Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-01-15

the social and moral condition of all
mankind"
Now wouldn't it be good thing
If all our churches would throw away
their creeds and articles of faith, and
substitute for them the creed of the
Don't Knock Order, to which every
member who joined the church, would
have to subscribe, and have to pay
a fine for every failure to live up to his
| pledge. Gee whillikins! what a mag
nificent revenue would continually
pour into the Golfers of the church!
AS money making scheme 1t would
make church suppers and bazars ap-
pear ridiculous and absurd.
/ Did you ever try, reader, for single
day to live up to such pledge? To go
| a whole day without one unkind word
of criticism of living soul? Suppose
|everyone would try it for just one day.;
then for 365 days. What a happy old
world this would be! Or, would it be-?
Is it always "a duty to refrain from
telling what we know of others unless
| it be solicited? We are all of US more
or less at the mercy Of one another,
and dependent upon one another for
| our welfare. Not a day passes over
lour heads in which some innocent per-
son does not suffer thru want of knowl-
edge which we may possess but fail to
limpart because 1t has not been SOL
| icited.
know family that live in mag
nificent style, one of the finest houses
on the avenue, keep Several servants,
Indulge in every luxury, dress extra
vagantly, and spend their time and
purse fully on theaters, concerts, balls,
1 etc. They meet all the bills they are
lcompelled to pay in advance, and de-
fraud the balance-those who trust
| them and who are least able to suf-
| fer. My little dressmaker who has a
| big bill Of long standing against this
| woman, continues to trust her on the
1 strength OF supposed wealth, but she
ldoesn't know what I know-that the
family left a lot of bills unpaid in the
town from whence they came. Ought
I to tell her? Yes, but 1t would be q
| knock
If the Don't Knock Order" were to
become universal, and we should all try
| to live up to our pledges, fancy 1t
would raise some fine points in ethics,
c.g. here is one:
A young preacher has recently come
| to town. He is a nice fellow socially,
of good address and fair ability in the
pulpit, conscientious and honest in all
his outward relations and dealings, and
apparently has but one fault, he insists
| on preaching other mems sermons, for
what reason don't know, unless he Is
too lazy to prepare his own. for am
sure he could preach q tolerably good
| sermon.
But the great offense is, not that he
breaches other mems sermons (fOr oth-
er mems sermons would be a great inn
| provement in many pulpits) but that he
!! breaches them as his own. For this
reason / have taken a personal dislike
to him, and can not force myself to go
regularly. Then my friends tax me for
the cause of my frequent absence. Not
being a member, and 10th to NEEDLE In
their affairs, have thus far evaded the
issue, on the ground that my secret
made public would do no good, and
might possibly result in great mischief;
not only injure the cause and break up
/ the church. but also destroy the young
mans reputation and spoil his career
for an offense that, if let alone, he may
presently become ashamed of and put
aside. Thus far. his theft is not known
| to his chief supporters. unless thye are
| in the same dilemma as myself.
| Now, reader, what is my duty in the
case? What would you DO? Would you
tell, if you were L? And would it be a
knock if you did?
| Uncle Eben says: DE man OATS allus
tryin' to git sumpin' fob muffin is purity
| li'ble to wind up by bein' one O. de peo-
pie dat's got muffin fob sumpin'."
/ There's whole lot more truth in Un-
Gle Eben's philosophy than is generally
supposed. 1t is only another way of
saying that the dishonest man usually
gets caught at his own game, and from
| this we might deduce another inference,
to-wit: if there were less dishonesty
among people, the bunco man would
soon be out of a job. Recognizing the
well-nigh universal desire among peo-
pie to get something for nothing en-
courages gambling and all forms of
| buncO-steering.
| we once ran across one of these fell
lows, putting up at the same hotel who
| took us into his confidence in a way
| that opened our eyes and showed us
| how the thing was done. On asking
him how he selected his victims, he re-
piled:
"The easiest thing in the world. Now
you watch me and / will show you" He
then went out in front, where large
crowd was gathered to watch for par
ade and announced that he was going
to do. trick or two, and. drawing out
a handful of small coins he pretended
to accidentally drop them. Everybody
scrambled for the money, and about so
per cent who picked up the coin handed
it back to the fellow. But his quick.
sharp eye was watching for the men
who failed to return his coin. lndif-
ferently pocketing the money, and as
tho changing his mind, he walked over
to us and said: There are seven men
in that crowd that am going to bun
co..
How do you know you have got
seven?"
Because saw seven men who pick
ed up my coin, put it in thier pockets.
These men want something for Moth
ing. They are dishonest, and before
leave town will give them a chance to
buy a package of medicine containing
hundred dollar bill, and when they
get thru with me shall have their
money, and they will have the expert
ence."
1t was ar evelation that set us think
ing and-yes, Uncle Eben is right.
Hnnacf FOLKS arpn ar easily hflnCOad i