The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1888-05-09

him of Self-dependence and strong lndlVldu-
aIity so necessary to success i'll every walk
of life. Entering manhood, untaught and
uncared for, his intellect becomes dulled
and his mind insenSible to the efforts re-
ouired to attain and lead better life. eav-
ing him subservient to every unScrupulOuS
character who may see in him means OF
gain. The law hastens. but never checks
the making of criminals by eXorbitant pun
ishment If those boys should relegate to
crime. would not the injustice shown them
in their youth be far more blamable than
they themselves. who in their early troubles
were incompetent to explain them. In
their weakness the state filings at them
Roland, forgetting that in time to come
they may hurl in return an Oliver. Justice.
they say. is often blind. but it never fails
to see your silver and your gold.
My reading friend, bond or free. go back
in memory to your sunny bOyhOOd days.
which poetic writer's tell us is the golden
age of life." You are not perfect and can
we'll remember some one needless act COM
mitted i'll your careeSSneSS, which II
brought within the literal meaning of the
law and enforced against you, would have
sent you to prison. No man can truthfully
say he's blameless before the law. In i'm
agination. see yourself grufly summoned
to answer for that act. Under high-sound
ing names your shortcomings are paraded
and analyZed before court. which scrnti-
niZes the dark, but is obliviOuS to the better
side of your life. 1t hurriedly tries, and by
methods which will seem to you as contrary
to the essence of common justice. arbitrarily
declares you a convicted criminal. You
stand trembling before the court, which
wields the power to cOnSgn you to reform
school or prison. The one, the fear of
schoOl-boy days: the other, in your eyes, the
very king OF Terrors." You expect the
least but imagine what would 20 revolving
in your brain when you heard it pronounced
that for five years you are to be deprived of
that sacred liberty, which you as an Ameri-
can have been taught at mothers knee to
worship next to God. In the deliriouS state
of mind which would follow the hearing of
your destiny. you 60 staggering from the
court room, with hatred in your formerly
forgiving heart. and curses on your lips for
the uncertainty of justice, which says upon
it's face, crime TO be punishable. must be
committed by the friendless. 1t bows and
smiles to wealth and power, but the feeble
and defenceeSS feel the full swing of its
angry arm. See yourself bound in irons,
and driven to your fate. Think what
thoughts would be uppermOSt in your mind,
the opening night of your prison life, ar
rayed in the garb of degradation. as you
solioquize in your lonely cell. The harsh,
and to you frightfully novel, clang of iron
doors comes grating on your ears. breaking
the strangely affecting prison silence
which shivers and chills you to the core.
You would not want it known. but in your
moaning anguish. you'd bathed your eyes in
burning tears. Your lot is that of labOri-
Gus menal, and your companions, strangers
in disgrace who can SympathiZe, but are
pOwerleSS to alleviate your cheerleSS life.
Your laughing. dancing eyes will never
again sparkle with bOyish glee. and your
rosy cheeks will pale in the blighting pris-
on gloom. which imprints upon your face
that timid. trouble worn look which mis-
fortune fastens on the targets of its anger.
Written rules, and ever-present visions of
dreary dungeons, warns you that gay and
ringing voices are not among prisoners
privileges. Armed men are bound in honor
to kill you if you dare rebel against the
power which shapes your wretched life.
When comparing your charge and sentence
with others older than you. and meditating
on your condition. would you not denounce
tyrannical and deSpOtic? You can Danish
from your mind the dearest hopes and most
cherished aspirations which swells your
youthful breast with pride. The sore will
heal, but the scar is ever there to blast your
future life. You may 60 from your prison.
and live honestly and squarely, but as sure
as you reach eminence in any department
of life. just so sure will some envious das-
tard arrOgate the right to trumpet to the