Mechanical Justice

"Mechanical Justice" is a thought-provoking novel by Aleksandr Kuprin that explores the intersection of morality, law, and human emotion in a rapidly industrializing society. Set against the backdrop of early 20th-century Russia, the story follows a courtroom drama that examines the implications of mechanized justice versus true moral understanding. Through compelling characters and intricate plot developments, Kuprin delves into themes of corruption, the failings of the legal system, and the quest for personal redemption, ultimately questioning what constitutes justice in an increasingly mechanized world. The novel serves as both a critique of societal norms and a poignant reflection on the human condition.

• Novel

								
The large hall of the principal club of one of our provincial towns was
packed with people. Every box, every seat in pit and stalls was taken,
and in spite of the excitement the public was so attentive and quiet
that, when the lecturer stopped to take a mouthful of water, everyone
could hear a solitary belated fly buzzing at one of the windows.

Amongst the bright dresses of the ladies, white and pink and blue,
amongst their bare shoulders and gentle faces shone smart uniforms,
dress coats, and golden epaulettes in plenty.

The lecturer, who was clad in the uniform of the Department of
Education--a tall man whose yellow face seemed to be made up of a black
beard only and glimmering black spectacles--stood at the front of the
platform resting his hand on a table.

But the attentive eyes of the audience were directed, not so much on
him as on a strange, high, massive-looking contrivance which stood
beside him, a grey pyramid covered with canvas, broad at its base,
pointed at the top.

Having quenched his thirst, the lecturer went on:

"Let me briefly sum up. What do we see, ladies and gentlemen? We see
that the encouraging system of marks, prizes, distinctions, leads to
jealousy, pride and dissatisfaction. Pedagogic suggestion fails at
last through repetition. Standing culprits in the corner, on the form,
under the clock, making them kneel, is often quite ineffectual as an
example, and the victim is sometimes the object of mirth. Shutting in
a cell is positively harmful, quite apart from the fact that it uses
up the pupil's time without profit. Forced work, on the other hand,
robs the work of its true value. Punishment by hunger affects the brain
injuriously. The stopping of holidays causes malice in the mind of
pupils, and often evokes the dissatisfaction of parents. What remains?
Expulsion of the dull or mischievous child from the school--as advised
in Holy Writ--the cutting off of the offending member lest, through
him, the whole body of the school be infected. Yes, alas! such a
measure is, I admit, inevitable on certain occasions now, as inevitable
as is capital punishment, I regret to say, even in the best of states.
But before resorting to this last irreparable means, let us see what
else there may be...."

"And flogging!" cried a deep bass voice from the front row of the
stalls. It was the governor of the town fortress, a deaf old man, under
whose chair a pug-dog growled angrily and hoarsely. The governor was a
familiar figure about town with his stick, ear trumpet, and old panting
pug-dog.

The lecturer bowed, showing his teeth pleasantly.

"I did not intend to express myself as shortly and precisely, but
in essence his Excellency has guessed my thought. Yes, ladies and
gentlemen, there is one good old Russian method of which we have not
yet spoken--corporal punishment. Yes, corporal punishment is part and
parcel of the very soul of the great Russian people, of its mighty
national sense, its patriotism and deep faith in Providence. Even the
apostle said: 'Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth.' The unforgotten
monument of mediaeval culture--Domostroi--enjoins the same with
paternal firmness. Let us call to mind our inspired Tsar-educator,
Peter the Great, with his famous cudgel. Let us call to mind the speech
of our immortal Pushkin:

    "'Our fathers, the further back you go,
    The more the cudgels they used up.'

"Finally, let us call to mind our wonderful Gogol, who put into the
mouth of a simple, unlearned serving-man the words: 'The peasant
must be beaten, for the peasant is being spoiled.' Yes, ladies and
gentlemen, I boldly affirm that punishment with rods upon the body
goes like a red thread throughout the whole immense course of Russian
history, and takes its rise from the very depths of primitive Russian
life.

"Thus delving in thought into the past, ladies and gentlemen, I appear
a conservative, yet I go forward with outstretched hands to meet the
most liberal of humanitarians. I freely allow, loudly confess, that
corporal punishment, in the way in which it has been practised until
now, has much in it that is insulting for the person being chastised
as well as humiliating for the person chastising. The personal
confrontment of the two men inevitably awakens hate, fear, irritation,
revengefulness, contempt, and what is more, a competitive stubbornness
in the repetition of crime and punishment. So you no doubt imagine
that I renounce corporal punishment. Yes, I do renounce it, though
only to introduce it anew, replacing man by a machine. After the
labours, thoughts and experiments of many years, I have at last worked
out a scheme of mechanical justice, and have realised it in a machine.
Whether I have been successful or not I shall in a minute leave this
most respected audience to judge."

The lecturer nodded towards the wings of the stage. A fine-looking
attendant came forward and took off the canvas cover from the strange
object standing at the footlights. To the eyes of those present, the
bright gleaming machine was rather like an automatic weighing-machine,
though it was obviously more complex and was much larger. There was a
murmur of astonishment among the audience in the hall.

The lecturer extended his hand, and pointed to the apparatus.

"There is my offspring," said he in an agitated voice. "There is an
apparatus which may fairly be called the instrument of mechanical
justice. The construction is uncommonly simple, and in price it would
be within the reach of even a modest village school. Pray consider its
construction. In the first place you remark the horizontal platform
on springs, and the wooden platform leading to it. On the platform is
placed a narrow chair, the back of which has also a powerful spring and
is covered with soft leather. Under the chair, as you see, is a system
of crescent-shaped levers turning on a hinge. Proportionately with
the pressure on the springs of the chair and platform these levers,
departing from their equipoise, describe half circles, and close in
pairs at a height of from five to eighteen vershoks[1] above the
level of the chair--varying with the force of pressure.

[1] A vershok is 1/16 of an arshin, i.e., 1¾ inches.

"Behind the chair rises a vertical cast-iron pillar, with a cross bar.
Within the pillar is contained a powerful mechanism resembling that
of a watch, having a 160-lb. balance and a spiral spring. On the side
of the column observe a little door, that is for cleaning or mending
the mechanism. This door has only two keys, and I ask you to note,
ladies and gentlemen, that these keys are kept, one by the chief
district inspector of mechanical flogging machines, and the other
by the head master of the school. So this apparatus, once brought
into action, cannot be stopped until it has completed the punishment
intended--except, of course, in the eventuality of its being forcibly
broken, which is a hardly likely possibility seeing the simplicity and

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