Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1903-03-31
THE WAGES OF SIN.
I'M the Denver Times.

tlOl u lis = ull 10 OOOA
called to the Burdick murder case of
Buffalo, N. Y. The principals of the
affair were prominent in the city,
both in business connections and pub
that Mr.. Burdick was murdered by
Arthur Pencil, who, it since trans
pires, was on too friendly terms
with Mrs. Burdick. A short time af-
ter the crime was committed Pennell
ran his automobile over a high blum.
instantly killing himsef and fatally
injuring his wife. Mrs. Burdick alone
remains, her husband and lover both
dead, herself an object of public scorn.
One more sermon spoken in the Ian
guage CT deeds, on the world-old text:
THE wage of sin is ceatn.~
The police Investigations have
thrown several side lights on Buffalo
society, and the revelations have
been the talk of the newspapers of the
nation. The question suggests itself,
| are the conditions unearthed in Bur
falo peculiar to hat city or are they
but al index of the general society
| depravity in the other large cities Of
the land?
Some of the most scathing editor
| ials of the past year have been called
out by the moral ~rottenness of the
400" of New York. But should they
have been aimed alone at the "4OO?'
Are not the evils there complained OF
more widespread? Are not the di
vorces, the suicides and the crimes in
high society but the outward symp
toms of a disease that is deep seated
and general? Is it not poisoning to the
entire nation? Yea. more, the entire
civilized world?
There is toe much blinking at these
questions. The moral health of the
people is at the basis of all othel
health. A vigorous civilization can
not be built up when secret sins art
sapping it's strength. The breaking
down of the ethical standards at on
point means the ultimate breaking
down of those standards at all points
The character of a people must be
whole thing. 1t must be sound II
every phase. When marital vows ar
generally broken, then integrity II
business is endangered. When tn
capital Of a nation or a state is 70
ten socially it is very apt to be col
rupt in every other way.
Men should think o much Q
their manhood, women should think to
much of their womanhood, to wal
tonly destroy them on the altar 9
a passing appetite. There are s
many things in life that are NOR
worth while, that it shows lack
i common sense to throw them all ava
because of an infatuation or a brut
passion. Humanity is supposed
have progressed sufficiently to hav
emerged somewhat from the anims
plane. But the Buffalo incident is ne
very good evidence of the fact.
1t is idle for men and women I
imagine that they can lead doubl
lives indefinitely without the fact b
inc revealed. Sooner or later it is
! public scandal. an elOpement, a q
vorce, a financial ruin or a murder
tell the story. And ven if all thes
are escaped, there is a hardening
all the finer and better nature and
growing regret that robs the life OF i
sweetest charms. In the language
Burns:
l waive the quantum OF sin,
The hazard of c~oncealing;
But, och, it hardens all within
e And petrifies the feeling.
/ The world needs a little Old-fashio
$ ed wholesomeness and purity. It neet
a little more respect for truth ar
fidelity IN al, The Planes of life.
needs a lI.slC moro plain speaking {
matters that are of vital concern
the moral soundness of the race. TX
, many people are deluding themselv'
) into the belief that black is whit
and as a result they are getting 500
t smudges all over their characters.
r Let press and pulpit have the cou
l.age to handle these questions wit
out gloves. Let parents inculcate sot
morals into the minds of their chill
rem. Let those who believe in cles
. lives proclaim their beliefs. Let the
d be an aroused public conscience. E
$ en- a puritanic civilization is prefer
I. Bile to a Babylon.