Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1867-09-24
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MORE ABOUT !, THIEVES. /


MORE ABOUT THIEVES z s
lFrom tho Baltimore Episcopal Methodist
We have often heard veteran burglars ex7
cuse their partial appropriations Of the goods
Of others by contrasting in their rown favor the
supposed predatory lives Of the rest Of the
community In this argument the burglar,
like other partisans, is extreme in his assump-
ltions. He does net .admit5any honest at all.
He assumes, as the black philosopher did to
Mr.. Baker,#that everybody steals as much as
he can. This is not true There are many,
yery many, honest men. We know them in all
kinds Of business; but the burglars have, never
theess, abundant fair cases Tor comparlson.-
They say, that though dangerous to society,
they are as pixies to sharks, compared to many
unconvcted consumers 7of their kind The
burglar is only possible accident to a mans
limited to small portion of the victims pos
sessions The poor escape! him altogeth er.-
But the rascal who debases drugs, or who sells
inefficient nostrums,, steals from the sick, his
time his relief. his cure, perhaps his life, and
robs his family, his creditors, his country, Of
the mans health and usefulness, and it may
Re, of his existence-her is a thief who breaks
into the secret treasure of man, and takes
more than all his property is worth Many of
this class of robbers cheat man out OF his lite
for dollar. Then there is the dishonest gro
Ger, who cheats all day and always, In all kinds
of goods, and cheats almost exclusively the poor.
What an undying worm in the means of an hum
Bile household is he! What q permanent ras-
cal he Isl So of all the rest of dishonest ira
ders. Who would not rather have robber in
1. L 70 bo
daily sucked by leeches like these Then there
isa class Of great caterpilltarsI;oticl;as-
honestly getting money out of the public and
out Of individuals, who do business with pub
lie bodies. How much robbery is perpetrated
in this way none can tell. But now people
look upon this sort Of thingfas normal If a
bill is to be passed, money is to be provided
Some illegitimate means must be used. If one
has a Just claim on Congress, he would not
think of recovering it merely by honest state
ments. Sensible people abandon claims that
are not worth spending money on. Officials
known to be poor when appointed to small sal
aries, live far above those salaries, and get
rich. Nobody inquiries how. Everybody knows
they have robbed somebody; yet they are
treated as gentlemen, and not sent to the peni-
tentiary at all. 1 l3
So the penitentiaryssclass of burglars talk
and truth to say, we could put our hand upon
several wealthy gentlemen, who, by sharpness
and Implying selfshness may be by scandal
Gus lying and miscellaneous roguery not indct-
able by statute, have reduced more men to
poverty, wrought more ruin to families, and
poured into cups of life more intense bitterness
than has been accomplished Of this devils
work, by all the thieves and robbers at
present leading reluctantly honest lives in all
the prisons Of the country. It is becom-
ing of prime importance to ascertain how
much true, honest principle is lett among u.s.
Certainly the public gives itself credit tor very
little. We do not teach our children to trust
those they shall deal with. We call a man
'green, until he loses faith in the honesty of
the public. And, Oh! ! whata revelation ofthe
state of society it is, that it is reproach to be
sspreen - that the innocent truthfulness of
youth should be another name for unftness for
life. All OF us old ones, feel it a paternal duty
to destroy all the natural human confidence
that opens the hearts of our boys and girls to
the hearts of older people; because we know
that the world is full Of traps and pitfalls, with
ferocious man-eaters watching every one of
them, and that the generation coming upon
the stage would be eaten like. young trout by
the old ones, if not put upon their guard
against.the Yoracity that is waiting for them.
This is the fact--the plain melancholy, shame
full truth. What is to be done That very
many people have very lax notions about bon
eSty, and are very careless about the character
Of being honest, and yet have strange dislike
to be called thieves, is certain. We think 1t
will be well to begin the reform by calling them
5 thieves When we have reduced the various
forms of sroguery to a; common denomination
We can deal easier with it. The Scripture says
nothing about "deiaulters''' and operators
but classes only as thieves and robbers, all VINO
get property unjustly. We think one reason
of our declining from Bible morality is, ,our
sbying from Bible words. As} Y Gz4
The RADICAL Pro GRANITE We call the
attentionsof the Conservatives of the North,
particularly those Of Pennsylvania and Ohio,
to the following extract from an article In the
New Nation on Saturday. paper which IS
the Radical organ in this State, and edited. by
man who aspires to the highest office; in the
gift Of the colored people. Ifthis proposition
does not damage Radicalism in those States,
We shall be surprisea:-Rich. Dispatch. -
~ from the New Nation. September 2l] -.
And if necessary the fugitives In Canada
who escaped from slavery, and the suffering
emigrants now in Hayti and Liberia, will help
to make this domination of Republican prln
eiples. Yea, we would overturn Africa right
into America, if necessary, and these thick lip
ped, Aat-nosed. wooIly- haired people that now
swarm those sunny shores be brought, here. as
lrishmen from Ireland, and in the same time
= be fitted just as we'll for the Responsibilities Of
!. citizenship. All these iustrumentahtles we
would put under contribution willingly and
{ without reserve, before We would see, the Old
2 tunes 1 of slavery return There are to pc es-