Success of Reformed Criminals
After Blotting Out the Past
"Once a Thief, Always a Thief," has been disproved in thousands of cases according to Mr. William A. Pinkerton.
"Do criminals ever reform, really turn over a new leaf and become good citizens?"
I fired the question at random, little dreaming what a wealth of interesting and convincing anecdote it would evoke. I expected the time honored cynical reply, something to the effect of "Once a thief, always a thief," But I was disappointed—agreeably disappointed. For my answer was a quick, emphatic, earnest "Yes."
And the man who said "Yes" was William A. Pinkerton, and he knows.
Probably no living man knows more intimate details about the individual members of the underworld, those who are active criminals to-day, as well as the notorious crooks of the past, than the head of the Pinkerton Detective Agency. And every crook will tell you, what every honest man who knows Mr. Pinkerton will tell you, that when he says "Yes" there is no possibility that the correct answer should be "No."
WILLIAM A. PINKERTON
Head of the Pinkerton Detective Agency New York