The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1888-11-29

A SERMON.

the charge of maintaining training
schools Of crime until the construc.
tion aud managing Of these places are
radically changed, so that the inmates
shall be separately confined, and all
communicating Inter course rendered i'm.
possible" The testimony OF prison re.
form experts all runs In this way. One
aflirms that the county Jail Is the one
great blot on our penal system. If you
would reform prisoners you must sepa
rate them. IL you would Keep the
criminal from becoming more criminal
you must not herd them together.
1t now remains for me to speak of
our own duty as good citizens and as
Christians.
]. To remove the causes Of crime.
We are verify guilty concerning our
weak brother when Wa will not re-
move the stumbling block that lies In
his way. We show that we set little
store by his reformation. Let us then
close the saloon aud keep 1t closed.
Let us endeavOr to lift up the com.
munity In its moral character. Let us
keep the law Of the State, and teach
others to do 80. As we urge that men
render to God the things that are Gods,
so lei us urge that they also render to
the State the things that belong to the
State. Let us faithfully train our chill.
dren aud the young under our influence.
In this matter We can not he too care
ful nor too diligent. II we save our
children for Christ we will also save
them for the State aud for society. Let
us be watchful against the corrupt liter.
ature that is so harmful. The '.dime
novels" have ruined thousands; look
out for them. Some of our papers have
no conscience on this matter; keep them
out Of your homes. Good morals are
more to be valued than political agree.
ment or commercial usefulness.
2. Let us require and urge prompt
and vigorous enforcement OF law. We
should have no apologies for men who
bear the sword In vain, and who study
how to shirk their responsibility. The
speedy and strong enforcement Of law
IN, after all, kindness to the offender
and profitable to the State, and helpful
to good morals.
8. We ought to insist that the man
agement Of our prisons be kept out of
politics. The Prison Congress held In
Cincinnati spoke strongly as to the
necessity Of having prison officials who
arc qualified and trained and skillful.
If Reformation be sought after, the place
requires "self devotion, q calm and
cautious judgment, great firmness of
purpose, and steadiness Of action, large
experience, true sympathy, and
morality above suspicion" But 1t is
impossible to have such officials so long
as our jails are made part of the pOlit.
ical power of the county, and our Peni
tentiaries are cast as footballs into the
field of party politics. Mr.. q.
d. Warner has said that ITO reform
determined criminals under q sentence
Of the law is the most difficult task ever
yet set to human skill, sympathy and
ability" And yet this task Is often
made q matter Of party reward, with
little thought of the officials fitness for
the place. And II he appreciates his r,
sponsibility and conscientiously seeks
to fit himself for meeting 1t, about the
time that he becomes we'll qualified to
do SO, he Ia thrown out Of place to make
room for some party clacquer in new
administration.
4. We should bring to bear upon the
criminal every possible reformatory in.
fuence. In some States the system of
indeterminate sentences has been in
troduced, that Is, the length Of the con.
the arbitrary will of the Judge who pre-
sides at his trial, but 1t depends upon
the cOnvict's conduct In prison, and the
promise of his reformation. In this
way the prisoner has an inducement to
reform, and In many cases this plan
has worked well. Then in some States,
our own among the number, the parole
system has been introduced. The con.
vict who gives evidence of reformation
may be pardOned cOnditiOnally, and in
case he returns to crime he Is subject to
arrest and imprisonment under bis
former sentence. Mr.. w. H. Neff, of
Cincinnati, who Is an honOred and in
teIligent elder In the Presbyterian
Church. and q member OF the Board of
State Charities. In an address delivered
by him few days ago, made the fol.
lowing statement:
"In prison reform Ohio is first Of the
States. The parole system is working
admirably, beyond the most sanguine
anticipations of Its friends. 1t Is re-
fOrmatOry IN the highest degree. 1t Is
known that more than half of those
parOled are leading h0uest and reputable
lives, and only one-twentieth OF them
are known to have turned out badly"
Then to these criminals within our
prisons and outside of them we should
bring the gospel Of Christ. There are
In our communities men and women
who are criminals in intent, and
many OF them, in fact, who need the
restraining and sanctifying influences
Of religion. We should not despise
them, neither should we despair OF them.
We are too ready to say that the Grim.
insl can not be reformed. In our want
OF faith we forget that God governs the
world. We forget that thousands have
been reformed and led into Christian
obedience and hope. Besides, the surest
way to help msn to do better is to
treat him a. though he was better than
he is. As rule men try to meet the
expectations of their friends. We lift
men up when we believe they can be