Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1900-03-29

Bv way OF Introduction, therefore,, 1
may speak of myself giving "A brief
sketch of my past history.
Il am known to you all as Jim, and
because OF my fondncss for speech.
making some call me Preacher jim.
Yet. preacher though | am, | am not
nor have | much in common With
thom. save the earncstness with which
! follow the path which have marked
out for myself in this life.
II was born about 60 years ago. In
this matter, from the universal laws Of
nature which control us all, | was not
consulted. | was brought into this
world being myself in no way reSpon-
sihlc either for my coming or for the
manner thereof. As trite and unneces-
sarY statement as this may seem to
ne, it has an important bearing upon
what | may call my theme for tonight.
Being born, some one decided that |
should he known 10y the name of
James. which has been abbreviated
into Jim This name was given to
Inc in much the same manner and for
the same purpose as a name is given
to a dOg-that | might come when call
ed and be distinguished from others Of
my kind And so | came TO be Jim.
Other name | have not, because my
revercd father overlooked the formal
ty of marriage with my mother Later
he overlooked both my mother and
myself, and we were left to drift on
the tide of humanity. and it is a
truth, which is strange in the presence
Of the vaunted civilization of this era
that such flotsnm will ever be finally
stranded on the barren shores of dam
nation.
"At the age of ) began 10 steal, not
from necessity. but from imitation.
lived among thieves and did as they
did. AT 10 l was one of the most skill
full pickpockets along the Bowery, and
at II was at the head of band of
90 boys any one Of whom was a past
master in the art of breaking the
eighth commandment. One Of these,
emboldened by success. attempted an
operation beyond his power of accom-
plishment and was detected in the act.
He fed and was followed. With lack
of comradeship. for which he has since
been punished, he ran into my place
and, depositing some of his plumber
under my bed, succeeded in evading the
officer who had followed him in.
was awakened from what the police
man declared was a sham sleep and
taken to the station house, whence in
due time | was sent to a reformatory.
"Therc | remained until | was Of
age. and during those seven years | re-
Ccived a double education. From the
good and pous preacher who oliicated
in the chapel first suspected the val
Ne of knowledge and then obtained the
books from which to acquire it. Being
my own teacher to a great extent and
interested IN my pupil, | absorbed
knowledge as a sponge does water.
But, on the other hand, from the vast
variety of delinquents who We're sent
to the institution from time to time
also learned the true meaning of the
words vice and crime.
81 entered the rcformatory little
thief whose main object in stealing
had been mischief. | left the place q
professional crook endowed with sucl
knowledge as made me self reliant.
felt myself equipped for the battle with
the world TO such n degree that | was
ready to attack ii rather than wait anG
defend myself, and was eager for the
fray.
mine years have passed, and l have
lived, if not above suspicion, at least
beyond conviction. | have never beer
in prison, and never expect to he. ye
| am professional criminal.
Having given you this short sketcl
of myself, | pass to the consideration
of the criminal in general My friends
we call ourselves crooks and tn,
world calls us criminals AS crook
we understand and sympathze will
one another, AS criminals. does thu
world understand or SympathiZe will
us? Does the Christian, with hi
creed, Love thine enemies love us
Yet are we not counted as the enc
mics Of society,"
LET us consider for a moment tn
true relation between the criminal an,
society at large. There seems to b
but one doctrine of salvation for tn
delinquent, and that is punishment
Granting that this theory is Il corrcc
one, is it justly practiccd? We fin
that for Il given offcnse there is
specified number of years in prison st
down AS the proper punishment. Ar
all men who commit this crime equal
amenable to punishment, that "A
should be treated with equal severity
Are all of these guilty persons equal
} responsible for their nets? Have a
had the same heritage, the same or
vrOnment, the same examples Of col
duct and the same opportunities fC
living without rcSorting to crime? Tn
; answer is so evident that ii is ANA.
ing that civilization should tolerGt
such blindness in the Goddess of Ju
tlce."
: He paused moment, having deli'
cred the final sentences with sue
= earnest and intense force that his al
! diencc was carried away by his ell
quence and applauded rapturousl
] Mr.. Mitchell was astounded 10 find
man of this mental callber openly ~
hitting that he lived a life of erin
He was more interested than he Ia
ever before been in any man and W,
impatient to hear more.
MY friends, society has made or
legregious, irreRarable blunder, and