The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1873-04-30
.PrsfentIyn ;of Crime.

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Tie following paragraphs from the
Golden Age aest I'VE the attention If
mankind: This subject needs a more
radical and Profound treatment than it
usually receives. II lie fnetease Of
crime we depore is not the result Of
the a1tered sentiment respecting pun
lshmeht, but of Il number of causes we
nave no space to mention to-day.
Conspicuous among them are the lnos-
ened habits of our people; the neglect
OF moral training at home and at
school; the greed for wealth ami the
Worship of success. however gained;
the breaking up of the old order of So
cIety by railway and emf grafton, and
the lnmense grnwth and prepondera-
ting influence of cites which abound in
Tue arts, opportunities. and occasions
FOR vice and crime The old ideas aud
customs have been left behind, and the
old order ct things has been broken up;
bnt new thoughts, nObler principles,
healthier habits, and more healthfnl
associations have not taken their
places. We have found by experience
that good dinners do not take the place
OF good morals. Elegant and luxuri-
Gus homes, with costly apparel and
the constant indulgence of every taste
and whim, do not train the manly viz
tues. or raise up a generation OF sages
or saints. Splendid churches, with I'M
pressive ceremonial and magnificent
music, do not teed the roots of princi-
| PIE and make men honest in business,
unhiuching in their fidelity to convic-
ton, supigl,t and pure. 1t takes a
stronger morality to. support the COM
pick structure of our modern civiliza-
tions tilall the simple social fabrics of
our fathers; But, WeIiave weakened the
pillars to adoln the walls, aud add to
the Roof, which -cruslles by its weight.
III. seems hard to tell man who is
wasting Under the steady knawings of
disease that lie must go back to first
principles, and endeavor to accumulate
vital force by simple obedience to the
lawssoff lis constitution. But this is
rfdtcal ard ottentimes the only posi-
bic method of cure. Vice is a plague
in the body polite. Crime is disease
which results from natural causes, and
can be cured by only one. way. We
must begin at the beginning. Instead
OF tnssing with the twigs upon the up
per boughs of the tree, We must go TO
the roots.
It is not more hanging, bnt better
habits as u people that are to save US
from vice. 1t is not more convictions
and longer terms III prison, but a bet
;, ter moral training, healthier domestic
4 and social conditions truer ideas of life
and duty, and a deepened sense of the
value, worth and greatness Of the great
moralties upon which all personal and
social welfare primarily rest, that will
diminish violence and crime. 1t is not
the halter eud, but the home end to
which we must look for the suppress
sion of vice and the arrest OF violence
And not until we put Il new moral SEN
timent into the community, making
men think more of principle than OF
profits, and care more tof.the simple
ioys,and enuoiIiing tastes and relations
M life than OF artificial pleasures anc
enefvating luxn!ies, aud fee! a pro.
founder respect for tile. great virtue;
: and in!egrities OF life .thah OF thel1
slfowy substitutes, slla!l,we find the
spihtfoii Of the problem, and the cuyt
Of the difficulty. 5VF,v. ~ .x.
| The SWEETNESS or HoME.--He whc