The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1906-02-14
THE PULPIT.
A SCHOLARLY SUNDAY SERMON BY
THE REV. DR.. r. r. AlSOP.'
Subject: Graft, Ancient and Modern.

Subject: Graft, Ancient and Modern.
Brooklyn, n. Y.-Dr. Reese F. AIsop,
rector Of st. AIMS F. e. Church,
preached Sunday morning on Graft,
Ancient and Modern" His text was
from Luke xix:S: Behold, Lord, the
half of my goods l give to the poor,
and if l have taken anything from
II man by false accusation, ! restore
him fourfold." Dr.. Alsop said:
We have in these days a curious use
of the word graft. Probably the gar
dener would find it q little hard to un-
derstand how it came to have the meaIl-
ing that it has, yet it ought not to be
difficult to explain. He sets into some
plant a bud or q twig, and by and by
it grows into the plant. Then it lives
to a certain extent its own life, bears
it's own fruit, drawing the while sap,
n~ourishment, vitality, from the plant
into which it has been grated. 1t be-
/ comes, therefore, the figure Of a thing
that draws that something else with
which it is connected, that which it
uses for its own purpose. So the habit
of drawing off for private uses some
thing that really belongs to some one
else, whether it be a government, q
department, or an individual, has come
to be called graft. The use OF the
word is peculiar to u own times.
The thing which the word indicates is,
alas! as old as history. Something like
it we find in the story Of him who
claims our attention this morning.
Two or three things come out in our
study Of Zacchaeus.
First-He was in a dangerous en-
ployment. 1t surrounded him with
temptations. Its usual standard OF
action was low. Its prevailing habit
was one Of wrong doing. 1t was q
course Of life in which every day one
could see opportunities OF getting gain
and take them. Both insiders and out
siders took for granted a certain meas.
ure Of differing.
Mr.. Jerome has lately been holding
up to the ridicule Of thej public 1.-The
claim that there is such a thing as
honest graft, by which is meant OPP
%portunities which come to insiders to
take advantage of their knowledge and
of others ignorance to make great
profits. The employment of Zacchadls
gave such opportunities, and men Ike
him were expected to gather in con-
stantly what vas called perquisites Of
their position. Just as q customs in
spector is suppc:ci to look for and to
wait for a fee, or as a policeman who
has q district like the Tenderloin, is
supposed to be waiting and ready
for brides. We have mel who have
shown a good deal Of this spirit. We
have had those who call themselves
statesmen in New York who were in
politics by their own confession not
for their health, but for their pocket
all the time. Zacchaeus, we are told,
"a chief of the %publicans, and he
seems to have illustrated the spirit
which, is apt to prevail in a hated and
prescribed business, namely, that of
%ayenging itself upon the public by
making the public pay.
S~econdly-It would appear that be
had used The opportunities which his
position gave him. lax collecting
proper does not bring a man a large
fortune. The income is usually grad.
ed to give him merely a moderate liv-
ing. But Z%acchaeuS had not been
content with that. There are thou
sands Of people oil through u land
who have the are faculty Of growing
rich in q few years on n very small
salary. Men like Beavers, senators
VITO have been indicted and convicted
of land frauds, judges no have used
appointments for personal reasons.
These things which we know Of in our
day should give some insight into the
methods In Jericho of old. was a
case Of high finance" Of q constant
rake OF" in the year Of u Lord 20.
1t was, graft nearly twenty centuries
before the word Gale to have its pres
came rich-notoriously rich. He was
probably like some o. our high finan-
ciers of to-day. He had a fine house
and garden and establishment, so that
as men pass d it they pointed to it
and said, There lives the richest NAL
In the city"
Third-Stiil, in spite or his prosper
ity,1h he was in bad odor. The community
will stand q good deal, but there comes
q time when v e the glamour of
wealth cannot hide q mans trua char
acter-When his success can no longer
blind mems eyes, when his splendor
becomes an offenSe that cries to high
heaven. There are houses and estab-
lishments in our day that make men
gnash their teeth, that stand in the
community as an exhibition Of what
fraud and tickery and legal stealing
and, breach Of trust can. do. With
wealth honestly earned and nobly used,
the legitimate reward of real service
to the community, there is and should
be no quarrel; but with ill gotten
gains, gains got at the expense Of the
community, gains which arenot the pay
Of honest work, of brain, Of body, but
the loot Of cunning, Of fraud, the booty
filcEed by the strong or the clever, or
the high placed from the weak, or
there is and ought to be a quarrel eter-
nal. And so it was with Z%acchaeus.
AS the people Of Jericho passed his
gates it was with a sneer, perhaps q
curse. He is rich; yes, but he is q
sinner; his glory is his shame. Els
splenGor is the measure of his turpi-
tude, he has made his pile, but it is
the result Of eXtortion and false accu-
sations. He is not only a renegade, in
that he is a publican, and the chief Of
them, but he is a standing, living
monument of what constituencies
greed can make of a a
.Fourth-Now, with this judgment Of
his fellow citizens. Jesus seems to
agree, for when the people protest
aoaiust His heinz this mans GuaSt