Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1908-12-30

The popular cynicism that riches
keep men out Of prison, while the poor
have to suffer the full rigor Of the law,
has had number Of severe jolts re-
Gently. The long line of men in high
positions and seemingly the possessors
OF vast wealth who have violated the
law, been detected, tried and now are
undergoing punishment is strong In
dtcation that the millennium Of equal
Justice has at last dawned.
In the consideration Of such instances
OF this nature as that most recent one
in Chicago, Peter Van vlissingen, and
@. W. Morse in New York, prominent
feature is the fact that, while reput-
eddy wealthy, when the bubble burst
the millions they were supposed to
have owned were found never to have
existed, or, If they did exist, to have
been of paper, the fictitious value of
which was demonstrated when the first
winds Of adversely struck the fragile
6gment.
In the case of Van vlisslngen. like
that Of Paul o. Stensland, whose ca
reer as forger was SO nearly parallel
to that confessed by the Chicago real
estate man, conviction was swift and
sure. Stensland STAYED 1t of for a
time by becoming fugitive, but found
that the law was memorable. When
he was arraigned he pleaded guilty and
asked the privilege Of beginning his
sentence with the least possible delay.
To-day he wears the prison gray uni
form OF the good conduct convict at
Joliet prison, the same as does the
poorest criminal In the penal institu.
tion. For him, too. the rule of silence
Is enforced as completely as 1t is In
the case of the most obscure thug or
cheap thief who Is his companion IN
ignomIny.
Fate of Van VIissingen.
To the same fate Van vlissingen was
sentenced after a trial lasting little
longer than an hour. No abjectly poor
man could have had more speedy con-
viction than has this man who, suppos-
edly wealthy, found himself in such a
position that he was able to steal the
vast sum of more than 81, OOO,O from
people who trusted him as much be-
cause they thought him beyond the
necessity of peculation as for any other
reason. -
OF course, the cases Of Van vlissln-
gen and Stensland are not true exam
pies of the alleged condition against
which socialists and others who harp
continually on the favors of the rich
and the troubles of the poor complain.
When they We're finally discovered in
their crime neither put up fight. In
reality their fortunes were such bub-
bles that when the denouement came
they vanished into nothingness.
A somewhat similar condition con-
fronted George r. McReynolds, the for
mer grain broker and warehouse man
convicted for defrauding banks BY
means Of fictitious warehouse receipts.
McIteynolds, however, put up hard
legal fight extending over number of
months. The highest courts were in.
voked in an effort to have him his lib.
erty, but, despite sufficient money to
secure oil legal aid possible and the
powerful influence of the friends be
had made in his affluent days when he
was rated millionaire, he had to 70
to prison aud don the hated gray uni.
form.
Newton G. Daugherty, the embezzllna
Peoria educator, had short shrift, al-
though an effort was made to save him
the disgrace of going to prison. But II
was unavailing, as have been efforts
made since to have him pardoned.
| John A. Cooke, the Chicago pollti.
clan. reputed to have amassed com.
Portable fortune through his connec.
lion with politics for years, fought as
hard us any man, possibly, who ever
went to prison. Not only his own
means, but millions of dollars of the
money of his wealthy associates, were
at his disposal. and used lavishly. But
neither that nor political pull" saved
him.
Morse Not Saved by Riches.
| The Morse case In New York is an.
other example of the inexorableness of
laws made for the government of rich
and poor alike. Dealing in millions, the
Ice king had transgressed the laws al
times when in his arrogance he believed
himself stronger than the law. His
hard-fought trial. only recently finish.
ed, which resulted in his being sen.
fenced to prison for fifteen years, which
In his case amounts practically to life
and the refusal of the court to admit
him to bail, have placed him securely
behind prison bars, while his lawyers
still are seeking legal loopholes
through which their client may escape
+. The cases of former Mayor Eugene
A. Schmitz of San Francisco and Abra.
ham Reuf, the wealthy and influential
political boss of the western city, are
fresh in the public mind by reason OF
the attempted assassination Of Prose
cutor Heney, who has been the nemesis
Of the grafters Of the western coast
Once Schmitz and Reuf were sentenced
and actually served several months In
prison. Then they were released on q
technically, but the law is pursuing
them more vengefully now than ever
and Ruef was at liberty when Heney
was shot only because of his ability tc
furnish $1,500,O0O ball.
The case of Harry X. Thaw, who
killed Stanford White. is probably the
hardest contested In which the wealth
of the criminal played an lmportan,
part, in the annals of the country
But even in the Thaw case 1t is posi-
BILE that his wealth has been against
him. At any rate, had 1t not been fol
the Thaw millions he would either have
bsen acquitted or convicted promptly