The Russellville Democrat., 1889-03-21
teH that bribe.taker that he will take

nlS money With him. 00d VIII wrap it up in your shroud, or put ii in the palm of your hand in resur- rection, and there it will lie, not the cool, bright shining gold as it was on the day when you sold your vote and your moral principle, but there it will lie, hot metal, burning and consuming your hand forever. Or, if there be enough of 1t for chain, then it will fall from the wrist clanking the letters of an eternal captivity. The bribe is an everlasting possession. You take it for time, you take it for eternity. Some day in the next world, when you are longing for sym pathy, you will feel on your cheek kiss. Looking up you will find it to be Judas, who took thirty pieces of silver as bribe and finished the bargain by putting an in famous kiss on the pure cheek of his divine Master.
 There is not 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 post-office, or the hospital, that in the building of it has not had a political job?
 Long before the new courthouse In New York City was completed, it cost over twelve million dollars. Five millions six hundred and sixty-three thousand dollars for furniturel For clustering and repairs, two million three hundred and seventy thousand dollars. For plumbing and gas works, one million two hundred and thir- ty-one thousand eight hundred and seven teen dollars. For awnings, twenty three thousand five hundred and fifty three dollars. The bills for three months com ing to the nice little sum of thirteen mill ion one hundred and fifty-one thousand one hundred and ninety eight dollars and thirty-nine cents. There was not an hon. est brick, or stone, or lath, or nail, or foot of plumbing, or inch of plastering, or ink stand, or door knob in the whole estab- lishment.
 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 a closer inspec- ton, and there ought to be less opportuni- ty for embezzlement. Lest man shall take a five-cent piece that does not belong to him, the conductor on the city horse- car must sound his bell at every payment, and we are very cautious about small of- lenses, but give plenty of opportunity for sinners on large scale to escape. For a boy who steals loaf of bread from a cor ner grocer to keep his mother from starv- ing to death, prison; but for defrauders who abscond with five hundred thousand dollars, castle on the Rhine, or, waiting until the offense is forgotten then a castle on the Hudson.
 Another remark needs to be made, and that is that people ought not to go 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 his own integrity you have no right to run an unseaworthy craft into an euroclydon. A man can tell by the sense of weakness or strength in the presence of a bad opportunity whether he is in a safe place. How many parents make an awful mistake when they put their boys in banking houses and stores and shops and factories and places ot soleuu 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 you may put upon him pressure that he can not stand. There are men who go into posi- tions full of temptation, considering only the one fact that they are lucrative posi- tions. say to tn young people here this morning, dishonesty will not pay in this world or the world to come.
 An abbot wanted to buy a piece of ground and the owner would not sell it, but the owner finally consented to let it to him until he could raise one crop, and the abbot sowed acorns, crop of two hundred years And l tell you, young man. that the dishonesties which you plant in your heart and life will seem to be very insignificant, but they will grow up until they will overshadow you with horrible darkness, overshadow all time and all eternity. It will not be crop for two hundred years, but a crop for everlasting ages.
 I stand this morning before many who have trust funds. It is a compliment to you that you have been so intrusted, but charge you, in the presence of God and the world, be careful; be as careful of the property of others as you are careful of your own. Above all, keep your own private account at the bank separate from account as trustee of an estate or trustee of an institution. This is the point at which thousands of people make ship wreck They get the property of others mixed up with their own property, they put it into investment, and away it all
 
 which they borrowed. Then comes the and the money market is shaken, and the press denOunces and the Church thunders expulsion. You have no right to use the property of others except for their advantage, nor without consent, unless they are minors. If with their con- sent you invest their property as we'll as you can, and it is all lost you are not to Jt hn ha aut mi 6n n not come into the delusion which has ruined so many men, of thinking because a thing is in their possession therefore it is theirs. You have a solemn trust that God has given you. In this vast assem- blaze there may be some who have mis- trust funds. Put them back, or, if you have so hopelessly in- yolved them that you can not put them back, confess the whole thing to those whom you have wronged, and you will sleep better nights, and you will have the better chance for your soul. What sad thing 1t would be if, after you are dead, your administrator should find out from the account books, or from the lack of vouchers, that you were not only in estate, but that you lost your soul. If all the trust funds that have been should suddenly fly to their owners, and all the property that has been purloined should suddenly go back to its owners, it would crash into ruin every city in America.
 A clustering young man arrived at a hotel in the West and he saw man on the sidewalk, and in rough way, as no man has right to address laborer, said to him:
 "Carry this trunk upstairs"
 The man carried the trunk upstairs and came down, and then the young man gave him a quarter of dollar which was and instead of being twenty five cents it was worth only twenty cents. Then the young man gave his card to the laborer and said:
 ''You take this up to Governor Grimes: l want to see him."
 "Ah," said the laborer, q am Governor