The Dolores star., 1901-12-27

In an address before the Soc,,,
Science Department of the Woman.
Club in Denver recently Mrs. Maud.
Ballington Booth made an earnest MI.
In the interest OF her work among n.
prisoners of the United States.
Mrs. Booth began by telling soma
thing OF the causes which led to IN.
formation of the Volunteers of Ames
lea, at the head of which stand al.
and her husband. She emphasized N.
fact that the organization is distina
from the Salvation Army. She saN
that It is purely American in all h.
characteristics. having for its watch
words For God and Country" Then
she told of the Volunteer Prisonery
League. which she has now established
in thirteen prisons OF the United Stats
She painted In touching words the pIc
turc of the men in the prisons and In,
absolute hopelcssncss and pity of theiI
lives. How when the prison doo,
clangs behind them they are entirel,
cut OFF from life, its love, its rush and
Its sunshine, and that when they com,
forth again they come with n brand
us 1t were. upon their foreheads. No|
one will trust them enough to giy,
them employment, no one will her
them to Il shelter, and therefore It i|
that they become what is known AL
habtunl criminals.
There may be many within the
prison who have transgreSsed the law Il
she declared. There are many. nm
there not. who have transgressed th,|
law who are still in the world? A Grim
inal is one who perpetrates crime, and|
there are many such who do not stand
behind the bars of Il prison. For th.|
people who say Once n thief. always a
thief l have no patience. l know, and|
/ have suffered and felt and prayed
with my boys. and know it is not So
/ could not come closer to them except|
l commit some ofrense and be SENTENCED
to prison. and l know that what apI
known as habitual criminals. men oil
whom wardcns have said, DO for theul
what you will and they will be her,
again in three months are three and
four years after their release leadinsl
honest. upright. industrious lives ri
one of our Christian ministers should
come into his pulpit some morning
open his Bible. read a verse and them
begin, My dear people, you are selfish
1t Is too bad and / am sorry for 1t, but,
there is no hope and i am sorry for i'll
but there Is no hope for you; once sell
| fish. always SELFISH and to another
portion of his flock say, You are hypo
critics. sinful lot. But have no word
Of cheer for you. Once hypocrite, al
ways hypocrite-if minister should
do this some day you would all be
amazed. yet he would be no more iog.
ical than those Of you who say, Once
criminal. always criminal After
all. are not the little crimes just as Of
fensivc in the sight OF God?
"There are many righteous people,
righteous people whose integrity Is 50
intense that they can feel no atom Of
sympathy for those who have been
weak or unfortunate. yet even these
people cannot help but at least pily
the struggling wives and the helpless
children of the men who are in prison I
Mrs. Booth then told something OF
her two Hope halls, which are, she
says, homes for men who come from
prison, where they are screened just as
surely from curious and morbidly in
quisitiye people as though they were
living in their mothers home. No re
porters have ever crossed the thresh.
hold; no one except those who have
served at least one year in the peniten-
tiary.