The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1890-10-02

less fortunate than himself as, nOtwith-
standing, his brothers; he is no longer with
us-he has gone to his reward-and if he
could have been consciously thinking and
meditating upon his past life during his
later hours, just as the great change was
coming, cannot but think that the work
that he did in his lifetime in this connection
in this society. and in others similar to it
the State Society of New York-could not
but be looked back upon by him with salts
faction and gratitude in those last hours of
his life. Applause.
He. in speaking of this subject. says: ''It
is not for us to assume we are so far above
and so much better than others that we are
not to be in any way concerned for our less
fortunate brethren" In this speech he
laid down the principle broadly, and with
force that the community. the society in
which great crimes are committed, in which
crimes increase, are in some real sense. in
some degree, responsible for those crimes;
that society itself cannot be separated.
The crimes of to-day are due to the busi-
ness and social spirit of to-day. Consider.
There are two classes of crime in all the
civilized countries and especially in our
own country. The crimes of capital, and
the crimes of sudden wealth; the crimes of
those avariciOus for gain, avaricious for
money. not always merely for money. but
for the power, the ambition for the power
that money gives; the power over place,
over position. over office, over influence,
over conventions. over legislative bodies q
hope not yet over courts). but the power of
money gained rapidly, not always by the
purest means. That spirit leads to the
crimes of those who are at the top of the
wall of fortune; not always punished, not
always convicted. too frequently admired
and envied. and held up as the men to be
admired and envied.
We hear it constantly said: "You have
been labOring for twenty years, where is
your fruitS?" The tree is known by its
fruit. Results are what test every human
effort, every human organization. It is
work, it is value. We reply. the product
iveness of this country has brought to it
from abroad, more than an even. fair share
of the criminals abroad. That is one thing.
But again, the opportunities here by specu-
latlOn. by gambling. by every description of
illegitimate effort to make great fortunes,
leaving others without that opportunity, IS
great cause of crime in this country, and
then. as say with Governor Seymour, for
all this the community itself is more or less
responsible in their laws. in their conduct
of business. in their general lives. What is
the remedy? To do all we can by our leg
islatiOn. by our conduct and the genuine
Christian system of regarding all around US
as in deed and in fact the children of COM
mon Father-as our brethren. If 1 have a
great fortune. if all my business is pros
porous. is it not largely because OF the men
working for low wages under me? and is it
not we'll for business men to pause and
think: Must not share portion of the
profits OF this prosperous business with
those who make my business prOsperous?"
When. therefore, the community sees and
hears. as we do now and then, that in three
countries of Great Britain, France and Ger
maryland in our own country. perhaps
there are now. perhaps, thousand firms In
which. in some form or other. profit-sharing
by the capitalist, by his own act, is enjoyed
by all who labor under him.
Now to practical questions Any system
of prisons to be complete and perfect must
contain, probably, these things. The first
step of the criminal where the law takes
hold of him IS when he is arrested for his
first Ofense 1t is the first step that costs,
we hear it said. and in the treatment of the
criminal it is the first step that is important.
Let his arrest be managed so as not to en-
courage him or lead him to further crime.
but to lead him away from crime.
The first step. after he is taken by the
constable or police, is that he is taken to
| the county jail in the country or the lookup
OF the city, to that class of prisons in
which men are held to be detained until
trial for their crime. They're not guilty.
perhaps. but they're accused. We have in
this country from three to four or five
thousand jails, lOck-ups, places of deten-
ton. What do we do with the young fel-
low who is arrested for the first time, for
his first offense? What are these places l
have named9 We ought to understand it..
| Well, the young fellow is carried where he