St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-04-24

and false to those who have put their
tIust IN him.
Every properly constructed man holds
his wife and children in tue hottest
possible affection. There is no sacrifice
that he would not make for them, no
iuxers that he would not deny himself
10 make them happy. But in this very
tOrgeifulness OF self. and love for his
own. is terrible temptation, unless
his own help him to be true to himself.
Let us take a case in point:
A Is the cashier OF bank: he comes
OF good. clean. unpoliuted stock: he is
naturally an upright and honest man;
and the position that be holds he has
held with honor for many years; he Is
married, aud his wife and two daugh
lcrS, the latter Just entering society and
a son half way through Harvard. rep
resent all that makes life worth living.
His salary and the income that lie de-
riYcs from little property OF
his own would, with economy. have
enabled him 10 properly educate
his son and give TO his daughters such
an introduction 10 the social world as
they desired. But Mrs. 4 Is what IS
what is called socially ambitious
woman; she loves her husband, but she
knows nothing OF the value OF money,
and Mr. A does not believe in troubling
his family about such things. AS nat
raj 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 $4,000. Eilnor and
Helen must be brought uD as Mrs. BIS
daughters are brought up, and are, IN
fact. treated and INDUCED by their
mother as il they were heirs expeelant
to large fortune. Tom must join the
Porcelain at Harvard, and when Mr.. A
demonstrates little at this extraya-
gance, lie is effectually squelched by
his better half by the remark that he
surely must want 10 make the
college life of his only son happy" And
so, for while. poor A manages TO get
along after a fashion, gradually en-
croaching all the time on his little prln-
cipal. until one fine day panic In the
money world comes along, as panies
have very uncomfortable way OF do
ing, and the remains of AS property
are swept away, and he has nothing lett
but his salary to depend on
Now CONES 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 hear to make those whom he
loves unhappy? Can lie ask them TO
give up all the luxurieS which now seem
To them like necessities while chance
| remains 10 him 10 retrieve himself? No,
he cannot do that. He, who has always
held speculation in holy horror,
puts mortgage on his house
and rushes headIong 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
iTretrieyably involved; there seems no
hope OF escape open 10 him, and then 1t
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.
Ii he could only 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 re-
tract now, and he yields aId becomes a
defaulter. Once again he tries his luck
in speculation, and again he loses; and
still again he uses the banks funds for
his own purposes. withtl same result.
Then COMES The usual sequence i'll such
easeS-diseoyer dlshouor, suicide,
An exceptional case. you say. Not a
bit of it; il is the history OF hundreds of
unhappy men who have bean driven to
crime through no other cause than the
sinful eXtravagalrceS of their own fam-
lies. They were honest for themselves;
they were dishonest only for others.
But such a case as have outlined sug
gests its own remedy, which is perfect
confidence between husband and wife
on all money matters. A wife has
moral, if not a legal, right to know her
husbands financial condition. 1t is not
necessary for lin to continually talk
shop" to her; but he can tell her in gen
eral terms what money he has and how
much he can afford to put out for gen
eral family expenses. And real
womanly woman will appreciate such
confidence on husbands part and be
source Of strength. and not of weak
ness, when the family purse is cramped.