The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1889-10-31
PRISON SUNDAY,
Extracts from Pioneer Press Reports
Of Sermons Delivered by Twin City
Ministers.
DIR. SMITH.

DR. SMITH.
There is difference etween crime and SIM All
.crimehs not sim SIN relates to the divine govern
ment; crime to the human. There are many
causes tor crm but the most important are
comprised under six heads. F.rst-Men COM
NIT crime ecause they desire to do so. There is
that in mans heart that ma urally impels him to-
ward the con on of crime. There are three
prime stmulant> TO this desire; to.wit: Intern
-perance, gambling, Iascivousness. Laws against
these evils valuable: but such laws tend only
to shut one dc or. 7 he only radical course is to
make the man go d. second-Ths cause for
crime comes along it'll the first one and is hered
lty. Every wrong act of is liable to pro-
-ject through oserity. Many a man is bad be-
cause of a bad grandfather. TIL rd-This source
of crime lies in the bad structure Of human So
"ciety. 1t is not difficult for man to do right who
has been built up upon good principles. Build
the people up to higher level and institutions
will take care of themselves Fourth This cause
lies sn the lick OF scientific knowledge. Fifth
This one ar'se> from lack of belief in the doc
~trine of retribut n. There is no source more
fruitful Of crime than infidety Sixth Contempt
of law PARTICULAR, on the part of those whose
duty it is to enforce the law. officers do not dare
enforce the laws for of injurins the politi-
cal prospects. Such officers are responsible for
the downfall of men, and you who vo te for such
officers know ely resi- ons BILE 1t is not long
since that took ccas sunday afternoon
to enter few of the sal, of st. Paul On Jack
son street found in a saloon ten boys between
the ages of four teen and sixteen years playing
pool. This was ct from any fault of the law for
the law strictly forbds that thing 1t was the
result only of a fai ue the part of the police
and other autEorties, to enforce the law If
those boys land even ually in prison would not
the,cit! of ST: Paul and its officers be to blame?
REV. H. NJ. SIMMONS.
iy lar the most imp' rtant fact in the prison
problem is that hearly all the PRISONERS are some
time to return to society. Hence the chief question
is how they can be treated so as to be the least
dangerous when the! thus return. The old method
to leave In m without much treatment
often in id!ene' s. ofte in assocat on with others
than themsclves-or to treat them cruelty
in order snDdue them, and warn them and
Others aga nst crime But both these methods
4ha, proved failures. Idleness and evil compan-
-iops al Ike make them Cruel treatment
hardens and emb tiers them. and turns til m into
lifelong enemies IF ETY.. And so little does
severe punish ment warn them or others that even
the late quadruple execution in New York was di-
>recty followed there by Ian epidemic of murder
and other grave crimes as one OF our Minneap-
oils dailies sa and or mes have generally -four
ished mo in the per DDS when the punishments
for them most cruel. Hence learning
to leave these old methods and make imprisoD
lment time fer patient training Prisoners mus,
be kept at DIRK and subjected TO discpl ne that
educate. body, mind and morals; they must be
taught by prison experience that they gain by
-well-doing and lose without it; and they must be
encouraged in welldoing by a beral system O
rewards
REV. WOODBURY..
reformatory should be private SNAP
That is. prison should not be run on the con
tract s, STEM which experience showed benefited
no one but the contractor. The state and thu
convict got nothing out of it and from the s. stem