's prisons and married a girl with several other husbands who was also a state's prison case. She happens to be a microcephalic, low grade moron whose strikingly small head obtained for her the distinction of having her photograph placed in the rogues gallery of her state. Last winter one of her husbands traded her off to another man who tried to set a license to marry her. Knowing that Ford had been privy to the transaction I questioned him in the following manner:

"What kind of a fellow is Lem Oltman?"

"Lem's all right, I guess; I ain't got nothin' agin' Lem."

"He tried to give Clarissa to Jim Jenks last winter didn't he?"

"Yes, he tried."

"Jim has a wife, hasn't he?"

"He says he has."

"Say Ford, didn't your brother George marry Clarissa once?"

"Yes, an' she's got four other husbands, only one's dead."

"Who are they, Ford?"

"Well, Tom Faust, he's dead, an' Gus Poss, he's livin', and George and Lem."

"She lived once with Bert Ivans, didn't she?"

"Yes, last summer."

"What sort of a fellow is Bert?"

"He's all right only he won't work, an' he swears somethin' awful."

"Tell me, Ford, do you think Clarissa is bright?"

"No, I don't believe she is."

A Nine-Year-Old Man

Given the precise tests, Ford succeeded in attaining the nine-year limit. As compared with Beckie his memory was a little weaker, but his powers of calculation were superior to hers. Like her he could neither read nor write but evidently for a different reason. Ford has never had any schooling, while Beckie had attended school off and on for four years. His descriptions of pictures, far from being crude like hers, were original and interesting. He was not satisfied with describing what he saw but often went back to causes, a distinctly normal trait.

"My, there's trouble here! Guess them boys must a' been doing' somethin' or that man 'ud never be a-chasin' 'em so.... Guess that fellow must be haulin' flour in them sacks, anyway he's been to the mill."

For the imperfect human specimens, he instantly gave correct diagnoses. His language, however, was poorly developed ; he could not make a sentence, using two words given him, nor comprehend a rhyme, nor make comparisons in answer to such questions as: "What is the difference between a butterfly and a fly?"

His definitions were those of a child of seven, he did not know the names of the months of the year, or the date, or even the season. He could not see any absurdity in the statement: "A man painting a house fell off a ladder and broke his neck by the fall. They took him to the hospital and do not think he will get well."

"It's all his own fault," replied Ford, who was in a supersensitive state of personal humiliation. In fact, Ford's consciousness of mistakes is one of his striking characteristics. In this, he shows a judgment superior to Beckie, whose self-satisfaction would prove an effectual barrier to any higher development.

His answers to comprehensive questions were interesting when compared to hers.

"What ought you to do if the house is on fire?"

"Do what you can to put it out."

"When you want to buy something you see at the store?"

"Wait till you can pay for it."

"When another contradicts you no matter what you say ?"