The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1900-04-27

Mine years have passed, and have
lived. If not above suspicion, at least
beyond conviction. | have never been
IN prison. and ! never expect to be. yet
| am Il professional criminal.
Having given YOU this short sketch
of mysclf, pass to the consideration
Of the criminal in general. My friends.
we call ourselves CROOKS and the
world calls us criminals AS crooks
we understand and sympathiZc with
one another. AS criminals. does the
world understand or sympalhze with
us? Does the Christian, with his
creed. Love thine encmies,' love us?
Yet are we not counted as the enc
mics Of society?
Let us consider for n moment the
true relation between the criminal and
society at large. There seems to be
but one doctrine Of salvation for the
delinquent. aud that is punishment.
Granting that this theory is Il correct
one, is it justly practiccd? We find
that for given offensc there Is
specified number of years in prison set
down as the proper punishment. Arc
all men who commit this crime equally
amcnablc to punishment. that all
Should be treated with equal severity?
Are all Of these guilty persons equally
responsible for their acts? Have all
had the same heritage, the same cn-
vironmcnt. the same examples of con.
duct and the same opportunities for
living without rcsorting to crime? The
answer is so evident that il is amaZ.
oh -,
such blindness in the Goddess Of JUS
tice."
lie paused n moment, having dcliv-
cred the final sentences with such
earnest and intense force that his au-
d!encr was carried away Ey his clo-
qucncc ana applauded rapturously.
Mr.. Mitchell was astount!Cd to find a
man OF this mental caiibcr openly ad-
mitting that he lived life OF crime.
He WAS more interested than he had
ever before been in ally man and was
impatient to hear more
MY friends. society has made one
cgrcg!ous, irrcparable hlundcr, ana it
has fallen into this crrCr from sheer
sclfishrCss. The mistake lies in this
the criminal has lrun measured by the
II,
whereas crime ever has been and eve,
Will be the result Of abnormal develop
men. or C: physical ard pSychical de-
generation. 10 uSr Il tr;te smile.
crime is n disease and. rs in other
| diseases. the SUIurCr is personally re-
Sn0nSi.lc for his condition in only
small proportion OF cases.
How differently does society treat
physical and moral disease. Foo the
afflicted OF the first class we nave col.
lcGes, physicians. nurseries, san!tari-
Gms. hospitals and !aZarcttos. For the
Gttcr we have lawyers, juripS. judges,
prisons. stripes and hanging.
In tie worst stages OF physical dis
ease the Individual becomes n menace
ANA danger to the comf1unity. With.
perfect but nevertheless selfish Justice
the afflicted one is seized and incarcer-
| ated In laZarctto. Such fate Is sad
| enough and bad enough, yet it is vastly
Inherent from tie extreme example of
! the morally diseased. lie entlangers the
life or takes the life Of one Of the COM
munity, and lis !fc is taken in pay
mcnt. Thus society rs n whole COM
mits the very act for which 1t dooms
the poor wretch. If 1t be argued that
society kills, but does not murder, the
contention is easily shown to be soph-
lstry. for If man should kill q con-
victed and condemned murderer, thus
committing the act which society has
| elected Itself TO commit, such n man
Would still be adjudSed guilty Of mur-
| der. Yet If a.! the facts were consider
ed. including the most important one
that all morally diseased are also phys
ically imperfect ana that the two af-
| nict!ons are intcrlcpendent, tic world
would be aroused TO the recognition CT
its great error, and society would be
| compelled to admit that 1t should no
more slay the moral than the physical
| lcper. The day will, the day must,
| come when crime, like disease, will be
| treated curativcly rather than punitive
iy, but that day Is not yet. ana we live
| IN the present and must meet condi-
! t!ons rs they are. How, then, shall we
| criminals, we CROOKS fashion our
! lives?
II lave pointed out to you the great
error made by society: but, my friends,
| we ourselves lave fallen into the same
| mistake, and it is CT more Importance
| to Us than 10 society. We also OYER
! look the fact that our criminal propcn-
| stiles are born and bred in US, that we
| are not solely responsible for what we
are. that we are morally and ofttimes
| physically diseased and that we are
congenita!ly so. Yct such is our de-
| plorable condition. Moreover, no help.
| ing hand ia outstretchcd toward US.
| The hand that Ecckons holds scourSc,
| and the index finger points the way to
| p,.iSNn rho y-orlI will pot holm nc