The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1897-07-29
Written for The Prison Mirror
A PHILOSOPHICAL VIEW OF OUR
CONDITION.


CONDITION.
With an eye to personal comfort and
happiness, it is anything but pleasant
to feel that you are confined to space
no larger than the kennel allowed a
medium sized dog. This feeling is
heightened when you know that nu-
merous people both young and old are
enjoying the exhilarating atmosphere
of freedom just outside the prison
walls. L deduce from this that he who
follows a life that will ultimately lead
him to prison, has all the qualities
requisite to the makeup of a fool.
This recalls to nina the position taken
by several learned men-that the GRIM
inal is of necessity unbalanced. 1 am
quite willing to confess that there is
strong basis for such a belief. Let us
take as an example the man who steals
valise containing a few clothes, and
sells the same for a dollar or so. He
is arrested and receives a year in
prison. Would you consider this
man of good sound sense? What did
he gain in comparison to the risk? Il
would be equally as sensible to invest
dollar in a lottery and depend on it
to bring yon return as regularly as
you invest. If this man was not drunk
or slightly deranged, then his skull
must be jacketed with superior quail
ity of iron. The thief on larger scale
is not whit better. No matter what
the size of the spoil in view, it is always
outweighed by the bitter years it will
cause you to spend in prison.
We have one advantage that is
granted to but few mortals who have
never been in prison; we are taught by
the stern teachings of experience to
appreciate and value our liberty. Once
within the pale of the prison structure,
that word expands into a sublimity
that ever afterward is branded IN our
innate being. venture to state that
not one in ten thousand free men ever
gives second thought to the luxury
they enjoy. This is a strong illustra-
tion of the saying: Familiarity breeds
Indifference" We do not know the
price of such boon until we lose it.
If a man will but look the mat
ter squarely in the face, he must be-
come convinced that crime does not,
will not, and cannot pay. This is look
ing at the matter from worldly stand
point. Nearly all of us were reared in
Christian belief, and through respect
for our parents, if nothing more, we
always cling tenderly to their revered
teachings, the sunshine of our child
hood. What then if we lay aside our
worldliness for a moment, and look at
our career from moral standpoint.
No matter how we look at it, crime is
always the same-mean, low and de-
grading. There is no sum of money
large enough to reimburse us for a
term of Imprisonment, or to absterge
the vile stigma of thief from our char
acter. Only our own honest efforts
will regain for us the respect of our
fellowmen. Let us take a retrospect
i've glance at our lives and see what
we were before we became the oscil.
lating victims of chance and idleness.
Let us turn back to our school days
the happiest days we shall ever see
when we could find enjoyment in every
surrounding feature of our life; when
we could retire at night with a happy
heart and clear conscience. Is there
anything in the sneaking life of
criminal that will appeal to us like the
happy hours we spent in those halcyon
days? Have we made any friends in
our criminal experience that will re-
main cherished in our hearts like our
schoolmates?
A mans path is seldom if ever
strewn with roses when he leaves
prison; still it is possible in time to
smooth its rough surface. One thing
is quite certain; if we again follow the
path of crime, we but corroborate the
l