Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-07-26

dramatic manner. He had not known
of the book, nor had any of the at
torneys, till the night before, when
they were handed one, and he had but
little time to read it. He could not
use the name of Mr.. War; in cOnneC-
ton with the book in the court room,
but he quoted a part of the preface:
This beautiful allegory has hith-
crto been considered and treated as a
common nursery jingle. when a little
investigation should satisfy the most
ObtuSe mind that its mission was a
far higher one than a mere tickling of
the fancy by a ludicrous repetition of
words and phrases. To us it is per
fcctly plain that the house that Jack
built was Il great commercial house.
The malt was its immense business.
the rat was some dishonest employc,
the cat the virtuous and faithful one.
the COW with the crumpled horn was
intended to typify crooked practices
which the maiden all forlOrn (evident-
ly science) milked or drew out. The
man all tattered and torn of course
represents truth, and the inevitable
marriage shows that the reward of
virtue is happiness"
Mr. WeId's Application of II.
He then made this application: The
house that Jack built is the Moline
Building & Loan association. The malt
that lay in the house was the accumu-
lated savings of the four hundred peo-
pie that had been gathered in monthly
payments and on which they were de-
pending for their future homes or
their support in old age
The rat that stole the malt" and
he pointed at Mr.. War;. lis the man
who took the money from these pco-
pie and thus destroyed their hopes of
securing a home. or in some cases
took away the money that would have
supported them in their old age
He said the malt was not taken
from the sides of the sacks. where the
loss could be discovered. but that the
rate dug up through the floor and took
the malt from the bottom of the sack
thus allowing the sack to retain its
shape while it was in fact empty. The
auditors thought the bags were full
and did not examine them. The rep
resentatives of the state thought they
were full, and did not touch them. and
it was not till Mr.. Dunlap uhe caU
came that the bags were punched with
Il stick and their emptiness shown.
Hits War; FOrcibIy.
But comparatively few of the listen
ers knew all that was in the illustra-
ton. Even Mr.. Scarle, the leading at
torney for Mr. War;. had never heard
e 81 h.,
ciate it. Whether Judge Ramsey knew
of it or not is not known.
But the force of it struck Mr.. War;
and affected him as nothing else had
since the trial began. At the first an
of the title of the book
his face blanchcd and he did not re-
cover his usual calm through the re-
mainder of the session of the court.
Could Mr. Weld have told in court
that this preface was written by Mr.
War;. the effect would have been still
greater, but under the rules of the
court he could not do this. Yet the
effect was telling. even with the linn
itations placed on it.
In Moline this story. The Business
House that Jack Built" has come into
the minds of many since the discOv-
cry of Mr.. Wars crooked methods,
and it has often been cited in private
conversations as an allegory (as Mr.
War; called it, founded on his own
doings in connection with the Moline
Building association. Looked at in
this light. it would seem 10 indicate |
that Mr.. Wars intentional thieyery
has been going on for at least eight /
man al first. as is usually the case. !
allowed himself 10 get in the hole
with the intention of retrieving a little !
later and making ali good. But the |
more he tried the deeper in he got. |
until finally he gave up all effort and I
then began reducing robbery To a fine I
art
Whom billions take CbamharToip's