The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1889-05-23
Both Sides.

the social system is the cause of the existence
of such evils as gross intemperance and
crime. But the great trouble is that we do
not look upon ourselves as forming a re-
sponsible unit in what we term the social
system. We look away to some pOpulous
centre where wealth is enjoying the sweet
doing nothing" and exclaim ''thOse people
have no right to revel in such luxury while
have to labor all day for mere pittance."
However logical this statement may be in
theoretical sense. it lacks substantial
backing, inasmuch as these people came by
their money if not hon estly. at least within
the pale of the law. and consequently have
right to do as they please with it. If
anything is wrong it is the laxity of the
law that is. or should be, made by the ma
jOrity of the peOple-which means the
WOrklngmen-Or poorer classes. 1t may
sound very we'll to say that Jay Gould or
some other rich man acquired their wealth
by dishonest methods: but we have yet to
hear of any one of the thousands who make
this statement attempting to prove it. 1t
is all silly anarchcal babble: we are not at
all outraged OF Jay Gould's breaking the
laws, but it is a bare possibility that we are
envious of his good fortune.
If there is any. fault with money, it is
that its glare eXciteS the cupidity of a few
silly moths, who in attempts to possess it
by means not recognized in law. find them
selves hustled off to prison where they howl
about the evil effects of its possession by
10
that money will save man great deal of
Inconvenience in this world; it will keep a
man from getting into prison, and it will
also have potent influence in getting him
out as is shown in an article in the last
issue. But it is not the owners of the
money who are to blame. If few men,
bers of jury should condescend to accept
largess in order the better to reach a de-
ciSiOn. who is at fault, the giver or the
taker? You say both: very true. but if
either party was honest, both. as a natural
sequence would have to be. 1t is the man
who accepts the bride that is the really
guilty one. 1t is all very well to say. lit
is hard for poor man to be honest under
such circumstances. and that the tempta-
ton was great" but honor is the attribute
of a true man. and it he lacks it in such a
case. he will do so in any other emergency.
do not wish you to understand that [
think the pOsSessOrs Of colossal fortunes
immaculate and only lacking the wings to
make cherubims. On the contrary, it is
more than probable that they are far from
what they should be. And yet, | will say
that they are not always as bad as we paint
them. We are all on the hunt for the mighty
dollar and will use means to gain our end
that are permissible by roundabout con-
Struction OF the law. which our own con-
science and the spirit of the law tell us are
dishonest. When "Old Hutch" through
maneuvering cornered the wheat market in
Chicago last fall. he was morally certain
that he was breaking the spirit of state
law and "a ming money by dishonest means.
But, though Illinois has law against
tamperng with the products of the farm
and initiating their price, this man found a
weak spot in it and made millions of dollars
in week at the expense of millions OF the
poor class. Many newspapers condemned
his actions but in the same breath sang the
praises of his shrewdness Now, ''Old
Hutch' is probably no better or no worse
than the generality of humanity. We
would all have done the same thing had we
a chance. The same thing will occur year
after year just as long as cunning men can
cOnstrue the law to read the very opposite
to what it was intended. In the hunt for
money there are not many who look at the
moral aspect OF the means used to procure
it. 1t is sort of an unwrtten law with
men. that if they keep within the bounds
of the human law. they are fulfilling all
the obligations of the higher moral law.
The only remedy is to make human law so
simple that every lawyer in the land cannot
make it read to suit any particular case that
he undertakes. AS a proof of the intricate
technicalities that surround simple laws we
need but look at any Of the many suits
daily tried in probate courts If rich man
dies and Sights some relative in his will,
the latter will bring a horde of witnesses to
prove that the legatOr was insane at the
time or was unduly influenced by some
other relative while they know perfectly