The Labor enquirer., 1884-08-02
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Bdttu Labor Enquitef.
4 have counteffeit dime and il is h
me ! source d gfsat sorrow. Altho1gl
your paper hss 10 department in whicl
cofresp pondenA can sir their griefA yet.
come toyou becanae tins dime has mad
| my life aceasele1 round Of woe. B,
sharing it fthe woe, not the dimeJ i ma,
get relief. as Marx Twain did when hiI
life became haunted BY the ceaselee
jingle Of verss he happened to read
II had gait like ! hop and 4 skip ani
and nan as follows:
eConductor, whe,k you receive . fare,
Punch in the presence Of the passengaire
Punch, brothers punch with care:
Punch In the presence Of the passengaire.' =
Ifyou will read this three times, then
get near threshing machine or steam
exhaust, or any regular motion, you will
feel all the misery Marx suffered.
The verse reminds me that / may haye
received the dime from the same con.
ductor who may have been stuck" with
it. and was tempted by my naturally
open and confding expression to shove
it on me- Unless I can find another
equally trusting countenance, suppose
the dime will be total loss. This pros
pect. however, is not the cause of my
abject condition. 1t CAME from my re-
Hections on the origin of the coin. the
motive for making it, and the counter
feiter himself. IS
! had Moral Sense which mas been
sent adrift by these reflections and +
would not have lost it for d hundred
good dimes. My Moral SENSE told me,
and all society agreed with me. that a
.counterfeiter was bad man that ought
to be perpetually imprisoned; that he de-
served to be hunted down, as he is, like
the basest criminal. If any reader finds
a Moral Sense agreeing with this descrip-
'tion, please return it to my Office and re-
ceive a suitable reward.
Since / have lost it have concluded
that a counterfeiter is a gentleman, a
scholar, a statesman, and a political econ:
omist of the old school, now rank
him above the faro-b banker. although the
latter is disturbed by the finest police
only once year, during the duh season,
while the counterfeiter is arrested on
every possible pretext. He is also com
PEELED to work in deep. dark, foul rooms,
worse than cloak factory.
Thus you see he needs the attention ol
the health inspector instead Of the po-
lice. Here is a case for philanthropists
Lam still more confused by the fact
that / have reached this diseased state oi
mind by a process of apparently sound
reasoning. Inow place the counterfeiter
in the scale along with the board Of
trade man, the merchant, the lottery
man, the street fakir and all who want
to get something for nothing Honesty
may be. mere side issue with the coun-
terfelter, it is true, but with railroad
stock operator it is remote contingency
Yet one is criminal, the other is
a ashrewd business men," The counter
feiter wishes, like all other business
men, by laying out their CAPITAL to get a
fair return" Let no one suppose
queer coin costs the maker nothing.
He is at great expense for dies, lead and
a small proportion of pure silver. It is
estimated that good bad dollar costs
from 25 to S5 cents. The margin the
maker expects for his time, money and
risk, is no more than merchants get on
many of their articles. "A ribbon that
sells for 81 costs not over 80 cents, and ]
have even sold tea (for others at sim
liar profit. A man can work this racket
all his life and aretire after a long and
useful business career to his magnificent
country-seat.D
But you may say their articles were
useful. Why, so is the bad dollar. II
answers the purpose Of exchange. What
would we do without money If it is
well made and not discovered it is as
good as any, and brings no loss to any
one handling it. Its service is continu.
GUS, for it remains unhurt amid the
wreck of matter and the crush of Wall
street, while the ribbon and the tea de-
part for that bourne from which no
grosgrain or young hyson ever returns.
The rights Of counterfeiters. must be
protected. They must organize, agitate,
and influence legislation in their behalf
before they can expect to rise to the
level of other business men who work
no more earnestly than they in apply
ing their energies and talent trying to
get something for nothing. i Il A~g
Now, Mr.. Editor, in Heavens name,
tell me where are the faults in this rea-
soning, for 1 have vilely slandered the
business men or the counterfeiters by
chasing them together. can brave the
wrath of one of them better than to be
brought weary and worn down to an un.
timely grave by suspense. Ineyer found
a man who looks at the matter as ! dc
and I'm afraid to look. / want to view
it as the world does, 50 bring back the
tranquil mind of my Sunday school days
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