The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1889-03-27

bnlnlnR gOlQ aS IL was on tlle udy "utu ffu
sold your vote and your moral principle, but
Consuming c your Dur hand forever. Or, if there
be enough Of it fora chain, then
lt will fall from the wrist clank-
ing the fetters Of an eternal captivity. The
bribe is an everlasting possession. You take
Il for time, you take 1t for eternity. Some
day in the next world, when you are long
Ing for sympathy. you will feel on your
be Judas, who took thirty pieces OF silver as
q bribe and finished the bargain by putting
an infamous kiss on the pure cheek OF his
Divine Master.
Another wrong use Of money Is seen in
the abuse of trust funds. Every man dur
Ing the course Of his life. on larger or
smaller scale has the property o. .o others sas
a safety deposit, he is an administrator. and
holds in his hand the interest Of the
! family Of deceased friend. Or he Is an
attorney, and through his custody goes the
payment from debtor to creditor, or he is
the collector for business houss
which compensates him for the response
bility: or he is treasurer for charitable
the suffering or he is an official Of the city
or the State or the nation. and taxes, and
subsidies, and salaries, and supplies are in
his keeping. 1t is as solemn trust as God
can make it. 1t is concentred and multi
piled condolences. On that man de-
ponds the support of bereft household. or the
morals Of dependents. or the right OF move.
mont of thousand wheels of social mechan-
ism. A man may do what he will with his
one act commits theft, falsehood, pei
jury and becomes, in all the intensity
Of the word, miscreant. How many
widows and orphans there are with
nothing between them and starvation
but sewing machine, or held up out Of the
vortex of destruction simply by the thread
of a needle, red with their own hearts blood,
who a little while ago had by father and
husband left them competency. What Is
the mattera The administrators or the exc
cutors have sacrificed it-running risks
with it. that they would not have
dared to encounter in their own private af-
fairs. How often 1t is that man will earn
livelihood by the sweat Of his brow, and
then die, and within few months oil the es.
tate goes into tho stock gambling rapids OF
Wall Street. How often is it that you have
known the man to whom trust funds were
committed taking them out Of the savings
bank and from trust companies, and ad.
ministrators, turning old homesteads into
hard cash, and then putting the entire estate
into the vortex of speculation. Embszzle-
ment is an easy word to pronounce, but it
has ten thousand ramifcations of horror.
There is not O city that has not suffered
from the abuse Of trust funds. Where Is the
court house, or the city hall, or the jail, or
the postofFlce or the hospital, that in the
building of it has not had political jobl
Long before the new Court House in New
York city was completed, it cost over Sl2,;,
100000. Five millions six hundred and
sixty-three thousand dollars for furniture.
For plastering and repairs, S2,S7O,o0o.
For plumbing and gas works,
s1,as1,si7. For awnings, s9s,553.
The bills for 'three months coming to
the nice little sum of sl3, Isl. 1880 There
was not an honest brick, or stone, or lath, or
nail, or foot of plumbing, or inch Of plaster
ing, or ink stand, or door knob in the whole
establishment.
That bad example was followed in many Of
the cities, which did not steal quite so much
| because there was not so much to steal.
| There ought to be closer inspection and
there ought to be less opportunity for embeZ-
| element. Lest man shall take five cent
piece that does not belong to him, the con-
ductor of the city horse car must
we are very cautious about small offenses,
but give plenty Of opportunity for sinners on
| large scale to escape. For boy who steals
loaf of bread from corner grocer to keep
his mother from starving to death, prison;
but for defrauders who abscond with half q
million OF dollars, a castle on the Rhine, or.
waiting until the offense is forgotten, then
ca tie on the Hudsonl
Another remark needs to be made, and
that is that people ought not to 20 into
| places, into business, or into positions, where
the temptation is mightier than their
character. If there be large sums of money
| to be handled and the man is not sure OF bis
own integrity you have no right to run an
unseaworthy craft into on euroclydon. A
man can tell by the sense Of weakness
or strength in the presence of a bad oppor-
tunity whether he is in safe place. How
many parents make an awful mistake when
they put their boys in banking houses aud
stores and shops and factories and places OF
solemn trusts, without once discussing
whether they can endure the temptation.
You give the boy plenty OF money and have
no account Of it, and make the way
down become very easy, and ycu
may put upon him pressure
then he cannot stand. There arasmen who
go into positions full OF temptation, con
sidering only the one fact that they are
people here this morning, dishonesty vii
not pay in this world or in the world tc
come.
An abbot wanted to buy piece Of ground
and the owner would not sell it, but tht
owner finally consented to let it to him unit
he could raise one crop, and the abbot soweo
acorns, crop OF two hundred years
honesties which you plant in youl
heart and life will seem to be very Insight
ficant, but they will grow up until they vii
overshadow you with horrible darkness
overshsdow all time and all eternity. L
will not be crop for two hundred years
but crop for everlasting ages.
I stand this morning before many WHIT
have trusted funds. 1t is compliment t.
you that you have been so intrusted, but
world, be careful; be as careful OF Tn
propefty Of others as you are carefu
of YOUR own. Above all, keep your owl
private account at the bank separate
from your account as trustee OF al
cstat,. or trustee of an institution
That is the point at which thousands or peo
pie make shipwreck. They get the property
of others mixed up with their own properly
taey put it into investment, ard away lt a.
goes. and they cannot return that which
they borrowed. Then comes the eA
plosion and the money market is shaker
and the press denounces and tn
church thuniers expulsion. You nav.
no right to use the property OF others except
for their advantage nor without consent
unless they are minors. II with thelr con
sent you invest their property as we'll as you
| can, ana IL Is all lost, you ue Ivy w o
you did the best you could; but do not come
into the delusion which has ruined 81
many men, of thinking because
thing is in their possession. therefore
it is theirs. You have solemn trus
that God has given you In this vast assem-
blage there may be some who have misap
proprated trust funds. Put them back, or
II you have so hopelessly involved them thai
you cannot put them back, confess the who't
thing to those whom you have wronged, anG
you viii sleep better nights, and You VIII
have tho better chance for your soul. Wha
a sad thing it would be if, after you are