The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1889-07-25
HDrunken Crinles.c

''Drunken Crimes.,'
~ got drunk. and that is what got me
into this trouble:' nine times in ten when a
man tells you this in prison he is lying
This statement forms the Introductory SEN
tence OF an article in last weeks MIRROR
under the above heading, written over the
signature IL. NJ 1t appears to me to be
a sad condition of affairs. if not, indeed. an
evidence Of unparalleled depravity. that
will give birth to the sentiments expressed
in the article. not only as regards the man
ifest injustice and positive untruth of sew
eral of the statements but also on account
of the dastardy though yelled attack made
upon the noblest band of wOmanhOod that
ever joined hearts and hands to succor fall
len humanity. But more of this hereafter,
as l do not wish to descend into personal
tiles although material lies within reach
that would shed much light upon the real
motive that produced such all article. In
it IL. NJ" deliberately ascends the judicial
bench and with q Pharisacai ''thank God
am not as other men are" he blazons his de-
jority of his fellow convicts are liars. After
thus Summarily dispoSing Of his companions
upon semblance of truth, he rears an airy
fabric. if not of the origin. of crime. at least
of the cause of its continuance: and after a
cold blooded recital of his deSertion of his
wife, he proceeds to discuss the remedy and
suggests the enactment Of certain laws. We
will first see if this self appointed, righteous
judge is truthful and consistent himself To
accomplish this it is only necessary to COM
pare passages from various articles written
by him at different times. IT any of our
readers should think the deductions drawn
from the comparisons SAVIOR of objection
able personality, beg to inform them that
the extracts were all published over his own
signature and consequently they are public
property.
In VOL I. No. 13, he says: 1T may seem
an astonishing statement. but it is true
one. that in the classification of the causes
that produce criminals, prosecuting attor-
neyS stand next to whisky" Here bv in
ference. we must conclude that when this
article was written he considered whisky as
a prolific cause Of crime, for in the same
article he says that "shyster attorneys'' are
irresponsible for the presence here of fully
seventy-five per cent of the inmates" This
it will be seen, differs very materially from
the figures given last week. In Vol. [. No.
40. he tells us the cause of his being here in
most pathetic manner. 1t seems that he
was reared in pOverty( which is no disgrace
to any one) and because he could not wear
brOadclOth he gave up attending church and
in his own plaintive words, because | was
unable to get Sunday sui: at that time is
why | an here to-day" To return again
to statistics. In Vol. ii. No. 4. he savs:"AI-
low me to ask how many of the men con-
fined here would ever have been in prison
had they been total abstainers? Permit me
to answer not one f0urth.'' 1t will be seen
that IL. MS" figures vary greatly with the
season OF the year. Let us recapituIate:
Analyzing IL. Ms" various articles we
fnd-The prayers of the W. c. r. L. and
the practical Christianity of ladies both
in and out of this association are a power
full incentive to crime and as long as the
law permits their continuance there will be
no decrease in crimes attributable to LIQUOR.
Whisky is the chief cause of crime. Whisky
is not the cause of crime. Whisky is a
greater cause of crime than the legal pro-
fesSiOn and yet seventy-five per cent of our
number owe their imprisonment to ''shyster
attorneys" Seventy-tive per cent are here
because the were not total abstainers. An
unknown percentage are here because they
did not have Sunday suits. And last but
not least. nine men out of ten who have the
temerity to state that whisky was the cause
of their downfall are LIARs.-Q. E. D.
Let us now glance at his opinions con.
corning religion and the gentler sex and