Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-04-17
DANGEROUS CLASSES.
TALMAGE FINDS THEM AMONG
THE RICH AND THE POOR.

THE RICH AND THE POOR.
TIE Man OF Wealth and Leisure who
"hlis Time" In Doing Nothiny-At the
Other Extreme Are tho Criminal Poor.
the Desperate, the Desr,airin-,
Dr. Ia,maSc, in continuance of the
course or sermons on '.The Ten Plaques
OF the CltleS, took for his text Exodus
VII, 20, IAN the waters that were in the
river were turned TO Blood
Among all the Egyptian plaques none
could nave been worse than this. Tho
Nile is the wealth OF Egypt. Its lish the
food, ITS waters the irrigation of garden
and 1lsds. Its condition decides the
prosperity in the uoo,n of the empire
what happens to the Nile happens 20 all
Egypt. And now in til" text that crnat
river is ncarnadincd. 1t is q red cash
across an empire. IN poetic license we
speak Oh wars which tara the .!.;.,s INFO
blood. But my text is not !, ror;;,.
license. 1t was a fact, a great crimson.
appalling con9i.ion described. The Milo
rolling deep of blood. Can you imagine
more awful plague?
The modern plague which nearest
corresponds With that is the plague oi
crime in all our cities. 1T h;lis not for
bloodshrd. 1t shrinks from no carnage.
1t bruises and cuts and strikes Gown and
destroys. 1t rnvcls in the blood ct todv
and soul, this plague of crime ran:pant
for ages, and never holder Or more RAM
pant than now.
The annual police reports of these
cities as cNamine them are to mo moro
Suggestive than Dantcs Iufcrno, and all
Christian people as we'll as rcformcrs
need to awaken to present and tre-
mendons duty. If you want this ..Plague
OF Crime to stop there arc several kinds
OF persons you need to consider. First,
the public criminals. You ought not to
be surprised that these people make up a
large portion in many communities. The
vast majority of the criminals who take
ship from Europe come into our own
port. In 1869, of the forty nine thou
sand people who were incarcerated in
the prisons of the country thirty-two
thousand were of foreign birth. Many
of them were the very desperation of So
cicty, oozing into the slumS of our city.
waiting for all opportunity to riot and
steal and dcbauch, joining the large gang
of American thugs and cut-throats.
There arc in this cluster OF cities-New
York, Jersey City, and Brooklyn-four
thousand people whose entire business in
life is to commit crime. That is as much
their business as Jurisprudence or medi-
cine or merchandise is your business.
To it they bring all their energies of body,
mind and soul, and they look upon the
intervals which they spend in prison as
so much unfortunate loss of time, just as
you look upon an attack of influenza and
rheumatism which fastcns you in the
house for few days. 1t is their lifetime
business to pick pockets and blow uI
safes and shoplift and ply the pane
game, and they have as much pride Of
Skill in their business as you have il
yours when you upset the argument o.
an opposing counsel, or cure a gunsho
fracture which other surgeons have givel
up, or foresee turn in the market a.
you buy goods just before they go up 9
per cent. It's their business to commi
crime, and | do not suppose that once i
year the thought of the immoralit
strikes them.
Added to these professional criminals
American and foreign, there are Il larg
class of men who are more or less indus
trious in crime. In one year the polio,
in this cluster of cities arrested ten thou
sand people for theft, and ten THOUSAND
for assault and battery, and fifty thou
sand for intoXication. Drunkenness il
responsible for much of the theft, sine,
it confuscs mans ideas OF property, ant
he gets his hands on things that do no
belong TO him. Rum is responsible fol
much of the assault and battery, insplr
ing mon to sudden bravery, which they
must demonstrate though it be the face
of the next gentleman.
Ten million dollars worth of property
stolen in this cluster of cities in one year
You cannot as good citizens, be indepen
dent of that fact. 1t will touch YOU
pocket, since have to give you the fac
that these three cities pay about eigh
million dollars worth of taxes a year tt
arraign, try and support the crimina
population You help to pay the boarc
of every criminal, from the sneak thei
that snatchcs spool of cotton up tt
some man who swamps bank. Moro
than that, it touches your heart in thu
moral depression of the community. YOU
might as we'll think to stand in a closet!
confined room where there are fifty peo
pie and yet not breathe the Initiated air
as to stand in a community where there
is such a great multitude of the deprave(
without somewhat being contaminated
What is the fire that burns your store
down compared with the contiagatior
which consumes your morals? What j:
the theft OF the gold and silver from
your money safe compared with the theft
of your children's virtue?
We are all ready to arraign criminals
We shout at the top OF our voice, "StoE
thief!'' and when the police get on the
track, we come out. hatless and in on,
slippers, and assist in the arrest. We
come around the bawling ruffian anc
hustle him off to justice, and when hi
gets in prison what do we do for him:
With great gusto we put on the hand
cuffs and the topples; but what prepa
ration are we making for the day wher
the b andcuffs and the topples come off;
Society seems to say to these criminals
civilian, 90 in there and rot" when il
ought to say, "You are an offender
against the law, but we mean1 to give
you an opportunity to repent; we meal
to help you. Here are Bibles and tract:
and Christian influences. Christ dice
for you. Look, and live"
Vast improvements have been made
by introducing industries into the prison
but we want something more than ham