Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1904-10-04
MORAL s1RABIsmus.


MORAL STRABISMUS.
A banker sick in body and sore in
heart is being guarded today by a
sheriT's deputy i'm his palatial home in
an Iowa town. A few months ago he
was the idol Of the town. Everybody
trusted him. everybody advised with
him, everybody looked up to him and
men, women and children brought
their savings to his bank. Life's cup
of happiness for him seemed full to
overlooking and his. charming vile
went about the community doing good
like beautiful angel of dreamland.
This man deliberately and knowingly
lived beyond his means and took other
peoples money to make up the deficit.
He allowed his business associates in
the bank to overdraw their accounts.
The crash came, the bank was Quilted.
When he walks out for an airing in his
convalescence little children beseach
him to return the money of their saw
ings.
A banker in a nearby county, once
trusted implicitly with other peoples
money. recently passed thru Marshall
town on his way to prison for an
eighteen months term, while an en-
ragged public still clamors for sem
tence of as many years. An aged IA
Their has beggared himself to pay back
this mans shortage, and an innocent
wife and children are crushed In spirit,
Inundated and cursed for the rest of
their days, with Jail bird for hus-
band and father.
A banker in a nearby town was bur-
led few days ago with his son, in a
suicides grave, while wife and
daughter are left to face the disgrace
of stupendous forgeries that wrecked
the bank and obliterated the small
savings of half a hundred aged and
innocent PEOPLE.
A young lawyer of good moral pur-
pose, in discussing these incidents, re-
fused to condemn as a. crime the ac-
|tion of these bankers until you prove
to me that he took the money for him.
self" If the one wrecked the bank and
ruined helpless old people to save the
name of his father there was no
crime" argued the lawyer. If the 9TH
er was merely unfortunate in his spec
ulations and precipitated a crash ac-
cidentally, there was no crime.
Clearly such view of business
rectitude can be nothing more than an
acute case of moral strabismus.
Banking is an A. B. G. business. 1t
consists of receiving the money of 9TH
er people i'm trust and the loaning of it
to borrowers with care and caution.
Accidents will happen and losses oc-
cur, but they will be small. People
may get scared and start run on
bank, causing temporary losses, but
these accidents seldom cause perma-
nent injury. Beyond this a banker acts
deliberately and knowingly when he
permits of conditions that ultimat ely
wreck the institution. If he We're an
office 'ooy entrusted with $1,000 for
transportation and lost it thru DELHI
crate, criminal negligence, he would go
to the penitentiary. If he were
banker entrusted with 100000 for safe
keeping and were guilty of the same
negligence, he should also go to the
penitentiary. If the office boy had re-
turned with forged receipt that
starving mother might have the $1,000,
he would not have been saved. If the
banker forged notes and ruined inno-
cent people to save the good name of
his father his action was a crime no
less wicked.
Moral strabismus is a disease to
be watched with great care. This same
young attorney could see no wrong in
state officials, upright bankers, and
able lawyers being connected with
gold bond insurance company, because
as he argued, the public gets just what
it bought by the terms of the contract.
But so did the farmers who bought
territory" for the None SUCH wash
ing machine, and yet the men who sold
the contracts are now serving time in
the penitentiary. Gold bond contracts
were sold to poor sewing girls and I'M
suspecting people. They were repre-
scented to be life insurance, endowment
policies. 1t is true the contracts did
not say so, but they were so artfully
worded as to convey that impression.
The sale was nearly always made on
the strength Of glorious prospect Of
Accommodations" yet the contracts
did not bind anyone to pay these ac-
cumulations, and the promoters and
managers never expected to give them
up, as matter of fact never did give
them up to anyone except themselves
in their payment of exorbitant divi-
dends. The gold bond contract was
not life insurance, it was not an endoW-
ment policy, it was a swindle, pure and
simple Governor Cummins, then in
private life, when approached by an
offer of stock in one of these concerns,
turrad 4 doup foo orooLod for hi N,