The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-10-25
DIED TT pAYY

Rambuschr the wisconsin defaulter.
committed suicide in Virginia. This is
the brief ahncuncement which con-
cludes the 4stery of IAN extraordinary
career In cffme.s 1t carries with it a
moral which ought to be more effective
with the ydhngsthan volumes of SER
mons. LookIng at this mans life from
beginning ito end the question that
frames itself ii1stinctively is ibid 1t
pay" His existence having been ended
by his ownthand, weecan see dispas-
sionately how surely it must have been
one long agony Of shame and fear and
remorse. This man lived for years
among those who loved and trusted
him. Not In a single moment Of weak
ness or necessity did he betray them.
but deliberately. with cool forethought
and planning. he set the trap that was
to bring them all to common ruin.
For long years he was forging docu-
ments that concealed his transactions,
paying alleged interest on investments
~--~~~
amount of diligence and dexterity to
hide his infamy far greater than the
average man employs in conducting
large enterprises to successful issue
He was respected, honored and beloved.
He held high place in the church, in
the home and in social and business
life. Being nosamere vulgar criminal,
and not one of those who are betrayed
emotionally into misdoing, every mo-
ment Of his life must have been a con-
sclouS reproach. For no man, saving
the monstrosity whom we occasionally
come across in the annals of crime, is
so constituted ais. to be insensible to the
CLAIMS Of others upon him, and to the
demand for rectitude that is made
upon every individual life. Willfully
wrong he may be, but insensible, in all
the silent hours when he is shut up
to his own cornpanionship, to the re-
proach of violated ideals, he cannot
be. as,s
That this man was not, that
he did not tail to feel the
degradation5i ofsas his life, that he
measured In the balance the value
Of honor and dishonor, appears from
the fact that heafwould not endure to
live after discovery. He had made his
escape. He might have had resources
enough to support him in comfort for
g i lifetime 9sm had handled millions.
His populations, y We're of unknown
magnitude. and might have, been made
anything, he. pleased. Yet he. had to
race througtsaali those days and
years the end that overlook
him. There, sat with him at
table and stayeds beside { his bed the
specter of fight and suicide that finally
laid its grisly hand upon him and
claimed him for it's own. To us. and
to all who know the human heart. #
seems probable that the end was a
welcome relief. 1t was the slow pass
ing years, in which the menace drew
ever closer and closer that brought
the heaviest torture. r
What~p penalty within the law pre-
scribed for naisdoing can match in its
severity and renaersal essnessS the life
that. this man laid out for himself?
What more csmplete demonstra-
ton could there be.,>of natures
unyieldifg command Of obedience
sto the moral law? Lay aside
every other consideration, forget
the suicide of the spiritual life that,
had to come before the body died.
look only at his career with a purely
mercenary eye, foot up its ledger and
strike balance. and answer "did it
pay?'