New-York tribune., 1899-07-17
THE OLD STORY.

The strangest thing about bank defalcatons
Is that any man should be so foolish as 10 de
fault Either there must be many cases Vi
successful stealings and restorations OF trust
funds which the public never hears OF, Dut
which sct an example to tellers and CASHIERS
who know of or suspect them, or else the ps!-
choogy of trusteeship Is past computation. H.
as we are led to believe. accounts are so sale-
guarded and bank examination Is so periec'
that detection almost inevitably follows tam
perlng with funds, why is 1t that the same oiu
story Of defalcation Is told again and again in
almost identical words?
Unless the great precautions OF our Danks
are n mere pretence every clerk who touches
n first dishonest penny knows he Is counting
olmost certain destruction Try as we VIII 10
give full weight TO the weakness OF human
character and the tremendous strength OF
termination TO make money quickly. to what
NAV almost he called the hypnotizing effect of
the handling of large sums If money, still II is
imnossihle 10 account for the folly that leads
an intelligent man 10 think that he may be
the one exception 10 the rule OF discovery ana
disgrace. The chances are so much against
hm-at least they are supposed 10 pe-'ha''
nuttlnC aside all moral considerations, he IS
simply walking open eyed into stupendous foliy'
The Perth Amboy bank cashier who Is now III
iail having wrecked his bank and brought IN
estlmable grief to honorable relatives never
had any reason to think the story would ehu
in any other way. 1t never does end i'll an!
other waX-uness. indeed as we say. all our
beliefs Of bank security are ilinslohs "aiii-
bling is uncertain enough at best, but the mah
who CANDLES not merely TO win or lose money
1,..t ttc
whether he can well or i'll afford II, Dut puts
ND with the stakes liberty, honor. everything
gives odds such as one might think no sane
man would ever contemplate.
He NAV say he Is no more likely TO lose be-
cause the stake is stolen Perhaps that Is true
ma,hematically Some way or other IL 1sh
true morally. for ii Is the man who does not
need to win who in nine cases out or ten does
win at gambling. He who cannot aHord 10
lose always seems TO. whether because his 1udg-
ment is hurt by the tension of his situation, or
for some more subtle reason, who can sa! {!
And even If he has an equal chance on the
issue his risk is so great In proportion 10 an!
nossihle roin that n hard headed man of finance
ought TO turn away from any such tempta-
ton as mere business proposition lie IS not
the ordinary victim of superstition ana vain
confidence in luck He can calculate probabili-
ties and count the cost, and he knows from the
start that the chances are all against him.
There is nothing IN Valentines story 10 ex-
cite any special pity for him. 1t Is the same
old tragedy Of sin--others suffer. That, too'
was part of the stake. That was the Dreach
of trust blacker than any stealing from 'he
bank. Under no pressure Of necessity. In no
desperate strait to save himself ana them
from some evil by dishonesty, he threw the
happiness Of their lives away in mere sordid-
ness. But we are not looking at the new oid
story TO see the old moral lessons that enforce
themselves, but rather with wondering curl
osity at the blind perversity of practical men
in walking to their own downfall. not IN pas
sion. not as the result Of criminal inheritance
or bad surroundings, but by deliberate choice
knowing fully the road they travel, seeing the
end from the beginning.