The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1914-08-06

lates you with its insidious poison,
undermining your manhood and cor
rupting your self-respect. After all
1t is but word.
Our forebears who blazcd the
trail in the new world; who suffered
untold privation to make possible
the new United States, who fought
IN the ranks of the minute men with
sublime courage never surpassed,
were, i'll many instances men deport-
ed from the old world for various
crimes. They were what was known
as redemptioners. indentured and
bonded servants, prisoners in fact
who created Something out of Moth
ing.
The men who founded and settled
in australia. New Zealand, South
Africa and the Far East, and whose
defendants are now the first fami-
lies were men of like stamp.
| In the stirring days of the old
western frontier each picturesque
pioneer had a past. These men
went to their prisons. all of them at
tendant with million more hard
ships. sufferings and cruelties than
the finished, modern prison, They
went with hardy courage, burning
their bridges behind them, their IA
ces set toward the future and made
history. creating Something out of
Nothing.
True. the day of the old frontier
is gone and the day Of new lands TO
conquer is no more-the coming of
the Law has changed all of that
but the same lure of Something out
out of Nothing haunts the minds of
men IN the prisons of today where
romance and sentiment are words
barren of meaning. The human
mind sometimes works very slowly.
but when it does break through the
wall OF ignorance, moss worn GUS
tom and procrastination. it can over
come all barriers
While on the subject of creating
Something out of Nothing. let us
dispel any illusions we might have
on the subject Gf who can, and who
cannot regenerate himself and Gre
ate Something out of Nothing.
| What we term the first timer is the
Inx.n who serves his first term in
prionn-h, No p,oopo tho IVAN ,,,h ~
has committed his first crime. The
frst-timer holds no exclusive brief
for reformation and creative ability
The second and third timer, aye
even the fourth and fth-timer, can
emerge into new life, build a new
house on the ruins and wreckage of
his sins and create Something out of
Nothing by becoming not merely a
law abiding citizen, but by building
for the benefit of his fellow men
while building his own house.
Many Make Good
There is banker in New York,
the head of a great trust company,
who learned his first banking les
sons in Sing Sing prison. He util-
lied his spare hours and made his
six years of imprisonment six years
of learning and usefulness. There
is great rancher in Colorado, a
great road builder and great
preacher, all of whom builded their
careers while wiping out their sins
at the Canon City prison. In every
state in the Union will be found
scores of men and women, an ever
increasing legion of honor. who have
graduated from prisons to success
and power through the creation of
Something out of Nothing. The
small percentage of men who fail to
make good are given CONSPICUOUS
notice in the public press because
they have failed, but the other eigh-
ty percent that We never hear of =
the men and women who have made
good and created Something out of
Nothing-these are men and women
| whose llfe stories are stranger than
| fiction.
Need we dilate further? We could
fill countless pages with the romance
of what has been done by the man
behind the bars. The king of Amer.
lean short story writer's, 0. Henry,
learned his trade within these very
walls.
We reiterate that it is within the
power of each and every man Incar-
cerated in the prisons and jails that
blot the land with their shame, to
create Something out of Nothing.
No one rule can apply to any two
men.
Awake from lethargy, emancipate
your thoughts from constant dwelling on
the morbid, the lewd and vengeful, look
Lo.., IL E.. l.