The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-08-16
Big and Little Thieves.

If there is one thing more threatening
than another among the evils which
imperil our national life today it is the
tendency 10 pardon thievery among the
respectable classes Of society. Parallel
with this runs a similar disposition to
excuse and even 20 admire the highway
r0bber and the burglar on the part of
those who are somewhere near his
social level The two things together
are likely 10 make il, in course Of time,
sOmeW hat peTilOUs TO own property. II
II is put in a bank tire cashier may get
IL, if il is kept in the house the burglar
will smell it out; if it is invested in real
estate an INSCRIPTIONS municipal gov
eminent may tax it out Of existence.
It makes the small property owner feel
as ii he were in the midst of a web
spun by large. hungry, and ambitious
spider.
Much breath is spent in defending the
rights Of private property against the
attacks Of the Socialist and the striker.
and neither Of them Is able 20 do very
much damage 90 property rights. Il
would be "a good thing II some If this
against executives who pardon and
juries wEo acquit the men who wreck
and rob o bank There is no disposition
10 be meTcifUl 20 the man who tunnels
under the smelling works where gold is
kept and carries of a quarter Of "a mil
lion dollars worth The more he steals
the heavier his punishment viii be II
he breaks into a private house and
steals five hundred dollars. or five dol
lars for the matter Of that. he is called
thief without any mincing Of mat
tiers: and that is right, for he is one.
He is also. among the people Of his own
class who have not wit or daring
enough To- emulate his behavior. a sort
OF hero. and SO long as ne is regarded
in that light by the people he knows,
and can dodge the police. he does not
care what the law-abidiug people Of
the community think Of him. In fact.
he rather enjoys the fiction that they
are afraid Of him and cannot catch him
whatever he may do.
10 is precisely the same with the
cashier who runs away with a large
sum Of money and cripples a bank. or
for wreckiug il. Like the burglar he is
Indifferent TO the opinion Of people not
in his own class. The thief has a code
Of morals. although il is rather more.
elementary than that Of other people.
and men Of this stamp have been
known 10 commit suicide because they
could not bear the contempt Of their
fellows after trauegressing some arti-
Gle of this code. Sometimes the bank
cashier is overtaken by the same sort
Of retribution. and then he frequently
commits suicide also. Public senti-
meut when it is powerful. is more ef-
fectiye IN promoting good behavior
than any law. II is good 10 punish men
for crime: but better to make them
punish themselves.
The course which has been pursued
in many cases Of bank stealings. how
ever. tends 10 create IN the minds Of
UnthinklnE and selfish men Of business
the impression that il is rather smart
and easy TO rob other people so long as
they have no power 10 retaliate. Espe-
claly is il innocuous 10 rob the bank
or the Government because the loss
viii be divided up among a great many
people That these people are often
poor. and that In some eases the theft
may reduce them 10 absolute staI-va-
tiOn, does not trouble the conscience