, 1901-12-26

Tn an address before the soci,i
Science Department of the Womans
Cluh in Denver recently Mrs. Nauds
darlington Booth made an earnest ple,
in the interest Of her work among tbe |
prisoners of the United States.
Mrs. Booth began by telling o
thing of the causes winch led to m,
rormn tion of the Volunteers Of Ames |
lea. mt the head of which stand She
and her husband. She emphasized the
fact that the organization is distIpr
from the salvation Army. She said
that II is purely American in all lis
characteristics. having for its watch.
words For God and Country" Then
s,e told of the Volunteer Prisoners
League which she has now established
I'm thirteen prisons of the United States.
she painted in touching words the pic.
,ure of the men in the prisons and the
absolute hopelessness and pity of their
lives How when the prison door
clnngs behind them they are cntireiy
cut off from life, its love, its rush and
it's sunshine. and that when they coma
forth again they come with n brand,
rs If were, upon their forehcadS. No
II will trust them enough TO give
them employment, no one will help
them to Il shelter, II therefore It Il
that they become what Is known as
hahitual criminals.
..There may be many within the
nrisou who have transgressed the law"
She declared. There are many, are
there not. who have transgressed the
law who are still i'm the worldI A Grim.
inal is one who perpetrates crime, and
there are many such who do not stand
behind the bars of a prison. For the
pcOple who say once n thief, always 4
thief | have no patience. | know, and
| have suffered and felt and prayed
with my boys. and | know 1t is not so.
could not come closer to them except
I commit some offense and be SENTENCED
to prison. and | know that what are
known as habitual criminals. men Of
whom wardens have said. Do for them
what you Will and they Will be here
again in three months are three and
four wears after their release leading
honest, upright. industrious lives. II
one of our Christian ministers should
come into his pulpit some morning,
open his Bible. read n verse n then
begin, My lear people, you are selfish.
1t is too bad and am sorry for 1t, but
there is no hope and l am sorry for 1t,
but there is no hope for you; once sci.
fish, always SELFISH and to another
portion of his flock say, You are hypO,
critics. n sinful lot. But | have no word
of cheer for you. Once n hypocrite, al
ways n hypocrite-if Il minister should
do this some day you would all be
amazed. yet he would be no more illos-
ical than those of you who say, Once
n criminal. always n criminal After
all, are not the little crimes just as Of.
fensive 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 ven these
people cannot help but Mt least pity
the struggling wives and the helpless
children of the men who are in prison
Mrs. Booth her told something Of
her two Hope halls, which are, she
says, homes for men who come from
prison, where they are screened just al
surely from curious and morbidly in
quisitive people as though they wer,
living in their mothers home. No re
porters have yer crossed the threSh
hold; no one except those who hayt
served at least one year in the peniten
tiary.