New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1873-11-28
- 2resss--
NOT NINE -!

The conviction of great municipal thief,
the defalcations and insolvencies which of late
have been so frequent, teach lesson which
any man tHsted with the custody Of money
NAV well improve. At such time, even
moral platitudes acquire fresh ana impress
siye force There is no department of the Law
which thoroughly recognizes the necessity
of good faith aud personal honor as that of
BailmentS; although, in a certain sense, all
Commercial Law appeals to the same qualities
of character The truth is that our money
transactions with each other are so fictitious,
as rule in their nature, that without
reasonable security for the observance of truth
on either side, most affairs of whatever COM
mercal character must cease. Putting aside
all artificial representatives of values, money
itself cannot be easily handled in the great
amounts required by trade. No very rich man,
no corporation, hardly even any bank, can
remain in immediate possession of personal
estate. The representatives of value must be
of a nature to be conveniently bestowed and
TO be extempOraDeously transferred; and the
power of transfer must he contded, II not
to an individual, at any rate to selected
and trusted few. Even when one man is placed
as a check upon another, we have still instances
all TOO frequent OF collision and of q cOpart-
nership in thievery. We may as well admit.
once for ALL that we can have no financial
trust that does not carry with 1t the Opp0rtu-
nifty of stealing. The only question is, whether
we shall he forced back to a system of barter
In the old Turkish bazaars, occupied by half
dozen tenants, each had private and partic-
ular key. If one of the shOpkeepers was pre-
vented by sickness or absence from opening,
nll the rest suspended business until his re-
c0yery or return. We cannot trade in that
way. We must trust each other. After adopt
ing a hundred safeguards, securities, precau-
tons. we come to personal confidence at last
Considering the high social standing and ex-
ceIlenee of character which so many men have
forfeited by falling into the temptation to
steal money intrusted to them, it hardly
becomes any one in such position to say that
he is himself perfectly safe. Probably few
begin to fitch without some intention of max
ing restitution. This is the DEVILS bait which
has led so many down into the depths of
degradation and despair. Men promise them
selves that they will restore what they steal,
partly because they have still lingering feel
ing of honesty aud partly because they have
no relish for the seventies of the law. They
resolve to pay back what they have simply
borrowed; they will be saved by the act and
nobody the worse; and so they cheat them
selves While they are cheating others, and
become involved in hopeless moral con-
fusion. Loss follows loss, and fresh defalca-
tions are resorted to in the mad hope of re-
trieval, until point has been reached at
which it is impossible We need not dwell
upon the modification, misery and suffering
which are sure to follow-the dishOnOr, flight,
and exile, or the prisoners dock and the con-
yict's cell. Such has been the fate of many
men not originally bad and not felonious in
the worst sense of the word, even after they
have fallen--Of men who would bestOw a
portion of their ill-gotten wealth to feed the
hungry and clothe the naked-of men who
have been all along good husbands, good
fathers and good neighbors.
What is the remedy for this fatal hallucina-
ton which attacks and ruins SO many other
wise sanei May it not BIO at least partially
found in constantly keeping in mind that pos
session does not constitute property, nine
points Of the law though it may be There
have been, no doubt there are yet. bankers to
whom the custody OF untold wealth would
carry with il not the faintost notion of per-
sonal interest iu the trust, and TO whom