The Sauk Centre herald., 1909-03-11
1.-THE UNDER DOG"
A Plea for the Man Who Is Down
and Out
ATES BY REV. JAS. PARSONS
State Superintendent of Prisoners
Aid Work in Minnesota Speaks
in Sank Centre

Rev. Jas. Parsons of Minneapolis,
state superintendent of Prisoners Aid
Work for Minnesota, visited Sauk
Centre Saturday, preached twice or
Sunday, and visited leading business
men on Monday, addressed the pupils
of the High school at $3.50 Monday aft.
ernoon, and left on Wednesday. Mr..
Parsons has recently taken up this
work in this state. He is former
Congregational pastor, good speaker
and an enthusiast at his work. His
object is to interest the public in the
work of helping convicts and ex-con-
victs. This work has been going on
in several of the western states for
some years, but only recently has it
been taken up in Minnesota. Those
who heard Mr.. Parsons speak Sunday
were convinced that the work in Min
nesota is in good hands.
Mr.. Parsons spoke in the Methodist
church Sunday morning and in the
Congregational church in the evening
and was greeted by good sized and in
terested audiences at both places.
His subject was 'The Man that Is
Down. or ''How to Help the Under
Dog"
Mr.. Parsons handled his subject in
an able manner, bringing. out ideas
That were new to a good many-ideas
that were of value and argments that
were valid and carried weight with
them. He said his object was to Gre
ate interest in the work, secure finan-
cial backing for it and relieve the man
in prison. In 1908, he said, 1900 peo-
pie from the cities of Minneapolis and
st. Paul had served Jail sentences;
while in the entire state of Minnesota
the total for the same year was not
less than 25,OOe. .. -..
The Aspeaker's first argument was
that measures should be taken to pre-
vent children from growing up and be-
coming criminals. The place to begin
is in the home. He gave some sta
tistics to show that children who be-
come criminals come from homes
where there is friction between the
father and mother, resulting in sepa-
ration; while children left orphaned
also swell the ranks. In 1906, in the
state of Missouri, in the industrial
school for girls, there were 13O in.
mates; in 1907 the number had in
creased to 179; while in 1908 there
were 23O. -..
Investigation, said the speaker,
shows that many parents fail to dc
their duty, facts are frequently coming
out in the juvenile courts to substan
tiate that statement. The home, he
said, is the foundation of the com
munity. In the average American
home the child, not the parent, is the
master and generally does about as he
likes. A century ago the rights Of the
child were not regarded and the disci
pline was too severe; now the pendu
lum has swung to the other extreme
and the child rules and has his OWL
way. Result, many children get a
good start on the road to the peniten
tiary right at home because parents
fail to do their duty. Parents must
be exemplary. The home should be q
place that is the very vestibule OF
heaven, but that is the exception ir
the modern American home today.
The church, said Mr.. Parsons, has
its mission in a preventive way
Processing Christians should lead ex
emplary lives; they should be flaming
evangels of truth and right living.
The speaker then turned to a dis
cussion of the prisoner. Men and wo
men, he said, are put in prison for two
reasons, namely, to punish the wrong
doer and to protect society. Reforma
tion of the convict should be the mair
end sought during the prison sentence
The principal obstacle in the way OF
reformation, said the speaker, is the
inequality of sentences. Differen,
judges in different localities, he said
impose different sentences for similal
infractions of the law. Mr.. Parsons
gave instances of this to prove his
postulate. This has the effect OF max
| ing the man who has received thu
heavier sentence sullen and unruly
and putting him in frame OF mine
which makes it practically impossible
| to reach him while in prison, anc
when he regains his freedom he re
turns to his criminal career. 1.-THE
man placed in prison." said Mr.. Par