The rationale for victim compensation rests on a moral concern for the welfare of the injured citizen, and the current lack of any effective compensation provisions results in punishment for crime victims. All the currently available legal provisions for victim compensation in Missouri are illusory and fall considerably short of adequately meeting the compensation needs of the great majority of victims. A method sometimes suggested for compensating victims of criminal violence is the use of prison wages earned by the offender; however, the average wage earned by an inmate in a prison industry is too small to be a practical source for victim restitution. The literature on victim compensation indicates that opposition to it centers around its cost and unintended side effects. The side effects consist of the possible negative effect on the victim's interest in assisting the state in prosecution, the danger of fraudulent claims, the high cost of such a program, and the fear that such a program is another step toward a welfare state. Regarding the concern that victims will lose interest in assisting the prosecution after receiving compensation, this is unlikely to be a problem since the criminal charges against a defendant would be disposed of before the compensation would or could be awarded. The fear of fraudulent claims may be assuaged by effective criteria to determine 'victims' and careful investigation of all claims. Victim compensation schemes should not be viewed as another step toward a welfare state, since they are not a threat to the free enterprise system or an abandonment of emphasis on individual responsibility. Extensive footnotes are provided.