The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1904-01-19
RANDOM THOUGHTS.

COrpordIiOnS, 10 plCJure bueu d
exacting tithes where they die
not own and of reaping wher,
the did not SOW. In other words
it is always easy to denounce the
distant and the absent and the
abstract. Those who know the
least about it have the most tC
say about it. The barrels thai
are emptiest often make the most
noise. Old King David tried the
denouncing method when the
prophet Naaman spoke of a rob
berry that had committed. He
was hot in his denunciation, but
Thou art the man. brought
him to his senses.
This brings us right to the
point. Dishonesty is so common
in daily life and so ingrained in
so large a proportion Of us that
we are forever expecting it in
others: on the principle of a
thief being set to catch a thief.
Come now, how many are there
among us so good that they
would hesitate to ''beat" a rail
road company out of a fare? The
men who think it smart to de-
fraud a corporation are legion
and are most seriously dishonest,
since they reap where they have
not sowed; expecting a service,
like a very beggar, but not desir-
ing to pay for it when the SER.
vice is rendered. Not only the
railroads suffer from this almost
universal dishonesty. The Get
rich quick" policy is forever
worked out at the expense of
some honest but less keen in
dividual; and its ways and wiles
are seen in grocermen. butchers
defrauded of their bills while
their very generosity enabled
the defrauder to keep his dis
honest soul 10 his body. Any
man, supplying the necessities
OF life. may whistle for his money,
II he is at all complaisant; for
there are whole droves of people
who dishonesty think that the
world owes them a living; and
start in to collect the debt at the
very first opportunity from the
least able to pay the debt.
The sum total of this thought
is that it is silly and self deceiv-
to hold forth about dishon-
ia others, whether individ-
nals or corporations, until d dis
honest thought finds q very
home in ourselves. Granting
that we wish to be honest with
ourselves, let us search out dis
honesty in some unusual places.
The political world has its
frauds and grafters by the myrid.
sides have paint of the
same color spattered over them
show where they have been.
Politics itself is not rotten. Its
very origin is a saving power in
The nation, arranging men of
contrary opinions against each
other and thereby maintaining a
sane balance that tends to cor.
rect national abuses. But the
hungry men, the needy men who
so often are failures in the bust
ness world and then by some
mysterious process of regenera-
lion are considered fit for polite.
jobs; these too often have no
opinions but self gain and no God
but gold. They are enemies of
national strength by giving
grounds for hopeless hearts In
he good who love their nation
fervor but who have not
strength enough to overthrow
The powers of evil that are seen
n its public life. OF course the
good are foolish to lose hope;
'or they can conquer if they will.
Should it ever become a fact that
Evil overcometh good in the ma
then its fate as a republic is
sealed. 1t will be as salt that
has lost it's SAVIOR and is no long
n fit but to be cast into the