The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-07-20

himself the proof Of the theory that a
criminal is what he is because he is
born with instincts. the development
OF which is neither environment, lear
! Of punishment. social ostracism. nor
anything else can prevent, William
James Patterson. NJ. a. VI. d. is con-
fined in q cell in the city jail OF len
Ger, arrested on the charge Of forgery,
says a dispatch from Denver Colo, 10
thu New York World.
In his early years, Patterson fought
against his inherent desire 70 take VIVA
belonged TO his fellow-man because OF
the disgrace that he feared his father,
mother and and other loved ones would
suffer from his actions. and when he
met, loved. end wooed the woman Of his
| choice, for the sakakak kfiifik Kirk
| choice, for her sake and for the sake
! of the children that were born 20 them.
he continued TO wage the unequal bat
tie. 1t was heredity VS.. environment,
he declares, and heredity finally won.
That is the excuse which the once
famed physician and instructor gives
| for his present condition. From a maE
| of prominence and an heir to great
Wealth, Patterson's fall has been so
complete that the police found him
| living in the most abject poverty in a
dingy room in the lowest part Of tnc
city.
My one great regret in life is that
| lave fallen a slave to the morphine
habit and, unable TO resist its use,
have failed in my ambition to become
the greatest criminal Of the age was
the amazing statement DR.. Patterson
made after his arrest.
Il glory in crime and am a crimi-
nal because it is impossible for me
TO be anything else. | have tried and
failed and am glad Of it. The fight
was unequal. at best, and | am glad
that | finally started out in a career
OF crime and hat | have committed
thefts and burglaries, have stolen in
to houses at night time and taken pro-
perry that belonged to others, for the
| pure love of it.
Il did not need the money, did nOt
| want the booty that | took away after
| got it. but there was a satisfaction
too deep for words, too Self-Satisfying
for explanation. | imagine that a WOm-
an who has held her lover at arms
length and, perhaps, for the best Of
~reasons, has refused to surrende" to
him for d long time, must feel much
as | did when | committed my frs
theft.
FIRST STOLE s..
at was not much. too little a thing
to notice, vet it was the beginning Of
the career that | mapped out for my
self after | fully realized that there
was nothing in the world that could
prevent my being anything but a thief
| VAS in a fellow physicians office and
l saw a pOcketboOk lying on the table.
He was busy with a patient and | open
ed the wallet and found 81 in it. / then
had plenty of money and the contents
of the purse could do me little good,
but resist the desire to take the money
] could not and did not / know that
the high character that | bore would
protect me from the possibility of
exposure, and the cunning which have
since learned and which | used to pro-
tect me from being found Out when |
have succumbed to my desire to take
possession Of hat which does not be-
long to me was not necessary in that
case. That was years ago, how many
| do not know. 1t was the beginning
The crime for which Patterson was
arrested, and which is the second Of
the same nature which he has CON-
mltted in Denver, and to which De
has confessed, is the passing of a fraud
ulent check for S20.35 on a Denver
clothing company. When arrested and
confronted with the evidence of his
guilt, Patterson smiled feebly and ask
ed the captain OF detectives why he
had gone to all the trouble he had
to prove him guilty.
DRUGS DESTROYED CUNNINC
Come in? Why, OF course | will
come in said he. Il am guilty ana
am willing to admit il, and Go MT
care how heavy | am sentenced by the
court. Before | learned the the drug
habit you would not nave caught me,
becauseI would have beer too clever
for YOU. but using the slang Of the
streets, which I suppose is permissible
to a man who had fallen so low as |
have, even if | am a university grad
uate, | am about ali in Life hollis
little in store for me. but l could have
startled the world with my crimes and
proven by the very TACT Of my edu-
cation and the environment of nay early
life mat Il man is a criminal because
he can be nothing else.
"When a child l felt the influence Of
heredity; felt that | was born to be a
thief. Ny father and mother were Of
the highest character. The desire which
impelled me 10 take the marbles 81
other little boys. to rife the pockets Of
my School-mates when their coatsl
hung in the courtroom, came furthe-l
back than my immediate ancestors
just as b genius Of a great painter
or that Of a great writer or poeG Is!
inherited from ancestors further back
than can be remembered. The desire
TO commit crime is similar TO the de-
sire 10 OF a genius to develop the Ial-
ents which are his. II is often the
strongest passion Of his life. and for