The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1890-03-06
Saltwater Minn. Thursday, March 8, 1890.
Five Gents,

in his own defense. How many causes of
action, l ask, would be squashed in the
grand jury room if only the accused were
gwen the opportunity of submitting either
by counsel Or otherwise his side of the ques-
ton. and how many scenes of sorrow and
heart breakngs, which are witnessed period
lcally III our halls OF justice, would be re-
moved II only our lawmakers would deprive
prOsecutOrs-Or L should say more truthfully,
peIsecutOrs-frOm submitting men to the
degradation of a trial where there is no
probable cause of action. Ihe state again
degrades him by bringing him to trial. en-
gaglng the talent OF the bar against him and
refusing him the slightest help whereby he
might secure the necessary witnesses for his
defence and prove his Innocence; and de-
grades him still further by exposing him to
The rdicule of the community by appoint
ing some tin-hOrn lawyer to defend him,
who has neither character nor capability and
who in the majority of instances finds as
much satisfaction in verdict OF guilty as
otherwise. The law degradeS him by the
imposition OF penalty fUurfOld that which
The justice OF the case only requires. Let
me for the purpose OF illustration take the
case OF young man who has never been
accused of crime before or been behind
prison bars. He is accused of forgery for a
SIHdll diuOu1G HulCttU III luC SoCOuu u6-
gree, tried and found guilty, and the law
before whose justice and majesty every
knee must bow, commands that the penalty
tor this comparatively trivial Otfense be not
less than five or more than ten years. Will
the int1ctiOn of this terrible penalty prove
a determent to this young man and safe
guard to society? L say emphatically, No!
Ninety days in the wOrkhOuse might prove
to him worthy and profitable lesson, but
let him once be dressed in the cOnvict'S
garb and his name handed down to pos
terity as all eX cOnv ct; let him for five or
ten years associate with and become the
compa4ion OF the hardened crim. mails of the
country, listen to their tales of life long
crime enlarged III many instances to suit the
tastes of their audience; pick up and be-
come an expert in the use of their low slang.
and that young man will come forth from
that prison hOme-nOt as one clad in the ar
mOr OF reformation and in his hand the
sword OF Gods justice, mercy and love. pre-
pared to begin with renewed yigOr the bat
lie of llfe-but as one of the most dangerous
and confirmed criminal that was ever let
loose upon society. Because, in the first
place, the state sOwed the seed of revenge
in his heart by refusing him aid necessary
to prove his innocence, thereby teaching him
that poverty not forgery. was his crime,
and in the next place degrading him to the
low level and cOmpaniOnshp of the habitual
criminal at whose apt knee he has LEANED
the art of crime.
But is there any remedy for this unfOrtu-
nately existing injustice? Certainly there
is il it be only administered. In the first
place the law should have it a criminal Of
tense for any newspaper to treat on any
case sub jud .ce beyond the publication of the
bare facts of the case. 1t should remodel
our grand jury system so as to allow the ac-
cused to be heard in his defense before an
indictment is found against him. and at his
trial it should help him in every possible
way to procure the necessary witnesses
to save his reputation from that unjust
strain with which it is threatened. What
terrible injustice it is to drag an innocent
young man to the bar of public justice and
because he is poor and friendless there
brand him as felOn, wreck his life throw
him aside as an unclean thing without
soul to save, and make OF him not convict
but criminal Again, why cannot the law
have for the accused a defender. as it has
for the state prosecutor, elected and re-
munerated in the same manner as the state
law officers are? Thus respectable and
able man would be found who would interest
himself in seeing that justice in every par
ticular would be rendered to all those ac-
cused of crime. the guilty would be justly
punished. the innocent set free. the cry of
shame that has in the past gone up period
icaly in our courts of justice from the lips
of Virtue as represented by moral law, would
be changed into a hymn of thanksgiving,
and the tears which she has shed over the
loss of her nnOcents. changed into that
bright smile of recognition and love which
she has ever cast as mantle of protection
DER the innocent soul. INNISFALLEN.