Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1889-08-15
CONSCIENCE MONEt
I'm. uak, Peace With Them
10" -. for Ch,ating Uncle sar'.

washington letter 10 the Cleve-
say ruler. / had talk with the
lt.' .5.rE If the division of public
cA..' IN the treasury department
mona The money so received is
.nr I'm a separate fund. but IS
mn. -oI into the treasury the same as
,rey thar comes no from otAer
1 us If revenue. Tie amount re-
.r.d each year appears m the an
rsn1rts. Ii varies a good deal.
l.'' ,slr IL may be $500 and the next
0e-aa tits usually made up ofsmaIl
f',.,b NOT fufrequeutly single remit
.Gs RIM up into the thousands.
ual be understood that these
-.1oi. are sent by persons who
49,. nrruosely or otherwise, defraud-
'.p,yernment. aud'are induced by
~. shifting of conscience to make
rlstitution. In forly-nine cases out of
NV the money is sent in such way
moi 10 afford the slightest possible
NV 10 the identity Of the sender.
T5s fact that Uncle Sam has the mon
~. soams to be sufficient sedative to
II. perfurbed conscience without that
.,..lq confession" which is said to be
....,,d for the soul Sometimes brief
a<rlqnqtorv notes are sent, stating
~. ,,bat The money is due the govern
Mont bat signature Of any kind is
.,trsmeIy rare. Some merely say:
,rbis money belongs to the govern
,,an,. or words of similar purport.
IN many cases there is not a scratch
4 ben ur pencil, the money being
sinuly uclosed in an envelope, per-
5an. folded In q sheet of blank paper.
al. .nch are presumed to be cases of
conscience and are so treated. 1t
d, of course, impossible to give any
reeciut, for the money. Now and
tnap one will write: please acknowl-
sdre receipt in the newspapers"
MI, Is the reason why care is usually
taken To have the receipt of econ
science money mentioned in the Press
dI,palches The senders are likely
rs he watching for such items and
when thcg see tIat the money is in the
treasury they NO doubt feel that they
are M better shape for the final reck-
onug To tine hereafter.
"Iue only cases. said the clerk,
.ub'ch haya auyhody's name connect
ed with tcm are those similar to one
sc had Il year or two ago. A Catho-
.nwc,l 100 Boston wrote that one Of
NJ, ugr.-hiouer>, on his deathbed. con-
tc,,rd to him that he wronged the
Government out of $50 lie could not
d.ain peace without making restitu-
tom. but desired that his name be
withhold The priest indOrSed the
amount with interest for nine years
ut IS per cent, $50 in all. The man
evidently didn't want that debt TO
bother him in the next world and pro-
long his stay IA purgatoIy. The priest,
of course, signed his own name and We
acknowledged by letter the receipt
of the money We have had a num-
ber OF Instances of that kind in which
conscience seemed to be quickened
by serious illness or the confessional
Tile most common reasons given
for remtting, when the senders make
any explanation at all, are that the
money is due for internal revenue
taxes, or customs duties eyaded, or
t1g petty frauds TO avoid the payment
O postage. remember one case of
wealthy lady who, after spending
some time abroad, returned to thus
country bringing with her a valuable
aue.n VI wearing apparel. / think it
was tor her personal use, and not
strictly dudabie, but her conscience
uHH..Di her about it, She went back
% England, and while there told the
story J0oUe OF our consuls. requesting
mm % ascertain what would ue the
amount ol duty on such garment He
0ID.o, uHa sine promptly remItted il TO
u,. She SENT with lta nice little note
explaining lue matter 1t was full of
euHu'.10, and explained the hope
that Uncle sam would forgive her.
Bn. She hadn't the courage TO sign her
name 10 1t.
a single enclosure Of $1,000 is the
largest amount / remember TO have
been received from one person. 1t
was little singular that for this large
tH there was absolutely nothing TO
show whence il came except the post
mark ON the envelope. Even that may
-A'c been misleading, as il is quite
possible that the repentant sinner sent
away from home TO be mailed. lie
was evidently very careful to conceal
Y, identity, rs the money was in four
f-gl bids. Upon the paper wrapped
around themoney was written: Please
place thi- To the credit Of Conscience,
.Ha tha, was ALL A draft, YOU know,
would have furnished clew that
o-H-gasjIy have been followed up,
p "a had chosen to pursue the mat
.or ] do not remember ever receive
.a- 'enueieuce money in any other
,M than currency They are all
smart to send drafts or money
orders.
remember one remittance as
small Us I'D cents. and that was a fun
~ case, too. The money was in
closed IN quite "a long letter, unsigned,
WHICH tine writer said that when
he received a letter from a friend,
"-eonl postage stamp on which
escaped cancellation. More in
SPIRIT u mischief than anything else
\" attached the stamp and used it on
MS answer 10 the letter, thus making
!. .2 double duty and cheating the
teflmeH. ont of cents. He wrote
although ID seemed like a triIing
..'r 2 Aa- always troubled him--on
81. principle, / suppose, that 1t is