The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1857-03-28

The PROGRESS OF DErALCATIoNs.-In another
column will be found letter from Albany Civ.
ing some account of the defalcation Of Mr.
Schoonmaker of the Central Railway Company
The amount was small, only $4,000; and the
company give out that they will lose nothing
Mr.. Schoopmaker, a man of high character
and general public esteem, is Of course ruined
for life.
1t is only few days since that we had to
note defalcation in Brooklyn, another in Bos-
ton, another in Montreal, another in the far West
The papers which have just arrived bring accounts
of the arrest of the Ascending cashier of the New
castle Bank of Pennsylvania, who was caught
in house of ill fame in Philadelphia.
These disasters are the mile stones on the road
to a revulsion. They stud the way, and the fast
er we approach the goal the closer they seem.
They are necessary consequences of our increased
cost of living, and general looseness in our
mode of transactiDg business. We shall have to
meet with many more of them before we reach
the end Of our rope.
As Tor Mr.. Schoonmaker's case, that can be
easily understood. When he was in the Senate,
and in the Bank Department, he was honest, We
are told. Well, this may have been so; honesty
was compatible with these offices. But
the virtue must have been quite out Of
the question in the Office Of the Central
Railway and hence Marius Schoonmaker
fell He supposed. no doubt, when he
accepted the post, tina She Directors and the Pre-
sident, being men Of high character and great re-
putation, were o. potless as he had been; when
he found his mistake, he began to give way.
How could it have been otherwise! A man Of
his sagacity cannot have been many days in the
service of the Central Railway Company without
discovering that they borrowed money systema-
tically to pay their dividends, aud that they i'm
posed most grossly on the public in their pub
lished reports. Nor can Mr.. Schoonmaker have
been unaware of the fact that, ever since the
consolidation" the managers OF that great fnan-
cisl mapGuvre have been slowly but steadily
selling their stock at prices ranging from Sl2j
the price at which they valued the article-to
$50, the price which the public sets upon it.
With there two facts TO enlighten him as to the
true character Of the enterprise with which be
had become connected, and his own natural sa-
gacity TO guide him, Mr.. Schoonmaker seems to
have come to the conclusion that the example Of
bis employ els was the one TO be followed and
that be must treat them as they treated the pub
lie There was certain logic in this but Mr.
SHOEMAKER did not carry it far enough. Tue
people OF the Central Railway undoubtedly i'm
pose upon and cheat the public, and thus FAT
their example was of service to defaulter; but
they manage so as not to be found out by thec
victims at large, and herein Mr. S. showed him
self poor imitator of them.
We have no reason TO doubt but Mr.. ScboVh.
maker is one of very large class indeed. We
are satisfied that the great proportion of thu
heavy corporations owning railways commit
every year, in their management, frauds which
might send an individual to the penitentiary;
and as their frauds must be known TO their ser
wants and employees, We feel convinced. on gene.
raj principles, that q very large proportion o.
these must have initiated, for themselves, the dis
honesty which they are forced to practice tor
their company. Time will fully clear up thesl
matters and show how they stand; few months
may do it. 1t is possible that by some mystic
rious process railway Offices are iDoculated with
a species of honesty which warns them against
neiarous practices OF this sort. We hope they
are. If they are not, the case Of Schuyler will
be repeated within the next few years m many
very many of our corporate moneyed institutions