The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1891-05-05
SOCIETY'S INHUMANIPY.

Occasionally in real life, we meet with
incidents of human experience so pitiful,
exhibiting pathos so moving, despair so
black that not the vivid pen pictures of a
DICKENS, READE or HUGO are equal to
them; incidents, TOO, that reveal how cruel
and heartless we are in our collected ca
pacity as society" how relentless in our
persecution of the unfortunate, and which
further reveals how difficult thing it is
for man to rise, having once fallen. Such
an incident occurred the other day in the
superior court of Buffalo, when PETER
DUBOIS told the story of his life in answer
to the question of Judge HATCH, if he
had anything to say why sentence
should not be passed upon him for horse
stealing. Looking squarely in the judges
face DUBoIs said: II am guilty. Do your
worst and send me as long as you can. I
was convicted OF stealing many years ago."
he continued. SWELL l went to prison and
served my time When l left prison l de-
cided to lead an honest life, but the world
is against me. got out and went to work
at the Gilbert car works. The foreman
found out l was a convict. / did not stay
to draw my pay but left. At last got work
with RARDwICKE s. WARD. l told Mr..
HARDwICKE l was a convict, that wanted
to reform. Within short time detective
came and said the superintendent had sent
him there to see how l was getting along
Then Mr.. HARDwICKE wrote note to Su-
perintendent MoRY telling him to keep the
detectives away; that he knew my history
l got along for awhile and was happy with
my wife and family. Two detectives came
and asked about me on Friday and on Sat
urday was discharged. The foreman said
there was no more work. l don't know
what did. have no recollection of tax
ing this horse and buggy, and as 1 had not
drank in seven years the liquor made me
mad''
! Then as he choked with emotion, his
voice grew deeper, and he said: ~ do not
ask mercy. Punish me as you will. will
not take my liberty and stay here. l tried
to live an honest life, but the detectives
would not let me. l want the longest SEN
tence possible
Those are the words of a strong man
borne down by the resistless cruelty of his
! fellow men. He did wrong in stealing in
the first place 1t was right that he should
! be punished: society must be protected
from thieves; the dignity of the law must
be preserved; there was nothing to palliate
his crime. But he paid the penalty of his
offense; he came from prison re-
pentant man, with a determination
to live an honest life. The fact that he
went to work in dead earnest, that he kept
sober for several years, that after being
driven from his first position in the car
works by detectives, he went to Mr.. HARD
wICKE and told him that he was convict
| before going to work for him, proves that
! his repentance was genuine,
1.-THE world is against me-" 81 am guilty,
do your worst 81 do not ask for mercy"
What world of encouragement in those
sentences What world of grim despair
they reveal They tell US of battle
bravely fought and lost by one who ought
to have won: but the odds were too great
against him. AS mariner swept from his
storm tossed vessel into the raging sea, and
| like drop of ram he sinks into the depths
with bubbling groan, so PETER DUBOIS will
most likely go down overwhelmed by the
relentless cruelty of our human heartless-
ness. How many sink thus annually, un-
wept and unknown!