The state herald., 1907-11-01
GRAFT AND CRATER
ONE LITTLE HoMELY WORD
THAT CONVEYS MUCH.
MANY HUMBUGs In DISGUISE
Human Nature Much the Same In
All Ases-People Easily Deluded
Into Making Poor Invest
mcnts.

| Cant phrases have been invented,
and words more noted for their force
than elegance. have become popular
as expressive OF common things. In
all that is slang. 1t is doubtful If there
is any better word than graft" Long
before Chaucer indited what would
now be called pigeon English" witty
Greeks and Romans INDUCED in their
aesthestic forms of vulgar expression,
and there can be little doubt that good
old Socrates impressed Plato and
some of his other pupils with pungent
idioms, and in turn was called by Aris
tophanes an impious old CRATER.
1t is quite evident that graft" has a
/ place among euphonius words, and
conveys an idea plainly and tersely.
| The famous Barnum, who said some
thing about the people anxious to be
humbugged had pretty good idea of
human nature, and made the most out
OF his knowledge. The business man
of to-day does not ignore the gullibili-
ty of the masses, and yearly millions
OF dollars are spent in printers ink to
convey to the people various kinds of
information that will stimulate the
letting go of dollars for the benefit of
the CRATER.
Pick up a copy of any current Sun
day newspaper, farm journal, religious
publication. magazine or other period
ical and look over its pages! Graft is
nyiIant in ,a,l, nd IL L.,
covered under the guise of artistic ad.
vertising. Thousands of cure-alls, won.
derful discoveries. great bargains from
bankrupt sales, exceptional chances
fer investment and Lord knows what.
not, beams from the pages to catch
she eyes of the person who has not re-
ceiyed sufficient lessons In the school
OF graft" The people like to be fooled.
There seems to be more or less av.
arice in the makeup OF most men, and
women. too. The getting of something
of value for little or nothing is com.
mon offer to gather in the dollars for
the benefit of the CRATER.
For u few years a young man with
ambition and liking for work strug.
eled along in the mercantile line in a
large central western city. He de.
cided TO enlarge. He needed money
A splendid scheme presented itself
Why not get dollars needed TO carry
on big business from the people?
They needed chance for Investment
Hf. ~7fe 1rfaiilzcd n biz cooperative
concern. He advertised broadcast
Told Of the wonderful possibilities Of
his business. and lo, the dollars rolled
his way by the hundreds of thou
sdndg. Soon thc government ended
his game. He was charged with using
the malls 10 def;aud Hundreds OF
thousands of dollars were lost by
those who invested In his "coopera.
tive society" Many similar schemes
are up for consideration day after
day. The people never tire Of them.
Just like buying lottery ticket. There
Is chance TO win, and as long as the
proposition looks good. the CRATER
'iourishes.
Tho wise man. be he farmer or doc
tor. stockman or storokcoper. Will
avoid jumping OF such chances for In
yestment Look out for the coopera.
tive organizer Beware Of the grafters
who want to interest you In their bust.
ness affairs. and NJ the same time hold
the combination TO tho safe.
ID. NJ. CARR.