The times., 1897-07-25
THE MIRACULOUS Law.

Once there was law made that every
one should tell the truth. The peculiar
ity of this law was that the moment it
was entered on the statute books every
man, woman and child in the country
found it impossible TO speak anything ex-
cept the exact truth. The effect in some
| cases was astonishing.
At the time when the town clerk dotted
the last and crossed the last in this law.
a good deacon had just arisen 20 make 8
speech at a SUnday-schooI festival on
How 1 became Rich This is the way
he began:
Children, the first time I ever traded
iack-knife l cheated. L gave the other
boy mean little knife with one broken
blade, While his had two good bl AIDES and
a coricscrew. When he wanted 10 trade
back I wouldn't. L told him he ought TO
have looked out for himself This is the
way L have been doing all through lie. 1
made $4,000 last week in the stock
market, out of inside information about
! sugar. -
At this point the minister requested
the deacon To step down.
Two days later the deacon was ruined
man, and had TO begin life over again
He could not 10 it On the jack-knife
trading principle, because he was obliged
| to tell the exact truth all the time Sew
craI other leading citizens lost property
IN The same way, through iRadyertence in
answering questions. Rents in real estate
i offices dropped so per cent, and the
| greater part OF the tenants found they
Could live quite nicely in houses much
| finer than those they had occupied, and
| proceeded al once To move. Several bust
ness concerns went under in the general
mix-up, and only those which kept goods
| about which they could comfortably tell
the truth had any show at all. These
places increased their trade So much that
they were able TO employ nearly all the
clerks who had been working for the other
| houses, SO that business was really not
much impeded by the change.
The legislators, however. found, to their
| dismay, that they could not say anything
/ without endaugering their chances for re-
election, and this brought the session 10
/ an abrupt close without any more business
being done.
| Society was nearly as badly off. Com
| pliments We're at discount, and quar-
rels We're eatfirstfrequent at until the wearied
sought eircongeniaIfriends, to VII homthey
could truthfully pay compliments. AS
nearly everybody had some particular
fIIends, social relations werereadjusted on
a new basis, and though much quieter and
| less ambitious, were a source Of real
pleasure Some husbands and wives
hastily separated, but a vast number Were
| brought together by the new arrangement
AMI lived very happily, being quite sure
that no coneeaIment OF their real feel
ings would be possible.
The circulation OF certain newspapers
decreased with alarming rapidity, but, or
the whole, the newspapers suffered very
| little from the new arrangement, as every
| one was obliged to tell the truth To the re-
| portcrs OF TO say nothing, and 50 eaCh
! piece OF new could be relied upon The Te-
porters thus had time 10 hunt up fresh
news. instead OF denials OF former state
| ments, and very little that was interesting
happened in that country which the news
papers did hot print.
Tne busiress Of the law courts being in
nuitely shortened, there was chance 70
report the good and beautiful things
which happened each day, and peace and
benevoIence Were 50 prevalent in the offices
| that the editors seriously thought Of IL
| vestigating the halOs and the harps-
OF course, there We're some fights, dle
TO the injured feelings OF the victims OF
too much truth. but after misurders tand-
| ings had been explained and facts aired
in court, every one knew in precisely what
| relation he stood to each one of his ac-
auaintances, and it saved trouble.
The Only reason V Ey this law " as eveTTe-
peaIed was that the Inhabitants Of that
| country became so good that they died
younger and younger each year Finally,
| the entire population expired In infancy,
| and the land became a desert, 70 be re-
peopled by nation who had never heard
| of truthfulness, and who lived 10 be CEN
tenaTians.