The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1889-05-16

rounded the crime? Did YOU consider that
[ had always lived an honest life? Did you
listen to my promise to sin no more? DID
you show the mercy taught by the religion
you plofess to believe? All. No. You said:
There is the law. here is tie evidence. Go
to the penitentary.' You made ne ass"
ciate with hardened criminals. Soon |
learned that love is deuSOn; friendship a
snare: charity a sham; lelig on a m"ckery.
| saw an enemy in every human being. |
believed in but one power The power OF
money. You barred me forever from the
path of honesty. You sent my wife to her
grave. You scattered my children over
the face of the earth. My dying prayer is
that their deeds may revenge the wrong
done their father"
liz this case was it not better for the
father. for the wife. for the children. and
for society that the law was evaded and no;
executed? This is an instance OF friends
doing What the law Should-gve a man a
chance TO lead all honest life and save him
from becoming professional. Ii that man
had committed the crime in strange city
he would have gone to the penitentiary.
| Now for what purpose are laws enacted?
They are enacted tor the being and hap
pness of each and every member OF society.
Any law that does not conduce to this end
is all unjust law. And yet in this case who
will say that the law would have attained
this end? The good was accomplished. not
| by the execution, but by the evasion of the
statute.
But it is not from the wolkingmen with
! families that society generally obtains the
materials from which to manufacture pro-
fessionals. Boys and young men are far
more easily trained. A story from life will
show how the professional criminals are
generally developed. Twenty-Five years
ago a boy. not then eighteen years of age,
left his home in an eastern state. He was
better educated than the average boy of that
age. His parents were in excellent circum-
stances and from them he received the train
ing that parents alone can give. He had
the advantage of being reared in the highest
social circle of his native state. Wealth.
education. and refinement had combined to
promise for him a brilliant future. But he
wanted to see the world. His father and
mother. thinking undoubtedly that d few
months experience would convince him
that there was no place like home provided
him with money and a letter to relative
in, as it was then called. the Far West.
He was no better and no worse than the
average boy. He did not want to visit hi.
relatives. he wanted to see life" SO ht
stopped off in a western city and i'm yer,
short time, he had considerable experience
but no cash. just then he commenced t.
reflect. and with reflection came a strong
desire to reach home. Not being up in the
routes of ''side-dOOr Pullmans," money was
necessary for his journey. He did not want
to write for cash and he had no means OF
earning any. After wandering around the
streets for several days. sleeping wherever
he could find place that the police would
not discover, he became hungry and deS
perate. An opportunity was presented anC
he committed crime and very fOOliSf
crime. At that time he was not skilled il
the science of taking the smallest chance
for the greatest money. OF course he wa:
caught. arrested. examined and sent to ja
to await the action of the grand jury. Ii
he would not ask his parents for money be
cause he felt ashamed of his conduct. he
would not ask them to get him out of jail.
He did not write for assistance and he
never saw his father again, nor his mother
nor friend of his bOyhOOd days. They
never knew of his after life; they only knew
that he never reached the relative in the
Far West. His true name was a secret thai
he carried to the grave.
In few weeks the grand jury found al
indictment. Later in life he would have
known how to manipulate the wires so as
to either escape entirely or at least secure 9
plea to some lower degree of the crime
Guilty was the verdict and five years in the
penitentialy was the sentence. During
those five years he associated with crim
nails of every class. of every degree of de
pravity. He was naturally shrewd and as
said before, had received some education
His mind quickly grasped the teachings OF
lifelong crooks. and he graduated from the
institution dangerous criminal; dangerOu:
in intention. dangerous in ability. He hat
boy.
1t would be impracticable, if not i'm
proper, to tell the story of his future life