The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1889-06-06
Does Stealing PAY!

Does Stealing Pay!
On entering into any particular line of
business or employment we are influenced
principally by the financial return we are
to receive for our time or services. 1t is
unusual to hear of people working for any
other purpose than that of money making.
Cant aside, the root of all evil' is the most
adored of the worldly gods. The Iaborng
man may live comfortably on Sl.5O per
day. and be even satisfied with his lot, but
he finds it still more comfortable on $500
per day. The banker will not loan you
money at per cent, if another man will
pay him per cent. Even ministers of the
Gospel are more inclined to give spiritual
pecuniary return.
Men who make business of stealing, do
so because they think it an easy and fast
method of accommodating wealth and that
which accompanies tease and luxury
But, DO we ever hear of rich thief, that
is, a common thief-One who is liable to
bring up at the penitentiary any day?
Hardly. There is class of men who grow
suddenly rich by very queer methods, but
they are never called thieves. Once in a
great while. the people in working off mo-
mentary wrath, deign to call them rob
5ers'' in semi-apologetic manner Both
words. according to Webster, are synOny-
mOus;but in the general usage of the present
day they bear sort of strained relation
ship, somewhat akin to that existing be-
tween the arstOcrat and his plebean cousin:
the word rObber serving to designate the
bOOdler from the smaller fry.
There has never yet been man who led
an outright crooked Life who has made a
competence. or even a meagre living. One
or two instances have been recorded of men
stealing gOOdly sum and then settling down
to some legitimate business. using their ILL
gotten money as capital; but such cases are
as rare as the prOverb al chickens teeth.
The general motto of the crook is "cOme
easy. go easy" If he makes a thousand
dollars in one day he can spend it in three.
He never gives thought to approaching
old age or the possibility of an accident.
when the decrepit body will no longer be
able to execute his nefarOus schemes. With
the future he feels he has nothing to do and
confines himself to the enjoyment of what
pleasure he can derive from the proceeds of
his latest spoil, ever comforting himself
with the thought that more is to be had
where the last came FROM He uses every
possible means to hOOdwink the police and
avoid detection and is always buoyed up
with the hope that he can clear himself if
arrested.
But the best laid plans have been known
to tail, and those OF the crook are not eXcep-
tons to the general rule. Notwithstand-
ing all their cOnniving, and knowledge of
criminal jurisprudence, the smartest crooks
find themselves in the hands of the law at
sometime in their career, and pay dearly
for all their past pleasures. Once within
the grasp of The law, and not having been
known to work for living, they do not
find it such an easy matter to clear them
selves as their fancy pictured it. Boon COM
paniOns quickly flee in order to save them
selves; or if they attempt to help the one
under arrest it only makes matters worse,
as people are not prone to place much con-
tidence in men who are naturally presumed
to be dishonest.
There is still more practical proof that
crime does not pay. The most honest man
has to be very circumSpect in these days of
startling juries. as from all reports it would
seem quite an easy matter to weave a chain
of circumstances that would send two
year-Old child to prison. To verify this. it
is but necessary to look at the accounts of