El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-01-09

second time swindled a bank whose
agents were then hunting me. 1 was
not. Ny senses were stupefied with
liquor, my nature evidently momentar-
lily metamorphosed. believe the law
makes no allowance for this condition.
! realize 1t could not, with safety Ex-
cuse would be too easy. Of course,
there have been celebrated instances
of brain storm and exaggerated ego
but. certainement, these are even more
widely distinct from plain drunkenness
than kleptomania from theft
"If law is not law merely because
it is; if indeed, It has purpose, intent;
I if. as it seems self-evident, 1t is a
vital part of life, making for life and
safety and utility and mental and
moral advancement. wonder how well
society would be served by my four
years sentence? Punishment must
follow depreciation; crime must have
deterrent I know, and I do not ques-
ton that threat of grim repr1sals often
stays cuIprit hand. Yet there is
penance and punishment more severe
than any court Of man has power to
tnflict-the castigations of that ter
rible trio. memory. accusing con-
science and consciousness Of self-degra-
dation Conscience, in its literal in
depreciation does not so much make
towards of US all as sufferers 1 have
already suffered much IN loss. humiIia
ton and shame, and must endure even
more.
DOCS society recruit its ranks. of
choice, from convict camps? Was
prison pallor ever passport to the
worlds regard? Does criminal influ-
ence make for better men2 Some, in
deed, it may not harm-you can't cor
rupt corruption. But I beg you to be-
lieve that I am not one Of these. Must
a single. fearful misstep be fraught
with such appalling possibilities as lie
In the prospect of four Of Ife's best
years passed in the environment of
prison? I do not think it would render
me more fit to mingle with my fell
lows, inculcate higher standards OF
conduct and purge my soul Of its i'm
purities.
There is. for me at present. dread,
portent in those lines Of Pope's:
" Vice is a monster Of such hideous
mien
That TO be hated needs but to be seen,
But seen too oft, familiar with its face.
We first endure. then pity, then en-
bracer
And has not even the transgressor
rightful clai INTO earnest consideration
I need say nothing more Of myself.
other than there is no possibility Of
having to con a second time a lesson
once so terribly impressed lesson
Of honesty and sobriety.
This letter may be futile; my prem
ises may be all wrong may have
mistaken casuistry for logic and Portia
may have erred in saying. The quality
Of mercy is not strained. it falleth as
the gentle dew from heaven, alike up
on the just and unjust
1T may even be that for contem-
porary court of law to echo those di
vine words of transcendent beauty, GO !
thy waye and sin no more. would be an
absurd anachronism. I say again, I
do not know, and appeal TO you to be
my judge.
1T is possible that a suspended SEN
tence, a court parole, might rebound to
the greater benefit of society at large i
than the four years Of prison life this I
humble unit eonfronts- Quite possible |
think
This is a wearying epistle TO in |
flict you with Ny only excuse is that. !,
perhaps, there is soul. maybe even a
life, at stake. crave your courteous !
Indulgence and assure you OF my deep 1
gratitude for any effort in my behalf"
The poem was enclosed with the let /
ter.
His case, mayhap. is similar to that
pardoned from the Minnesota state /
penitentiary. The lash Of need that i
drove them on 10 madness, and the |
deed" as recited in the fourth verse
of the poem, is similar. for the Mime
sofa convict was hungry and burglar I
lied q store in small lonesome town. /
He may be a misguided genius with 1
faculties as peculiar as those of the /
author who penned Just for Today"
that beautiful hymn known through
out the Christian world and generally
believed to be anonymous. but who II
is now asserted, is William Huckle, an /
erstwhile British evangelist. He is now
serving a sentence II the provisional
prison, Kingston. Canada. for obtain
ing money under false pretenses. being
convicted Of blackmailing- Huckle has
clearly established his claim 70 the au-
thorship Of the sacred song in q letter
to the Anglican archbishop Of Ottawa.
Canada.