The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1878-07-02

u
some check put to the spirit of avarice that
prompts onslaughts upon the property oil the
dead. 1t would be good idea to vest IN the
bench the power to compel contestants to give
bonds to pay all the costs of the suit if defeated
That would have tendency to discourage such
proceedings, and Heaven knows there is need
enough of applying some sort of corrective in
the premises 1t seems to be quite difficult for
ingenuity TO frame or foresight to execute will
that is not liable to attack. There is growing
suspicion among laymen that the practice OF
invading the tomb for spois is rapidly assum-
ing the proportions of an organized business;
that persons undertake it on speculation and
run their chances of getting gain by it They
are not always subjected to the danger OF pur-
suing their claim to the end; sometimes they
can force compromise; it is generally cheaper
for either side 10 law suit, 10 matter what 1t
is about, to settle than to go on with 1t. Tie
delays that al ways occur are dreadfully expen-
sive as we'll as vexatious. But then, on the
other hand everybody has an uncouqusrable
repugnance to being black-maied, and that no
doubt is the reason why so many people incur
all the waste and tedium of iudicature, rather
than submit to injustice in still more repai-
sive form.
Nevertheless the facilities which are afforded
to dissatisfied parties to invoke the interference
of law to thwart the purposes of testators are
greater than they ought to be. The desire to
get money by some short and easy process is
one of the chronic weaknesses of human ma
ture. 1t often takes such possession of men
that they will commit incredible folies in min
isterng to it. The world is full of examples of
diligence in the search for treasures supposed to
be buried. 1t is not great many years ago,
since the shores of the Hudson River were
| thronged with eager masses watching the div
| ers who t.ed for months to fish up gold which
| according to legend had been dropped there By
| Captain Kyd. Only dozen years ago all the
l cities of the East were seized with madness
| for investigating the mines of Colorado and
| Nevada and paid millions of dollars for three
hundred feet of fssure in a rock on a mountain
side with the fancy that it was rich in the ore
| from which the precious metals could be ex-
tracted. Not one in hundred of the miues
| bought for fabulous sums paid the expenses Of
| working them. These speculative excitements
occur periodically; they have their run out, and
then there is little more heard of them; the
victims have nobody to blame but themselves,
aud men can always be depended upon TO ex.
ercise great forbearance in respect of their own
errors, and to maintain good deal OF reticence
concerning them.
But when it comes to conspiring to acquire
the money of others by Legitimate and dissep-
utable methods. there is rather 100 strong
flavor of brigandage about it to suit the ordina-
| ry mora nature. AS mere question OF public
| expediency it may be an exceedingly objection
| able thing to leave q hundred million dollars
| or a twentieth part of it to any one individu-
| al 1 really wish such concentration OF
| wealth were impossible But as there Is no
lawful method of bringing about a more equit-
able Distribution, and the very existence of So
| ciety would be imperilled by the failure to
recognize aud euforcs the right of every citizen
| to peaceable possession and enjoy OF
whatever belongs to him, be it much or httle,it
| follows logically that property must bo pro
. | tscted. 1t strikes me the county is not quite
prepared for the advent of agrarianism yet,
| notwithstanding one of the apostles of this
monstrosity has lately triumphed in California.
| Ii is one of the del l1sions of the hour that has
| to be combatted by the sober common sense of
| the people, After such period OF distress as
| we have but recently seen the end of, it is nat
| ural that the populacs should be restless and
| dsconterted. There are still great many who
5 | have not vet resumed ths employments that
were interrupted by the general overturn.
: These men are especially susceptible to the in
! fiuenceS of demagogues and charlatans; there
r are always enough of these and this is a good
growing year for this breed; they are immense
" f~-a Of iaDuring men, though by an odd
Inconsistency none of them ever did any labor
in their lives; they have always exercised them
selves exclusively in talking about it. They
are taking hand now in the game of politics.
3 The party that shows the slightest disposition
D to fraternize with them ought to and probably
will get very badly damaged by the unwhole-
? | some contact.
g. Returning, however, to the subject Of that
mean cupidity which displays itself in endea-
vor to defeat the intentions of deceased per-
7 | sons, it falls somewhat lower in the scale Of
/ dishonor, than its kindred vice of communism,
because it is not even palliated by the pretence
r of seeking to benefit the many by the spolia-
, ton of the few 1t is nothing more than q
naked effort to divert property from the persons
to whom it was devised, to other persons to
whom it wasn't. If there was any suitable
and manly way in which the principal heir to
| the Vanderbilt estate could be made to dis
tribute the greater portion of his inordinate
= wealth, 1t would be an excellent thing to ac-
complish. He is in a certsin sense a highway
man. He controls that great highway from
New York to Buffalo, the Central Railroad,
and levies unreasonable tribute upon every
man who travels upon it, or sends freight by it.
= His father watered the stock eighty per cent.
in single evening, and the people have
been exorbitantly taxed ever since to sup
ply means to declare dividends upon that
increased amount Of valuation The shares
are puffed up very much beyond what they are
actually worth, because they are manipulated
BY this modern Cr@sus. 1t would be a benefit
to the State and to the country If the road were
to fail, and be reorganized, as was the case with
the Erie. The Central and Ecie have both been
the prey of adopts in sharp practice, with this
difference, that while Gould helped himself to
the property of the shareholders in the latter
without the slightest scruples as to the dshon-
esty of the performances, Vanderbilt gradu-
ally absorbed so much of the Central stock
! that he could govern it despotically, and then
. he made it what it has ever since been, source
. of large revenue to himself, but by no means
so much a convenience to the multitude, as it
). would have been if the charges had been more
reasonable. 1t is monopoly, and indeed an
oppressive one. Itis power greater than the
Z State, because of its cohesiveness, and always
| comes off victorious in any encounter with
n the Stale authorities. If any restraint could
, be put upon it or upon its chief owner aud ex-
+ ecutive head, consistently with that rule Of
& rectitude to which it is alike the interest and
i the duty of every living man to adhere inhexi-
!. bly,, confess 1 should be glad to see it done.
At the same time look upon Withdrawing
{ consprators as species of laad pirate tina
, ought to be frowned upon aud denounced as
Z enemies to the peace of society, and mercenary
;. invaders of the sacredness of the grave.
q &c.,. ....... YARMOUTH.
II News and Other Items.
IS The new government for the District of
v Columbia went into operation yesterday.
n-n e