New Orleans Republican., 1873-05-04
The Insanity Of Gain,


The Insanity Of Gain.
sss1ne following are the closing paragraphs
of remarkable article in SrriJne'8 sor
May, on "The Insanity OF CAIN
In Judging of Cain, look at the situation
On the one hand, a terrible family mystervG
no schools, no churches, no lectures, no 80
ciety, no amusements no apples On the
other hand, the whole burden of humanity
borne for the first time; paternal discipiine
undue chronological Developments m0nU7
tonous employment; antediiuvian monsters;
antSdiluvian parents, and an antedlluVian
good brother, in whose mouth butter would
Save remained intact for ages.
Undoubtedly that brother haG an Sxa5-
peratins smile He was happy because he
was virfuous. He bad way Of torgiving
and forgetting that for time would de-
prve the offender OF reason itself: above
all, he had cool, collected manner of his
own. added to a chronic desire to De an
angel. His offerings always fulfilled the
conditions. His iires needed only to be
lighted, and the smoke was sure to ascend
with a satisfied, confident curl far @nto the
skye
Gains, 90 the contrary, refused to burno
We can see it all. The smoke struggled
and Topped. 1t crept along the ground,
and, ainging to his feet, wound about him
like serpent. 1t grew black and angry.
shot sideways into his eyes. binding and
strangling him.
And there stood Gbel Beside his pilea Sa-
diant, satisfied, wanting to be an angel.
1t as but the work Of moment. The
pent-up, disOrganizing influences of . life
time found vent in one wild moment Of
emotiona. insanity. Abel was no more
Why dwell upon the tragedy The world
is familiar with its sickening details. We
shall not repeat them here, nor shall we
question the justice of the punishment that
same to Ca!n-the remOrse, the desOlation,
the sense of being a fugitive and vagabond
on the face of the earth. He had killed his
Brother, and The penalts must be paidO
Sane or insane, eer6ible getritution must
have arertaken Hins, Bue how about his
guiItS Would it hav& been the same in
either case: Are hereditary organism, temo
perainental excitabiity, emotional phrenzy
not to be considered No, thousand times
no! What competent jur0r'! would acqui
esce in such proposition
Friends the time has come when this
case must be taken up Its mighty issues
can no longer be set aside. If Cain was not
sane at the moment OF the killing, the stain
of murder must be wiped from his brow
now and forever. This tardy justice may
at least be done him. Our children and
our children's children must be taught to
speak of Cain, the man slaughterer; Gain,
the mentally y-excitable: Cain. the peculiar
" -circumstanced But Cain. the murderer,
Never
A mans own testimony shall not convict
or acquit him. But are We not to take into
account, as indicative of his state of mind.
actions and declarations cOincident with
the commission of the crime alleged against
him9 If at or about the time of the fatal
deed, there was positive evidence of inco-
herence-wilat then Witness the last re
corded words of Cain:
Every one that findeth me shall slay me !
Is this the utterance of sane mind :
Ercry one that tindeth me shall slay me
Gentlemen. Cain. at this point, was not
only crazy-he was the craziest man that
ever existed. No ordinary lunatic. how
ever preposterous his terrors. expects to be
killed more than once. But to this poor
creature retribution suddenly assumed a
HYDRA headed form. His distracted brain,
unconscious that Adam was the only other
man in the wide worldO instantly created
an immense populationo He sa@ bimself
falling again and again by she strokes of
successive assassinsS even aS AbeS had
fallen g.ndep hia hand His $irsf dfazed
glimpse OF Death expanded and Intensified
;nto horror nepes since conceived by qnind
of 3nane His happiness overthrownB his
reason wrecks prey TO fears that stretch
ed before him forever, with no possible
hope of final destruction-the only censolas
ton is that he could not foreknow the mer
ciless verdict of posteritv. He did not
recognize in himself the first murderer.
Rather than dream of such ignominy as
this, was it not better that he should cry in
h5 ravingse Every one that tindeth NE
shall siay me !!
We leave the question TO the Intelligence
and the Justice oS shs faithful and eulighta
sne5centrrye
Civil Service ExaU,ina,iOnss
Yhus far the system Of open competition
naa been applied only to the minor places
in the departments in Washington, and to
the offices of the Treasury Department in
the city of New York. The information from
all sources agrees that il has been as sue
cesstul as could be hoped, while the salaries
of the places are so low, and popular dis
trust ST the sincerity of the reform is 80
great and that it is surely winning its way
to complete success against the olamOrs
ard misrepresentation of prejudice and
ignorance, and the active opposition of all
grades of politicians who see in the threat
ened downfall of the old system an end to
theis political hopes and schemes That
she success of the system has been so great
Is largely elsle 60 the WISDOM which Las
DeSu hNOW0 U,y 5ne poaSSsS pS tkalniHeiso~
composed OF practical men selected srom
sile officers st the heRiepartEeDis~jS eeDducto
sng 2heiy examinations
Thanks sO the 9estlesS opposition pI tson
srsaJ ButleTs Ssho. unable 80 understand how:
meS entrusted with duties 30 SeapOnsible
could Se honest, and, hopeful Of uncarthe
ing some evidence e trickery or chicanerS.
persuaded the House Of Representatives to
caiS sor copies of all the questions used in
che SivS service examinations. the boards
, have been enabled to place their examnis
ton papers before the public, and SO to vine
d!cate the wisdom and fairness OF the exc
aminatioEso Unlike the English examo
inerso who seem conce rned to secure for the
civil service persons of the requisite social
standing gather than practical business
Capacity and who have therefore set ulS
so high standard that only university
men ooe others Of equally high training
can nope 60 pass it, the boards appear
to have been careful to 80 shape their
ity for the public service rather than mere
scholastic or literary attainments The
candidate is seated at a desk, and cone
frented by a days work. in the shape of an
examination quite equal in difficulty to that
of any place to which he is likely to be. as
signed If he passes the ordeal he can not
fail to be equal to the duties required of
him inc tho department. TSle examinations
for admission to the service are confined to
elementary subjects, embracing arithmetic
a. far as percentage, the elements of bcok8
Keeping, orthography. syntax, punctuation,
English composition, plecis or briefng, and
general questions concerning the constitu-
tionogeography, and history 8? she United
States all embodie,&e far 81 e,ossibltsp in CON
crete ase gracticab Gsescjssso 5udiSiousl,e ?
chosen
IN the examination Hoe premaeioa gHs
Same range of elementary toI.iee ia pro-
served. with the addition ot technical gnes
tions Iertainin. to the urganizations ptacO