Mechanical Justice Page #2

"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

								

solidity of every part of the machine.

"The watch mechanism, once set going, communicates with a little
horizontally-placed axle. The axle has eight sockets in which may be
mounted eight long supple bamboo or metal rods. When worn out these
can be replaced by new ones. It must be explained also that, by a
regulation of the axle, the force of the strokes may be varied.

"And so we see the axle in motion, and moving with it the eight rods.
Each rod goes downward perfectly freely, but coming upward again it
meets with an obstacle--the cross-beam--and meeting it, bends and is
at tension from its point, bulges to a half-circle, and then, breaking
free, deals the blow. Then, since the position of the cross-beam can
be adjusted, raised or lowered, it will be evident that the tension
of the bending rods can be increased or decreased, and the blow given
with a greater or less degree of severity. In that way it has been
possible to make a scale of severity of punishment from 0 degrees to
24 degrees. No. 0 is when the cross-beam is at its highest point, and
is only employed when the punishment bears a merely nominal, or shall
I say, symbolical, character. By the time we come to No. 6, a certain
amount of pain has become noticeable. We indicate a maximum for use in
elementary schools, that would be up to No. 10; in secondary schools up
to 15. For soldiers, village prisons, and students, the limit is set
at 20 degrees, and, finally, for houses of correction and workmen on
strike, the maximum figure, namely, 24.

"There, ladies and gentlemen, is the substance of my invention. There
remain the details. That handle at the side, like the handle of a
barrel organ, serves to wind up the spiral spring of the mechanism. The
arrow here in this slot regulates the celerity of the strokes. At the
height of the pillar, in a little glass case, is a mechanical meter or
indicator. This enables one to check the accuracy of the working of the
machine, and is also useful for statistical and revisionary purposes.
In view of this latter purpose, the indicator is constructed to show
a maximum total of 60,000 strokes. Finally, ladies and gentlemen,
please to observe something in the nature of an urn at the foot of the
pillar. Into this are thrown metal coupons with numbers on them, and
this momentarily sets the whole machine in action. The coupons are of
various weights and sizes. The smallest is about the size of a silver
penny,[1] and effects the minimum punishment--five strokes. The largest
is about the size of a hundred-copeck bit--a rouble--and effects a
punishment of just one hundred strokes. By using various combinations
of metal coupons you can effect a punishment of any number of strokes
in a multiple of five, from five to three hundred and fifty. But"--and
here the lecturer smiled modestly--"but we should not consider that we
had completely solved our problem if it were necessary to stop at that
limited figure.

[1] Five copecks silver--the smallest silver coin in Russia.

"I will ask you, ladies and gentlemen, to note the figure at which
the indicator at present stands, and that which it reaches after the
punishment has been effected. What is more, the respected public will
observe that, up to the moment when the coupons are thrown into the
urn, there is no danger whatever in standing on the platform.

"And so ... the indicator shows 2900. Consequently, having thrown in
all the coupons, the pointer will show, at the end of the execution ...
3250.... I fancy I make no mistake!

"And it will be quite sufficient to throw into the urn anything round,
of whatever size, and the machine will go on to infinity, if you will,
or, if not to infinity, to 780 or 800, at which point the spring would
have run down and the machine need re-winding. What I had in view in
using these small coupons was that they might commonly be replaced by
coins, and each mechanical self-flogger has a comparative table of the
stroke values of copper, silver and gold money. Observe the table here
at the side of the main pillar.

"It seems I have finished.... There remain just a few particulars
concerning the construction of the revolving platform, the swinging
chair, and the crescent-shaped levers. But as it is a trifle
complicated, I will ask the respected public to watch the machine in
action, and I shall now have the honour to give a demonstration.

"The whole procedure of punishment consists in the following. First of
all, having thoroughly sifted and got to the bottom of the motives of
the crime, we fix the extent of the punishment, that is, the number of
strokes, the celerity with which they shall be given, and the force
and, in some cases, the material of the rods. Then we send a note to
the man in charge of the machine, or communicate with him by telephone.
He puts the machine in readiness and then goes away. Observe, the man
goes, the machine remains alone, the impartial, unwavering, calm and
just machine.

"In a minute I shall come to the experiment. Instead of a human
offender we have, on this occasion, a leather mannikin. In order to
show the machine at its best we will imagine that we have before us a
criminal of the most stubborn type. 'Officer!'" cried the lecturer to
someone behind the scenes. "'Prepare the machine, force 24, minimum
celerity.'"

In a tense silence the audience watched the attendant wind the handle,
push down the cross-beam, turn round the celerity arrow, and then
disappear behind the scenes again.

"Now all is in order," the lecturer went on, "and the room in which the
flogging machine stands is quite empty. There only remains to call up
the man who is to be punished, explain to him the extent of his guilt
and the degree of his punishment, and he himself--remark, ladies and
gentlemen, himself!--takes from the box the corresponding coupon. Of
course, it might be arranged that he, there and then, drops the coupon
through a slot in the table and lets it fall into the urn; that is a
mere detail.

"From that moment the offender is entirely in the hands of the
machine. He goes to the dressing-room, he opens the door, stands on
the platform, throws the coupon or coupons into the urn, and ... done!
The door shuts mechanically after him, and cannot be re-opened. He may
stand a moment, hesitating, on the brink, but in the end he simply
must throw the coupons in. For, ladies and gentlemen"--exclaimed the
pedagogue with a triumphant laugh--"for the machine is so constructed
that the longer he hesitates the greater becomes the punishment, the
number of strokes increasing in a ratio of from five to thirty per
minute according to the weight of the person hesitating.... However,
once the offender is off, he is caught by the machine at three points,
neck, waist and feet, and the chair holds him. All this is accomplished
literally in one moment. The next moment sounds the first stroke, and
nothing can stop the action of the machine, nor weaken the blows, nor
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