Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-09-15
THE WORD GRAFT.
Not Modern Slang, But Good Expires.
siXe English.

The recent appearance In an OBJ
scure and irresponsible paper, as
we'll as In certain official publications
Of the city council, Of the word
graft" has elected from a number
of our readers an inquiry as to what
the word meant, as 1t is not found
in dictionaries even Of the most re-
cent pattern. For the benefit Of our
readers residing on the flats and the
Tordenskjold prairies-who do not
enjoy metropolitan advantages-we
have made an exhaustive examination
Of the authorities and will give all
our readers the benefit Of our re-
search.
In "Hostetter's Family Almanac"
we find:
Graft, n. (See CRATER Deriv.
either from grab, to take, to seize,
or from graft, to make grow upon
or insert in.)
1. The benefiting Of public Of
fetal or his friends at the public
expense, through an official act.
2. The using Of ones official posi-
others.
8. To so act or do. that an officials
fellow citizens are injured while he
and his friends profit.
4. To so direct public matters as
to benefit ones self or friends and
injure others.
s. To take for ones self or to give
ones friends special privileges.
6. To take that which Belongs to
the public for private use.
7. To grant oneself or. friends i'm
munity from that which others are
compelled to do.
8. To do a thing, pretending that
It Is for public benefit when 1t Is
only private.
illus. To so run a sewer that an
alderman may get the benefit Of 1t
while his neighbors pay for 1t. To
sell to the city through a dummy
when the law forbids an official to
do 1t directly. To so place street
lights that an alderman can enjoy II
and the public cannot, etc.
His graft was bold,
And yet within the pale Of law.
Ben Jonson.
He was as subtle a CRATER as ever
grace a councils board,
Or fixed his street at wards expense.
Shakespeare.
BLACK was past master in the art
OF grating. He was thorough
parliamentarian. He always had his
matters we'll in hand. His reports
were always carefully prepared and
every move was consummated with
a clock-like precision. Although
possessing a sensitive nature, he was
bold, almost brazen, in the carrying
out of jobs In which the combination,
whose servile tool he was, was inter-
ested. The lord mayor, whose vast
and varied interests frequently en-
croached upon public rights, relied
upon him implicitly, and he never
failed him. His associates on the
board, with one or two exceptions,
were honest, but they were obtuse
or weaklings and offered no resist
ance. The organic law governing the
city was ignored, forgotten, and his
grating went on unhampered and
unchecked" ed."-McDougal's "The Lon
don Council" ...
DR.. Schopenkoffer in his Growth
Of Language" says:
In these days when our vocabulary
Is being enriched by many new
words whose origin and derivation
Is a constant tendency to substitute,
so that the exact meaning Is liable
to be confused and lost. We should
strive to guard against this and by
proper use fix their exact meaning.
The words graft and doodle" are
cases in point. Their meaning Is en-
tirely different. Doodle Is the price
paid for an official act or vote the
taking or giving of which is crime.
Graft Is the profit of an official act
which, although within the law, Is
morally wrong and not to be toler-
ated in we'll ordered communities.
Minnehaha, filled with laughter.
Turning said, You're CRATER;
Take another, it's no matter
Till the public catches on"
Then the bolder Hiawatha
Crafts the graft that grafters long
for
Till the maiden called for quarter,
Yelled, and hiked for Running
Water.
-Longfellow.
Space will not permit our going
into this matter at greater length,
but this will be sufficient to enlighten
our inquirers and furnish the COM
mission a guide In its Investigations.
Fergus Falls Journal.