The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-08-11
Criminals in High Places.


Within the last day or two the nswspa
pers have contained accounts Of two cases
of 70 g3ry that have attracted great deal
Of tent N. O "a was that of a young
la vyer in Minuea 0olis, " %, whea con-
fro tel with the evidences of his cri ne, adj
mitted that he hal forged noes to the
/ amou t Of 1927, 900, and had obtained the
IN 'ney on them. He was the attorney of
the nan whose mama he forged, ald his re-
lations with hi n we're S Ich that be was
able TO carry on his criminal work for quite
long time without detection.
The other case was that of the president
Of a street railroad company n New Y)rk.
He forged shares of the co npaly's stock to
the Mount of $4,000 and issued them.
He also confessed his crime whe arrested.
He said that he had used part OF the
money in a business which he controlled,
but about watch the directors of the rail
road mpany knew nothing, aud the her
part he had squande ed in luxuri us living.
Both of these criminals lei apparently,
quiet and busy lives. NJ whisper Of sus-
plcion was ever heard against either of
them, I'd thew were regarded as hones-
very moment that their wrong doing was
discovered.
A most every day the newspapers contain
an account of an embezzlem4 or forgery
committed by a business man OF more or less
promine CO. The foregoing "a es are espe-
clally mentioned simply because the amlu Is
OF money involved are unusually large. II
would be an easy matter to mention d ~
Of si,ailar cases that have occurred within
n mo It'll.
This question suggests itself: caro- all
the cases Of wrong doing in the bu mess
world discovered aud made public. If not,
what percentage Of them is not discovered,
and what percentage is husied up of tn )se
which are d iscoveredF There is some
ground for thlaki much greater num-
Der Of forgeries and embellishments
are committed than the public has any idea
OF, and that macy of them are concealed
to save the financial institutions involved
from further damage, or thu guilty
parties from disgrace. O1lY when it is de-
termined to have criminal punished,
or it becomes necessary to appeal to the
courts to recover the stolen property, are
these crimes against property made public
A very natural question is this Are such
crimes in proportion to the population more
numerous an they were a quarter or nalf
century ago, The general impression is
tnat they are. although it would be Difficult
to prove it. A generation ago young men.
as rule, were content to be economical
and accumulate fortunes slowly. Their
were comparatively few great fortunes in
this country, and there was rot such an in
tense desire to be rich There was less eff
fort at show, and much less extravaganza.
and people found it less diflicult to live
within their incomes.
The rapitity and case with which great
fortunes have been made in speculation in
recent years have created a desire to be rich
quickly. Men risk their all in the hazard
Gus undertakings, and, as general thing,
they get into debt before they arc aware Of
It. In order to exrcate themselves, and
with the hope Of recovering what they have
lost, they are tempted, if they are in IA posi-
ton of trust, to use that whcl es not
belong to them. This is the
history in brief of a majority
of the forgeries and embezzlements Of the
present day. IN their haste t. be rich, mon
who would not stoop to petty thieviug or
oe guilty of a mean act, take risk; that open
the way for the to become criminals.
They are not naturally cri niuals. They
are simply morally weak, and when the
temptation comes to do wrong they are I'M
able to resist