The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1889-09-19
A MOlnentOus Subject.

press. The trivial cases which are magni.
fed to state prison offenses, so as to keep
the judicial mills running are innumerable.
l am certain there are a great number
of unsuspecting taxpayers who have not the
faintest idea of the amount OF their hard
earned dollars that is frivolously squan-
dered in administering the law. No reason.
able and just excuse can be given for the
unwarranted extravaganza which is in
obliged in. Had the privilege of collect
ing statistics as to the number of men who
are suffering imprisonment for trivial Of
lenses, could give an array of facts which
would startle the community at large The
ratepayers throughout the state are forever
crying out for less taxation, but they never
seem to realize that they have the remedy
in their own hands. Until the various
constituencies see that in order to bring
about radical change in the management
OF the municipalities, men of unQuestiOn-
able character and stability must be- selected
and elected to the various offices connected
with the administration of justice. reduced
taxation is out of the question. If care
full investigation was made into the cause
OF the large and continuous army of young
men who are 1passng to and from this in
stitutiOn. it would be found that at least
half of them were unwarrantably sent to
the penitentary. TO give an idea of how
matters stand, l will mention a few cases.
which have come under my notice. Two
men were recently discharged from here
after having laid three months in Jail and
serving seven months sentence for at
tempting to purlOin an OvercOat which
adorned the lifeless body Of quiet and in
offensive advertising medium that happened
to be ObStructing the sidewalk; another man,
is serving nine months sentence for hay
ing been implicated in the aforesaid case
Six men are now serving one years sen-
tence for stealing solitary key of beer.
One man. who was recently liberated Law
three months in Jail and served six
months sentence for the theft of quantity
of old rope or junk. of no use to himself or
any one else, and for which he received in
exchange. from an enterprising sheeny,
the large sum of fifty cents. Another man,
after laying over three months in Jail. is,
serving nine months sentence for apprO-
priating saloOnkeeper's OvercOat involv-
ing the enormous outlay by the dispenser
of vile pOtiOns of one dollar and a half.
There are no end of cases such as these
to be found in this institution. not to men
ton those who have been convicted and sent
here to satisfy personal malice. Taking
the whole circumstances surrounding these
cases into consideration the amount of
money expended for board. and court eX-
penseS connected with the trials of the men
must have been exceedingly large and I'M
necessary
Had these men been charged with and
convicted of petit larceny. and received
relative sentence. the ends of Justice would
have been served and the same beneficial
results would have accrued to the tax
payers at comparatively small cost The
question arises how does this occur? | can
answer that question in very few words.
In the first place. ''grist" must be found
for the judicial mills; secondly, somebody
must Ego over the road" to keep all the
in motion: thirdly it is con-
sidered impOitic and out of the question to
send those gentlemen who are accused of
fOrgerieS to the amount of a
quarter of million dollars or fraudulent
real estate transactions involving thousands
of dollars to the penitentiary, as there is
too much money or political influence at
stake in such cases which would be virtu-
ally lost were the miscreants sent to occupy
felOns' cells. In order to bring these things.
about the trivial Offenses with which the
common herd are charged are subjected to.
scrutiny through powerful, yet mythical.
and are magnitied to the extent
necessary to make them eligible to the
state prison. Being financially embarrassed
and unable to secure competent legal adj
vice. they have no alternative but to accept
the penalty pronounced upon them. This
is very serious matter and worthy of the
attention OF the public generally. In the
state of Minnesota thousands of dollars are
sQuandered annually, and the
sooner the taxpayers make investigation
INTO the manner in which the various Grim
inal cases are disposed of in their midst,
so much sooner will the taxation be re-
duced. The outrageous practice now in