The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1901-10-03
JUDGE NOT. - y

| high ideals fall one by one to the
ground; they see many of the men
whom they considered best stumble in
the path of virtue; they themselves
have perhaps experienced fall from
their former high standard, and all this
makes them more lenient to the faults
OF their fellow men-it makes them
more mellow. They have learned that
to very great extent circumstances
determine the actions of men, and
accordingly they alter their judgment.
1t is, alas! too true that the same
thing done by different men is judged
r, .u,. differently. Who of you
ne v,.,e has not seen group of
men, who by their dress
and manner indicated the so called
'better society,"" in an intoxicated
condition, and what were the remarks
you heard around you regarding this
condition? Something like this: "See,
how jolly they are" "What a good
time they have, or must have hed."
"They seem to be on a little SPREE"
Perhaps block further on you might
have seen man in common or working
dress, who was no whit more drunk
than the finely dressed gentlemen, but
what do you hear? 'See that beastly
drunken fellow" "How can a man
degrade himself so?" "He ought to be
locked up"
Another instance of the Injustice of
Judging: A bank cashier decamps
| with some hundred thousand dollars.
The bank, of course, is very anxious to
have him back, but more yet to have
the money back. In some way he
proposes to make restitution of certain
part of the stolen money providing he
be not prosecuted, and very often this
proposition is accepted. He returns,
and they say of him: "That is a smart
fellow. He knew how to make money,
etc." But if there goes man, who has
committed a minor Offense, for which
he was sent to prison, what do you
hear? There goes Jail bird; he was
just released from the state prison:
beware of him, etc." Now the latter
has expiated his crime, and even the
state, against whom he sinned, declares
him from now on just as good citizen
as anybody else, but individuals set up
their Judgment against that of the
state and treat him with contempt,
while the other fellow, who has not
paid his debt to the state. is greeted
with Difference on account of his ILL
gotten gains. So much for the correct
judging of others.
But even the state judges in some
cases wrongly, at least in my opinion.
For instance, d man is accused of either
petit or grand larceny: Now in many
cases of this kind the thief would
certainly have taken all he could find:
he certainly would not have stopped
long enough to see whether the amount
he purloined would constitute petit or
grand larceny-his intention was to
take everything he could lay his hands
on; but if the sum he one cent more or
less his punishment is graded accord
ingly. Should not rather the intention
be punished than the act? Another
instance: A man pushes another
Intentionally over a high cliff, to kill
him. The victim alights on soft spot
which could not be seen from above,
and this saves his life. Where is the
court that would say the man who
pushed the other down is guilty of
murder? In his heart the first man
certainly committed murder. Was it
his will or intention that the victim
should be saved2 Again have to say:
So much for judgment.
Another phase of judging is this:
We ourselves may be given up to a
certain bad habit or vice, and when we