Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-08-11
ARE sMsEzzLEMEn1s INCREASING,
Society Largely to Blame for the Down
fail Of = Weak Man.

Society Largely TO Blame for the Down.
fall Of . Weak Man.
The New York herald has compiled list
Of the enbezdeueEts during the past year,
and from this list it reaches the conclusion
that defalcations are on the incnease ana
that the confidence of the employer is being
abused more and more. Its ground for this
inference is that the entertainments ana tne
number Of esnbezz1ers Of 1ssS are SO mnch
greater ttsn those Of 1878. This may betrue,
and yet it does not follow that dishonesty
among EMPLOYEES IS increasing. The ratio OF
this class of crimes may be no larger In 1885
than in 1878, although the number OF enl-
bezzIeueats in the later year may exceed
those in the earlier Because we have more
capital employed in business, more business
Institutions, more POSITIONS OF Tust 70 %
filed. The monetary Transactions have
LARGELY increased and also the number OK en-
pioYes. With this growth In business comes
a growth in crime, because the field OF opera
tons for dishonest employees has been so
greatly extended
A good deal Of this augmented crime can
be traced, first, to the employers themselves,
and, second, to the false standards of life.
Society is largely to blame for the downfall
of weak man It has erectnd meret-iciouS
standards of quality, and those who seek and
obtain admission into that soclety must 1--we
I'D to these meretricious standards or else
they will be ignored weak, dependent
man, one that seeks for any Kind OF social
distinction, no matter how pueriie 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. Ii he should have
an e1travasant wife and family who
also have the craze for social recogni-
ton. he is compelled to get il. II he cannot
earn enough money TO maintain the snow, ne
begins to appropriate small sums from his
employer in the hope that by Specializing or
gambling he can make good deal more. He
may not mean to steal in the beginning. But
be 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 enbezzler 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. 1hey
should not be considered In analysing the
causes that underlie the desire to e.nbezzie-
Employers are TO blame m this class OF
cases, not primarily, perhaps, for the embez-
zlers generally belong to the trusted class OF
employees who get good salaries. But they
are to blame for failure 70 prosecute because
friends or relatives make up the deficit
When this is done the matter Is dropped and
the embezzler, having felt no disgrace, does
not appreciate the full extent Of his crime
The employer who does this does himself no
benefit, but does positive harm to society
Every dishonest clerk or official should be
punished not only because be has done that
which merits some kind OF penalty, but be-
cause he has violated a statute People who
violate laws with iupunity, by and by begin
to lose their respect for the law.
There is yet another consideration. Every
time that a clerk is discovered in dishonest
action he should be punished as warning to
others who may contemplate wrong doing
Employers err again by putting young men
in places Of responsibility and then paying
them meager salaries It is human nature to
err And the man who holds position OF
some Importance will in time consider him
self also to be Of some importance. When
this mental condition is reached, he must live
better, dress better, and enjoy life in all its
phases more completely. This takes money.
II his employer does not give it to INN for
services rendered, the clerk finally appropri-
ates in little sums the money OF his en-
ployer. There is one peculiar fact about this
peculating, and that Is that none Of the en-
bezlers seem to realize that In the end their
deeds will be discovered-Detroit Free