The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1892-04-14
More Mother, Less Jail.

More Mother, Less Jail.
Is it possible that the American people
cannot yet devise or has not of necessity
evolved scheme that shall have in it the
principle of salvation rather than punish.
ment for young offenders? Here is sam
pie of the system that protects society from
law. breakers. Little Fritz SLIGHT lies in
the Montgomery County Jail, under indict.
ment for stealing money from grocery
store. The lad is but nine years of age,
and his condition appeals to the philan-
thropic. Fritz is lad for whom his par
ents never showed any affection. AS soon
as he could walk, he was turned out into
the street to associate with the low and
vile. The boy became tough at very
tender age. He never attended school. and
he lacks all conception of right or morals.
Two years ago he fell from freight train,
and the wheels crushed his foot. In his
pain the little fellow knew no one to whom
to look for assistance. He had always been
compelled to take care of himself So he
sat down beside the track. and. with few
was afterward amputated. 1t was touch
ing sight to see the lad hobble from the Jail
to the courthouse to be arraigned. He
has been in Jail for four months. That
would seem to be sufficient punishment for
his Otfense. But this is not all the story. A
good deal of that time he has been locked
in cell with a beaStlY negro, who has
no sense of decency. The people would
hold up their hands in holy horror. did they
know of the disgusting circumstances oc
curing in our jails. Judge BOrst said: Il
don't think the lad ought to be sent to the
House of Refuge. 1t is no place for him,
nor for any other boy. 1t is. in fact, hell
on earth. The boys who 60 there are
thrown into the most degraded associations,
and come out criminals for life. When lit
tie Fritz was first sent to the Jail, the sher.
iff had to place lighted lamp in his cell to
keep him from crying all night" Poor lit
tie nine year old baby! And the august
American nation has pOunced On you in its
majestic reverence for law, the ten COM
mandments, and has forgotten that the sum
of all the law is to love God with all the
heart and our neighbor Qittle Fritz as our
selves. Then, to protect society, we shut
baby Fritz in stone cell. and part of the
time lock him helplessly in with vile.
licentious beast. Poor baby! Then 1 read
another phase of this question in the re
ports of the prison officials. They tell us
that the average age of criminals is steadily
decreasing. and is now not much over
twenty; that many of the worst crimes are
committed by boys under eighteen. In one
of the Southern prisons they have boy
sentenced. or waiting sentence, for murder.
who is only twelve years old. What is the
bottom of this terrible business? Let me
refer you to report made in foreign jour-
nal concerning crime in Paris. Hughes LIE
ROuX. who has exceptional advantages for
observation. tells us that the use of alcohol
is developing an entirely new phase of GRIM
ality and social danger. 1t is found in Paris
that ''alcOhOl visits upon the child the sins
of the fathers. and engenders in the follow
ing generation hOmicidal instincts. During
the last ten years the criminal type has en-
| tered on new phase. Before that date the
assassin was generally man in the vigor
of his strength: nowadays it is the youth of
barely twenty who murders. The jurymen
hesitate to condemn him on account of his
youth. although Mortified at his cold
bloOded ferocity and at the absence of moral
sense which he displays" He adds that he
is confident that among the gutter snipes
there are thousands of children murderers
in nature, and only waiting opportunity to
become assassins. 1 can only quote one it,
lustratiOn. A short time since Mr.. LIE
ROux. who is allowed. in the pursuit of
criminal statistics, to be present in the Of
flee of the chief medical examiner OF the
prefecture of police. met the following in
cident. A child was brought in by his par
ents to be examined. They were of the re-
spectacle working class, quiet and WELL
hammered. The man was driver of dray
belonging to one of the railway stations-a
stalwart fellow. The boy was barely six
years old. He had an intelligent. rather
pretty face. and was neatly dressed. ''See
here" said the father. Monsieur le Doc
tor. we have brought you our boy. He
| alarms us. He is no fool: he begins to read.