The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1892-10-13
rr,,.e. ST 90 per year. in advance.
TERMS: Six Months so Cents.

esty of the age can be ascribed to the
easy conditions of forgiveness offered
under the Christian dispensation, nor
do l think there is anything in that
system to prevent the human race from
the highest attainment of morality and
consequent happiness. l do most thor
oughly believe that all Jesus Christ de-
sired and intended to teach was con-
tanned in the few words, Love God
with all thy heart, and thy neighbOr as
thyself.' Years ago it would have been
necessary to believe much more than
this to entitle one to call himself a
Christian. But the world is getting
better, and mankind is more tolerant
and is getting more and more so as the
true spirit of Christ's teaching enters
their heart, and mind. Lots of bad
men are unfortunately walking about
as free men, but that condition of
things existed also in the past. No one
denies that crime of all sorts still exists
in our midst, but l cannot argue with
Leo that that 'prOveS cOnclusively the
world is not growing better" Is there
any reason to suppose that crime is
more general and of a worse nature
now than in the past? believe not.
But on the other hand | believe that
injustice, cruelty and vice, which still
lives among us, shock the mind more
now than formerly. Society to-day
does not content itself with merely
seeking brutal revenge on wrong
dOerS, but there is a sense of response
bility seems to attach to governments
and society, which so far as | have OBJ
served in the course of my limited read
i'm on6 Cf116u Of onDionf Of
ed to be totally absent in the "gOOd old
days." Had we lived in France hun
dred years ago, and been buried in the
Bastille merely because we possessed
beautiful woman as our wife; had we
lived in England fifty years ago, and
been thrown in the debtors dungeon
merely because we owed a few shillingS
for medicine for sick child; had we
lived in these United States thirty years
ago. and been tied to tree, and brutal
ly beaten because we tried to save our
wife, or daughter from being outraged
by some patrician southern planter
had we, in fact, lived in the past, we
should the better know how to appre-
ciate the present, and it would take but
few moments to decide whether the
world is getting better. Evidence that
the world is getting better is furnished
by the simple fact of my sitting in
clean, warm, well-lighted cell, and be
allowed to commit these few thoughts
to paper.
The science of punishment is one of
the most difficult to understand. The
greater part of crime in the world to-
day is the result of the unjust treat
ment of criminals in the past. The
world is growing better because there
is more charity and justice now than
ever before; the poor have more rights,
and the rich more duties. There are
moral dyspeptics who deplOre the in
creaSing kindness of mankind, and to
their jaundiced mind it appears like
degeneracy of the race. We have nei-
ther time nor inclination to attempt to
answer such persons. Had 1 commit
ted a crime fifty years ago, my sentence
would have been, "Y Ou are condemned
for the remainder of your days to be
rogue and vagabOnd, and Outcast. and
all that society can do to keep you from
regaining respectability will be done
The punishment inflicted would have
had the effect of stamping out all the
good, and filling my heart with brutal
instincts. Prisoners now leave their
prisons better equipped mentally, NOR
ally and physically, TO enter again the
ranks of citizenship. When such is the
effect of the modern system of treating
wrongdOers we may safely say it has
learnt the grand secret of civilization,
and we need be in no doubt that the
world is growing better. So let each
one try and improve himself, for as we
grow better we shall observe the world
grow better too. Cosmos.