The Washington herald., 1907-11-15

A preacher. long on the philosophy OF
the street but somewhat short on spiritual
ethics, once advised HIS congregation
after this fashion: Brethren. if you are
going 20 steal, steal something worth
while. Do not take little things: for il
has come TO pass that if you steal $40
they viii send you to Jail. and IL you steal
$4,000 they will send you TO Congress"
There was something of hyperbole in
this statement, but. after ALL il does
express a condition that prevails to a
greater or less extent in this country.
man may steal railroad by pulling
financial wires. and still be a Wall street
magnate In good standing, while, on the
other hand, another man may steal the
brass from one lone car on that same
road and go to jail.
Perhaps the worst OF the petty grafters
are the big railroads. State laws hX
maximum passenger rates. but the rail
roads organize a terminal company or a
bridge company and these levy an extra
rate on passengers using them. A specific
instance is the case on the New York
Central from New York TO Albany. The
law says that the rate shall be . cents
a mile. II is 146 miles from the Grand
Central station 10 Albany. At . cents
a mile the rate would be $292 AS II is
the rate is 3.l0. officials OF the railroad
formed themselves into a bridge company
and bridged the Hudson River at Albany
They charge toll for passengers. and the
New York Central collects II. Il would
take strong microscope 4 see the line
OF the New York Central and the bridge
company, yet by this little legal subter-
fuEe the railroad IS able 10 get "A petty
graft Of is cents out Of every passenger
who crosses that bridge.
The proposition was seriously advanced
of charging = cents per passenger for
using the new Washington Union Sta
tiou. but the protest was so loud and
50 long that the matter has been post
poned indefinitely" A prominent rail-
road official recently remarked that the
people will willingly pay millions Of dol
lars 10 the railroads in an open-and-
abOve-bOard way, but will raise a howl
against petty graft Of thousands. He
further said that twO-thirds OF the ad-
verse sentiment toward railroads to-day
is due 70 the petty grating that they DO
Petty graft Is committed by all classes
of people, from the fellow who delib-
erately Sits his trouser leg, then goes
from house to house begging old clothes
which he afterward sells 20 secondhand
dealers. up to Senators and Representa-
tives who attempt to vote themselves an
extra allowance Of mileage between two
terms, the one OF which begins at the
moment the other ends. Federal judges
have been known 10 pay 81 a day for
hotel bills and charge Uncle Sam SO
This was one OF the charges against
Judge Swayne In the impeachment pro-
ceedIngs against him.
It is estimated that there are 5O00O
men and women in New York who use
their employers stamps for postage. This
sort Of graft is probably the most fre-
Quent. and is q companion Of the hotel
stationery graft One hotel pays out an
nually more than 5000 for paper and
more than half of which is
used by people who are never guests OF !
the hotel This is a line Of graft that
the hotels, as a rule. do not seriously |
object 20. 1t is not a bad advertisement |
and probably pays for itself IN the end. /
Many a man Of wealth has had large
tailor bills because Of coIlusion between I
his valet and his tailor. The tailor enters |
into an agreement with the valet TO pay
him a certain percentage on the clothes |
ordered by his master He then instructs 1
the valet how to make the clothes grow 1
shabby IN short order. the while ap-
pearing 10 take the best Of care Of them /
The result is an early order for a new
suit and a rake-off for the valet In a |
New York court not long ago valet
testified that a tailor had given him $50 |
a year 70 make his employers clothes
become threadbare more rapidly than
they would by the ordinary wear on
them He testified that the tailor had
given him a rough wooden instrument,
With instructions TO vigorously rub the
trousers with IL at the knee and the
coats at the elbow every time he put the
clothes away. Both parties profited by
the transaction until the man accidentally
discovered the treaChery OF his valet.
Janitors in apartment houses usually
make no little spending money by the
graft which they get from the renters
A family moves into an apartment and
S promptly informed by the janitor that
he looks after the milk and ice. Il have
IN excellent milkman. and every one
n the house likes him. says the iani-
or. ''Of course you understand that I
,annot distinguish milk bottles very
well, and it is no end Of trouble To look
after different milkmen'' The renter
soon finds out, If he sticks to his old
iealer. that the janitor makes il pretty
lard for him to get his milk Before
org he gets il from the milkman who
vas recommended by the janitor. The
anitor makes a few dollars month
graft out Of the milk supply, as much
rom the ice, which comes into the
rouse. and probably as much more out
II the groceryman who supply the rem
ers.
But the graft OF the janitor is only a '
rop in bucket as compared with that