Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1883-05-15
Under THE BAN.

In this day photographs, railroads and
quick methods Of INSTRUMENTATION
il is next to an imposslbility for g GRIM
inal to escape the hounds Of the law,
though he hunt refuge in the utter
most parts Of the earth.
But arrest and conviction Is not the
worst penalty society inflicts upon the
individual who offends against its laws.
He can never fully expiate the offense
unless he does ii at the end Of q rope.
When a man has served his term ofim-
prisonment on other penalty under the
law he has only begun to suffer the
penalty which all the forces OF society
conspire to infiiet. He may have been
convicted wrongfully or, IL rightfully,
still the crime may have been the re-
suit of rash impulse rather than cold
blOoded purpose, bat society never re-
Tents.
A very large per cent Of our eonvicts,
says an exchange, go to the peniten-
tiaTy fairly good citizens at heart. Many
of them come out without being de.
moralized. Often prison experience Is
wholesome, and the man is better at
the close Of his term than he was when
he began. During the period of inn
prisonment q great deal is done for the
reformation Of the man, and he often
starts out with sincere desire to be an
honest man once more. This Is fact
which cannot be denied.
. The contrast between the number OF
ex-eonvicts who try to lead honest lives
and those who succeed is absolutely APP
palling. For one who has never been
convicted Of crime it Is easy to get on
in the world. AL the forces Of society
eonspire to help those who help them
selves, except in the case of ex-con-
victs, when the order is reversed. The
moment he steps into the world once
more, he is, to all intents and purposes,
a ticket-of-leave-man, as depicted in a
very familiar drama. The general COM
munity takes no interest in him, and
oyery door is closed to him, or he will
be kicked out as soon as his record is
known, and he will come to feel that
the whole world is in league to drive
him into crime. The Indifference of
the community, supplemented as it is
by a universal prejudice against ex-con-
victs, conspires to blast every hope.
Then, too, the police spot such men,
and are ready to construe the slightest
indication of wrong. doing into proof
positive. Even the habitual criminal
class join hands with society in trying
to drag him down. That class claims
him, snd earnest efforts to escape the
association OF criminals is looked upon
by them as little short of treachery.
Having once worn the striped
suit the man has no right, as
they seem to view it, to attempt
to make an honest living. Going forth
from prison, not knowing what to do, a
very IsHMAEL, he finds that nobody
wants him anywhere. He is not fit to
do the most mental service. Those
stripes have burnt into him, and even
if he be a moral HERCULES he can not
tear of the shirt of flame which clings
to him.
But whatever the cost, society can no
more afford to be Indifferent to ex-eOn-
victs than farmer can to thistles and
weeds. Instead of leaving them to be
set upon and dragged to earth by the
evil influences which clutch at their
coat-tails to pull them down, good men
should take special effort to give them
a fair chance to recover themselves.