National Republican., 1888-03-12


those who preferred this mode, baptistry
having been built under the pulpit. The sub
ject of his sermon was: 1.-THE Age OF Swim .
dle," and the text job, viii, II: "whose trust
shall be SPIDERS web7' DR.. Talmago said.
The two most skillful architects In all the
world are the bee and the spider. The one
puts up sugar manufactory and the other
summer morning when the sun comes out and
shines upon the SPIDERS web, bedecked with
dew, the g0ssamer structure seems bright
enough Tor suspension bridge for supernatural
which, IN the latter part OF that very day, ven
lures on II, and If caught and dungeoned aud
es Mhs S mat III
other end Of the bridge the toll paid was its
own life, The next day there comes down
strong wind, and away goes the web and the
delicate are the silken threads of the spiders
web that many Thousands Of them are put to-
gether before they become visible TO the human
thread as large as the human hair Most
cruel as well as most ingenious Is the spider
prisoner In the Bastile, France, had one so
trained that at the sound OF q violin IL every
day came for Its meal Of flies. Job, the author
Of my text, and the leading scientist Of his
day, had no doubt watched the voracious pro-
cess OF this one insect with another, and saw
spider and fly swept down with the same
broom, or scattered by the same wind. Alas,
that the world has so many designing spiders
There has not been time when the utter
and tlack iIresponsibility Of many men hay
ing the financial interests Of others in charge
has been more evident than In these last few
years.
The unroofing OF banks and disappearance
OF administrators with the funds Of large es
tates and the disorder amid postoffice &C.
counts and deficits amid United States on'
cials have made a pestilence of crime that
solemnizes every Thoughtful man and woman,
and leads every phtlanthropist and Christian
al, IN,, ata %
There is a monsoon abroad, typhoon, a
sirocco, ] sometimes ask myself II 1t would
not be batter for men making wills to be-
queath the property directly to the executors
and officers OF the court and appoint the
widows and orphans a committee to see that
former got all that did not belong to them.
The Tn simple fact Is that there M are large num-
horses and members of expensive club houses
and controlling country seats who are not
worth dollar II they return to others their
Just rights. Under some sudden reverse they
fail, and with afflicted air seem TO retire from
the world, and seem almost ready for monastic
life, when In two or three years they blossom
creditors, that is paid them nothing but re :
grets, and the only difference betweSs the
second chapter OF rospertty and the. first is
setts, and their horses go mile in twenty SEQ
onds less than their predecessors, and instead
OF one country seat they have three. have
watched and have noticed that nine out of ten
of those who fail In what is called high life
have more means after than before the failure,
and in many OF the cases failure Is only q
strategem to escape the payment OF honest
they practice large swindle. There is some
thing woefully wrong in the fact that these
things are possible.
Indifferent bank directors and boards having
in charge great financial institutions. II ought
not to be possible for president or cashier or
prominent officer Of q banking institution TO
i will ur dertake TO say that If these frauds are
carried on for two or three years without de.
lection either the directors are partners in the
infamy and pocketed part Of the theft or they
are guilty of q culpable neglect of duty, for
which God will hold them as responsible as
He holds the acknowledged defrauders. What
their names to be published as directors in a
financial institution SO that unsophisticated
people are thereby induced to deposit their
the published directors, are doing nothing for
The safety Of the institution? II is case OF
deception most reprehensible. Many people
mediate Use, although Ii M may sSH be little III fur
ther on indispensable. arc without ffien's
competent TO advise them and they are
guided solely by the character Of the men
institution. When the crash came, and with
the overthrow OF the banks went the small
earnings, and limited fortunes of the widows
and orphans and the helplessly aged, the
directors stood with idiotic stare, and to the
inquiry of the frenzied depositors and stock.
holders who had lost their all, and to the ar
ing to say except I'VE thought 1t was all
right. We did not know there was anything
wrong going on" 1t was there duty to know.
people with the idea that they were carefully
observant. Calling themselves directors, they
did not direct They had'opportunity Of aud
time to do soP Then they had no business to
accept the position. 1t seems to be the pride
OF some moneyed men TO be the directors In a
great many institutions, and all they know is
whether or not they get their dividend reg.
ularly, ard their pames are used as decoy
ducks TO bring others near enough TO be made
game OF. 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 a
bank for an embezzlement carried on for many
years, have plenty of sherifs out the same
day to arrest all the directors. They are
oss ONE ssfGt viz say beter Preach the
Gospel and let business matters Alone"
reply: II your Gospel does not inspire common
gSa Close IN Ss and
depths Of the Atlantic ocean the better! An
orthodox swindler Is worse than heterodox
swindler., The recitation OF all the catechisms
and creeds ever written and drinking from all
the communion chalices that ever glittered in
the churches OF Christendom will never save
your soul unless your business character cor
of the worst scoundrels in America have been
members of church es. and they got fat on SER
mons about heaven when they most needed TO
have the pulpits preach that which would
either bring them TO repentance OF, thunder
themout of the holy communions, wheretheir
presence was saorilege and an infamy.
banks IN SsSss sonniS IN
they damage the banking institution, which
IS the great convenience of the centuries, and
Indispensable to commerce and the advance of
nations. With one hand II blesses the lender,
and with the other 1t blesses the borrower.
The bank was born Of the worlds necessities.
and is venerable with the marks OF thousands
OF years. Two hundred years before Christ the
Bank of Ilium existed and paid It's depositors
ten per cent. The Bank of Venice was estab'
lished IN I'LL, and was OF such high credit that
its bills were at a premium above coins, which
were frequently clipped. Bank of Genoa,
founded In lsi5; Bank of Barcelona; 14Ol, Bank
ofAmsterdam, 1899; Bank Of Hamburg, founded
Etp @ s he Vsn on
by william Patterson in 1912, mp TO this day
managing the stupendous debt Of England:
Bank Of Scotland. founded in 1905; Bank of
Ireland, 1885, Bank Of North Am, RIGA. planned
by Robert Morris, l77l. without whose financial
heip all the bravery OF our grandfathers would
not have achieved American independence.
But now we have banks in all our cities
and towns : thousands and thousands,
ON their shoulders are the interests
Of private individuals and great cor
through which run the currents OF the ma.
tion's life. They have been the resources of
the thousands OF fnanclers in days of busi-
tion, for facility, for individual, state, aud
national relief At their head and in their
management there Is as much interest and
moral worth as in any class of men-perhaps
those who bring disrepute upon this yenera'
BILE, benignant, and God honored institution.
We also deplore abuse Of trust funds, be.
ihnp Nu In hn tann al hat HiNin M nl
ness which seems determined to bless this
land. We are having the eighth year of un-
exampled national harvest. The wheat gam
gamblers get hold OF the corn The full tide
of Gods mercy towards this land is put back
by those great dykes Of dishonest resistance.
When God provides enough food and clothing
TO feed and apparel this whole nation Ike
princes the scrabble of dishonest men to get