Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1884-09-15
The Manifold Evils Which Start Into Being
From Specializing on Other Peoples
MOney---The Sin Of lndiscrim-
mate Borrowing.
A TIMELY AND ELOQUENT SERMON

from the European steamers which land Oh
Sabbath morning directly to the church
doors. Before the sermon to-day DR.. Tai
mage explained appropriate passages o
the scripture and gave out the hymn:
mid scenes OF confusion
And creatures complaints,
How sweet tO my soul
Is communion OF saints.
Which was sung to the tune OF Home
Sweet Home" The subject of the sermon
was 1.-The present epidemic Of swindlt
among trust funds, and the text was taker
| from Revelations xviii. IL
SIN One Hour So Great Riches are Come
to Naught."
Following Is the sermon;
The columns Of our custom houses anC
the State Capitol swathed in black and al
the flags at halfmast for the dead United
States Treasurer A man at 66 dies with
out one spot upon his name, though the
most of the time was passed amid tempta
tons that have flung fiat great multitude
! Amid all the allurements Of the legal pro
fess;ons and amid all the opportunity tol
bribe-taking on the judicial bench and
finally holding the purse Of this nation for
three years yet not hslEpenny of others
sticking to his hand. And in his dying hour
he asked his attendant to take from the
left-hand pocket of his coat check and
get it cashed so that by his own hand all
the expenses of his own obsequies were
met, paying his way all through life by hard
work and even paying his admission fee at
the gates Of the seprilchre. All his ac-
counts square with the United States Gov
eminent, and square with the world AMI
square with God.
What Glorious Background
to the picture of the present epidemic of
swipdle among trust funds!
There has not been a time in my men,
ory, or your s, when the utter and black ire
sponsibiity of so many men having the
financial interests of others in charge has
been made evident The unroofng of
banks and disappearance Of administrators
with the funds Of large estates, and the dis
order amidst postoftice sccounts and de-
6cits amid United States officials, have
made pestilence of crime that solemnizeS
every thoughtful man and woman, and leads
every phllantropist and Christian to ask:
What shall be done to stay the plague?
There is a monsoon abroad, a typhoon, a
sirocco. Things in this regard are worse
and worse. | sometimes ask myself if it
would not be better for men making wills
to bequeathe the property directly TO the
executors and officers OF the court and ap-
point the widows and orphans committee
to see that the former got all that did not
belong to them. The simple fact is that
there is a large number of men sailing
yachts and driving fast horses and members
OF expensive club houses and controlling
country seats who are not worth dollar if
they
Return to Others Their just Rights.
Under some sudden reverse they fail, and
world and seem almost ready for monss-
tic life when in two or three years
they blossom out again, having compro-
missed with their creditors, that is, paid
them nothing but regrets, and the only diff
ference between the second chapter Of pros
perity and the first is that their pictures are
Murillos instead of kensetts and their
horses 90 mile in 20 seconds less than
their predecessors, and instead Of one coun-
try seat they have three. / have watched
and have noted that nine out of ten OF
those who fail in what is called high life
have more means after than before the tail
ure. In many of the cases failure is only a
strategem to escape the payment of honest
debts and put the world off the track while
they practice larger swlndles. There is
something wofully wrong in the fact that
these things are possible,
First of all charge the blame on care
less indifferent bank directors aud boards
having in charge great financial institu'
hors.
u Ought Not to be Possible
Tor president or cashier or prominent
officer of banking institution to swindle it
year after year without detection. | will
undertake to say that if these frauds are
carried on two or three years without de-
lection either the directors are partners in
the infamy and pocketed part Of the theft
or they or guilty Of culpable neglect OF
duty for which God will hold them as re.
sponsible as He holds the acknowledged de-
frauders.
What first of all is needed is that 5000
bank directors and insurance company
directors resign or attend to their business
as directors. The business world will be
full of fraud Just as long as fraud is so
easy. When you arrest the president and
secretary of bank for embezllemeut car.
ried on for many years leave plenty OF
sheriffs out the same day to arrest all the
directors. They are guilty either Of neglect
or completely.
oh some one willing, better preach
the gospel and let business matters alone.
| reply: if your gospel does not inspire COM
mon honesty in the dealings of men, the
sooner you close up your gospel and pitch
It into the depths of the Atlantic ocean the
better. An orthodox swihdler is worse than
beterodox swindler. The recitation OF all
the catechisms and creeds ever written and
drink from all the communion chaiices
that ever glittered in the
churches Of christendom will never
save your soul, unless your business charac-
ter corresponds with your religious profes-
sion. Some Of the worst scoundrels IN
America have been members of churches
and they
Got Fat on Sermons About Heaven,
when they most needed to have the pulpits
ureach that which would either bring then
to repentance or thunder them out Of the
holy communions where their presence Wis
a sacrilege or an infamy.
We must especially deplore recent events
in that they damage the banking institu
ton which is the great convenience of the
centuries and indispeussbleeo commerce. snd
he advance of nations With one hand 1t
blesses the lender and with the other hanl
it blesses the borrower. The bank was born
of the worlds necessities and is venerable
with the marks of thousands of years Two
hundred yesrs before Christ the bank oi
Ilium existed and paid its depositOrs ten
per cent. The Bible in more than one
place regulate the rate Of interest The
bank ofVenice was established in HI AMI
was of such high credit that its
bills were at premium above coins which
were frequently clipped. Bank of Genoa
frs,.,f - q s.:s Fix : sl-...llA iy.