St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-02-03
HON. JOHN w. WILLIS.
Judge of the District Court.


In answer to the questions which
you have submitted, l beg to say
that, in my humble opinion, viola-s
lions of public and private trust are.
not so common in the United States,
in proportion to the population, aSo
they have been during any former
generation. AS the newspaper presSd
increases it's power of aScertaining
and reporting the daily news, the;s
public becomes better informed of
defalcations and similar delinquent
cies. Hence arises an erroneous
opinion that we are, as a people, &
suffering moral deterioration.
AS the volume Of commercials
transactions expands, the amounts
of money involved necessarily I'M
creases, and a single defalcation
may, therefore, be more Of stcaP'
than any previously recorded; but
that circumstance does not neces-
sarily imply greater depravity on
the part of contemporary scoundrels.
The chief cause of dishonesty is
the old-time vice of avarice. This
vice should be counteracted by
wholesome instruction of youthful
minds. Education upon that line
is, unfortunately, stranger to our
schools. The examples held up to
the view of school children in their
readers and other text books are
the successful men" That term is
usually construed to mean the men
who have acquired great wealth.
Diogenes in his tub, SpinoZa in his
garnet, or Howard ministering to
the wants of helpless humanity,
even when in prison, rarely fur
nishes an object toward which the
emulation of school children is di-
rected. M
Avarice being unchecked by lofty
altruistic teaching, the secondary
causes mentioned in your questions,
viz: drunkenness, gambling, spec
ulation, the example Of suddenly ac-
CURED fortunes and the adulation
paid to wealth, the extravaganza of
women and children, all play their
part in producing breaches of trust
more or less fragrant in their nature
1t seems to me that the radical
remedy Of better education for the
young is preferable to a system of
closer surveillance of public Off
Gals and trusted commercial en-
ployes. "Closer surveillance" means
a system of logging our fellow men
with spies and detectiVes-a system
III, TO @e IL i
views.
You ask: care officials and en-
ployes in responsible positions paid
too little, everything considered?"
| I answer, Yes. The public demands,
| good service at rates of compensa-
ton which enable the public officer
to. obtain by stealing or bribery
| alone the compensation which SIM
| liar services to railway corporation
would command. This is a fruitful
source, not only Of heedIessness in
the performance of public duties,
! but also of corruption.
L do not think that the moral de-
f1ciencies of the present generation
are attributable to the occurrence of
the late civil war. The recklessness
engendered by that event was trans
| 1tory and spent it's force long ago.
We have, owing to the unrestrained
and persistent action of moral
forces, better moral standard now
than at any previous period -.
Among the moral forces in con-,
slant action, illustrating the princi-
pie, "Vorwaerts, INNER vorwaerts,"
are the various Christian churches
They are certainly not to blame for
any phase of immortality. The law
is not blameworthy in the premises.
1t admirably fulfills it's mission as
described by Sir William Jones, of
commanding good, depressing ILL.,"