The Penn's Grove record., 1899-02-10
DIR. TALMAGE'S SERMON.
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE BY THE NOTED
DIVINE.
Subject; Dishonest Transsctions"-ons
of the Crying Evils of Modern Life is
the Abuse of ~Trust-Beware OF I'll web

"
The two most sklllful architects in all tn,
world are the bee mt the spider, The on
puts up a sugar mandatory and the othe
builds a slaughter house for flies. On
bright summer morning when the SUI
comes out and shines upon the spider
web, bedecked with dew, the gossame
structure seems bright enough for a sus
pension bridge for aerial beings to eros
on. But alas for the poor fly which in th,
latter part ofthat very day ventures on |
and is caught and duhgeoned and de
stroyedl Thehy was informed that 1t wa
a free bridge and would cost nothing, bu
at the other end of the bridge the toll paiC
was its W life. The next day there
comes down a strong wind, and away &
the web and the marauding spider ant
the victimized fly. SO delicate are thu
silken threads of the spiders web tina
many thousands of them are put together
before they become visible to the human
eye, and IL takes 1000, 600 of them to make
a thread rs large as the human hair. Mos
cruel as well as most ingenious is tht
spider. A prisoner In the Bastille, France
had one so trained that at the sound oftht
violin 1t every day came for its meal o
flies. The author of my text, who was q
leading scientist of his day, had no doubi
watched the voracious process Of this ont
insect with another and saw spider and fly
swept down with the same broom or scat
tered by the same wind. Alas that the
world has so many designing spiders and
ylctimized hiesl
There has not been a time when the
utter and black responsibility of many
men having the financial interests oil
others in charge has been more evident
than In these last few years. The bank
ruptcy Of banks and disappearance of ad.
illustrators with the funds of large estates
and the disordered accounts ofUnited States
OH cials have sometimes made a pestllence
of crime that solemnizes every thoughtful
man and woman and leads every philan-
thropist and Christian to ask, What shall
be lone to stay the plague? There is ever
and amor a monsoon of swindle abroad, u
typhoon, a sirocco. | sometimes ask my
self If 1t would not be better for men max
ing Wills to bequeath the property directly
to the executors and officers Of the court
and appoint the widows and orphans a
committee to see that the former got all
that did not belong to them. The simple
fact is that there are n large number OF
men sailing yachts and driving fast horses
and members of expensive cl~ubhouses and
controlling country seats who are not
worth a dollar II they return to others
their just rights. Under some sudden re-
verse they fail, and with afflicted air seem
to retire from the world and seem
almost ready for monastic life, when in two
or three years they blossom out again, hav-
ing compromised with their creditor5-that
Is, paid them nothing but regret. and the
only difference between the second chap
ter of prosperity and the first Is that their
pictures are Muriiios instead of Kensetts
and their horses go a mile in twenty sec
onds less than their predecessors, and in
stead of one county seat they have three.
l have watched and have noticed that nine
out of ten OF those who fail In what Is called
high life have more means after than be-
fore the failure, and In many of the cases
failure is only n stratagem to escape the
payment Of honest debts and put the world
off the track while they practice a large
swindle. There is something woefully
wrong In the fact that these things are pos
sible.
First OF all, I charge the blame on care
less, indifferent bank directors and boards
having in charge great financial institu-
tions. 1t ought not to be possible for a
president or cashier or prominent officer
OF a banking institution to swindle it year
after year without detection. l will under.
take to say that il these frauds are carried
on for two or three years without detee-
ton either the directors are partners in
the infamy and pocket part of the theft or
they are guilty of a eulpable neglect of
duty for which God will hold them as re-
sponsible as He holds the acknowledged de-
frauders. What right have prominent
business mon to allow their names to be
published as directors In a financial insti-
tuition so that unsophisticated people are
thereby induced to deposit their money in
or buy the scrip thereof when they, the
published directors, are doing moth
ing for the safety OF the institution?
1t Is a case of deception most
reprehensible. Many people with a surplus
OF money, not needed for immediate use,
although it may be a little farther on in
Jf1rayrrI11 a.n ,rfE1I,, finland la ~ >, nafant
to advise them, and they are guided solely
by the character of the men whose names
are associated with the institution. When
the crash came and with the overthrow of
the banks went the small earnings and
limited fortunes OF widows and orphans
and the helplessly aged, the directors
stood with idiotic stare, and to the inquiry
Of the frenzied deposltors and stockholders
who had lost their all, and to the arraign-
ment Of an indignant public, had nothing
to say except: 1--WE thought it was all
right. We did not Know there was any
thing wrong going n" 1t was their duty
to know. They stood in IA position which
deluded the people with the idea that they
were carefully observant. Calling them
selves directors, they did not direct. Thsy
had opportunity of auditing accounts and
Inspecting the books. No time to do SO?
Then they had nc business to accept the
position. 1t seems to be the pride of some
moneyed men to be directors in a great
many institutions, and all they know is
whether or not they get their dividends
regularly, and their names are used Us de-
coy ducks to bring others near enough to
be made game of. What first of all is
needed is that 500 bank directors and in
surance company directors resign or at
tend to their business as directors. The
business world will be full of fraud just as
long as fraud Is so easy. When you arrest
the president and secretary OF a bank for
an embezZlement carriedon for many years,
be sure to have plenty Of sheriffs out the
same day to arrest all the directors. They
are guilty either of neglect or completely.
We must especially deplore the misfor-
tunes OF banks in various parts of this
country in hat they damage the banking
institution, which Is the great convenience
Of the centuries and Indispensable to COM
merce and the advance of nations. With
one hand 1t blesses the lender. and with
the other 1t blesses the borrower. On
their shoulders are the interests Of private
individuals and great corporations. In
them are the great arteries through which
run the currents of the nations life. They
lave been the of the thousands
of lnanciers in days of business exigency.
They stand for accommodation, for facil-
ity, for Individual, State and national re-
lief. At their head and in their manage
thpip : US hAhNu hNNtNhN ""A AHSt"i
worth as In any class OF men, perhaps
more. How nefarious. then, the behavior
OF those who bring disrepute upon this
venerable, ~benignant and God honored in
stitution.
We also deplore abuse OF trust funds be-
cause the abusers fly in the face of divine
goodness which seems determined to bless
this land. We are having a series OF unex-
ampled national harvests. The wheat
gamblers get hold Of the wheat, and the
corn gamblers get hold of the corn. The
full tide OF Gods mercy toward this land is
put back by those great bikes of dishonest
resistance. When God provides enough
food and clothing to feed and apparel this
whole nation like princes, the scramble OF
dishonest men to get more than their share,
and get 1t at all hazards. keeps everything
shaking with uncertainty and everybody
asking "What next2'' Every week makes
new revelations. How many more bank
presidents aud bank cashiers have beer
Specializing with other peoples money, and
how many more bank directors are in i'm
beetle silence, letting the perldy go on
the great and patient God only knowsl My
opinion is hat we have got nenr the bot
tom. The wind has been pricked from the
great bubble OF American speculation. The
men who thought that the judgment day
was at least 5000 years off found it in 1885,
or 1897 or 1896. And this nation has beer
tn,g,bt that ~ rnttGf EaAn THAR hnDds