Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-09-18
ARE eMsEzzLeMeNTs INCREASING,
Society Largely to Blame for the Down.
fall Of q Weak Man,

The New York Herald mas compiled list |
Of the embellishments during the past year,
and from this list it reaches the conclusion
that defalcations are on the increase and
that the confidence of the employer is being
abused more and more. Its ground for this
inference is that the embellishments and the
number of embezzlers of 1883 are so much
greater than those of 1878 This may be true,
and yet it does not follow that dishonesty
among employees is increasing The ratio Of
this class of crimes may be no larger in 1888
than in 1873, although the number of en-
bezzlements in the later year may exceed
those in the earlier. Because we have more
capital employed in business, more business
institutions, more positions of trust to be
filled. The monetary transactions have
largely increased and also the number of en-
ployes, With this growth in business comes
a growth in crime, because the field of opera
tions for dishonest employees has been SO
greatly extended.
A good deal of this augmented crime can
DO traced, first, to the employers themselves,
and, second, to the false standards of life.
Society is largely to blame for the downfall
of "a weak man. 1t has erected meretricious
standards of quality, and those who seek and
obtain admission into that society must live
up to these meretricious standards or else
they will be ignored A weak, dependent
man, one that seeks for any kind of social
distinction, no matter how puerile it may
be, is utterly crushed if society ignores
him. He must be recognized. And this
| feeling of despair is the first step toward
| his personal destruction. If he should have
an extravagant wife and family who
| also have the craze for social recogni-
ton, he is compelled to get it. If he cannot
earn enough money to maintain the show, he
begins to appropriate small sums from his
employer in the hope that by specializing or
| gambling he can make a good deal more. He
may not mean to steal in the beginning But
he generally loses, and then the descent in the
down grade commences After the first pee
ulation the remainder come easy, and before
he knows it he is an embezzler to the extent
OF thousands OF dollars There are some
clerks who steal merely because they like to
steal, but these are in the minority. They
should not be considered in analyzing the
causes that underlie the desire to embezzle
Employers are to blame in this class OF
cases not primarily, perhaps, for the embez
ziers generally belong to the trusted class OF
employees who get good salaries But they
are to blame for failure to prosecute because
friends or relatives make up the deficit
When this is done the matter is dropped and
the embezzler, having felt no disgrace doe:
not appreciate the full extent of his crime
The employer who does this does himself NJ
benefit, but does positive harm TO society
Every dishonest clerk or official should b,
punished not only because he has done tina
which merits some kind of a penalty, but be
cause he has violated a statute. People wht
violate laws with impunity, by and by begiI
to lose their respect for the law.
Therei is vet another consideration. Every
time that clerk is discovered in dishones
action he should be punished as q warning t.
others who may contemplate wrong doing
Employers err again by putting young mel
in places of responsibility and then payin:
them meager salaries. 1t is human nature Il
err. And the man who holds position o
some Importance will in time consider him
self also to be Of some Importance Whel
this mental condition is reached, he must liv
better, dress better, and enjoy life in all il
phases more completely. This takes money
II his employer does not give it to him 70
services rendered, the clerk finally appropri
ates in little sums the money Of his EN-
ployer. There is one peculiar fact about thi
peculating, and that is that none of the EN-
bezzlers seem to realize that in the end thei
deeds will be discovered Detroit Ere
PresS