Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1897-07-10
sA0LETS.

to this country that a heavy defalca.
ton has tlken place Ia Japan. 100000
yen having been stolen from one Of the
institutions Of that country. We sci.
dom hear Of dishonesty ON 20 large a
scale in the land Of the Mikado, and
II may he that with the opening Of the
ports to foreign trade and visitors there
have crept In some Circasslan man.
ners hitherto unknown there. Under
the feudal system Of the East they had
summary way Of disposing Of de.
faulting cashiers and fraudulent bank.
ers which beat our system Of bank ex.
amln.tiO all hollow. As soon as Il
became known that banker was dis.
honest he was taken out and decapi.
tated. The other directors had their
right hands and their left ears cut on
and all their goods were confiscated to
the State. This custom has ten.
dency to discourage the impairment
Of capital" and the shrinkagc Of assets
in Chinese and japanese hanks. Now
that European customs have obtained
such d vogtie. one reed not be sur
prised to learn THAI the defaulting
bankers are sequester!ng their estates
and hiring lawyers to fight their cause
in the courts just rs they do In other
countries
A London schoolboy committed sui.
eide last month. leaving behind a pa.
thetic letter saying that he could not
stand the abuse to which he was sub.
jecteh by his fellows Mt school. There
was practically no investigation Of the
matter except that which elected the
remark Of the master that the youth
was Of very sensitive nature, and the
Jury brought In a verdict Of death
while temporarily insane. Youth Of oil
nationalitics Is pr0verbially cruel. but
the cruclest OF all are the boys Of the
Anglo-saxon race. Since the begin.
nlngs Of education the schools OF En-.
gland have been the scene Of a long
series Of petty tyrnnnies calculated to
develop bullies or to result, as this un.
fortunate case did, In suicide. Anyone
who has read TON Browns School
Days' will remember the miserable
servitude which the younger and more
timid boys were obliged to live In and
the brutal treatment to which they
were subjected. This custom Of flag.
ging" Is upheld by the English people.
and even the gentle Thomas Hughes
excused 1t. 1t Is supposed to develop
manl'ness In youth. At least that Is
what the English urge In It's defense.
but 1t does nothing Of the kind. Where
It does not break the spirit Of the boy,
as In the case Of the unfortunate youth
alluded to. 1t Is apt to create DULLES Of
the worst kind. In America schools
and colleges are by no means 10 free
from cruelty Of this sort that England
can be condemned unsparingly. but the
fag system has never obtained here and
never could. 1t would be impossible
for hoy to be bounded to death In this
country for the reasons which led the
English lad to take his life. 1t was
his advocacy Of the Greek cause which
got him into such d srepute with his
fellows. The partisanship Of the sircs
Is not transmitted In this degree to the
sons In this country. rhe curious thing
about the English case Ia that the par.
cnts seem to take the death Of their
boy rs a matter Of course.
It II three centuries ni,d over since
Gregory NIL. reformed the julian cal.
endar ana proclaimed II to bc used In
all Catholic countries. where the fasts
ana festivals OF the church were oh.
served. II was not adopted In Protest.
ant countries until many years later,
and not In Great Britain until 1852.
Then Parliament established the re.
form and ordered eleven days to be
dropImd from the yeur 1862, the next
day after the Sd OF September In that
year being called the l4th. Many IL.
norant people actually supposed they
had been robbed Of eleven days Of the
year. and the cry Of "Sive US back our
eleven days" was frequently shouted
by the mob In the streets Of London
when any OF the ministry passed by,
The reform was adopted In all c0un.
tries save those where the Greek
church was tho established church,
that IL. In Russia and her Dependent
Giles and In Greece and to-day they
still maintain the Julian system OF
reckoning the year. The result Il that
there IL now twelve days difference In
time between these countries and the
rest Of the civilized world. and afte,
1000 there will be thirteen days differ
ence This IL a great disadvantage Ia
all commercial relationship. and efforts
have long been made to persuade Rus
sin to make the change. but hitherto
without avail. The ministry Of Bull
garia has. however, made the first move
to effect the reform In that country, and
a bill has been introduced In the 80.
branje to bring the Eastern method OF
computing time into conformity with
that of Western Europe. The Greek
church Is the main obstacle In the way
OF the reform, 80 tho progress of the
measure will doubtless be watched
with great interest. II 1t passes, II Ii
altogether likely that Greece and Rus.
sia Will follow and that tue beginning
Of the twentieth century will see the
Gregorian calendar at last esta bllshed
throughout the civilized world.
What might be termed the latest fea.
ture Of scientific kindergarten training
Ii the proposition to eliminate "baby
talk" from the nursery-in fact, to
sweep 1t of the face Of babyland. The
reform Ii based on the fact that par.