The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-07-13
Graft.
Graft aft,
~ 81

Graft above, graft below,
Grafters reign where 'er we go.
Graft in stocks,
=. Graft in blocks,
- Drop a good man in the slot, @ !
Pull out a CRATER, fierce and hot.
Is there a graft disease9 Has Amer
lea lost the art Of producing honest
men? Has the hunger for money drawn
us into common maelstrom OF loot and
grabs
Many men who are not naturally OPP
timistic are inclined to throw up their
hands in despair when they see about
them 50 many evidences OF the sur
render to greed; United States senac
tors using their offices to swindle;
great officers Of great insurance COM
panies, men with millions already, US
ing their trusteeship to rob widows and
orphans of the benefits Of family sacri-
fees; ministers Of state reproved for
indiscretions abroad; trusted en-
ployees Of the government at home
going smiling to the penitentiary. They
know where the swag is hidden. 1t
will be there when they come out. Is it
a. wonder that such spectacles make
men s hearts sick?
! Is there a, graft disease9 The United
! States senate, the postoffice depart
ment, the agricultural bureau, nearly
every state and also every city, testify
that there is.
Is it an incurable disease? Perhaps
so, so long as John D. Rockefeller is
hated because he has money. If he
were despised because Of the way he
got it, it would be different, but the
envy Of his having is an evidence that
!. we all have the same disease as he has,
the money disease, and we would be no
better than he is in the same situation.
Perhaps we make too much Of the
strenuous life in this country. There
is too much adherence to the pagan
doctrine Of the survival Of the fttest.
We are Spartans in secret, while openly
protesting to be Christian. We are
worse than the Spartans because they
made no secret Of the fact that inferior
children were to be destroyed. We
pretend to be followers Of a higher
! code, but really we believe in the sur
, vival of the strongest and we act on
= that assumption. The result is that the
weakest are being pushed into a corner
. where it is either crime or suicide.
a The weakest have the same ideal as
\ the strongest: that of getting and hav
ing for old age. None Of us lives today
, We all are going to live tomorrow OF
! some other time, when we have made
. our "pile.'' Mere lucre lures one mar
= away from a job which meant fame ant
:, place in history. The love Of money
. makes smiling hypocrite Of the cru
dite and popular Chauncey M. Depew
= The greed for. gold causes Mitchell ant
= Burton to drag the er1nine Of the senat,
thru the barnyard
:, The graft exposures in this country
have been such as to make peopl,
= afraid and ashamed, but they do no
:, appear to have lessened the evil mate
!. rally. The gangs which are waiting
to plumber cities are only waiting. They
: have not been dissolved nor their con
:. stituents changed. They are ready t,
- form chemical combination for plum
der whenever the wave Of reform shall
d have spent it's force. How are the,
. to be kept downs Only by eterna
l vigilance on the part Of the press ant
!" pulpit and by the active cooperation O.
/ all good men. Above all, there need
), to be some cruel and savage punishment
y for men in high place who have forgot
y ten themselves. Examples are needed
III -
y Martin J. Kennedy Of San Franoisc
= adds himself to the list of men who's
lives have been saved in a miraculou
al manner. When, recently, Mr.. Kennel
started upon a journey his wife gave hi1
a box Of cigars with the request that h
smoke them. He promised her he woul
"a and the keeping of the promise save
IF his life. He had taken but three Whit
40 when, feeling the Christmas cigar sick
q ness coming on, he retired to tho SLEEP
. ing car. A few minutes afterward tn
ia smoking car ran upon an open switch
"a was derailed and every person in
e. killed. It may be inquired wherein cor
s. sisted the miracle? It lay in Mr.. Ker
nedy's keeping his promise to his wifi
ST He might have put one Of his own cigar
n in his vest pocket along with. the wit
IN cigar and going to the smoker pretende
he to pull out the wife cigar and reall
ed drawn the man cigar and sat there snol
I'd ing till fate overlook him. The moral i
he always keep your promises to your vii
in Eno matter how painful it may be.
til $50 S,s
~ Verrnont is not overly pleased ov.
u Ihoners soon to be thrust upon the stat
~ This year is the h,lndredth anniyersal