New-York tribune., 1908-04-11
THE NEW SCAPEGOAT.

The happy reconciliation of the citizens n
Monroe. y. y, with one Of their long ostracizcd
fellow toWnSmen, which was consunmatcd last
Thursday evening under the auspices of the
village tfe and drum corps, proves the growing
keenuess of the moral sense among civilized pco-
pies Thank Heaven in this part Of the world
men are swiftly discardng the crude notion of
retributiye justice, which was the very soul Of
the famous laws drafted by IIammurabi, later
OF the Mosaic ordinances in Deuteronomy and,
still later. of the Roman Ter tGh0niS. Harsh
old Ilammurabi prescribed that building con
tractor who put UP Il house 50 poorly that it
fell in upon the occupant should himself be
made to suffer the same injury which his
skimpy workmanship had caused the tenant.
Presumably, Oriental consistency also ordained
that u person breaking up anOtheTs home, be 1t
10y fair looks or ugly words, should himself he
broken up The European and his American
descendants perceived how seriously such bar
barous measures hndered the building trades
and discouraged soul mates" from mating \ less
irksomc form of punishment had to be devised.
and our forebeSrs discovered the ideal in the
'wergild' fike levied upon the malefactor by
the village elders
The vast superiority of atonement by cash is
as apparent 10 the refined modern mind as it
was obscure to the ancient 1t benefits the com
munity and removes the taint from the sinner
without d's6guring or destroying the sinner
himself In this latter respect 1t is rs much
superior to the Icr tdlonis as benzne is TO the
od-fashioned cleansing fluid that removed the
cloth along with the grease spot. We observe with
patriotic pride that our fellow citizens upstate
realize this When Monroe was revisited by the
hypercultured lady and gentleman who broke up
the home Of the gentleman's wife and child did
the AIonrovians lapse into savagery and break up
the home Of the returning wanderers? Some say
that hundred indignant citizens so far forgot
the century in which they were living that they
set forth With the fife and drum corps ahead of
them and cruel thoughts in their minds But
before reaching the scene of punishment human
itarianism had triumphed, thanks to the sober
ing influence Of a two-mile march every man IN
the morality parade was filled with the noble
conviction that two wrongs do not make
right and that man who was willing TO show
his repentance and general good feeling by
standing treat all around deserved to be for
given. So the fife and drum corps collected the
wergild from the offenders; there was a little
social gathering, at which old scores were wipad
out with true Christian spirit, and after this the
high priests of righteousness-to witt the ffe.
and drum corps-privatey celebrated the great
moral triumph, 'parading the streets and max
ing frequent stops until late hour"-thus the
chronicles read.
IN addition TO being profitable the Monroe
system of punishment beautifully preserves the,
spirit of ancient Hebrew law while eliminatin ,
it's harshnesS. That law provided scapegoat.
upon whose head the high priest laid the sins Of
the people, after which ceremony of atonement
the beast was driven off into the desert In this
age of $. T. c. AS and dear meat nobody would
make dumb creature starve to death thus If
a scapegoat must be found let it be one without
nerves. Why not make money the scapegoat
The Monroyians have hit upon this plan. AMI
it seems TO work Well The sinner hands over a
500 bill, which, scapegoat. takes the smirch
from the giver and becomes tainted money As
such the bill may then be punished with puritan
ica severity. It may be broken on the wheel,
roulette or sulky, burned N the steak and
over the bar or otherwise cXterminated I'm
questionably no other ritual of atonement can
equal this il tue facility with which 1t blends