Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1903-02-19

| not how many helpless and Innocent
victims he may destroy In his own an
initiation. The pirates Of old used to
raise their black flags and prey upon
the ancient shipping. The robbers of
Scotland used to place false lights
upon the shores 30 that the ships would
be decoyed upon the rocks and the
wreckcrs could collect the broken car
goes. The man who wilIfpHy runs into
debt Is human vampire who Is suck
ing the lifeblood out of his butcher
and baker, his tailA" and landlord. his
friend and his en- alike. He cares
not how he gets h.uley SO long MS he
gets it. He cares not who has to stf
fer so long rs his present desires are
satisfied. What Ia the natural and in
evitable result? There have been theu-
sands OF small retail merchants driven
into bankruptcy because their custom
ers, supposed to be honorable men,
would not pay their bills. There have
been hundreds and thousands of poor
widows and orphans and aged and
helpless depositors of small sums in
the banks who have lost all merely be-
cause the cashiers have become de-
faulters and cared not whom they
dragged down with them in their own
moral and spiritual destruction. 1t is
contemplate act for a man to steal
from millionaire. 1t Is infinitely
meaner for n woman to steal from her
poor dressmaker. her cook or her wash
crwoman, or for a man TO rob his gro
ccryman or iccman or his coachman or
the gardener who sells to him his flow
ers 1t Is meaner because those who
arc robbed under such circumstances
must perhaps lose their all and be
driven to starve and die
But if il is fiendike for the willful
debtor to steal from his butcher and
baker. how much more criminal is il
for him to destroy the spiritual and
moral life of his own children! There
is many man who is rearing his chill
dren after the exalted style of a mil
lionaire's children. who when he dies
will leave to them not one cent. In
other words, he is instillng into the
hearts of his boys and girls unnatural
desires. and then. when he Is gone.
those boys and girls, in order to graft
fy those desires, may be led to plunge
into life of dissoluteness and crime
TO illustrate. would introduce to you
II young man who was once - compaE
ion of my youth. He was the son Of
the president of a large life insurance
company i'll the cast. He came to ny
home some time ago ''Why, Joe" I
said to him. II have not seen You for
years. Where did you come from -
From poverty and want and drunken
hess aud from nowhere" he answered
gloomily. Il have come to you for help.
Will you help me-" What was the
cause of that young mans downfall:
The extravagant life his father led and
; the life he allowed his children to lead.
While that boy was growing up he
could have anything he wanted that
money could buy. His father sent him
on pleasure trips across the sea and
willingly paid all his bills; then, when
his father died, Joe and his sisters
We're helplessly stranded. They had
the tastes and desires of millionaircs
they had the empty pockets of paupers
Preparations for such tragedies are be
ing enacted today by selfish men all
round the world. AS long as these
wickedly foolish fathers can satisfy
their present wants they care not what
may become of their children after
they are gone. Every wise father
should teach his children that the red
breasted orlolc of gold has wings swift
er than the winds. When it is gone. il
Is very hard to overtake and to bring
! | hnn Ia chctII troi ~ al f,11iII IN H.,
able to earn a livelihood independent OF
any money he may bequeath TO that
child.
; Well Dressed villain.
: Wilful Debt is often a we'll dressed
villain who pretends to he an homes
a man. In oldcn times if man coult
+ not pay his debts he was looked upol
2 in the same sense as thief and sen
I to Jail. Under the old Roman law
o after spending a certain time in JAIL i
8 he was still unable to pay his creditors
@ he was sold into slavery and had Il
Il pass his life as serf. Some one nigh
t say that such condition is very hare
s and unjust. and SO it is. But. in man.
q cases. when a man will deliberately
Z enter store and run up heavy bill
n which he has no intention of paying
@ he is Just as much a robber as tn,
@ sneak thief who PUSHES into the baker,
n and steals loaf of bread. and h,
}. should have little mercy shown to him
It The debtor not only steals the grocery
d mans goods. but he steals his time an,
y his service.
u Many man who for years has de
$ libcrately run up all the debts he cal
4 is today walking around our street
f claiming that in the sight of the Law
@ he Is honest. After deliberately swim
8 llng all the men he could he puts tn
# little money he had left in his wife
It nnmo. Then he enters the bankruptc
IS court and asks the Judge to free hill
from all these financial obligation
:. Now. care not what the bankruptc
It court may say in such cases, no homes
l. man. In the sight of God or man. ca
t. ever be morally freed from a finance;
n debt until that debt Is paid. 1t is
l. mans business to pay what he owe
l. no matter how the bill was contracted
l. One Of tho first signs of IacchRus' re,
IS conversion was when he turned TO til
to Saviour and said. Behold Lord, tn
% half of my goods | give TO the poo
}" and II l have taken anything from an
y man by false accusation | restore