The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1878-01-09
Chs 8entfmeI.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY ..
GOOD NAMES.

GOOD NAMES.
After all, philosophize as We may, a good
name is 70 be chosen rather than great
riches. Fortunately for all concerned, the
world still has faith in integrity. twill not
do, however, to exile vigilance, for the trick
of wolves in Sleeps clothing is still prac-
ticed by a. great many people. Fraud, like
base ball, has become a national game, and
quite a number of eminent men OF the
Sehenck type are educating the people in
draw poker" 1t is doubtful if there ever
was period in the worlds history when so
many cultivated. refined and educated ras
calls were in and out of penitentiaries and
the humiliatIng spectacle of sending bailifis
and writs TO the United States senate for
criminals, has been reserved for the full
orbed noon Of the nineteenth century. 1t
is barely possible that the times will develop
some master genius, who, like Raphael will
make his name immortal by his brush.
Should mind miracle appear he may take
for his subject the crime of 1876. Should he
do that, and paint the Florida fraud and the
Louisiana returning board, all heaven will
pity Hayes, and the devil himself will ex-
haust the resources of his kingdom to pur-
chase the picture, as triumph of his arts,
and hang ton the fire beaten headlands of
his sulphurous lake, so that in the centuries
of torment as the cursed crew float
by they may say to each other There's Hayes
and ]. Madison Wells, Stearns and Chandler,
Patterson and kellogg, with others of less
note in the back ground" Such reflections
bring into holder prominence the value of
good name. There is money in it. In these
later day it has been the policy to utilize
good names, as, for instance, in an enter
prise where confidence is required to make it
successful good names have been regarded
as capital. To obtain them and send them
out to the world as directly or indirectly
connected with the enterprise was to insure
success, and thousands and tens of thousands
of unsuspecting men and women have said
IN their hearts, That a savings bank or life
insurance company is good and sound
and reliable. because certain good names are
associated with it, and their money has
flowed into its Golfers in steady stream.
No doubts, no suspicious, no fears. Let
panics come and shake down fortunes these
con6ding people repeat the good names and
rest in security. There is in all of this
much to admire. 1t is complimentary to
human nature; it antagonizes the idea of
''total depravity;" ii evidences the fact that
the world still has faith in the truth,
and that the divinity in man is not entirely
eliminated. But it is mOurnful to reflect
that every day discloses the most cruel de-
cepdons Names that we're yesterday good
are to day obscured. A blight has settled
down upon them, and they no longer flash
in the glowing consultations of good
names on earth. They lent their names as
an act of kindness, without thought or care of
the use to be made of them. Unsophsticated
gaioots were attracted, like moths to the
candles flame, and pay the penalty of being
singed or crippled for life. Now then, what?
What must those do who are chiefly respon-
sible for these wrongs? Shall they
make amends? Shall they see to
it that others do not suffer from
their carelessness? If they would preserve
their good names they will do it. If not
away goes their good name. They can no
more retain it than they could bottle moon
shine, wrest star from its socket or call the
dead to life. Just now such matters are
being forced into the boldest prominence.
They will not down, and men of good names
will be compelled to confront them. Sayings
banks are breaking. Small earnings are
being swallowed up by the failures of insti-
tutions controlled by men who have stood
forth in communities as above reproach.
Now is the time to test the value of good
names. 1t may be difficult sometimes
to meet the full measure of the re-
probabilities imposed, but it must
be done though the heavens fall,
If the good name is to be preserved Esti-
mating the outlook from entirely rational
observations, the time is at hand when mems
Integrity and the value of a good name will
be put to the severest tests. We shall see
what will be the outcome.