The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1901-02-07
WORK OUT YOUR OWN SALVATION.
1itten for The Prison Mirror.

IT. itten for The Prison Mirror.
1t has been said, "that nowhere is the
sense of intuition so keenly alive and
lmpressiOnable to the shams and hy-
pOcrites of mankind, as it is behind
prison walls" The Imagination is all
the prisoner has to cultivate and if at
times his imagination carries his hopes
and anticipations beyond the barbarous
confines of his environments only to be
dashed at his feet as so much trash,
you must not be surprised at his power
to penetrate shams and hypocrites. To
hold out to him your hand on condi-
tions that he embrace your creed re-
gardIess of his own conscientious be-
lief, is to hold him in suspicion, to deny
him the right to exercise his own will.
Why should prisoner of average in
telligence subvert his conscience to
gain the respect (?) of the few?
If | had to decide for the five hun
dred men in this prison which course
they should pursue after their dis
charge, 1 would say to them-be men
among men and put your trust in the
honest, but almighty dollar. With
public opinion continually holding you
up to ridicule and slander, with the
battering ram of social pretention ma
liciously hurled against your moral en-
nSf f<Nl in,
peace among such canaiIle unless you
arc able to fortify yourself with a wall
of gold and silver.
1t is nothing less than crime to tell
men and women behind prison walls,
that all they have to do is go to work,
join some good reputable association
and you will find ready hands to give
you the glad hand. Yes, your own
mother, father, sisters and brothers
will give YOU sincere welcome under
any circumstances, but to them of the
charmed circle, they of sundry preten-
tions, will avoid you more surely than
they would a worm. If you have any
desire to settle down after your dis
charge, advise you to shun all angels.
1t is reasonable to suppose that eighty
per cent of the inmates of this prison
are lovers of ideals, men who are ca
pabIe of lofty sentiments, men who are
far superior to the morals which are
associated with their present envi-
rOnments. If this is true, why should
we WOO the goddess of some foolish
divinity, who rObs us of our nobler am
bitions until she has sapped us of our
energy and vitality, only to send us
adrift bereft of manhood? | do not
wish to pose as an advocate of any
creed or sect, neither do [ deem this a
fitting place to preach the dogma of
any religious sect, for to me it seems
that the first duty among such as we,
would be to cultivate the principles of
fellowship, manhood and the integrity
of character. These lofty flights of
rhetoric, these sublime verses Of cryp-
tology are representation of jumbled
jargon about as intelligible as is the
prattle of six months old child and
are conducive of no lasting benefits to
the inmates.
If you are in quest of an honest liv-
ing, you must not depend upon any
outside agencies to influence your fu-
ture career, on the other hand you must
and should bring every moral fibre to
bear upon your conscience regardless
of unsolved theory; that which appeals
to your mind as holding out to you the
best advantages for your moral as we'll
as your physical being. The man who
departs from this institution feeling
that his gate money gives him no
chance to rehabilitate himself, should
bear in mind that society does not
value him above that amount; and that
is why say you must not depend upon
any one to save you from possible
damnation; but to yourself you must
60 to reclaim your forfeited (?) man.
hood. ~
How am DING to work out my