The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1900-07-31

to a dog-that might come when call
ed and be distinguished from others of
my kind. And so l came to be Jim.
Other name have not, because my
revered father overlooked the formali-
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 Is is
truth, which is strange in the presence
of the Wanted civilization of this era,
tnat such tlotsam will ever be finally
stranded on the barren shores of dam
nation.
cat the age of 5 1 began to steal, not
from necessity, but from imitation. 1
lived among thieves and did as they
did. AT 10 was one of the most skill
full pickpockets along the Bowery, and
at - was at the head of a band of
20 boys any one of whom was a past
master in the art of breaking the
eighth commandment One of these,
emboldencd 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. l
was awakened from what the police
man declared was sham sleep and
taken to the station house, whence in
due time was sent to reformatory.
''There | remained until [ was of
age, and during those seven years re-
ceived n double education. From the
good and pious preacher who otficiated
in the chapel | first suspected the val
lie of knowledge and then obtained the
books from which to acquire it. Being
my own teacher to great extent and
interested in my pupil, 1 absorbed
knowledge as sponge does water.
But, on the other hand, from the vast
variety of delinquents who were sent
to the institution from time to time l
also learned the true meaning of the
words vice and crime
81 entered the reformatory little
thief whose main object in stealing
had been mischief. l left the place a
professional crook endowed with such
knowledge as made me self reliant.
felt myself equipped for the battle with
the world to such degree that was
ready to attack it rather than wait and
defend myself, and was eager for the
fray.
mine years have passed, and 1 have
lived, if not above suspicion, at least
beyond conviction. l have never been
in prison, and | never expect to be, yet
am professional criminal
Having given you this short sketch
of myself, | 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 sympathize with
one another. AS criminals, does the
world understand or sympathize with
us? Does the Christian, with his
creed, Love thine enemies love us:
Yet are we not counted as the enc
mics Of society?
'Let us consider for moment the
true relation between the criminal and
society at large. There seems to be
delinquent, and that is punishment
Granting that this theory is correct
one, is it justly practiced? We find
that for given offense there is q
specified number of years in prison sci
down as the proper punishment Are
all men who commit this crime equally
amenable to punishment, that al
should be treated with equal severity
Are all of these guilty persons equally
responsible for their acts? Have al
had the same heritage, the same en-
yironment, the same examples of con
duct and the same opportunities fol
living without resorting to crime? Tht
answer is so evident that it is amaz
ing that civilization should tolerat,
such blindness in the Goddess of Jus
tice."
He paused a moment, having deliv
cred the final sentences with sucl
!, earnest and intense force that his al
dience was carried away by his clio
quence and applauded rapturously
Mr.. Mitchell was astounded to find
man of this mental caliber openly ad
. hitting that he lived a life of crime
He was more interested than he ha,
ever before been in any man and wa
impatient to hear more.
"iy friends, society has made on
egregious, irreparable blunder, and
has fallen into this error from shee
selfshness. The mistake lies in this
the criminal has been measured by TIL
standards applicable to normal men
whereas crime ever has been and eve
will be the result of abnormal develop
merit or of physical and psychcal de
generation. To use a trite smile
'crime is disease and, as in othe
diseases, the sufferer is personally re
sponsible for his condition in only
small proportion of cases.
"How differently does society trea
physical and moral diseased! For TIL
afflicted of the first class we have co
leges. physicians, nurseries, sanitar
ums, hospitals and lazarettos. For tn
f latter we have lawyers, juries, judges
prisons, stripes and hanging.
/ In the worst stages of physical dis