St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-02-03

Are we becoming modern Spar
tanS, among whom it is not a CRIME
to steal. but to be found out? is 1t
the popular opinion that the object
of business is to make money? mat
the successful money-maker is
hero? That his law-evading d1Shon-
estes are, like the avarice of MARI
borough, the deception of Bona
parte, but feeble shadows upon the
radiance of his glory? Laws against
stealing, then, are not based on any
principle of morality, but simply
upon motives of self-interest and
expediency. Life is a game of grab
bag, and rules must be established
for the game. The most that can
be expected of a player is that he
will keep within the letter of the
rules, and a man that steals ac-
cording to law is master of the game.
Is this but frank expression
an honest dishonesty? Or is it an
opinion reluctantly subscribed to
because wealth is now a necessity?
A standard of living has been
established by which foreign travel,
a private equipage, numerous ser
Vants,a luxurious home, are requisite
to maintain even respectable posi-
ton in the world.
Thus are frequently explained the
many recent violations of public and
private trusts - the SWindling of
widows and orphans by guardians
and administrators, the ruin of num-
berless stockholders in investment
companies, the looting of banks and
commercial concerns by their finan-
cial officers, the plumber of public
funds by the peoples trusted ser
wants.
There is reason to believe that
this painful phantasy is only moral
nightmare. The public has allowed
itself to be deceived by INDUCING it's
own morbid taste. Every en-
beZzlement is a sensation, and the
people cry for sensations. Increased
population and improved news facil-
tiles now produce an avalanche of
crime" Electrically out of proportion
to the actual conditions.
Nor is the country doomed be-
cause of an eXtravagant standard of
living. Specifically, current litera-
ture might indicate this to be fact.
But the appearance is merely an odd
phase of popular curiosity. ga cat
may look at king" yet only in this
age and nation has pussy been &C
corded her natural rights. No one
is now too humble to know how Mrs.
Vanderbilt takes care of her COM
pleXion; the kind Of shoes worn by
Mrs Armour; the private amuse-
ments of young Mr.. Fair. But the
very people who most revel in these
tales of snowy extravaganza have
no thought of changing their own
simple households, in which, as in
all American homes, comfort, not
luxury, is the principal object.
In addition to the natural dis
closures of a panic, two other cir
cumStanceS are not to be ignored.
Under centralized or monarchical
governments official defa1catiOns are
carefully suppressed; here they are
blazoned abroad. The United States
has no large standing army, and no
leisure classes. Commercial life is
paramount. The opportunities for
the dishonest man are greatly in
creased, and his country must, at
first sight, suffer by comparison
with other lands.
Certain responsible positions in
society afford unusual opportunities
for the study of this question of
honesty. The discriminating views,
as given below, of various gentle
men occupying such positions in St
Paul unite, it is gratifying to OBJ
serve, in the opinion that, on this
point, at least, the devil is not so
| black as he is painted.