The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1899-05-20
ON RoGUEs AND DUPEs.

Honolulu is not the only community
that is taken in. One has only to read
the police reports of other lands to see
how the swindler operates freely There
is nothing too absurd for people TO
swallow. 1t was only short time ago
that parson in the East victimized a
number of people by starting a COM
pany to extract gold from sea water.
The man, "who broke the bank at
Monte Carlo" has been languishing in
Jail for several years, for swindling peo-
pie by organizing companies to operate
bogus inventions. In fact there is no
place where the knaves are not fleeing
the fools under some form or another.
Honolulu has therefore by no means
a monopoly of those who are fair game
for the bunco sharp and his tribe. AS
a rule he comes in the guise of one who
is a hail-fellow- well-met sort of an in
dividual. He takes with the would-be
''chappies," fleeces them at little
game, borrows what he can from them,
and raises cash upon bogus jewelry
which can be seen flashed by some of
our "bloods" later on. Then again. a
smooth and supple rogue takes Sir Per-
tinaX McSycophant's advice and does
not seek his prey at balls and routs,"
but he gangs to the kirk" and quickly
wins his way to fatter pocketbooks
than ever the "chappies" can boast. He
is by far the more dangerous rascal,
for he sometimes wrecks lives and hap
by homes. And then there is the brazen
rogue who plays upon ignorance, and
openly says or intimates, II am a
rogue, am humbug-but l can pat
ter and l can fool the illiterate the su-
perstitous and the weak minded" This
fellow feeces the poor, and though the
holder is perhaps the most hard-heart-
ed and grasping of the lot. We have
had them all here.
The above is broad classification,
but there are many gradations be-
tween them. 1t is almost useless to
warn people against them, for as long
as mankind exists there will be fools
and knaves, and the fools of our COM
munty frequently become the knaves
of another Confidence in their fellow
men makes many an easy prey. Dis
into the same trap. The man who
hedges himself from the rest of the
world, and who dwells upon the faults
and foibles of his neighbors, becomes
an easy prey to the mooth-tongued
hypocrite who puts the cloak of hypo-
crisy upon him and creeps within the
hedge. The very Righteousness of
Ut
Would he give nickel to the unregen-
crate neighbor who derides his self
righteousness, and laughs at his mar
row mindedness. Not much. The
neighbor might be honest and unfOrtu-
nate, but he needs frowning down. His
misfortunes are his own fault. But the
smooth rogue, who fiatters and agrees,
he is worthy of trust and if he repre-
sents himself as unfortunate, why the
purse strings must be opened, and the
nickel refused to the neighbor, becomes
golden coin to the rogue.
For these there need not be much
sympathy, but for those who are gulled
through ignorance and superstition,
their should be a shield, and there is a
shield if it is only properly handled.
There is law against kahunas, who
deal with superstition. There is law
for quack doctors. Whether the law
might not be extended a great deal far
Their than it is, is quite a question for
argument. But we have to take it as
it is. The effect of the law was to drive
DIR. Ferdon, commonly known as the
Quaker Doctor, out of the country, but
ii was unable to reach him until he had
done a great deal of harm and feeced
a number of poor people. The fact is
that people of this class will multiply
unless a very strict eye is kept upon
them, and unless retribution falls upon
them quickly Under our changed con-
ditions redoubled vigilance is neces-
sary-and the vigilance should be ex-
ercised in guarding the poor, the ignor-
ant and the superstitious. If the we'll
TODD get swindled, in nine cases out OF
ten, they have but themselves to blame,
and there is not any great need of
spending sympathy upon them, though
the rogues ought to be punished just
the same.