The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1891-11-12
4. Saltwater, MINI, Thursday, Nov. IL 1891.

their good works. 1t was mere sentiment
alism before there good works were re
warded with benefits to Humankind; after
they were-well. call it what you like.
1t is impossible here to enter into dis
QUESTION as to whether the human govern
ernment is one of ''getting there" yourself,
or of helping your weaker fellow to get
there along with you. l may briefly say
that hold to the principle that no man. no
woman has divine, or natural right to
succeed" in life work to the detriment OF
the least. the weakest of our kind. 1t is
this hard headed hard heartedness that
causes patriotic" editor to eXpatiate on a
subject about which he knows nothing.
Some fellow with tip top opinion of his
own long headedness, and an empty-bOttOm
ignorance of his own large headedneSS has
not Yesterday; oh, no; but many, many
decades agO-prOmulgated the theory OF
"Gush in its antagOnism to reformation" !"
and some other tip top, empty bottom fell
low has caught up his idea, and handed it
along the lines even unto modern civiliza-
tiOn. This same fellow has talked about
prisoners Bills of Fare'' far surprising in
their details of tOOthsOme It'd bits and del
icaces anything that Fifth Avenue hotel
ever provided. He has also talked of such
a thing as severity being necessary to re-
preston" and. of course, he knew, but it is
a pity that he didn't know about what he
was talking.
have long ago had it practically demon
strated to me that if any progress is derived
and any made in the suppression of vice
and the prevention crime. it is going to be
accomplished by other methods and means
than patching up old penOlOgical clothing.
or by re- lying on an unrevised proof sheet
of recumbent editor. Some of our leading
prison disciplinarans with their keen IN
sight into the criminal nature are among
the least as refOrmers. Their conceptions
of social evils are blurred; they can't see
beyond the immediate prospect of what is;
they know not how it came there, and seek
it not. and if you were to point out to them
that an Andrew Carnegie was responsible
for per cent of the criminals, and that Jay
Gould was responsible for another 1 per
cent, and SO on, they would make big eyes.
and. perhaps. harp upon the one string of
"conditOns." and say theories are discOrd.
ant in dealing with them. How those con-
ditiOnS came about they care not; they are
here to punish criminal, according as the
lawhas directed them. They dodge the
question.
Can it not be seen that the slurring of SEN
timentalism is not against itself, but because
IL 10 uuCCtcu dSdlIlSU Anu WIldU
is criminal that he should be cOmmiserated,
and the son of criminal that he should be
coddled? Can it not be further seen that
these slurrers know nothing of the why and
and the wherefore of crme-Of. we'll. say
ninety per cent of crime? l think if ''pa-
riotic' editors would attend to political
lying they might serve their own ends bet
ter, and not damn the poor criminal to such
an extent as their know nOthingiSm has
done. 1t is such rubbish as the Jackson
editor puts forth anent criminals that makes
ones humanity protest against his iron. clad
heart and his brass-clad mind. Ignorance
is fatal to progress, and l doubt If there be
a harder battle to fight in this world than
the one against ignorance-educated ignO.
rance.
To sum up these brief paragraphs: Senti-
mentalism never antOgOniZeS the refOrma
tiOn of the criminal. 1t may be unworthily
bestowed in few cases; but it does no
harm-Only to patriotic" editors. and men
of like caliber. The ridiculing or the de-
nouncing of ''gush" is symptomatic of lack
of it in the ridiculer's or the denOuncerS
disposition, and he should bear in mind
that as his disposition is not going to be
changed by ''gushers." so the dispositions
of these are not going to be changed by his
blather. 1t would save him penful of
ink and second or two of time if he would
not forget this. The puerility of talking
of the luxurious lives which prisoners lead
need not be considered. 1 wonder, though.
If any of these so called patriots ever did.
say. ''stretch?" presume lot of lux
urious conceit would be taken out of them
If they had to do one. Then the babble
about severity being necessary to repres-
sion. Did severity ever repress? From
Draco to Date what instance can be cited
of its repressive pOwer-excepti in Draconian
annihilatiOn and capital conviction?
know not one. and have studied here and
there little. I know this, however: You
may subjugate man or a woman for the
time being; but repress his criminal tenden.