The Republican journal., 1875-06-10
Tho Folly of Disho nesty.

lne BEST ana most valuable lesson which
can be learned by a young man is that
integrity is sure to win in the race of life,
and that however much glitter and attract
iveness there may be about the roguery
that is successful for day, it is sure to
come to grief at last Speaking of the
disclosures made by the flight of Abra-
ham jackson, the New York Tribune has
an article upon the subject so full of sug-
gestlve truth, that we copy it below.
A few days ago, says the Tribune, there
was no man more looked up to than Mr..
Abraham jackson, in Boston "a town
which has somewhat fastidious notions Of
what a model moral character should be.
Widows trusted him; orphans confided in
him; banks discounted his paper when
ever they discounted anybody's; people
who had money to invest, asked him to
invest it for Them he was steady, pru-
dent, economical, virtuous, conservative,
cautious, shrewd, sagacious, and vera
cious, as he is now fugacious Part of
these adiectlves are our own - part of
them we extract from the telegram which
tells us that, TO the neXpressible horror
OF State street, Mr.. jackson has been
stealing the funds confided to him, and
has absconded He was the sort of n
man whom it is hard to think OF as run
away, and whom it requires the liveliest
ideaity to figure in the garb of a convict
We own up at once. Thus far we have
been unable to associate the clean shirt,
the stiff collar. the gloyed hands, the
grave manner, a happy medium between
familiarity and repellant pride, with -
shall we say it?-no, we will not say
stealing, for it is much nicer to say breach
of trust. When the president Of a Patent
Safe Company is discovered to be an en-
bezzlcr what is there for us to do but to
put our hands to our mouths, and our
mouths in the dust If we cannot trust
Who will prove to be q m-Abram'
next? Mr.. Crosse defines ''Shams' to be
''talse sleeves with ruilles, put overa plain
shirt But this sham went in the sim
plicity of Wamsutta muslin; he made no
pretense; he submitted quietly to being
taken for granted; his name on the back
of note gilded its edges by a sort Of
spontaneous alchemy; in a word, he was
intensely respectable But now he has
bolted. He has cheated, forged, lied
filched, as only a respectable man can.
Think of putting three false mortgage
notes on the market after the original
and genuine note had been taken up
This was one of the little feats which only
Il marvellous proper and moral operator
could have accomplished.
And now the conundrum in State street
| is, what has Mr., Abraham jackson done
with the money? He had no vices He
drank not, neither was he votary of
draw poker, nor did he harass the tiger
in his secret den. He did not speculate !;
he had no passion for anything hot a
passion, except, indeed, for other peoples
money, and possibly for clean linen
What. then, has he done with the money !?
Simply, we suspect he has muddled it
away. The end has proved him fraud
clean through and through - he hasn't
been even the clever business man he
was supposed to be. People thought him
honest, and he wasn't; they also thought
him shrewd. and they were equally mis-
taken. 1t is evident now that he must
have taken this money TO repair his own
blunders in business The really clever
commercial man. with a thorough knowl-
edge Of the nature OF the business, not
only has no occasion to steal, but he has
a horror Of stealing, because he fully COM
prehends that in the long run it is not the
most profitable thing which he can do.
No matter what was thought Of Mr.
Abraham Jackson in the banks ana brok-
ers' offices of last week they will tell
you to-day that he has managed badly.
Very often society meets with this kind
of establishment. Old houses, which were
thought to be built upon q rock of gold,
tumble in; Messrs. Dombey, Plutus 4 Co.
60 into chancery; MI Merdle, who man
ages all the railways in the country and
4 Sunday School besides, sinks into the
grave an insolvent suicide Isn't it time
Tor us to understand that the really clever
business man is an honest man? that fraud
and forgery, and swindling, and all sorts
OF telonious sharpness are evidence not
merely of dishonesty but of want of wit
The very muddle, the confusion, the dis
order, and the tangle in which a fugitive
merchant leaves his affairs show that it
is next to impossible to do 4 dishonest
business according to the principles and
methods of an honest one. A banker or
trader turns rogue, partly because he
has not good working capital OF brains
lie feels his deficiency, if the public
doesn't; and when the explosion, q sense
of which has haunted him night and day
SO long, comes, he is always the least sur
prised man upon the ttreet He knew or
half knew that he could not get along in
this shilly-shally way forever; and that
the time would come when his palsied
hand would refuse to 90 to his mouth
1t always comes.
1t will be seen by the letter from Hon.
Joseph Titcomb, which we publish to-lay,
that he declines denomination for the
office of Governor Mr.. Titcomb has
served the Democracy through two con-
tests with singleness Of purpose and
self-sacrifce which entitlc him to the sim
cere thanks of the party. And in retir-
ing he will bear with him the gratitude