The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1906-02-08
THE PULPIT.
A SCHOLARLY SUNDAY SERMON BY
THE REV. DR.. R. F. AlSCP.
Subject: Graft, Ancient and Modern.

preached Sunday morning on Graft,
Ancient and Modern" His text was
from Luke xix:S: Behold, Lord, the
half Of my goods I give to the poor,
and if I have taken anything from
any man by false accusation. restore
) him fourfold." Dr.. Alsop said:
We have in these days curious use
of the word graft. Probably the gar
dener would find it little hard to un-
derstand how it came to have the mean
ing that it has, yet it ought not to be
difficult to explain. He sets into. some
plant a bud or twig. and by and by
it grows into the plant. Then it lives
to certain extent its own life, bears
its own fruit, drawing the while sap.
lnourishment, 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 government, q
department, or an individual, has. come
ito be called graft. The use Of the
word is peculiar to our 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
claimssour attention this morning.
;, Two or three things come out in our
study OF Zacchaeus.
FrstAHe was in a dangerous EN-.
iployment. It surrounded him. with
Temptations. Its usual standard of
action. was low. Its prevailing habit
was one of wrong doing. It was
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 certain meas
ure of pilfering.
: Mr.. Jerome has lately been holding
up to the ridieule Of the public the
claim that there Is such thing as
honest graft, by which is meant op-
Iportunities which come to insiders to
take advantage Of their knowledge and
Eof others ignorance to make great
profits. The employment Of Zacchaeus
gave such opportunities, and men like
him were expected to gather in con-
;stanty what was called perQuisites of
their position. Just as customs in
spector is supposed to- look for and to
wait for q fee, or as policeman who
has district like the Tenderloin, is
supposed to be waiting and ready
for bribes. We have men who have
shown 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
ALI the time Zacchaeus, we are told,
was chief of the publicans, and he
seems to have illustrated the spirit
which is apt to prevail in hated and
prescribed business, namely, that Of
avenging itself upon the public by
making the public pay.
Secondly-It would appear that he
had used The opportunities which his
position gave him. Tax collecting
proper does not bring man a large
fortune. The income is usually grad
led to give him merely moderate liv-
ing. But Zacchaeus had not been
content with that. There are thou
sands of people all through our land
who have the rare faculty of. growing
rich in few years on a very small
salary. Men like Beavers, senators
who hare been indicted and convicted
of land. frauds. judges Tho 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 'ehigh finance" Of constant
! tIt.rake or in the year Of our Lord %.
lit was graft nearly twenty centuries
before the word Gale to have its pres
:ent connotation. And so Zecchaeus be-
came rich-notoriously rich. He was
probably hike some o. our high fnan-
iciers Of to-day. He had a fine house
land garden .and esta blishment, so that
las men pass.,d it they pointed to it
and said, There lives the richest man
in the city,
!. Third-Still, in spite OF his prosper
dty, he was in bad odor. The community
Twill stand good deal, but there comes
ia time when even the glamour Of
iwealth cannot hide mans true char
;acter-when his success can no longer
blind mems eyes, when his splendor
becomes an offense that cries to high
iheayen. There, are houses and estab-
Ilishmeuts in our day that make men
ignash their teeth, that stand in the
Icommunity as an exhibition Of what
fraud and uickery and legal stealing
and bleach Of trust can do. With
wealth honestly earned and nobly used,
the legitimate reward Of real service
ito, the seemmunity, there is and should
ibe no. Quarrel; but with ill gotten
gains, gains got at the expense Of the
community, gains which arenot the pay
Iof honest work, of brain, Of body, but
1.-THE loot Of cunning, Of fraud, the booty
Fflched- blythe strong or the clever, or
the high placed from the weak, or
foolish, or lowly; with such wealth
there is and ought to be quarrel eter-
nal. And so it was with Zacchaeus.
;..As the people Of Jericho passed his
gates it .was with sneer,- perhaps a
curse. He is rich; yes. but. he is a
sinner; his glory is his. shame. His
isplendor is the measure Of his turpi-
!!tude, he has made his pile, but it is
the result Of ,extortion and false accu-
stations. He is not only renegade. in
that he is a publican, and the chief of
them, but he is a. standing, living
monument of what constituencies
pread can ma ka of a man.