The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-10-13

AhC Son-coSlon Oh a mar VINO was dp-
pretended during the past week for a
1agrant breach of trust contains some
features which may be instructive. He
pleads in e~xtenuation Of his offense that
he had been drinking heavily for some
time and was under the influence OF
liquor when he was induced to commit
the crime by a companion of like habits
who suggested the theft and shared the
stolen money. They were what are
known as rapid" il not d~issipated.
men. 1t is no use to conjecture why
they were so. But such they were, and
any amount of restraining or prohibitory
laws and faithful enforcement could not
have made them much different. They
found in dissipation the sort of pleas
ure they wanted. and they would have
il.
There Is but one remedy for such dis
sipation as makes men so reckless, and
that is in the hands of those who en-
ploy them. There is every reason to
believe that the officers of the company
which must bear the loss knew some
thing of their employees failings. Those
~ 1ohtC Ia NOAAtdCt Will liz Ald hllcW
his habits, consequently. If the officers
of the company did not. it was their
fauit, and a fault which makes them
Indirectly responsible for the embezzle-
ment. The man had been in their en-
ployment for years, and probably had
been efficient, but that fact, in connec-
ton with the knowledge thai he patron
lied "bookmakers" and spent money
freely in dissipation, should not have led
them to intrust him with thousands OF
dollars. They should have said to him,
at the outset, that if he persisted in such
practices he must find employment else
where If. with such warning, he had
continued his reckless course, they
should AVE discharged him. Very much
the larger part of the abuses of trust
could be prevented if employers would
resort to such positive measures with
employees who can reach their money or
injure their business. if they are fire.
q%uenters of places where chances are
taken with money or are hangers-on Of
resorts which promote dissipation. More
than law n temperance society, the
men who hire can bring to bear upon
w~ell-meaning young men in their en-
ploy the influences which will save them
from dissipation.
This opinion is not mere conjecture;
it is a deduction from the experience
Of men and general observation. Rail-
road managers. for the most part, will
not employ men of Incorporate habits
or men who are habitual drinkers to
run trains. Some go so far as to give
notice that they will discharge men who
spend any part of their own time about
saloons. The result is that the great
body of railroad employees are men of
steady habits, and particularly those
who count years of service, promotion
n good wages. Thirty years ago, in,
the larger towns, newspaper compos-
itors had the reputation of being a very
Incorporate class of men. At the pres
ent time, while many are not abstainers,
as a class they are a very temperate
body Of men. This is due to, the fact
that hundreds of the best foremen will
not retain on their lists the names of
men who are so heavy drinkers that
they cannot be relied upon for good
work. Many temperate men of the craft
who support families in comfort and
who save a little money object to being
associated with men who %squander their
earnings and leave families without sup
port. Industrial considerations have
largely wrought this change in thirty
years. The young man knows that to be
steady issesSential to employment and
advancement, so he pursues the course
which is for his interest. No legisla-
| ton. no enforcement of laws and no
temperance society could have effected
such a change or have SO elevated the
standard of character of so large a body
of men as has the discrimination against
men of Incorporate habits in the COM
posing rooms of newspapers during the
last quarter of a century. And it may
be added hat in all lines of business
the practical requirement of temperate
habits has o more to promote sobri-
ETY. than all other agencies. 1t can do
vastly more. Applied to young men
when they go into employments, the re-
quirement of absolute sobriety can be
made much more potential.
GOOGOOS AND GAROOs.