Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1883-01-06
1910.
IGDICATIOAR.
For Tennessee and The Ohio valleys partly
cloudy weather, ,0i local rains snoC, statiSaTy
or higher temperature and generally LOwsr pressure


told in many a day is that Of the deialcahon
of Marsh t. Polk, for many years the trusted
treasurer OF the State. When it first reached
US yesterday We could scarcely credit it, but
confirmation poured in in such voluoae
and so quickly az 10 turn do1bt
into certainly. So high but yesterdiy,
to-day so lowly fallen. There can be
little doubt that .the defalcation of Mr..
Polk for so lTge sun as 100000
is one OF the sadde.t results of the mad
frenzy for Speculation that for some years
-arss possessed many men prominent in the
politics OF the STATE, and which has brought
the name Of Tennessee into disrepute The
State debt has been played with as the basis Of
much OF this speculation, and even the sacred
secrets Of the Supreme Court sere made
TO play a part in one Of the infamous
schemes OF profit. There is such thing %
legitimate speculation, but much, il not
most, Of the speculation OF the day is Of the
wild sort that sometimes results in failure,
dementia and suicide. The victim sees bat |
the rosy eide Of the picture, and takes coun-
sci only Of his own calculations, sustained
by a vivid Imagination. Once launched in |
the vortex there is no getting out, and every
Whirl Of it incre asses The msduess and intensi.
fes the crszs. Even loss and the downward
tendency of the market do not modify the
White-he iervor with which the victims
OF this madness for wealth pursue their
ignius tatuus. Nothing but collapse, final
from the dreams that lured them TO de-
strucion. The schemers gain and the
brokers, who ere always sure OF
fheir percentage. Mr.. Folk last sum-
mer ION the stree" great deal. He
was in New YORK as the trusted and conf
Dental agent of the State 10 carry out the
funding scheme passed by the Hawkins
Legislature, which was denounced by the
press and people Of Tennessee, and he was
brought into intimate relations with the
class that regard everything legitimate that
falls toto their nets AID never make any
Inquiry as TO the Transactions that Offer go
sssfiRs as the margins are made good and the
very seductive sch mes and it is difficult
for even experienced men to avoid them or
eVade their tolls. They can at short notice
make the worser seem the better part. But
repre- saDtatives of this class are to be met
with in all parts of the country, unscrupu-
lous meu who do not hesitate 10 make use of
any means 10 accomplish their bad purposes.
Plsgue-stricken cities aud war-ridden Sta
are the fields where they look for the largest
harvests and where they pillow the deep
est fer them. They sometimes invade
LsgislatI RS and make laws to JUS
tify the robbiug OF the people, and
thus fortiiy ;nfamy and prop crime. 1t
was among this class that Marsh Polk doubt
Iess fell by the way, awaking too late TO Fl nd
that "men betray." He erred when be used
the first dollar of the money of the State
After he passed that Rubicon il mattered
little in a moral point Of view whether il
ILL. 4
sad case. Behind the man himself there
are weeping ones who still cling TO him
with the tenderness ard fondness oil
yearning love. To these and the wider
circle of relatives less in degree. tho public
sympathy will go, aud with it deep sorrow
that one 50 beloved and admired, so honored
as citizen and 60 honorable as a soldier
could have succumbed to the epidemic Of
treason against horror that has tainted &c
many others who once stood fair with the
people of Tennessee. But while our sympa.
thies go out TO those who are Borrowing fol
what Mr.. Polk has SO recklessly thrown
.arsy, we must set ourselves iphexibly
behind the law and insist upon i'll
enforcement. Justice must be don,
though the heavens fall. Ii the fugitive car
be found in the State, or in the country, he
must be arrested and be brought to Justice
and there should be no delays such as Gov
Hawkins yesterday iuterPosed by refusing t.
oaer suitable rewsrd for his apprehension.
Every eIertiou should be made TO confront
Mr.. Polk with his victim, the State, who's,
honor has been made the game of gamblers
and whose credit has been SO long the spor
of thieves.