The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1892-05-12

for whisky you would have two thieves to
guard against, whereas now you have but
one. You are temperance man and you
say liquor is a curse. that it fills the prisons
with our young men. that it breeds all or
almost all of the evil that we have to con-
tend with. l admit that part of your ar
gument which says that the prisons are
filled by the drinkhabit as correct. But is
it not better for society to have the prisons
we'll filled than to have those bad and evil
men run at large.
For the last twenty years | have led
what may be called crooked life. Grim
inals of all kinds were my daily cOmpan.
ions, and what | am about to say of myself
is true of thousands more. who find folks
ready to pity them by throwing the blame
on whisky. People are prone to blame
something else for their own cussed mean
ness. l said that have been twenty years
thief. That is saying good deal when
you take into consideration the fact that 1
am only thirty years old. This is my Sec
ond term in this prison and with the help
of God. if leading an honest life will keep
me out. it will be the last. But in all these
twenty years l fail to remember one in
stance where whisky was the cause
of my committing one single crime, but, on
the other hand, when l would commit
crime it was always the cause of my be-
ing caught.
A man is worse than fool to undertake
robbery when drunk. In such business
he wants all his wits about him. But very
often when he has been successful in rob.
bling some one. and when the police have
failed to run him down, he allows himself
to be caught by strong drink. 1t is done in
this way. He rObS some one and gets
away with the money; he feels safe and
wants to celebrate the occasion of his good
luck, and he does so by getting drunk.
When in that state he gets off his guard and
lets something drop that leads to his arrest.
The most successful as we'll as the most
dangerous robbers in our country are the
men who never touch liquor.
My prohibition friend. let me tell you
this, that if some of those old fellows called
smart business men, who never smoke,
chew or touch drop of liquor of any kind.
could just be induced to get good and
drunk. it would surprise you to hear the
many queer little things they might let drop.
Show me a man when he is drunk and /
will tell you what kind of a man he is when
| sober.
! If there are no seed SOwn in your garden
| it will rain on it in vain, for there is moth
ing there to grow; SO if a man has not the
desire to be thief in his heart, whisky
will never make one Of him. Whisky
shows us who are thieves and who are hon.
est, therefor l claim, from what experience
l have had, that whisky is one of the great
est detectives in the land.
| | know that many of my fellow prisoners
will agree with me in their hearts. in what
l have said. whether they confess it or not.
[ don't know what people in the outer
world may think of it nor do l care. I
have written what l believe to be true and
if people can't see it as do. l can't help it.
In times past l was like many others. [
threw the blame of all my WrOngdOng upon
whisky, but now that l look the situation
squarely in the face. l can see that l and 1
alone have been to blame. Were it not for
whisky don't believe l would be here, but
l might be in hell. 1t was the cause of my
being caught and sent here and l have
made up my mind. God helping me. to live
an honest life from now henceforth. So,
say what you will against liquor it has
proved blessing to me. DEXTER.