Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-03-10

The hrSt step IN crime III tne Case
Of Goudie, the Liverpool bank clerk,
who robbed his bank Of something
like e170,0O0, was manipulating the
books so as to hide his taking a40 to
back horse that was, the young fool
thought, bound to win" From the
winnings he would replace the Dor
rowed money" while retaining hand
some sum himself. The horse, Of
course, lost; but the defalcation re-
NAMED undiscovered, and Goudie was
tempted to repeat 1t for a larger
amount. The result every one knows
fourteen years penal servitude.
Robson, who defrauded the Crystal
Palace Company Of a27,ooo, took a
small amount at first for a stock ex-
change gamble. He lost. and went on.
Leopold Redpath, who in 1857 was
sentenced to penal servitude for life
for defrauding the Great Northern
Railway company Of close upon a2oO,-
900, declared that the first forgery he
committed was to obtain money to as
sist some poor people in great distress.
The statement might be regarded
with good deal Of suspicion II his
career did not disclose the fact that
while Redpath was committing frauds
he was at the same time scattering the
money he obtained among various
charities and privately assisting scores
of persons in distressed circumstances.
When he was sentenced at the Central
criminal court there were persons In
court who burst into tears. They
were persons whom he had befriended.
Harry Benson, the instigator Of the
great turf frauds and Of numberless
other swindles; the Bidwells, the great
forgers; and LEROY, the murderer Of
Mr.. Gold on the Brighton line, are
types Of criminals who seem to have
been such by some queer moral perver-
sity born in them. In each Of them
there was a gradual development OF
the terrible criminal instinct" show
ing itself in their earliest mingling
with others-in the school and play
ground, in their very first companion
ships. No one can point to any parti-
cular event in their lives as the first
introduction to criminal courses. 1t
seemed innate, and showed itself In the
prettiest trickery in childish inter-
course.
It has been noticed that the most
al, lx oTh
of crime are recruited from the ranks
Of persons engaged In special occupa-
tions and professions. The locksmith,
safemaking and carpentering trades
have supplied the most accomplished
burglars: engraving has been respon-
sible for most Of the great banlnote
manufacturers; the most celebrated
forgers have come from the legal pro-
fession and the professional murderers
have generally had some medical
training.
But the professional prisoner is a
man accustomed to carrying the bur-
den of ghastly secrets, and rarely does
he do more than confess the justice OF
his sentence and acknowledge the last
crime which sends him to the gallows.
His lips are sealed as to previous Of
fences. and no one knows how the aw-
full first step wasrtaken.
A prison chaplain In one Of our
largest convict establishments once
remarked to me that ne was appalled,
by the continual lament Of the GRIM
inals he found in that place Of terror
over "just one little thing" The little
thing" was the first step which had
launched them on the career Of wrong
doing which had brought them there.