The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1889-07-18
I" Drunken Grim esq

man tells you this in prison he is lying
The exceptional tenth one, is charged wit
assault. or the taking of life-that is
among those charged with having done bod
lily injury; you will find some who ca
Justly claim that whisky is responsible fO
their crime. That is. they had no inten
tion to commit the crime they did. Neithe
| had they any intentions TO commit an
crime; but while robbed Of their reason b.
! liquor, they rashly committed an overt &C
for which they are paying the penalty.
would deal leniently with these but
would not excuse them: for they knew tha
! it was wrong TO get drunk. They may no
have thought of this when they were get
/ ting drunk on the day they committed thei
crime but the first, second and third tim
! they got drunk, something told them f0rci
bly, enough that they were doing wrong-
that they were dsgracing themselves. Blu
what appeared to them as a crime, was he
violation of state law. 50 with the fea
of penalty removed. they thrOtted the mora
dictator within them and drank boldly an,
freely until-well, | need not follow
/ them farther Ii whisky did bring then
here. they experienced the same sheepish
shameful, fearful and guilty feelings afte
their first drink that the thief experience,
after the theft of his first dollar. The,
were appealed to as strongly, why did the,
go on? | leave them now. If they dom
drink any more they will not harm any
! body Don't entirely excuse them. but b
lenient towards them; for you are some
what to blame yourself for not providing
penalty for their early crimes of drunken
ness.
A man who is not criminal will no
commit crime when drunk except i'm few
such cases as | have just defined. A MAJ
who never harbOred a desire or plan o
theft. never stole when he happened to ge
drunk. And the man who did not encOur
age unholy desires when sober, never ye
assaulted virtue while drunk. And it is as
tonishng how few people are aware 0
these facts-and of how frequently ever
judges and jurors are deceived by tn
wv Whisky plea" When a man under tn,
influence of liquor can without any fore
thought or plan enter your house at the eX
act hour of the night when the occupant
sleep the sOundest, and so deftly unlatcl
the door and proceed with astonishing ac
curacy to search only where it is most lkel,
! that your money and jewels are concealed
and after secreting them about his person
will arrive at the depot just in time to catcl
the outgoing train, and then plead whisky
! as having been the cause and prOmpter O
it all and find plenty Of people to believe
him and SymparhiZe with him. is something
beyond my comprehension. But just 81
long as a person can forge your name, EN-
beZZle your goods. steal your valuables, O.
rob women of virtue, and then plead tina
they were drunk or they would not have
done it; and because OF that plea. sympa
! thy is drawn toward him. and two hun
dred thousand prayers from the hearts O
the noble women OF the w. G.. L. |. as
cend TO heaven in his behalf: the mothers
and daughters Of your best families bring
him books and papers and edihles, ard Of
ten petition for his pardon. Just 50 Ions
as this sympathy is continued there will bt
no decrease in the number of "drunkel
crimes we hear Of Let whisky be
attributed to the cause of the cOmmttal O.
the mans crime and he is Immediately
held up as martyr. All through his i'm
priSOnment he listens to the addresses O
learned and thrilling orators, of earnest an(
faithful ministers, kind and sympathetic
women, all in the same strain-blamns
some one else for his being here more thar
he does himself. If he goes through hi
Imprisonment on whisky plea, all he neet
do when released, is to show his sympathiz
ers that he has ''sworn off, and their arm:
will be open to embrace him. This then il
why you can go through any prison an(
learn that rs per cent (?) of the whole mum
ber committed their crimes while drunk
| l admit that a good many of them
were more or less under the influence
of liquor when they committed
the act, but the criminal desire