BoletiÌn mercantil de Puerto Rico. (San Juan, P.R.) 18??-1918, 1902-05-03
Conscience, Money.

In recent years all sorts of curious sit
uations have arisen from the giving of
what is commonly known as conscience
money. It was comparatively simple
matter for robber nobleman or a king
in medieval times to appease his con-
science for the useless sack of a,city by
dedicating part of the proceeds to the
building of a chapel. 1t was, as some
one has Hittily described it, like steal
ing a pig and giving away its trotters
for Gods sake" Such a gift embarras-
ed nobody and often added to the beau-
ty and well-being of the country. Many
of the endowed institutions of ancient
times arose on such foundations of Pc
nance. Indeed, in modern times, too,
in our own country, where public bene-
ficence is greater than ever before, it
might appear, if the truth were known.
that many of the benefactions, to insti-
tutions 5ere at heart penance fer the
unscrupnlous accumulation of wealth.
Even George Peabody man whose inte-
gritty was beyond reproach felt, it is said,
sense of guilt for the eallh that he
honestly amassed; and his extraordin-
ary gifts sprung from his feeling of
moral responsibility to his fellows. Pro
baby it was with the example in mind
of the rich giving out of their luxuries
that prominent clergyman recently
delivered the usual diatribe against
such giving and magnifed the impor
tancs of the "idow's mite.
But besides this there has been goln 6
on for some years an Interesting kind
of anonymous penance. The national,
state and municipal treasnrers find
themselves receiving contributions from
unkno En sources in lieu of part obliga
tions that unknown individuals claim tC
be due the government from themsel
ves All great tax-collecting agencie-
the treasurer at Washington, the Gus
toms collectors office, the state and city
collect ors-have an item called the
conscience fund that regularly ap-
pears in their reports. 1t was thus ma
med by the national treasurer Spinner,
who did not know how otherwise to
credit ST., 5000 that The received from an
anonymous source.
Certain philosophers who have NOR
allied on the matter hold that this form
OF conscience money Shows that human
nature is good at heart even in this
seemingly mercenary aad corrupt age.
Some OF theological bent have claimed
that Slch facts entirely disprove the
traditional dogma of original sin. Such
unique method of atonement is GER
tainly an i'm orovement upon the former
public method and shows something
about human nature, although it must
be confessed that it is difficult to tell
exactly what. For example, in 1873
the members of congress voted them
selves an increase of salary-a bill
that was known as "the salary graf"
The rnany of the members turned
about and sent back to the United
States treasurer what they considered
the unjust and unearned increment to
their salaries. One year the national
treasurer received SIS 900 from an un-
known person. The advertised tact
ire y letters from ore than one hum
dred persons who asserted that they
had sent the money by mistake or that
an idiotic parent or relative had sent
it for a purely imaginary debt, and
that it was quite proper for the gov
ernment to return it to them with all
dignifed haste. The amounts received
for the conscience fund" by the au-
thorities are sometimes very large, yet
they probably represent only. a small
fraction of per cent. of what the
government is annually defrauded.
Sometimes the conscience fund gets
a considerable sum like the $IIo5o
which an English clergyman sent in
1896 in behalf of convert or like the
$4,000 received last November for
smuggled goods. The most of this
anonymous conscience money comes,
however, in driblets for misappropri-
ated funds, for duties on gloves, lace,
vases, etc, or for an overdrawn salary.
In Boston in 1886 money came to the
city treasurer in amounts ranging from
81 to $I2 from an Aaron R, Locke, who
could not be found in the city, however
The officials concluded that the sender