The labor argus. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1906-1915, 1909-08-19
CAUSE OF CRIME.

clothes he wears, food he eats, sermons,
lectures and music he hears. plays he
secs, the papers and books he reads. the
people he associates with the nature OF
his work and number of hours he is en-
ployed, the character OF his recreation.
the schools he attended; all Of these
things mould his mental. moral and phys
zeal condition, regulate his contentEnent
and happiness and determine his treat
ment of his fellow man
According to this new philosophy, TO
make men patriotic, strong, intelligen
industrious and good, moral citizens gen
orally, it is necessary TO improve his sur
roundings; give him better home, edu-
cation and improve his method OF max
ing his living But according to the old
philosophy, the one that dominates So
cicty at the present time-our capitalists
way of thinking-thc only way to make
men better is to increase the police force
the army, navy and MALTA, to build big
ger JaiIs, penitentiaries, etc.
Now, which is right! Let us reason
They will tell you that human nature
will have to be changed before we can
have better cisiliza ION, and AS usual
| they are trying to stand the tree on its
top, for it does not require that human
| nature should be changed first, but it
will require Il higher and better civil
| zation to change human nature.
How long have we been trying to
make people better by law, by the
promise of heaven and the threat of
hell! ''Thou shalt not steal has been
| taught by the church since the birth Of
| Christianity. 1t has been written in all
the statutes of the world since man first
learned the art of writing. All the pow
crs of the state, the penitcntiarics, dun
its enforcement. Have people stopped
| stealing on that account?
Well, we guess not.
They steal like pet crows.
| They steal more than they ever did.
One of the greatest distinctions be
tween men is the differences in the
! amounts he can steal
If Il man steals a ride on IL railroad.
he is Il hobo. f he steals the railroad,
| he is sent to the United States Senate
| to help other thieves make laws to keep
If man picks your pockets or holds
you up, or burglarizcs your house. he
is sent TO jail; yet every time you get
on the train you are held up. Every
| time yon light a fire your pockets are
picked. Every time you use any manu-
factured article, you are burglarizcd by
some trust.
The only reason the big thief is not
sent to jail instead of the little one is
| because the big thief makes the laws
| instead of the little thief, and he is not
going to put himself in Jail for stealing
| from the other fellow. lie is too wise for
! that. lie builds jaiIs and keeps them
full of the fellows that try to steal
| from him.
The big chief is "A thief from choice
| lie likes it. He calls it finance.
The little thief is Il thief from ncccs
sity. lie steals because the big tibet
| has first stolen the earth from him
stolen his opportunity to live. lie is
cnmpc:."d to steal.
y man will steal before he will
~tarvr, if all the spirit has not been
ground out of him by centuries of OPP
|
will do some kinds of work
| If I; man were offered job in one of
| our big coal mines at starvation wages.
| where three four hundred men are
| caved on or smothcrcd or burnt to
death once in while, because the coal
| har"ns can make more money by tax
| ing less prccantion. because men are
! cheaper than timbers watchmcn, and
he had to take the job or steal or stnrve.
| he would show better judgment by steal
| ing. for a jail is better place than one
| of those mines.
If YOU put two hungry dogs in Il
| room with one poor bone those dogs
will be bad dogs. according to the code
of morals the capitalists have lnanufac-
tured for the workingman. for they will
fight for the bone. But if you put two
well-fed dogs in room with plenty of
| meat. they will be as friendly M :wo
pawnbrokers at n picnic.
There is more crime in winter than in
summer. There is vastly more crime in
sanity and suicide when the times are
bad than when they are good. Every
time the Coal Barons put up the price of
coal. the Standard Oil puts up the price
of oil. it means just so many more cells
filled in our iails and penitentaries, Just
MANY more poor Girls who cannot nay