The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-09-21

4
A story is told of boy whose father,
a man of the strictest integrity hao
secured him place in a grocery store
After a short time the boy was sent
home discharged. HE cheated me"
explained the indignant grocer to the
father. The father. exceedingly sor-
/ rowful that his boy should have done
/ ANYTHING dishonorable, sought an ex-
PLANTATION from the lad. 81 didn't
mean to, father said the boy. He
told me to stick a lot of beeswax on
the under side of the scales. and got
it on the wrong side.'
Too many people. like the grocer,
realize the wrong of little acts of dis
honesty only when they are the vic
tins. An exchange recently comment
ed on the proneness of some public
contractors to defraud municipalities
in performing public contracts, when
they would disdain to do such thing
in dealing with private corporations or
individuals. Many people, too, whose
sense of honor would not allow them
20 do a dishonest thing involving con-
siderable amounts, never hesitate to
cheat the street car company out OF a
nickel if they can do it.
A short time ago the sealer of
weights and measures in western city
made an investigation concerning
short weights given by ice men, His
deputies followed Immediately after
number of wagons, without the knowl-
edge Of the ice men but so soon after
the deliveries that the ice had not had
time to melt appreciably. At one
house where IS pounds had been
charged for, only II pounds had been
left. For 60 pounds at another place,
only 46 pounds was delivered. A ten
pound chunk weighed only Z u pounds.
A woman who had paid for SO
pounds received only Al. In practical
Iy every instance the weight actually
delivered was less than what was
charged for. The shortage amounted
to very little each day to each family,
but in the aggregate it represented
tremendous gain to the dealer over and
above his legitimate profit.
Not long since a man living in an
eastern Kansas town stopped a news
paper to which he had been subscrib-
ing. He had perfect right to do this.
of course, but in making a record of
the matter the publisher discovered
that there was a small balance due on
the subscription. In accordance with
the usual custom. a statement of the
account was made out and mailed 20
the delinquent in one of the news
papers envelopes. In a few days the
publisher received the letter back I'M
opened and marked. Refused" In
his desire to beat the newspaper out
of a few cents the delinquent sub
scriber went to the trouble of refusing
to accept from the postoffice a letter
bearing the papers return card. Some
people will defraud a newspaper who
would scorn the idea of not paying
their grocer.
People who will defraud the street car
company out of a nickel car fare, or
who will beat a railroad out of its Just
dues or the county out of taxes. are SO
numerous that such things are not con-
sidercd in the least disreputable by the
public at large.
Yet we sometimes wonder why there
is so much graft and dishonesty in big
things. The man who takes his little
old home weekly paper for three years
and then moves away to some other adj
dress and has the paper marked Gone"
or Refused thereby cheating the
country editor out of his three dollars
subscription money-the man who does
that often wonders how a thief can be
so lost to honor as to actually steal
what does not belong to him. The same
people who beat the street car COM
pany out of a nickel protest vehemently
when the street car company tries to
get a franchise dishonesty The good
citizen who beats the county by relig-
iously lodging his taxes is amazed
when some hard up public official steals
a few dollars from the public treasury
A high sense of honesty and honor
cannot be expected at the top of the
social structure If it does not exist at
the bottom. AS long as so many good.
respectable people practice little acts of
dishonesty, society will graduate thieves,
swindlers and grafters. The merchant
who instructs his clerk to short weight
his customers need not be surprised to
discover that clerk sometime tapping
his till for small amounts. The cor
poration that has its employees give its
customers dishonest service can also ex-
pect dishonest service itself from the
same employees.
What is needed is a revival of high
ideals of honor and honesty among the
best" people as well as among those
less pretentious. Honesty in little things
among people generally will bring about
honesty In greater matters. Dishonesty
breed a race of embezzlers, swindlers
and grafters. Are you dishonest in lit
tie things?
DRENNING.