Connecticut western news., 1875-10-22
A PERSIAN STORY.

.. A PERSIAN STORY. '~ ... An Imaginary Description of the Way On1ce Holders were Made Honest and
 Kept i'm that Condition. att Three centuries ago, says Abou Ben Adhem in his advice, there was a king dom to the north of what is now Persia the inhabitants of which were of the same race with the present Persians- lin which these things of which you com plain very seldom occurred. In that blessed land there was no crime to speak of-1o accidents, no mistakes, no noth- ing. Life there was like a calmly flow ing river !; the people lived happily and died respectfully, disiking very much to leave-which is quite different here. We had in Koamud, which was the name of the kingdom, no penitentiaries, no re- form schools, no civil service examina- tions, no boards of any kind-nothing of the sort. If the government wanted 8 postmaster, we will say, it did not go bothering about qualifications or. any thing of that sort. It simply posted up on the door of the vacant post office 8 printed statement of what would be re- quired of the postmaster. Then the
  was appointed" ....'-. !..
 "Were not bonds required of him 2" "No He took the place, and went on with his duties" I.0'iE g sf
 's But suppose he proved 8 de- faulter 2" ...... r-..r ..,,.-r --.... -. hanged" .,
 "Hung for dedication 7'' ..
 Horfoip1v and Ro,. n ,,,Su%n11os ors If there was an error ill his accounts, by so much as pound of wrapping -twine, he was hung out of hand" --'
 ''But suppose his Irregularities were the result of bad business qualities2''
 'sThen he was hung for being a bad business man. What we wanted was honesty and capacity and as we did with postmasters, we did with everybody else. Suppose 8 railroad train ran off the track-a coroner's jury was convened they discovered the fact that a rail was properly patrolled, we hung one presi- dent, director and superintendent, If the accident was caused by any slip on the part of the conductor, he was hung. and so on. Once we hung all the officers of the Teheran and Ispaham road, and from that time there was no accident on that line. Their successors were toler- ably careful the superintendent slept very little and the company hung up a miniature gallows in the cab of every To- comotive to remind the engineer of his certain fate in the event of trouble. q
 "Then we carried the same rule into everything. The people deposited with 4t1a Nn@ A1 oe good. The bank suspended one morn ing. Exactly. The authorities took thu president, cashier, and boarl of direc- tors all out and hung them, because they had been guilty of suspension.
 "' didn't steal 8 dollar of this money, said the president. It was lost in speculating in Persian Gulf Mail.
 Never difference, said the judge, where it was lost. You haven't got it. ,
 But you won't hang 8 man who has not stolen, will youa' says the presi- dent. fa F. a., ' -.J -i GsTl- 4,yy
 "'I will hang you, my jooel, for bsin' an idiot. l shall hang you for riskin' money that was not yours to risk .'..
 And up he went +f.ct
 In fact, they have hung them more mercilessly for being fools than for any other crime. If man said: T stole it,I' they felt sort of pity for him. If he said :: T lost it, they felt none at all, and strung him up in minute." yr..5
 "Did they hang always for murdera"
 Certainly all they. wanted to know vas that the killing took place."
 "Did they never admit the plea of in sanity"
 Not any of that. If man put in that plea they hung him for being in sane. They were wont to remark that it was not safe to have insane men running about loose with revolvers and clubs and such things, so they hung them for fear they might endanger some one else's life." ...- ..-.... ,:.-rl+, l
 "What, pray, was the effect of this vigorous hanging on things in general9 9'
 "Splendid. Bank officials made no mistakes in their figures and none in their business. The officers of the gov ernment were rather careful about their accounts, for they were hung for mis- takes as well as for thieving. The presi- dents and directors of railroads kept. their tracks up, and more watchful or careful set of men than the conductors, engineers and switchmen you never saw. There being no plea of any kind per- mitted, the fact being all that was con sidered, there was wholesome care used in all departments of life.
 The effect was good in another way. This system reduced the population ter ribly, but it made magnificent race of men and women., You see, the vicious and the careless which is to say, the naturally depraved and the weak minded were all hung, leaving only the indus trious and clear headed to live and per. petuate the species. Consequently y it was splendid people. I am, perhaps, 8 fair specimen. There were no luna tics, idots, trihers, or dishonest men left to spread mischief and danger. The population was sorted and sifted." .... '.
 els that government still in exist ence 7' t,..r ..-.-.... ..... .e'sta8 'A
 "Alas no. There sprang up class of people who got to pitying criminals.