The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1901-11-14
Bill Talks of The Sins of The Pres.
ent Day In The World.
ABOUT LYING AND STEALING.
Corruption in Politics of the Day and
Stealing From the Public Crib-Dif-
f.rent Kinds of Liars.

we are uOI ulSlTeSSeu DIT lue ONcl-
throw of Tammany in New York. Sew
enty years is long enough for party
or political power to rule a great me-
tropolis. Corruption breeds more mag
gots as the city grows, for as Thomas
Jefferson said: THE growth of great
cities is pestilential to good morals. =
The public treasury is thing to be
plundered, whether it be municipal.
state or national. There are thousands
of men who would not steal from me.
but would steal the money | pay into
the treasury, for there it becomes 50
mixed up that nobody knows whose
money it is. 1t is just as it was two
hundred years ago, when Swift woe:
Great fleas have little fleas upon Their
backs to bite 'em,
And little fieas have lesser fleas, and 50
on ad infnitum."
There is one comfort about all this
public plunder. The money does not 50
dead. 1t has to be invested and gives
employment to labor. A millionaire
can't eat nor wear out much more
than | can, nor will he lock up h:s
money and let it rest. Not long ag3 |
asked clever northern man why i
was that rich PEOPLE who pay the NEST
of the taxes let the pension stal 60
on so long and get bigger every yea:?
He smiled and said: why that pen
sion money goes mostly to the poor
and we get it all back sooner or Later.
1t IS our cheapest way Of suppo.t,ng
them, especially when We have your
help" Poor Garfield. In his last MS
sage he lamented that the pension rolls
had got to the alarming sum of S3n.-
100000. but said there was comfc!t N
that it was obliged to decrease from
natural causes, for death was the CON-
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 s150.000,0G0 to pay the roll.
Public plumber would not be 50 bad
If it was done in the open. What agra
Yates us is that it is done On TIE slT
through corruption, through br!bes.
franchises, charters, licenses. salaries
and schemes. 1t always vexes me to
see the cook hiding something or her
child carrying off bundle on the sly
and hiding it under her apron as she
IS going home. But they are all sork,n1
and so willing and so good to the chill
dren that We saw wood and say noth-
ing. They remind me of what blind
1hrenologist said Of public offic al
IN Rome while feeling the bumps on
his head. He did not know him at all.
but said, This man is kind-hea"ted
and good-natured and would do you
favor. if you were in distress, but he
will seal. If he found a man asleep
alone in room at night he would slip
his purse from out his pocket, bu;
would kiss him before he left him He
diagnosed the man correctly. for he
vas turned out OF office soon after TOR
ambezzllng the public money, and ev-
erybody was sorry for him because lie
was so generous with his plumber.
Stealing from the public crib seems 10
be a higher grade Of crime than ly nS,
though it takes lying and hypocr-cy
and deceit to accomplish it. have Of
ten wondered why lying was not for
pidden in the Ten Commandments.
1'Thou shalt not steal is there, bat
thou shalt not lie" is not there. ana
vet it is accursed all through the scrip
lures and is the last sin recorded IN
he last chapter of Revelations and in
nearly the last verse. For without
are dogs and sorcerers, and whore
mongsrs and murderers and whos@ev-
or loveth and maketh lie" According
to David, that sin did not leave very
many to enter heaven, for he says, i
said in mine haste all men are liars.
The old Scotch preacher took II for a
ext and his first remark was. An,
David. me mon, if ye had waited until
low We might have said it at your leis-
ure," Living is no doubt the most UNI
yersal sin among mankind, but ii IS
GRADED and not always sin. Stealins
Is always a sin. but lying must be
malignant or harmful. Paul sent Titus
o Crete and wrote to him that ne
%ouId have a hard time in estaphsh-
ing a church there, for the Creatans
were all liars. Crete is Gambia now, an
ISLAND in the Mediterranean, inhs5it-
ID by Mohammedans chiefly. and trav-
slers say that they are no better now
han they were in st. Pauls day, Tor
ehey are not only liars, but thieves.
England used to have laws to PUNISH
common soldiers, common drunkards
and common vagabonds, but none TO
punish common liars, for they are
generally harmless. Every community
has one or two and they keep us