Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-10-31
GRAFT N CRATER
ONE LITTLE HoMELY WORD
THAT CONVEYS MUCH.
MANY HUMBUGs IN DISGUISE
Human Nature Much the Same In
All Aees-People Easily Deluded
Into Making Poor Invest
ments.

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, it 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
a~esthestic 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 Arts
| 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 a 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 tc
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 it's pages! Graft Il
evident in each and every one. 1t il
covered under the guise of artistic ad
vertising. Thousands of cure-alls, won
derful discoveries, great bargains from
bankrupt sales, exceptional chances
for investment and Lord knows what
not, beams from the pages to catcl
the eyes Of the person who has not re
ceived sufficient lessons in the "schoo
of graft" The people like to be fooled
There seems to be more or less av
arice in the makeup of most men, ant
women, too. The getting of somethini
of value for little or nothing is a CON
mon offer to gather in the dollars TO
the benefit Of the CRATER.
For a few years a young man wit
ambition and a liking for work strue
gled along in the mercantile line in
large central western city. He dc
cided to enlarge. He needed money
A splendid scheme presented itselt
Why not get dollars needed to carr
on a big business from the people
They needed a chance for investmenr
He was just the fellow to help 'er
out. He organized a big cooperativ
concern He advertised broadcas
Told of the wonderful possibilities c
his business, and 10! the dollars role
his way by the hundreds of thol
sands. Soon the government ende
his game. He was charged with usin
the mails to defraud. Hundreds
thousands Of dollars were lost b
those who invested in his cooper
tive society,"" Many similar scheme
are up for consideration day aftt
day. The people eve tire Of then
Just like buying a lottery ticket. Thel
is a chance to win, and as long as tn
proposition looks good, the giraffe
flourishes.
The wise man, be he farmer or do
tor, stockman or storekeeper, wi
avoid jumping at such chances for il
vestment. Look out for the cooper
tive organizer. Beware of the CRATER
who want to interest you in their bus
ness affairs, and at the same time hol
the combination to the safe.
! D. M. CARR.