The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1889-12-05
IS BE PerSistent.ss

theories for the sole purpose of attempting
to prove that men in the same condition as
ones self are lying hypocrites, is wholly in
excusable."
Such were the words of ''R." when in
recent issue he analyzed my article ''Be
Persistent"
To the first part, ITO err is human. u
plead guilty. Firstly. because l am but
human. and secondly because drew no line
between former contributors to THE MIR
ROR and ex-convicts in general-supposing
there is a line to be drawn between the
two. Society at large is ignorant of any
difference existing between the two. When
society has been hoodwinked by released
convicts. who does it blame? The au-
thors of articles glowing with an elOquencc
and vocabulary wonderful to behold. on
the virtue and bameless character of the
convict, or those who form the subject of
their articles? If any blame is given, it is
to the writer because he is supposed to
know and thoroughly understand the sub
ject whereof he writes. We have taken
upon us a great responsibility who have
voluntarily undertaken to draw pen pct-
ures of life and character behind the bars;
and we must draw them TRUE. showing
the deformities as we'll as the graceful form.
If we persist in giving only the bright side
we are hypOcriteS, and must bear the taunts
arising from our inability to dO.Well the
task we have undertaken, and are not justi-
fled in complaining of the slow process of
prison reform.
To the charge of my having maliciously
misstated facts and advanced highly infla-
ted theories for the sole purpose of attempt
ing to prove that men in the same condition
as ones self are lying hypOcrltes, l plead
NOT guilty. Who can so utterly miScOn-
strue my meaning and take this to be the
spirit that prompted me to write BE Per-
sistent," and who dares to unblushingly
Judge my intentions to be so base? The
charge is too prepOsterOuS and malignant to
be answered at all. and the reader can
judge what spirit prompted such a charge.
do not pretend to know, personally or
otherwise, any released cOnvictS, whether
contributors or not, nor do [ keep record
of their dOings, but it needs only single
glance over the criminal calendar in any of
| the leading newspapers to convince the
reader that very few eX cOnvicts released
from this or other prisons, have continued
true to the principles they adhered(?) to
while in prison, or if they were as virtuOus
and gulesS as represented to be.
! laid particular stress on the second and
third person plural. because do not yet
count myself with eX cOnvicts. 1t remains
to be seen in the near future whether
have acted the hypOcrite or not. 1t be-
hOOves me, as well as every one going forth
| from this prison to, by patience, persist
ence and honesty, overcome the prejudice
existing against us as class; prejudice
which has it's cause in the hypocrisy of
some of our predecessors. But MY pen
will not cease to continue in the work l
have begun. Hypocrisy and insincerity l
will continue to expose, for by uproOting
this prevailing evil the plant of Reform will
grow higher and stronger and more far
reaching, until it can resist the storm of ad-
versity that now levels it to the earth.
The paragraph which especially proved a
thorn to ''R." and brought into play his
genius for sarcasm seems to be what he is
pleased to call my second point" 'You
do not consent to his taking your daughter
out to ride on Sunday afternoon" etc. etc.
''Ah, what rare gift it is to philOsophize
thus" he exclaimS. ''But is not the meta
phor little unrpe and entirely out of place
in such an article? Is it not Overtinged
with the random flights of a love-sick bu-
collie swain," he asks. No; the metaphor is
not unripe or out of place. and it is NOT
overtinged with random flights, lOve-sick or
otherwise. 1t is simply an illustration, and
like many such TRUE TO NATURE. Times
innumerable ex-convicts have applied for
work with the same resolution to be and
remain honest, and in many instances have
repaid good with bad But why have they
done so? How does it come that they did
not persist in their resolutions to be and re-
main honest. and why did they repay kind
ness with evil?