The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1898-03-17

criminal by nature; that is, they never
understood nor can be made to under
stand the meaning of ownership in
property. This is person to be taken
care of and restrained. They are com
paratively few. Excepting these and
few others, criminals know what is
right as between man and man. They
do not claim to be innocent, except
when they wish to deceive Nor do
they plead any "baby act," except to
fool the credulous.
The suppOsition that poverty ac-
counts for crime, so that one need seek
no further, is incapable of proof.
Anywhere, down or up, indisposition
to honest work explains the most of
the thievery. Habits of idleness, per-
haps, have the most to do with it in
low places; while liking for luxuries
impel one and another IN high circles
to run the risk of stealing. The fact
that a man and his family live in rags
does not suggest dishonesty, unless it
appear that they enjoy that kind of ex-
istence. Evidently, sheer existence
without work is, by multitudes, pre-
ferred above a modest living at the
cost of labor. 10 maintain this, one
must either beg or steal. The more
ambitious live better by stealing more.
Their ambition may be for more than
they could earn were they to try. 10
work for the luxuries is too hard, too
slow, and they help themselves in the
short way. With these must be classed
the defaulters, embezzlers, and fast
livers, of the upper grades.
1t has been attempted to identify the
criminal class by a certain shape of
head or skull, and by particular re-
pulsive expression. Allowing that such
heads and such expressions are dis
couraging, is it not, shall we say en-.
couraging to remember that compara-
lively few of this sort are to be seen in
the criminals at large? If they are so
plainly marked, how is it that they
pass muster so we'll in the crowd?
How is it that they mingle in almost
all great assemblies, patronize the best
hotels, travel by the Pullman and oc-
cupy places of trust and honor, as so
many of them do? Is it not clear, on
reflection, that the majority of crimi-
nails are made, not born such?
Thieves, embracing all who take
that which does not belong to them,
are thieves through choice Making
allowance for the insane, the weak
minded, and the literally starving, the
great majority who steal do steal and
are thieves. Some of them deliber-
ately adopted this method of acQuir-
ing, not because it was the only one
possible to them, but because it was
the easier. There is a hint of this in
that character of tramp whose rejec-
tion of meal if he is expected to work
for it is no uncommon occurrence. If
to get a breakfast for the asking be
bliss, may not the getting of dollar
for the taking be great joy?
There are those who hold that the
criminal is a criminal through hered-
ity, or environment, or both. That is,
he is criminal only in name, to suit one
of the defects of the social organiza-
tion. There has been burglary or
murder. He who did the deed did it
not. His father or his mother, or his
grandfather or his grandmother, or the
two of them, or the first robber or
murderer did the deed, either with or
without the cooperation of society
from the beginning. From this it
should seem that the guilt of the lat
est actor is infinitesimal, if indeed there
can be said to be any appreciable guilt
in him. Wherefore the roses, icecream,
and occasional champagne.
Others come specifically with the ar
guments of liquor, poverty, and the
rest, inclusive of the social life of the
times. In this manner, through the
particular and the general, crime is
made out to be the outcome of com.
pulsiOn rather than of choice. Indeed
there is the bold contention that there
is no power of will in the criminal,