Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1872-01-10
A Suggestive NforK

pitianle- terribly suggestive story comes
TO ls this week from q Western city An
pid man, the cashier Of d bank, proVerbial
or his integrity, die, AMI leaves d large
nelpiess family to the care Of his eldest son,
who Is offered his fathers situation at the
same low salary enough to feed, clothe and
educate the children decently but nothing
more The lad wants more He IL generous
70 a fault an exceptionally affectiOnate son
and brother loves music, pictures, dainty
living, delights in the very things, beautiful
IN nature OF art, Of which his stinted barren
life has been so nggardly. The mean house
his mother shabbily drcsscd-the meager
prospect before the horde Of children gall
and wound him daily beyond endurance.
Why should other men CT coarscr natures
than he be enabled to surround themselves
with beauty and grace, and be and his drag
out their lives in hungry, unsightly poverty
The argument j. old il began when the first
cultured poor man looked IN the windows Of
his inferior who had money
This lad finally borrOWs thousand yr TWO
from the vault one day, telling himself il is
bat the altering Of q figure in his accounts
that in q week he will replace it, Very soon
the old shabby house Widens and brghtens
INTO a warm, luxurious home the lOngcd for
music, pictures, exquisite furniture are
there gay faces besides, ease and plenty a
Z
OF the poor are never turned away brothers
and sisters are educated and we'll placed in
life, looking up To their young protector
with a blind devotion the town Ia small
manufacturing place, whsro individual af-
fairs are public property rings with praise
Of ms flial affection and wonder az his lavish
generosity yet no investigation Is made, nor
suspicion aroused his wealth is vaguely rc-
ferred to specuati0ns In oil, silver mines
or sure-t basis in the American mind 70 luck.
At last the crash comes, and dCislcatiln
is discovered Of nearly half million 81 dol
lars The embezzlemCnt has been going %
for more than eight years. aud the money
has oCen taken mainly from funds belonging
10 the poor. the savings Of sewing women
and mill hands. whose curses fall heavily on
the guilty man. Tho result. Iney table in
the Wet. lJli0w~. II New York the de-
faul5er would have slipped of e. Europe very
probable. bat common sense. the g.t %
Western people, mate- out punishment there
IN prompt measure. The dashIDs young
fellow with an his tine tastes and generous
impulses. went last week. u dra- out the
best years Of h.s life IN d pcuitentlary. lclF-
ing those who were 30 dear to him - near
their poverty and burden Of disgrace as best
they may.
Now -ucl B story a. tni- would 1e inc7o1-
ible in any other country lbau our OWL. IhcI
blindness ,he IassiV. confidence which could
Induce y community full lf shrCWC business
men 10 suffer such frauds az these @ 20 on
from year q wear ehgcAsI and unsupported
are the surosr signs ot the slip =h0d chance
foundations Oh which an cur business rela-
tIsns rest No officer Of Ii mgneyet insttu-
tion iu England could show evidence ef q
sudden increase in income without provoking
prompt and Jealous inquiry that it's other
W'se here is not because the Americans are q
less Jealous reCp.e thau the kugllsb. but lo-
cause gambling bv speculation l- e. common
and successful IN the respectable classes as
gambling by cards and dice in -hs lower.
But the suggestive point In the tory D. that
the ambition Of tins lad mind, and the ar
gumcnts 5y which bis principles were tainted,
are the ambition and she hdbltuai argument
IF two thirds Of the cultured p0or ia45 that
crowd American cities, as generous and love
able ss BE-. Every man in America tr!cs -
lift his slu tJ o higher social plane tnan ms
own ty 20 develop. and dcN clopment Is sup
rosed ID mean. nine times ont NJ ten, wider
,ducation. more refined habits FL living ~
rb.stic tastes . not the training OF the boy in
the stern integrity Of the old Puritan stock
or tic hard Estod honesty Of his Quaker
grandfather Now beautiful home eEgul
site dresses, dainty meals pictures, travel
the opera, are good things in their way. but
they cost money, and the pennilcss CLERK OF
LAWYER who makes them the god Of life
Is rarely scrupulous a to how the money s
made. lie gets it by 90 sharp practice, ~
!. bold strokes while the Western lad put
MS hand into the vault and took 1t. One
reaches the conyict's cell the other, very
likely. financial success bu5 both are alike
degraded in nature and ruined in life. No
re0pIe in the world have finer ie5thotic
tastes than the Germans yet they satisfy
them. and observe at the same time rigld
economy riddle which it would be worth
while for every young man TO urge to its so
luton ~ y TTibuus-