Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1898-08-11

bankrupt.
My charge is to you in oil departments
of life, steer clear of bribery, all of you. Ev
cry man and woman at some time will be
tempted to do wrong for compensation.
Tho bride 1Iay not be offered in money.
1t may be $btrcd in social position. Let
us remember that there is a day coming
when the most secret transaction of pri-
waite life and of public life will come up
| for public apprehension.
We cannot bride death, VIC cannot bride
sickness, we cannot bride the grave, we
cannot bride the judgments of that God
| who thundcrs against this sin. "Fic!"
| said Cardinal Beaufort, "hol Can't death
! be bribedS Is money nothing? Must l
| die, and so rchY If the owning of tho
! whole realm would save me, l could get it
| by policy or by purchasc-by money"
! No. lanth would not be bribcd then Ho
/ will rot lee bribcd low. Men Of the world
/ often regret that they have TO leave their
/ money here when they go away from tho
world You can tell from what they say
! in their last hours that one of their chief
sorrows is that they have to leave their
/ money. l break that dclusion. tell that
bribc takcr that he will take his money
with him. God will wrap 1t up In your
shroud, or put 1t in the palm Of your hand
in resurrection, and there it VIII lie, not
the cool, bright, shining gold MS it was on
the day when you sold your vote and your
moral principle, but there 1t Will lie, u
hot metal, burning and consuming your
hand forever Or, If there be enough of it
for chain, then it will fall over the wrist,
clnnking the fcttcrs of an eternal captiv-
ity Tho bribo is an everlasting posses
sion. You take it for time, you take It for
{ ~
when you are longing for sympathy, you
will feel on your check kiss. Looking
up, you will find 1t to be Judas who took
30 pieces of silver MS n bribc and finished
the bargain by putting an infamous kiss
on the pure check of his Divine Master.
Abuse of Trust Funds.
Another wrong use Of money is seen in
the abuse of trust funds. Nearly every
man during the course of his life, on n
larger or smaller scale, has the property of
others committed to his keeping. He is
So far u safety deposit, he is an admins
traitor and holds in his hand the interest
of the family of deceased friend, or he
is an attorney, and through his custody
goes the payment from debtor to creditor,
or he is the collector for business house,
which compcnsatcs him for the response
bility, or he is treasurer for n charitable
institution, and he holds aims contributed
for the suffering, or he is an official of the
city or the state or the nation, and taxes
and subsidies and salaries and supplies arc
in his keeping.
1t Is as solemn trust us God can make
it. 1t is conccntercd and multiplied con
hdonccs. On that man depends tho sup
port Of II bCreft household, or the morals
Of dependents, or the right movement of n
thousand wheels " social mechanism. A
man may do what he will with his own,
but he who abuses trust funds in that one
act commits theft, falschoud, perjury and
becomes in all the intensity Of the word Il
miscrCant. How many widows and or
phans there are with nothing between them
and starvation but sewing machine OF
held up out of the vortex of destruction
, simply by the thread of needle, red with
their own heart 5 blood, who II little whilc
ago had by father and husband left them
II competency What Is the matter? Tie
administrators or the executors have sa"ri
feed it-running risks with it that they
e would not have dared to encounter in thcil
own private affairs.
How often il is that u man will earn {
; livelihood by the sweat of his brow ant
then die, and within u few months all tn,
estate goes into the stock gambling rapids
of Wall street! How often it is that yol
have known the man to whom trust funds
were committed taking them out of thu
. savings bank and from trust companie
e and administrators, turning old home
q stcads into hard cash, and then putting tn,
entire estate into the vortex of spcCula
ton. Embodiment is an easy word Il
g pronounce, but it has 10, 600 ramifcalions
There Is noJ n city that has not suffered
from the abuse Of trust funds Where /
the courthouse or the city hall or the iai
l or the postoflicc or tho hospital that in tn
( building of 1t has not had n political job
| Long before the new courthouse in Ney
l York city was completed it cost over $l2,
5 000,0 900. Five million six hundred an,
sixty-three thousand dollars for furniture
$ For plastering and repairs 81. $40, COO
; for plumbing and gas works, Sl,23l, Sl1
c for awnings, s23, 553, the bills for thrc
t months coming to the nice little sum G
Q $l3,l5l, 1880. There was not an homes
q brick or STONE or Hath or nail or foot G
: plumbing cor inch of plastcring or inkstan
l. or doorknob in the whole establishment.
I An Everlasting Crop.
u That bad example was followed in man
c of the cities, which did not steal quite ;
i much because there was not so much t
y steal. There ought to be closer inspec
: ton, and there ought to be less opportl
G nifty for cmbezzlemcnt. Lest II man sha
U take q cent piece that does not belong /
II him, the conductor on the city horse ca
II must sound his bell at every payment, an
u we are very cautious about small oifense'
Il but give plenty Of opportunities for sir
Il ncrs on u large scale to escape-for n DO
10 who steals loaf of bread from cornt
Is grocer to keep his mother from starving
death, prison, but for defrauders VIII
abscond with $500, 900, n castle on til
~ Rhine, or waiting until the otfenso is TO
Il gotten, u castle on the Hudson
r Another remark needs to be made an
y that is that people ought not 20 I'M
places, into business or int .sitiOI
10 Shcre the temptation Is mightier tina
y thor character. If there be large sums
II money to be handled, and the man is M
n sure of his own integrity, you have
ii right to run an unseaworthy craft in
70 hurricane. A man can tell by the sense
t. weakness or strength in the presence of
II bad opportunity whether he is in n sa
y place. How many parents make an awf'
10 mistake when they put their boys in ban
ing houses and stores and rhops and ia
10 tories and places of solemn trust withol
" once discussing whether they can cndu
t, the temptation! You give the boy li1en
re of money and have no account of it al
I'd make the way down become very ca
90 and you may tut upon him pressu
j. that he cannot stand. There are men wi
g. go into positions full Of temptation, co
~ siderinR only that they are lucrative pos