The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1890-07-17
On Lack of Conscience as a Means of
SuunonSS

that one element of what is called ''Suc-
cess" consists in certain tOughness of the
conscience. BY success" we mean, of
course, worldly success under the present
conditions. We do not mean the true and
high success, the conduct of ones life in all
honesty, with the rewards of pure fame
and the better rewards of conscious. clarity
mean that men of business who are trying
to live up to an ideal are very apt to find
less scrupulOus men passing them at GER
tain points, and sometimes permanently
from the fact that the latter are less ham,
pered at critical moments by conscientious
considerations.
1t is true that ''honesty is the best poll
ordinary business affairs; and it is true that
by disregarding this maxim. 1t is true that
honesty is one of the forces of worldly sue
cess: it is also true that dishonesty is one
of the forces of worldly success.
The honest reader will perhaps ask. why
this praise of dishonesty. But we are not
praiSing dishonesty; we do not think it
cOmmendable in any way: on the contrary,
we think, just as the honest reader thinks,
that it is in every way cOndemnable and
contemplate. We are, however stating a
palpable and provable fact-namely, that
in the present constitution of society lack
of conscience may be an important, even a
deciding. element of worldly success.
The point that we are getting at is this:
namely, that it is easier to reap certain
kind of worldly success without conscience
than with it; and that, therefore, the
constituencies man who reaches enormous
nearly so clever fellow as his admirers
think he is and proudly proclaim him to be.
We believe this to be particularly true in
political life. Under the thoroughly un-
American system of spoils and patronage.
and by means of the prevailing system of
corruption at the polls. it has been of late
years prominently demonstrated that some
of the highest public positions can be
reached in America by men of we'll nigh
the lowest character. Now one reason that
these men succeed is that nothing succeeds
like success; and that even men them
selves personally honest have certain adj
miration for the ability of the conscience
less man of success. Our present effort is to
remove part of the credit of the successful
rogue. If he is less admired perhaps he will be
less successful; and if he is better understood
perhaps he will be somewhat less admired.
Well, then, it is a fact that the successful
raScally politician, while doubtless having a
certain amount of natural ''smartness," is,
in reality and upon close examination, not
nearly so smart as he specifically ap-
pears to be. Under the spois system,
which is only partly abrOgated in the
United States, it does not take-hOw ridic-
ulOusly true it is that it does not take
great abilities to insure success in the cor
rupt maneuvers of the political field. The
only wonder is when. under present condi-
tiOns, thoroughly ScrupulOuS leader ap
pears in local or general politics. TO win
success without resorting to the usual I'M
scrupulous methOds-that is the test of real
fOrce-there should be the focus Of admira-
ton.
The principle is true in ordinary business;
it is true in politics.; it is particularly true
in the journalistic world. 1t is harder
task, it requires more genuine ability and
greater staying power" to reap worldly
success in this field scrupulously than I'M
ScrupulOusly.
The fact is that there is altogether too
much reverence for rascals, and for rascally
methods, Oh the part of tolerably decent
people. Rascality is picturesque. doubt
less and in fiction it has even its moral
uses; but in real life it should have no toll
Grafton; and it is, as a matter of fact sell
dom accompanied by the ability that it
brags.
One proof that the smart rogue is not so
smart as he thinks. and as others think, is
that he so often comes to grief. He arrives
at his success through his knowledge of the
evil in men; he comes to grief through his
ignorance of the good in men. He thinks
he knows "human nature" but he only
half knows it. Therefore he is constantly
in danger of making fatal mistake. For
instance, his excuse to himself for lying
and trickery is that lying and trickery are
INDUCED in by Others--even by some men