The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-07-27

PROVO. July 25.-In last Saturdays
issue of the Enquirer and in today's is
sue of she non-partisan religious week
ly appears AN editorial headed Boys
of Influential Parents" The intent OF
the article seems to be to call ahten-
ton to we'll known fact, viz that
children of influential parents can COM
nit wrongs, and even crimes, without
receiving the punishment that is meted
cut TO children who have no influential
parents or friends. 1t is refreshing to
see, in these times of political differ
ences, which often lead 10 cowardly
and unjust inuenGoes and Instructions,
writer in the public press enter the
domain of morals and, with no Interior
motive, call attention to a wrong. In
the article referred to am Illustration is
given of a young man who obtained
money under false pretenses from q.
merchant. The merchant refrained
from having the culprit arrested out of
respect for the father of the young
man, who refunded the money, when
he was informed of tine wrong doing of
his son. This course the writer of the
article holds TO be wrong, and rather
advocates more vigorous policy, say
ing: Now if he had been a boy with
out father he would have been made
10 suffer tine penalty, and it would
hkely nave made a. man of him" Still
there was great deal of human ma
ture exhibited by the merchant. He
naturally felt indignant to think he
had been imposed upon, but knowing
the boy had father who was pre-
suTnably a good man, and the merchant
propably having boys of his own, he
(arar fer-r rod roA ~,
offered TO return the money the mer-
chant concluded to do nothing more
about 1T. Most men would have done
that for there is a great amount of
sympathy in the human heart and it
often expresses itself in acts of kind
ness, especially when it is not prevent
ed by self-interest, and in this case the
self-inferest was overcome by the re-
turn of the money.
AS to whether the merchant did
right, some will say that he did. and
that he would have done wrong by
not treating a poor boy as leniently
as he did the young man in question.
OF course these different opinions will
depend upon the view a person takes
Of the duty of individual members of
society to their fellow man. On the
eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth
theory it was plainly the duty of the
merchant to have caused the young
mans arrest and to have Prosecuted the
case to tine utmost. AS to whether the
Imprisonment would have made a
man. of the youth, of course that ques-
ton does not enter at all into the con-
sideration of the case in this connec-
ton. But under the merc1ful teach
ings of the man of sorrows, which the
merchant seems to have inclined to
follow, lit may properly be considered:
and there are net a few who hold that
it is possible for a young man who has
been disgraced by imprisonment to
regain to certain degree the respect
and confidence of his fellows, in spite
of such disgrace, but none will say
that he viii retrieve his lost position in
society because of the disgrace he has
suffered. The tendency is to look upon
q. man with the prison smell upon him
with the eyes of the old lady in one of
e. P. Roe's stories, who said of a man
who was trying to recover lost ground,
after having been made a man OF I'M
der the system advocated: HE may
get to heaven, but he can never expect
to be received in good society again.
The merchant did right and may he
and others treat poor and friendless