The Penn's Grove record., 1906-01-26
THE PULPIT.
A SCHOLARLY SUNDAY SERMON BY
THE REV, DR.. R. =. ALsoP.
Subject: Graft. Ancient and Modern.

from Luke xix:S: Behold, Lord, the
half Of my goods l give to the poor,
and If l ave taken anything from
any man by false accusation, l 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 a little hard to I'M
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 a twig, and by and by
it grows into the plant. Then it lives
to a certain extent it's own life, bears
Its own fruit, drawing the while sap,
nourishment, 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, a
department, Dr. an individual, has come
to be called graft. The use of 4he
word is peculiar to our own times.
The thing which the word indicates is,
alasi al old as history. Something like
it we find in the story of him who
claims u 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. It was a
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 pilfering.
Mp. jerome has lately been holding
up to the ridicule of the public 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 Zacchaeus
gave such opportunities, and men like
him were expected to gather in con-
Stantly what was called perquisites of
their position. Just as a customs in
spector is suppc-c1 to look for and to
wait for a fee, or as a policeman who
has a district like the Tenderloin. is
supposed to be waiting and ready
for brides. We have men 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. Z%acchaeus, we are told,
was 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
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. 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 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 a few years on a very small
salary. Men like Beavers, senators
who have 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 high finance" of a constant
rake on in the year of Lord 20.
1t was graft nearly twenty centuries
before the word ca-lest to have its pres
emit connotation. And so Zecchaeus be-
came rich-notoriously rich. He was
probably like some o. our high inan-
ciers of to-day. He had a fire house
and garden and establishment, SO that
as men pass d it they pointed to II
and said, There lives the richest man
in the city"
Third-Still, in spite OF his prosper
ity, he was in bad odor. The community
will stand a good deal, but there comes
a time when wen the glamour OF
wealth cannot hide a mans true char
acter-whca his success can no longer
blind mems eyes,, when his splendo1
becomes IN Offense that cries to high
heaven. There are houses and estab-
lishments in our day that make mel
gnash their teeth, that stand in the
community as an exhibition of whai
fraud and tickery and legal stealing
and breach of trust can do. Witt
wealth honestly earned and nobly used
the legiSimate reward of real service
to the community, there is and should
be no quarrel; but with i'll 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
filched by the strong or the clever, OF
the high placed from the weak, OF
foolish, or lowly; with such wealth
there is and ought to be a quarrel eter.
nal. And so it was with Zacchaeus
AS the people of Jericho passed his
gates it was with a sneer, perhaps o
curse. He is rich; yes, but he is q
sinner; his glory is his shame. His
splendor is the measure of his turpi-
tgde, he has made his pile, but it is
the result of extortion and false accu.
Stations. He is not only a renegade, il
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 man.
F~ourth-Now, with this judgment oil
his fellow citizens. Jesus seems Il
agree, for when the people protesr
against His being this mans CUES
Jesus says: 1.-THE Son of nan is come
to seek and to save that which was
LOST That word 'tlost'' seems Il
concede the justice of the peoples
Judgment. Zacchaeus is a son Of
Abraham, indeed; thu is, one of the
chosen people. But he is none the
less a lost man needing to be sought
and saved.
Now, if that was his true character
If the JeSichoan estimate of him was
correct, how are we to understand the
words: Behold, Lord, the half of my
goods 1 give to the poor; and if 1 have
taken anything from any nan by falst
accusation, l restore him fourfold.'
How can a man who shows such gen
erosity to the poor; who restores four
fold to all whom he has injured, be sc
bad? Have the people, and has Jesu:
mistaken his character? Is he a mis-
judged and unappreciated man?
Not so do / read the story. The
words which we are thinking of are
not meant to describe his past, but his
future. They do not set forth what
has betn his habit, his n of liv.
ing; they are the announcement of