St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-10-26

continue to fight against the liquor traf-
tic. We can inaugurate crusade
against speculation in stocks. and bonds.
and wheat. and pork, and possibly may
force the state to abolish it. We can
teach our children that to get money in
this way or to get something for nothing
i'll any way is equivalent to stealing 1t.
Z We can agitate the question of re-
forming our county Jail system and pos
Sibly abolish this great hot-bed and
s breeding place of crime. We can Or
ganiZe prisoners aid associations and
societies and try to furnish employ
ment to the discharged conyicts, so
they will not be forced to go back to
: their old haunts of vice.
6 We can do all this, and perhaps more.
8 l say we can do those things. but we
probably will not Though l could
speak with the tongues of men and OF
angels. have no idea that L could do
more than stir you up to a mOmentary
Spasm of yirtuouS resolve. You will
leave this house to go back to the old
struggle for wealth and power. 1t will
be like man who looked at himself in
the glass and then went away and for
. got wilau manner of man he was.
Secretary Hart Talks.
Secretary Hart. of the board of cor
rection and charities, followed with
short address. detailing what he had
seen in various states lately In regard
to reform schools. He was glad to say
that the tendency was to abolish prison
systems i'll the schools and make the
surroundings as pleasant and the con-
dItlons OF living as natural as possible.
He strongly advocated the teaching of
trades to all children, no matter to what
class of society their parents belonged.
Rev. DIR. Smith. in reviewing the adj
dress OF Supt. Myers, said that he did
not agree with the statement that love
OF money was the root of all crime. The
majority of criminals were under the
age OF twenty-one, and love of money
does not begin to show itself under that
age. One very rarely sees young man
who is miSer. He believed that the
Great Cause OF Crime
was the desire to give vent to the pas
sions which the unframed mind could
not develop. Such scenes as Dickens
had presented of nests of juvenile
thieves in London could not be found
to-day. Education and the teaching of
home influences had wrought the
change. One cause of crime was the
lack or knowledge, for boys and girls
were not taught the terrible effects of
wrong doing. They should be taught
that 1.-The wages Of sin are DEATH"
He thought that the statements made
as to hereditary crime were grossly ex-
aggerated. He believed that the major
OF criminals might have been some
thing else if they had received the ben
efltS OF moral and spiritual influences.
Deserted illegitimate children who were
placed in institutions. very rarely
lapSed into crime. because they re-
celyed this moral and spiritual training.
Not so with the children from tue dens
and slums of the big cities. From such
places came the criminal classes, where
their surroundings were of the worst
kind. Tenement quarters should not
be allowed to exist: it was cheaper for
the state to prevent crime than to re-
form criminals. The reverend speaker
here drew picture of what the city of
st. Paul would some day be, and how
the working classes would be forced to
live III tenement houses, without proper
ventilation or drainage, with yitiating
surroundings. Continuing, Dr. Smith
said:
The greed of the landlords must be
abolished, and good homes provided for
the people, who must be reached bv
Kindness and gentleness. Nothing in
reform schools can ever do as much to
prevent crime as the sweet home influ-
ence OF mother would do. The church
must teach people how to live, aud So
ciety must give every man chance to
i've. Men must be paid fair wages, the
hours OF labor must be shortened. and
mental and physical development en-
c0uraged by recreation. By these means
only will crime be prevented.