The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1890-04-03
A Question.


to myself, Fare thee well. sweet Mar
guerite, your Samivel s in the cOnsomme." +"
the form of the editor loomed upon the
scene.
"What are you dOing?" he asked.
Nothing" said L.
''Then why in thunder don't you do
something" said he. ''try to improve your
morals in some way or another"
l respectfully intimated that my morals
were after the fashion of Ceasar's wife
above suspicion.
"Humph," said the editor.
And thus the row commenced. But it is
of no use bandying words with the editor,
like TennySOn's brook ''he goes on forever"
and. Furthermore, like white WINGS" he
never grows weary, which [ do. So babe
him au revoir to which he growled, YOU'RE
another" and vowed he would be around
again in few nights for something for
THE MIRROR. He went away in silence
and left me lonely, left me free"
The subject have in mind is, "With
compulsory education would there be less
crime?" And now let us look at the subject
pro and contra:
We will take youth whose parents be-
ing in humble state Of life, but at the
same time having aspirations for their boy,
think the best thing to do is to give their
son the best education their means will al
low, and so they send him off to school or
college as the case may be, and this youth
being happily bright and possessed with
plenty of brains. by diligence and persever-
ance gets to the top of the tree; then he
i,f<, fIn I'll
professional line of business and in this de-
partment he also makes success and is
considered shining light amongst his fell
lOwmen, pride of his old parents and a
good example to young men about to start
in the world.
Now let us look on the other side of the
picture:
Youth No. 2 is placed in a similar posi-
ton; but, unfortunately, this youth is
neither possessed of the brain or abilities of
No. l. and thus in starting out he has many
drawbacks to contend with; he cannot,
from want of capability, hold a responsible
position in commercial circles and does not
take interest in any profession, knowing full
we'll he would only make failure in such
attempt. so the only thing left is to become
a bar keeper or book agent which will be
admitted is not quite the height of an as
the question of how to remedy this failure,
and think the solution is easy.
Instead of cramming lad with Greek.
Latin, Algebra, and Euclid (who cares
whether the right angle A is equal to the
left angle B or nOt). how much better it
would be to thoroughly instruct him I'D
some trade such as that of carpenter, en-
gineer, machniSt or what not. so when
thrown upon the world he knows he can
rely upon himself to obtain an honest liv-
ing; and in these days of competition he
can earn as good if not better remuneration
for his services in this position, than he
can do in a clerical career For my part
| do not believe that lack of education is
the cause of crime. and think that if a
census of all the penitentaries in the
country were to be taken, that the majority
of the inmates would be found to be able to
both read and write.
My knowledge of things in general is
limited and the little sense l possess is of
the very cOmmOnest kind. but one thing l
am assured and positive of is, that this
country has the finest set of laws. bar none,
and this admission coming from an inhab-
liant of that grumbling. growing. cOnceited,
tight, little island over the pond must carry
some weight. Now. how is it with such
good laws, protection. etc., that crime is
ever on the increase IN ratio with the pop
ulatiOn? l am fain to believe there is
something wrong with the administration.
In giving my views | wish it to be dis
tinctly understood that neither argue pro
nor contra, but leave that to more capable
persons.
1 have given up argument. for in the last
got the worst of it with New England
man. We had long discussion in which
[ finally said. 1.-Two wrongs do not make a
right"
sometimes they dew" said he.
"HOw's that?" said I.