Wichita eagle., 1888-06-22


ment Houses-IdIerA
Prom nav experience as a Judge in pohce
courts. should say that laziness is the
chief cause of crime The young man
who is inherently lazy viii steal rather
than work. According to the Scriptures
q man should earn his bread By the sweat
of his brow, but in our large cities there
are thousands of men who viii do neither
mental nor manual work, and who prefer
to get their living by preying upon the
community in some form or other Young
criminals are born bad. You cannot
expect that the sons or the daughters OF
a thief or a burglar will be naturally
good. Their whole surroundings are bad;
nearly every influence that Is e4erted
upon them from childhood up tends to
make them as bad az their progenitors.
Even girls and boys inclined to be good
may. by contagion, become bad
REFORMATION OF CRIMINALS.
We have many institutions in this city
for the reformation Of criminals Of both
sexes, but | think that very few OF the
vicious are reformed in such places. My
experience with law breakers justifes the
truth of the saying: "Once tMe1
always thief" once let boy get con-
tarinated with the poison OF crime anc
be will live and die an outlaw Of society.
In the court room l can tell at glance
children who have been brought up in re-
for7natories-their manner is deceltful
and they have hang dog, crouchlng e1-
preston of countenance.
In my official career have met great
many criminals, and l must confess that
among them | have never known Of
genuine case of reform Quite long time
may sometimes elapse between their terms
In the penitentiary or states prison, but
they are sure to return for some new
offerse sooner or later. more hardened
than ever Once in great while man
who has gone wrong viii attempt to re-
form, but that is exceptional Burglars
will die burglars; pickpockets cannot be
reformed and confidence men would
rather get half dollar by practicing their
beguiling methods than earn IS honestly
.n the same length of time. 1t is indeed
true that to them stolen fruit is always
the sweetest.
Crime. however, is no more prevalent
in New York than it Is in any country
village in proportion to the population.
l have visited every large city in the
United States, and most of the large cities
of Europe. have made inquiries in re-
gard to crime and have come to the con-
clusion that New York, Notwithstanding
that it is rendezvous for criminals from
all parts of the world, is comparatively as
free from crime as any city in the uni
verse.
CHEAP LODGING HOUSES.
IL
tenn causes an immense amount of crime.
In tenement houses people are obliged to
herd together in such way that the
rising generation cannot help witnessing
the meretricious relations that exist be-
tween the sexes in these dwellings,. Free
reading rooms, lectures, etc, diminish
crime to certain extent, but the ten cent
lodging houses more than counterbalance
the good done by all the former. Such
lodging houses have caused more destitu
ton, more beggary and crime than any
other agency know Of. Mechanics and
laborers were better off years ago when
they had to pay from $3.50 to S. q week
for their board in regular boarding houses.
Mechanics nowadays seem to have got
into Bohemian habits; they are like the
gypsies, they are shiftless and love to
wander from place to place, content if
they can supply the absolute needs Of the
passing moment. | think that the cheap
lodging houses ought to be abolished by
the board Of health.
/ believe, however, that promiscuous
aims giving is wrong. The public would
be showing more charity and humanity
by giving nothing to street beggars, be-
cause if tramp can make dollar or two
q day by begging he will not work
would like to see a stringent law passed
making it obligatory upon every able
bodied man, rich or poor, to perform some
kind of work. Every man in the commu-
nifty should be compelled to produce some
thing. In my opinion the saddest sight
to be seen In large city like this is the
number Of idlers. young and middle aged
men, looking out of windows on such
thoroughfares as Broadway and Madison
avenue-club men. signing for some new
pleasure; men who never did stroke of
real work and who never had dozen
original thoughts in their lives. 1t would
be good thing if such men, even if they
are the sons of rich parents, were COM
PEELED to work.-P. 6. Duffy in The
Epoch.