The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-01-01
MORE ABOUT GRAFT

The publication of a collection of def
nitions of the word graft in The Sun
day Journal has resulted in attention be-
ing called to the views of the eminent
phiologist who conducts the Fergus Falls
Journal. DR.. Adams, it seems, had recent
occasion to define the word graft for
the benefit of his readers on the Tor
denskjold prairies and he made IAN ex-
haustive examination of the authorities
with following result:
In Hostetter's Family Almanac we
find:
Graft. N. (see CRATER. Derry. either from
Grab, to take, to seize, from graft, to make
grow upon Or insert in).
First-The benefting Of public official or his
friends at the public expense thru official act.
Second-The using of ones official position to
gain advantages denied to others.
Third-To so act or do that officials fellow
citizens are injured while he and his friends
profit.
Fourth-To so direct public matters as to ben
eft ones self or friends and injure others
Fifth-To take for ones self or to give ones
friends special privileges.
sixth-To take that which belongs to the pub
lie for private use.
Seventh-To grant ones self or friends immu-
nifty from that which others are compelled to do.
Eighth-To do a thing, pretending that it Is
for public benefit when it is only private.
Illus. To so run a sewer that an alder
| man may get the benefit of it while his
neighbors pay for it. TO sell to the city
| thru a dummy when the law forbids an
| official to do it directly. To SO place
street lights that an alderman can enjoy
! His graft was bold,
| And yet within the pale Of law.
| Ben Jonson.
| He subtle CRATER as ever graced a
| councils board,
Or fixed his street at wards expense.
-Shakspere.
| "Black was postmaster in the art of
grating. He was a thoro parliamentary
ian. He always had his matters well in
| hand His reports were always carefully
prepared and every move was -consum-
mated with a clock like precision. Altho
possessing a sensitive nature he was bold,
almost braZen, in the carrying out Of the
jobs in which the combination, whose
servile tool he was, was interested. The
lord mayor, whose vast and varied inter-
ests frequently encroached 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 weak
lings and offered no resistance. The or
ganic law governing the city was ignored
forgotten, and his grating went on un
hampered and unchecked. '-McDougap
'The London Council"
DR.. Schopenkoffer in his "Growth O
Language" says:
I'm these days when our vocabulary il
being enriched by many new words who's
origin and derivation cannot be traced t.
a certainty, there is constant tendenc.
to substitute, so that the exact n1eanin,
) is liable to be confused and lost. w
should strive to guard against this an,
by proper use fix their exact meaning
The words graft and doodle are case
in point. Their meaning is entirely diff
ferent. Doodle is the price paid for a.
official act or vote, the taking or givin
, of which is a crime. Graft is the prof
. of an official act which. altho within tn
: law, is morally wrong and not to be tol
, Grated in well-ordered communities
. hlinnehaha, filed with laughter,
, Turning said: ''You are CRATER;
Take another, it's no matter
Till the public catches on
Then the holder Hiawatha
! Crafts the graft that grafters long for
Till the maiden called for quarter
q Yelled and liked for Running Water
+ -Longfellow.
! Space will not permit our going int
9 this matter at greater length.