The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1888-10-03
1T is NEVER TOO LATE TO MEND


then to seek the reclamation Of his lost self
amid strange surroundings and the friendly
shield of an incOgnitO. Upon his admis-
sion here the state discovered by a series of
formal questions put to him. that he had
an accOmplce outside that was the dOmi-
nant cause of his coming, and known as the
SALOON. This accessory. however. was
not sent for, as the state had given it a com
mission to stay outside and supply this
great moral Institution with subjects for
reformation; the vast expense incurred to
be cheerfully born by the tax payerS-the
people. If this statement is not true liter
| ally it is not far from it in effect, as we can
prove by facts and figures gathered from
outside sources, and by our own experience
with the evil. The state. itself, tacitly adj
mits the force OF my proposition by its
positive prohibition OF the use of intOXica-
ting drink in any form, within the gates OF
its prison, with the possible exception of
the hospital department. TO enforce this
inhibition the Legislature actually displayed
nerve enough to enact law making it a
misdemeanOr for "any person detected in
furnishing or giving a convict any intOXca-
| ting liquors." Would to God they had
gone further and declared the internal traf-
fic crime, that evolved him into a con-
vict.
There would then be some hope for his
ultimate reformation. When he becomes All
eX-cOnvict struggling to regain his lost
manhood. But his ship OF good resolves
will run against bar in the river of life
the same old bar that stranded him in the
past-the licensed whisky-bar. The source
of his failure to steer clear of this ObStruc-
ton may sometimes be found in defects of
personal character. but misfortunes of
training and associations have often more to
do with it. Certain it is. that no one in
here. after long abstinence from strong
drink, ever expresses wish for it. This
is simply owing to the fact that the saloon
is not present with it's siren influences to
lure back to action the subdued passions
and dormant desires within us. The chap
lain of our prison, Mr.. Albert, estimates
that eighty per cent. of our population are
brought here through liquor, and he fully
| indOrSeS the declaration of eX-Chief JUS
tice Noah Davis. of New York. that ''of all
the causes of crime intemperance stands
out the unapprOachable chief" The chap
lain of the Ohio penitentary thinks the
same; and the spiritual adviser of
Montana's bastile says it is true, and further
affirms that, IF all the saloons were
closed, one penitentiary would do for the
whole United States!'
Mark the words ye agitatOrS of the con-
vict labor question, and see if you can't find
the solution of the veXed problem over
which you have worried yourselves and the
state legislatures 10! these many years.
Turn to the adjoining state of Iowa and
see what they are doing for you there under
the blessed light of prohibition and reason
l have before me the annual report of the
secretary of the Iowa State Temperance
Alliance containing statistics from judges
and county officers regarding the workings
of the prohibition law. It shows that the
effect of the law, though not yet fully en-
forced. is to reduce crime and criminal eX-
penses from fifty to seventy-fve per cent.
There are SiXty-five empty county jailS in
the state now, and. at the present rate of
decrease. their state prisons will soon have
a plaeard For Rent" posted on their outer
walls. The rest of their iails are nearly
tenantless, and as they are not turning out
cOnvicts fast enough to meet the demands
of the contractors at the prisons; the latter
are forced to hire citizen workmen at free
labor wages to do their work. This, in
brief. is IOwa's method of destroying con-
vict competition with 'hOnest labor" In
a few years their prisons will be entirely
depopulated. stripped of their damnable
surroundings of stone walls. iron doors. and
barred windows, and be thrown open to
the world as the workshops of free and en-
lightened labor. The gloom of their pris-
OnS, black as the shades of sheOl, is fast
being dispelled by Gods sunlight of tenn
perance. peace and humanity. The ulti-
matum of the temperance organization in
Iowa is to wipe out the last trace and rem