CHAPTER XXIII A PLEA FOR DISCHARGED PRISONERS

I would fain, before concluding this story, lay before my readers the cause of the discharged prisoner. I would ask the world to take him on his promise once again. If not to forgive, I would ask that you forget. The road to regeneration is strewn with many obstacles. The man leaving prison doesn’t know all of the pitfalls waiting for him. He imagines it easy to break away from the old life and start straight again. But I know better. I know the pull of the old life. I know the magic spell it weaves about one; and, friends, the way is hard. I’ve heard the call of the road, seductive with its melody. I know how it pulls and tugs at the very heartstrings of a man. There’s a magic in the underworld, with its[Pg 118] lights and shadows, hard to comprehend. There’s a glamour in the life like the interest of an old romance. I know the fight ahead of all the men starting out on the straight road, and I would ask that you in some way make it a little easier for them. A smile isn’t much, an encouraging word goes a long way. They all help, they all lift the man a little nearer to the summit of his desire. In your own way you can be of inestimable help in the making of a man. Will you do your part?

Formerly the man behind the bars didn’t count. You locked him up and threw away the keys. When his time was up you sent him out into the world with not a care for his future. Why should you care? Why worry of the road the convict took? The law was vindicated in his punishment. The law would be waiting his next criminal act. But all this was some time ago. Now a new order of things is come to your keeping. Across the nation an era of good will toward the prisoner is sweeping. Understanding of his position is rapidly being brought[Pg 119] about. People are more and more willing to give him a chance. Eager hands are outstretched, ready to help him over the rough places of the road. Big minds are taking hold of the problem. A spirit of true religion is being incorporated into the methods of the social worker. But, best of all, waiting for the man desirous of turning his back on the past, is the glad hand of true brotherhood.

The End