Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1884-01-17
A SOCIETY I Or ROUTE Thieves.

was composed of clerks in retail grocery
stores, who were pledged to steal from
their employers one hundred and TWEEN
ty-five dollars apiece se;tch month. THE
sum was paid over to the treasurer o.
the society, and divided among the
members according to certain rules
Sometimes an amount equal 10 twt
thousand five hundred dollars was giver
to any one who was going into bushes,
for himself. This society has been il
existence less than year, and aftel
{ leading to the failure of one or two
firms, suspicion was excited which lee
TO discovery. The confession of some
of these rascals may be followed by tn,
conviction Of all of them This is THEN
ruin in all probability. They have made
shipwreck of character before they AZ,
twentv-one years of age.
There are conditions of life i'm which
children grow up to be thieves. Sucl
are their surroundings scarcely any
thing else can be expected. But when
boys have attained to such an age as ti
become clerks in stores, and have ffaf
education and training TO Justly a trades.
man in intrusting them with goods and
money in a store, il seems at iirst. view
incredible that an organized fraternity
could exist among them for the express
purpose o; robbing their employers.
And what degree of depravity it dis
closes: far more base than the burglar
or highway. robber This stealing in
wolves meanness and inGra.itude
which are not among the peculiar Sins
of one who breaks into 4 rich mans
house or knocks him down in the street
To betray Il trust, 10 steal from one S
parent or employer, taking advantage
of confidence rcposel, is u crime of
such baseneSs aS to incur contempt as
well rs Indignation. 1t is. smiling the
hand that feeds; a serpent singing the
bosom that warns it into life.
l am told, and recent revelations JUS
tify the statement, that every depart
ment of business and trade, especially
of public business where money is
handled, is more or less filled with
agents who in one way or another man
age to get more than their wages. In
other words, many of q EN- are thieves.
1t is very hard TO prove il on any one in
particular. The ingenuity of lawyers
and detectives is taxed to the ut
most TO lind out who has been
stealing hundreds of thousands Of dol
lars from the city during y long series
of years. 1t is going ON at this moment
in all human probability. a society of
young thieves. perhaps Of Old thieves,
may be III existence. perhaps has ex-
listed many wears, in which the members
play into one anothcr's andS, cover up
tracks, and render dctc, ton almost I'M
possible. There must be some secret
affinity between rogues which helps
them TO know each other at ii st sight,
so that they can trust one another with
the fearful secret Otter guilt 7,Taere
is little honor anloHe thieves they
know this very we'll and hence must be
careful how they put themselves into
the power of one who may betray them
at the first moment oftlenyer, or on the
flrst awakening of conscience. SO they
are hedged about with difficulties and
9beset with foes within and. witso,tts, q
The usual excuse made for SAe Mem
bers of this society of ygYng thieves is
that their wages gres so low that thew are
tempted to steal. This, of course, is no
Justification of their crime. x Bat it is
worthy of the careful attention of en-
ployers. To cypress a., : Ia lsoreg. is as
great sin as tossteAl, ar+L itsinay, lie
that employers who give ..slarvation''
wages are responsible in part for the
sins of those WHO a4e h.Bisen byl Efess
OF circumstances t. hctp Themselves TO
money which is not theirs Yet il is moi
probable that ore ~ isnsthousand of the
most OF thieves. pecuiatorS in stores and
Offices, steals to get bread. They steal
that they fnar- consume ituntileir iusts.
The young man who esrns only ENOUGH
10 get food slnt rainlent may. hv strict
attention 10 business. maxim" himself in
olspcnsab.e to his employer. see ure be-
lore long an increase of pay. But if he
spends I few cents 4 day for, some USE
less indnlgelice, ii Ne trpat ; h ;mself and
friend 10 entertainments in the even
sng. if he Joins with others in frolics
which cost only 4 little money at time.
he very readily consumes Il large part of
his scant income increases his longing for
mors, weakens mis- mo,si principle, par
ieys with temptation, and iois,s = socie-
~ OF young thieves. or becomes Il thief
on his own hook. The way TO ruin is
very smooth and down-hill always. II
Is full of travellers. And to stop while !
gong down-hillv lis hard. ~ n
Is there no balm in Gileads Norem- |
edy for this state of things? Well, / |
would say. in the lirSt Mace. there al |
ways was similar state Of things, not
SO bad perhaps JAS Just now. But pick |
ings and stealings always were the prev |
OF those who are intrusted with other !
peoples goods. In many store |
a clerk learns to steal by seeing
that his employer cheats his customer. |
IL the boy-clerk is Taught ID, ad2ltefate |
the goods. to mix poor flour with good,
IL Is not strange that he learns TO cheat
an ana steal for himself. 1t was an old
noel on pious tradesmen, which has
oeen often repeated: The grocer calls !,
10, his clerk: Shave YOU. sanded the |
sugar. Yes" Have YOU watered 1
The rum?" Yes, Well then. come ]
INTO prayers. This is designed to in 1,
sinuate thai the gro GER is q vreSt hvpo-
cr!te: kud there are thousands on /
thousands OF honest cEadesmen whose
snops and stores are schools of the vir-
tues, where young men are taught by
goodly example that to be -just. up
right and true in trade is lovely in the
SIGHT OF God and Yields the fruit of
righteousness in the life. And we know
that the tricks of the trade are also
such in many and many shop or store
lhhat the clerk is pupil in a school of
Fice, trained TO cheat and lie, and of