Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1897-11-02

'ho1 lhcy give ali lHelT property away,
but they wanted the reputation of so
doing. Ananias first lied about it and
dropped down dead Then Sapphire
lied about it. and she dropped down
dead. The two fatalities are warn
ing to all ages of the danger of sacri-
ficfng the truth.
mere are thousands of ways of tell
Ing lie. A mans whole life may he
1alsehood and yet never with his lips
may he falsify once. There is a way
of uttering falsehood by look, by man
ner, as well as by lip. There are persons
VINO are guilty Of dishonesty of speech
and then afterward say may be-" call
Ing 1t white lie, when no lie is that
color. The whitest lie ever told was
as black as perdition. There are those
SO given to dishonesty of speech
tnat they do not know when they are
lying. With some it is an acquired
sin, and with others 1t is a natural in
hrmity There are those whom you
VIII recognize as born liars. Their
whole life, from cradle to grave, is filled
up with vice Of speech. Misrepresen-
tatien and prevarication are as natural
TO them as the hfantile diseases. and
are sort OF moral Group and spiritual
scarlatina. Then there are those who
In after life have opportunities of de-
Veloping this evil. and they go from de-
ception to deception, and from class to
class, until they are regularly gradu-
ated liars. At times the air in our CT
ties is filled with falsehood, and lies
cluster around the mechanics hammer.
blossom on the merchants yardstick,
and sometimes sit on the door of
churches. They are called by some
fabrication, and they are called by some
nction. You might call them subter-
fuge or deceit, or romance, or fable, or
misrepresentation, or delusion: but as
l know nothing to be gained by cover
Ing up God-defying sin with lexi-
cographer's blanket. shall call them
in plainest vernacular, lies. They may
be divided into agricultural, CONNER
cial, mechanical, social and ecclesiastk
al.
First of all, speak. Of agricultural
falsehoods. There is something in the
presence Of natural objects that has
tendency to make one pure. The trees
never issue false stock. The wheat
fields are always honest. Rye and oats
never move out in the night, not paying
for the place they occupy. Corn
shocks never make false assignment.
Mountain brooks are always current.
The gold Of the wheat fields is never
| counterfeit. But while the tendency
of agricultural life is to make one hon.
est, honesty is not the characteristic
of all who come to the city markets
from the country districts. You hear
the creaking of the dishonest farm
wagon in almost every street of our
great cities-a farm wagon in
which there is not one honest
spoke. or one truthful rivet.
from tongue to tail-board Again
and again has domestic economy
in our great cities foundered on the
farmers firkin. When New York and
Washington sit down and weep over
tuGlI clnS, icI w ColChSSlCI COuuLy anu
the neighborhoods around this capital
sit down and weep over theirs.
The tendency in all rural districts is
to suppose that sins and transgressions
cluster in our great cities; but citizens
and merchants long ago learned that
IL Is not safe to calculate from the
character of the apples on the top of
the farmers barrel what Is the char
acter of the apples all the way down
toward the bottom. Many of our citi-
zens and merchants have learned that
it is always safe to see the farmer
measure the barrel of beets. Milk cans
are not always honest. There are
those, who in country life. seem TO
think they have a right to overreach
grain dealers and merchants Of all
styles. They think it Is more honor
able to raise corn than to deal in corn,
The producer sometimes practically
saws to the merchant, You get your
money easily, anyhow" Does he get
It easily? While the farmer sleeps and
he may go to sleep, conscious of the
fact that his corn and rye are all the
time progressing and adding to his for
tune or his livelihood. the merchant
tries to sleep, while conscious of the
fact that at that moment the ship may
be driving on the rock. or a wave
sweeping over the hurricane deck spoil
ing his goods, or the spectators may
be plotting a monetary revolution, or
the burglars may be at that moment at
his money safe, or the fire may have
kindled on the very block where his
store stands.
Easy, is it? Let those who get their
living on the quiet farm and barn take
the place of one of our city merchants
and see whether it is so easy. 1t is hard
enough to have the hands blistered
with outdoor work. but II Is harosr,
with mental anxieties to have thefra,,
consumed. God help the Merchants
And do not let those who live IN
country life come thu conclusion
that all the dishoneh tn, beIone n citv
iiie' % the said
rymentto
Jed at DEBORAH, 10