The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1875-08-19
AdHlteration and Fraud the Crying
Sins OF the Nation.

]
Adulteration and Fraud the CRYING
Sins OF the Nation.
Bishop Clark. of Rhode Island, contrib
utes the fol owing TO the New York LEDGER:
! There are twenty seven names by which
the vocation of thief Is designated. In
modern times we have invented a new set
of titles->dch as rcpudiator, defaulter.
nd defalcator--aS descriptive Of some of
our more popular modes of cheating.
i Give to any vice a gentle name, and it is
said to lose half its grossness. And so,
Instead of using the good old Saxon.
which meant something, even if it was
coarse, we gay of one who has robbed the
bank that "there is a deficit in his &C
counts" and of the man who spends mon
ey that does not belong 10 him. that he Is
"obligod to compromise with his credit
ors." | cannot think that there Is much
gained by this. Cqrrion meat may be
called high, but it do, S not smell any
sweeter for that. If a man has robbed me.
do not feel any better TO be told that the
has appropriated my property to his own
USE" Let US call a spade spade, and a
rascal a rascal, and we shall know better
where we stand.
If should enter in detail upon all the
various modes in which we are now cheat
ed, | could fill all the forty columns of the
Ledger. As it is, shall confine myself to
a few, which are just now most promi-
nent.
Highest in the scale of thieves, and alto
gether the most respectable, is the profess
siOnal burglar. who calls his vocation BY
no fictitious name, and Is prepared TO
meet the consequences fairly and squarely,
if he happens TO be caught. He has prob
ably been trained TO his business from
childhood, and as matter of taste, prefers
| il to any other. A lawyer of Boston once
asked the captain Of a band of English
burglars, if, with his skill as an accountant
and other accomplishments, he could not
do better by earning his living in some
honest way; to which he replied: Ser
/ tainly, sir; it was not upon the whole a
paying business; but do you suppose that
it is the percuniary return which makes it
attractive 10 meG BY no means; it is the
pleasure that take in bringing my wits
10 bear, so as to circumvent the plans of
| others for the preservation of their prop
erty."
The elevation of burglary to the rank
of mental science is somewhat novel,
but the intellectual pre-eminence of the
professional robber may be justly disputed
by the accomplished swindler, who never
breaks lock or strikes blow or uses q
tool. House-breaking requires only GER
tain amount of mechanical skill. but to
get possession of another mans property
by hoodwinking him, or playing upon his
feelings, it is necessary that one should
study something more than the mysteries
of iron bolts and bars. Take for instance.
the mendlcant thief-not one of the ragged
regiment of beggars, who are always
ready TO eilfer whatever is not to be had
in other ways-but a addressed traveller,
who has lost his wallet or had his pocket
plckt d, or failed TO collect a bill upon
which he relied TO meet tie expense of his
journey. Now it is only by the exercise
of considerable ingenuity that any of these
stale devices can be made effective.
A pleasing young man, with an inimita
BILE address, calls upon me in some such
distress, and asks for a simple loan OF ten
or twenty dollars TO reach his home.
" Now, > he adds, " | have been sufficient
Iy familiar with clergymen TO know how
liable they are to be imposed upon by
such stories as mine, and for this reason
would not like TO take the money without
leaving in your hands few books, which
brought with me from home, as security
tor the loan.' What are the books? |
Inquired. He then mentioned the titles OF
three or four religious works of the high
est character, lying at the hotel in his
trunk, such as only very good man
would be likely TO read, and the bait took
The youth kept his bOoks-if he ever had
them-Obtained the loan, and that was the
last | ever saw or heard of him. This is
very ordinary specimen of the ingenious
deceits by which the tribe of mendicant
swinders obtain living.
Cheating the Government, by evading
the payment OF duties aud taxes, by SNUG
Cling, and buying goods knewn TO be
smuggled, and various other modes of
fraud, is popularity regarded as some
what venial crime. So far as the abstract
morality of the deed is concerned, | do
not see the difference between putting my
hand into the public treasury and taking
out hundred dollars that do not belong
TO me, aud abStracting the same sum from
my neighbours pocket. The derangemen,
of certain branches of trade, as well as the
loss of revenue occasioned by this evil,
have recently aroused public attention and
the conviction of a few conspicuous Grim
inals may tend to abate the fraud
The rascalities of contractors have never
been exceeded or eQualed in any former
generation. One fat job is a fortune; and
an easier way to make fortune can hardly
be conceived. Only get the papers signed,
secure the money, and under-let the work
at half price, and the thing is done. How
the work will be done, and with what sort
of materials, is another matter.
OF the numberless WAYS in which the
community are cheated-the formation of
stock companies based upon tissue of
lies. where the little savings ofhard-work-
ing men and the patrimOnv of orphans
i H.. lg.,ywr i
up-railroad bonds, flOated for while by
large dividends, paid with borrowed mon
ey, by which honest people are enticed 10
invest their capital, and where il soon
sinks out of sight fOrever-certiticates is
sued by ex-governors. and senators, and
foreign ministers, to beguile the unwarv
into some valueless scueme-of all this /
have no room to write.
This, however. is the conclusion of the
whole matter. Fraud is the crying sin of
the nation, in high places and in low places.
The freedmen post their earnings IN
national savings bank, and their money is
filched from them. Yes-place your funds
n the hands of a respectable citizen, and
suddenly he is off for parts unknown.
You buy a hundred shares of railroad
stock. guaranteed by the most sanity men,
and secured by public lands, and find that
IL II nOI Woiih Il pCuHy. 4Ou Holu Il
righteous claim upon the Governmentand
are obliged to sacrifice half the amount in
order to obtain the moiety.
How long shall this state of things be
allowed TO continue?
Among the modes in which we are
cheated, and which eat like a canker into
almost every department of life, | NAV
mention light weight, short measure, tn
tadulterations of foods and drinks, inferior
goods and slightei work. Even the legal
scale OF mea >ure is reduced, so that quart
does not hold a quart, and there is often
strange shrinkage of weight in the shop
and in the house. Chemistry has been OF
some service TO the world. butt is respon-
sible for certain dep orable results. The
comfort of many people wonld be impair