Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1900-05-04

ties. 1t should be stamped out where
milder methods fail.
The activity of the authorities in New
York in the prosecution of the men
who circulated false reports affecting
inJuriously the market value of the
stock of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit
Company last fall affords ground for
no little speculation on the part Of
those who are interested in the dissec-
ton of morals and casuistry of the kind
that concerns itself with shades Of
right and wrong. 1t opens an interest
Ing and curious field Of thought. For
instance, how much lying about the
condition Of big company would be
required to cause indictments by a
grand jury and the criminal prosecu-
ton of the circulatOrs of false state
ments, provided the objects were the
booming" Of stock instead of its de-
probation? When will some district
attorney procure the arrest and trial Of
officers of great corporation who say
that it is sound and prosperous when
they know that it is in rotten condi-
ton and a most precarious situation?
What Is the exact moral difference be-
tween lying to injure property and ly-
ing to injure the persons who are in
duced to buy it? Obviously, If "bull'
reports which had no foundation in
truth were indictable under the GRIM
inal statutes of New York, the police of
that city would have their hands full
during the big boom" OF 1893 and
1899. They could scarcely have kept
track of the lies told about any one of
half a dozen conspicuous properties.
The labors of Hercules would have
been small affair by comparison with
the task of protecting buyers of stocks
from their own credulity and the false
statements made by men in positions of
trust and authority in the management
OF great corporations. 1t must be that
in the official view bear" lying is far
more wicked than "bull' lying. 1t is
one thing to injure the owners of stocks
actively dealt in in the New York mar
ket and quite another to entrap out
siders by inducing them to buy "securi-
ties" which do not secure the money
they invest 1t is the typical Wall
street view. But is it logic or morals?
A comparative untouched phase of
the question Of forest destruction is
brought out in book called North
American Forests and Forestry" by
Ernest Bruncken, a prominent West
ern forester. The author incidentally
discusses the part which our forests
have had in shaping American charac-
ter and our national history. This
phase of the matter is interesting both
as historical study and as Il sugges-
ton of the moral as well as economic
loss which must come with the denu-
datiOn of our forest areas. All thiuk-
ing Americans know that the forests
are an important factor in our CONNER
cial life, and Mr.. Bruncken makes an
impressive statement of the way in
which the lumber industry permeates
all the nations activities. But the part
played by the vast primeval forests in
creating American character is not so
generally realized, From the earliest
colonial times the forests have had Il
moral and political effect in shaping
our history. In the seventeenth century
England was dependent upon Norway
and the Baltic provinces for its timber
for ships. This was in various ways
disadvantageous for England, so the
American colonists were encouraged
with bounties to cut ship timbers,
masts, and other lumber for European
export. This trade. however, was
found to be Improbable on account of
the long ocean voyage, so the Ameri-
can lumbermen began to develop prof
table market in the West Indies. This
was straightway interdlcted by the
short-sighted British government, and
the bitter and violent opposition of the
colonists against this tyrannical policy
ceased only with the end of British
dominion. From that time to the pres
ent the forests of America have eXer-
cised most important influence upon
the nation. especially in creating the
self-reliance which is the chief trait OF
the American character. The trappers,
hunters, explorers and backwoods set
tiers who went forth alone into the
dense forests received schooling such
as nothing else could give. AS the
forest closed behind the settler he knew
his future and that of his family must
henceforth depend upon himself, his
AK, his rifle, and the few simple uten-
sils he had brought with him. 1t was
n school that did not teach the graces
but 1t made men past masters in cour-
age. pertinacity and resourcefulness. II
bred new, simple and forceful type
of man. Out of the midst of that back
wondS life came Abraham Lincoln th,