Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1901-11-14

| 49, N-AS N-tS o ~" ., lUL DIS L nom
'EnrsOH Gaid: The growth Of grea
cites IS pestilential to good morals. 8"
| The public treasury is q thing to be
pIundeTed, whether it be munic. pal
state or national. There are thousands
Of men who would not steal from me-
but would steal the money l pay into
| the treasury, for there it tc-omos s.
mixed up that nobody knows WHOSE
money it IS. 1t is just as it was tw9
hundred years ago, when Swift VIC q:
Great fleas have little feas upon the.r
backs to bite EN-,
And little feas have lesser feas. ani 50
on ad ininitum"
There is one comfort about all this
| public plunder. The money does net 20
! dead. 1t has to be invested and gives
/ employment to labor. \ millionaire
| can't eat nor wear out much more
! than l can, nor will he lock Up h.s
money and let it rest. Not long ago l
! asked a clever northern man why I
was that rich people who Ply the most
! Of the taxes let the pension stal 60
! on so long and get bigger every year?
! He smiled and said: why that pen
| SION money goes mostly to the poor
! and we get it all back sooner or la ter
It is our cheapest way of supporting
! chem, especially when We have your
| help Poor Garfield. In his last mes-
sage he lamonted that the pension rolls
! had got to the alarming sum Of $30.-
| OG0 600, but said there was comfort n
! that it was obliged to decrease from
| no do
mon lot and the pensioners were rap
| idly decreasing in number He was
mistaken. They have been multiplying
ever since he was KILLED. and now it
! takes $3.50, 900 to pay the roll.
Public plunder would not be 50 bad
# it was done in the open. What agra
| Yates US is that it is done On tie sly
! through corruption, through br.bos.
| franchises, charters, lConsas, salaries
and schemes. 1t always vaXcs me t.
| see the cock hiding something or her
child carrying off a bundle on tHe sly
! and hiding it under her apron as she
| s going home. But they are al 50 nj
| and 50 willing and so good to the chill
| dren that we saw wood and say moth
| ing. They remind NE of what q blind
/ ,hh 'c-Io.osi5t said Of & pubic Offic a
| n Rome while feeling the bumps Oh
! his head. He did not know him at ALL
| but said, This man is kind-hea~te1
| and good-natured and would do YOU a
| favor if y0u were in dlStI ess, but he
| will steal. If he found man asleep
alone in room at night he would slip
! MS purse from cut his pocket, but
would kiss him before hc left HIM" lie
| diagnosed tie man correctly, for he
was turned out OF office soon after fer
embeZzling the public money, and eV-
| =rybOdy was sorry for him because he
was 50 generous with his plumber.
Stealing from the public crib seems 10
be a higher grade Of crime than ly ng,
though it takes lying and hypOcr.cY
and deceit to accomplish it. | have 81
ten wondered why lying was, not for
Didde1 in the Ten Commandments.
"Thou Shalt not steal is there, but
thou shalt not lie" is not there, AMI
yet it is accursed all through the scrip.
lures and is the last sin recorded il
he last chapter of Revelations and in
| 1early the last verse. For without
are dogs and s0rcerers, and whore
nOngers and TurdeTers and WhcsCev-
or l0veth and maIleth lie" According
70 ljaNLu, tnGI SIh tIu ilJj IEdFG NCly
many to enter heaven, fer he says, Il
said in mine haste all men are liaTE.'
The old Scotch preacher took it for a
ext and his first remark was, "An,
David. me mon if ye had waited until
l0w We might have said it at y0jr lois-
are" Lying is no doubt the most UHt-
7ersal sin among mankind. bat it s
graded and not always q sin. S,eal.n
is always sin, but lying must 1e
malignant or harmful. Paul sent Titus
0 Crete and wrote to him that he
would have a hard time in establish
.ng a church there, fer the Cre2tanS
we're all liars. Crete is Gambia now, an
tsland in the Mediterranean, inha5it-
ID by MOhammedanS chiefly, and tray
9lers say that they are no better now
han they were in ST. Tauls day, Ter
hey are not Only liars. but thieves.
England used to have laws TO punlS
common soldiers, common drunkaTdS
and common vagabOndS. but none to
punish common liars, 70. they az
generally harmless. Every community
aas one or two and they Feep rs
amused at their MunChausen eXp!ol 5
in hunting and fishing and ther mar
rCw escapes. Then there are some IN
COMMON liars-liaTs Of the first m2Sn
tude as Shakespeare calls ti.2n, Su2h
as Baron MUnchausen, Joe Mulhattan
and some Chicago editors and preach
ers. Some Of these set into the pulpit
and make UP pathetic stores ana
thrilling incident to emphasize ther
sermons and create q sensation. And
there are tt 0usandS of little white lies,
society lies hat have to be told f2F
civiIity's sake-Iies that fatter ani
please the visitor. the customer or the
natient. All these are spoken lies, bat
there are as many acted lies in tTadinr,
such as conceaIing the truth and put
ting the best on top. In fact. everybody
lies more or less except children ana
fools. though most of rs mean TO harm
Nv it. MY old partner used to say that
some mighty clever men would be SHUT
out Of heaven for swearing lie ID
rheir tax returns. for David says,
Lord. who shall abide il Thy taber-
nacle: who shall dwell in Thy holy
hilI-he that speaketh the truth IN
heart and sweareth to his own hurt
and changeth not.
Withholding what is due to the stare
IS as bad as stealing from IT. Ana
withholding what man ought to give
m the church he belongs to is almost
as great a sin as that Of Ananias. 1t IS
stealing from God. Nothing that
member OF the church can GO SO
readily fixes his character as Chris
ian as his willingness to give al that
he can according to his means. l.thes
and offerings have come down 10 Is
rom Cain and Abel in an unorokel
inc. Cain was a bad man. but ne pa
lis tithes. Fe was the first liar on r.
)rd-the devil excepted.