The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1889-08-08
An Effect, not a Cause.

An Effect, not Cause.
Drink and its relation to crime seems to
be a favorite topic for discussion with sew
eral writer's for THE MIRROR; so much so,
that it bids fair to become chestnut be-.
folfA. long. But if the editor will allow me
small amount of space in the columns of
our little paper. will try and advance
theory which believe as yet is quite new.
Some have written on this subject and CEN
sured the salOOnkeeper others have claimed
the fault lay with the drnker; but all have
taken for granted that the cause of nearly
all crime can be traced to the saloon. Now
l do not believe this. The majority of men
here are drinking men, and perhaps many
drank to excess. This may be true with all
prisons; yet it does not follow that drink
has made these men what they are. Most
of them will claim that ntemperance
brought them here. Ii you talk with them
some will tell you they were intoxicated at
the time Of committing their offence; others
will tell you they had spent all their money
for whisky, had lost their situations by
getting drunk, or something similar to this.
Thus whisky had in some way caused their
trouble.
While taking my share of exercise with
the pick and shovel a few days ago. l be-
came engaged in conversation with man
working near me; he was no exception to
the rule-that is, whisky had brought him
here. But in different way than others
would have it understood. He said: Il
was drunk Or | would not have been
caught" The vast majority of men who
really come here through ntemperance can
truthfully say the same thing.
AS said at the head of this article.
as arule. drink is the result of dishonesty.
rather than dishonesty the result of drink.
l will show a picture which nearly all have
seen. Here is young man who has always
been accustomed to work for living; his
salary is small. and after paying board and
room rent, he has scarcely enough left to
dress respectfully. He sees around him
men who do not work and yet always have
mOney-the wealthy, l mean. He is dis
satisfied and wonders if there is no way to
better his condition, some way to make
more money than is necessary to exc out a
Scant existence; and that he must be able
to have a little time to O.hlmSelf. Probably
he will neglect his work and will lose his
situation. Knowing about how every thing
lays, the next thing he will do is to rob the
man who formerly employed him. Be-
ing idle he drifts from one place to another.
When his money is gone he steals some
thing. Finally he goes to the saloon; ne
| thinks he can find the most amusement
there and makes it his lOafing place. OF
course he ''takeS SOmething," and in time
he will become addicted to the use of strong
drink, and may become a drunkard.
| Whenever he sees anything worth stealing
he takes it, and should he get what is gen.
orally known as "a nice little stake" he
proceeds to have good time. He thinks
he is very clever fellow and does not care
| if people find it out. He shows his money
around very conspcuOusIy, and lets some
word slip which betrays him, or he may
| have been suspected for some time. At any
! rate he is arrested and comes to prison. then
'whisky has ruined him." Now you see he
was dishonest before he was a drunkard.
and would have gone wrong if there never
! had been such thing as whisky, or a sa-
loon in the universe.
! When he was at work it took all his wages
| for necessaries and he had no money
to spend in the saloon; therefore he never
went there. His visits to the saloon were
merely the result of idleness and plenty Of
money.
This case will apply to nearly all thieves
1t is ''easy come easy go.'' 1t they had to
work for their money they would place
more value on it, and when they had sur
plus would invest it in a way that would
bring something in return. But as it comes
easy they always think there is more where
it came from, and have no thought of the
morrow. They are generally without homes,
and to kill time, resort to the saloon, or
places much worse, and many become
drunkardS M. c. A.
We attract hearts by the qualifications
we display, we retain them by the qualities