Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1892-05-25
ARE WOMEN TOBLAME
DISHONESTY COMES THROUGH A
MANS LOVE FOR HIS FAMILY.

1t is the habit of the unthinking many
who never care to look below the SIR
face of things to argue learnedly, when
defalcations, embezzlements and tn,
like occur, about epidemic financial
dishonesty" 1.-The morbid craze for spec
ulating," ''the insane desire for wealth.
and so on, as if these passions, and these
only, were the real causes of the evils
which they deplore. But to the
thoughtful few another reason presents
itself, which will, in the majority of
cases, account for those breeches of
trust, and that is found in the immedi-
ate bosom of a mans family.
There are not many men who, for the
sake of gratifying their own selfish de-
sires, simply will run the risk of state
prison and life long dishonor. Man,
taken by himself alone, is usually in
clined to be rather an honest sort of an
imal-if not by instinct, at least by a
fear of the possible consequences of his
being otherwise. When he has no one
but himself to consider, his second sober
Judgment shows him that in the long
run it pays him to be upright in his
dealings with his neighbors, and being
a very selfish creature he does what it is
easiest for him to do. 1t is only, then,
when some great appeal is made to his
nature, when his natural caution and
common sense are overruled by the af-
fections, that he is false to himself and
false to those who have put their trust
in him.
Every properly constructed man holds
his wife and children in the holiest pos
sible affection. There is no sacrifice
that he would not make for them, no
luxury that he would not deny himself
to make them happy. But in this very
forgetfulness of self and love for his
own is terrible temptation, unless his
own help him to be true to himself.
Let us take case in point:
A. is the cashier of a bank; he comes
of good, clean, unpolluted stock; he is
naturally an upright and honest man,
and the position that he holds he has
held with honor for many years; he is
married, and his wife and two daugh-
ters, the latter just entering society, and
a son half way through Harvard, repre-
sent all that makes life worth living.
His salary and the income that he de-
rives from a little property of his own
would, with economy, have enabled him
to properly educate his son and give to
his daughters such an introduction to
the social world as they desired.
But Mrs. A. is what is called socially
ambitious woman; she loves her hus-
band, but she knows nothing of the
value of money and Mr.. A. does not be-
ieve in troubling his family about such
things. AS natural result, Mrs. A.,
although she is fully aware that they
have but $4,000 year, does not see
why they cannot live like the BIS, who
have $25, 900.
Elinor and Helen must be brought up
as Mrs. BIS daughters are brought up,
and are, in fact, treated and indulged
by their mother as if they were heirs
expectant to a large fortune. Tom must
join the Porcelain at Harvard, and
when Mr.. A. demonstrates little at this
extravaganza he is effectually squelched
by his better half by the remark that he
''surely must want to make the college
life of his only son happy" And so for
a while poor A. manages to get along
after fashion, gradually, encroaching
all the time on his little principal, until
one fine day a panic in the money world
comes along, as panics have very un-
comfortable way of doing, and the
remains of AS property are swept away,
and he has nothing left but his salary
to depend upon.
Now comes the crisis of this mans
life. If he were alone in the world he
would simply cut his garments accord
ing to his cloth and reduce expenses,
but can he bear to make those whom he
loves unhappy? Can he ask them to
give up all the luxuries which now seem
to them like necessities, while chance
remains to him to retrieve himself? No,
he cannot do that. He, who has always
held speculation in holy horror, puts a
mortgage on his house and rushes into
Wall street. The market is against
him; every step that he takes drags him
deeper and deeper in his own ruin. At
last he is irretrievably involved; there
seems no hope of escape open to him,
and then it is that the love for his family
becomes the temptation that ends in his
disgrace.
The bank has certain funds that he
could have the use of without detection
If he only could have the use of this
money for short time and make one
final plunge in the stock market all may
yet be well with him. He tells himself
that he has gone too far to retrace now,
and he yields and becomes defaulter.
Once again he tries his luck in specula-
ton, and again he loses; and still again
he uses the banks funds for his own
purposes, with the same result. Then
comes the usual sequence in such cases
discovery, dishonor, suicide!
An exceptional case, you say. Not a
bit of it; it is the history of hundreds of
unhappy men who have been driven to
crime through no other cause than the
sinful extravagances of their own fami-
lies. They were honest for themselves;
they were dishonest only for others.
But such case as have outlined sug-
gests its own remedy, which is perfect
confidence between man and wife on
all money matters. A wife has moral,
if not legal right to know her husbands
financial condition. 1t is not necessary
for him to continually ''talk shop" to
her; but he can tell her in general terms
what money he has and how much he
can afford to put out for general family
expenses. And a real womanly woman
will appreciate such confidence ON a
husbands part and be a source of
strength, and not of weakness, when the
family purse is cramped.
American.
The Buzzing in Il Piano.
Nine times out of ten the buzzing or
singing noises that are SO frequently
heard are outside of the piano. 1t may
be the mica in the stove, or hanging
lamp near by, or an easel on the piano,
or score of other things whose key
notes vibrate in sympathy with the tones