The Durham daily globe. (Durham, N.C.) 1889-1894, 1893-09-13
1T Is POSSIBLE.

DIR. YATES publishes an article in the
News and Observer this morning, and
reproduced in TIE GLOBE to-day, in
which he assumes tt e role Of genera, all
around 'peacemaker" in the HARRELL
controversy, and ends by concluding that
every body is all right, that the excursion
business is a fraud anyway, and that the
fact that COLONEL HARRELL occupied a
position of trust and enjoyed the conf
dence Of the public, it is preposterous to
suppose that he could have been guilty
of acting otherwise than doing the square
thing.
While the article reflects credit upon
the broad charity and broader christianity
of the writer, THE GLOBE seriously doubts
its logic.
as there any just ground for all this
war about COLONEL HARRELL defrauding
the Chicago eXcursiOnists :" asks the doc
tor.
For reply THE GLOBE simply refers
him to those who went on the excursion
and who have said over their own sigma
lures in the public prints that they were
defrauded and that MIR. HARRELL had
failed to comply with his contract. AS
we did not go on the excursion and were
not in Chicago during the s~OjOurn of the
party, we can only take the words of
those who were there, and as we know
many Of them to be people Of good stand
ing and not given to f%alsehOod, we could
not, without questioning the veracity of
some of the best men and women in
North Carolina, who had no object in
slandering MIR. HARRELL, fail to attach
some Importance to their written state.
ments.
The doctor again asks "Who believes
that a man Of MIR. HARRELL's reputation
and character in the state would deliber.
ately imperil that character by a system
attic fraud perpetrated upon the teachers
of the state, and that for the paltry sum
of a few hundred dollars 2"
In reply THE GLOBE wants to ask the
doctor, who would believe that any man
who occupied a position of honor and
trust-a man who stood high in the
church, who enjoyed every privilege of
wealth and social distinction, who was
admired and flattered and believed in bv
all who knew him, could forget his honor
could afford, in fact, to forfeit the con
tidenCe and esteem of his own community
and of all honest people, for the paltry
sum Of a few hundred dollars
And yet our prisons are full of them.
Whenever the systematic fraud" of a
defaulting bank cashier or other public
official comes to light; whenever a min
lister or prominent citizen of any profess
sion, enjoying the confidence and respect
of his neighbors, is suddenly detected in
criminality and vice, the community
throws up its hands and wildly cries 1T
can't he true a man in his position could
never be guilty of such folly
Yet it is true, and the laws Of the u
try say that he is no better than other
criminals and must serve out his sentence
- N"N S'AA~ ON4 ENAANN I
full OF men of standing and reputation,
since but for that fact they would never
have had a chance 10 profit by their al.
vantage and betray confidence.
viii DIR. YATES, who finds it impOssi-
bic to believe that MIR. HARRELL could
have done anything wrong, tell US how
about SIMON PETER, and other well.
known instances in which certain indi-
viduals surrounded by better moral in
llueuCes even han Mr.. HARRELL, have
yielded TO circumstance of a peculiarly
trying nature?
As for the few paltry dollars, men in
high stations have been guilty of worse
conduct than Mr. HARRELL was ever &C.