Camas Prairie chronicle. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1901-1917, 1909-02-05

The popular cynicism that riches
keep men out Of prison, while the poor
have to suffer the full rigor of the law,
has had a 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 a strong In
dication 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
G. W. Morse in New York, prominent
feature is the fact that, while reput-
edly 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
dgment.
In the case of Van Vlissingen, 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 it Off for a
time by becoming a fugitive, but found
that the law was inexorable. 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 It is II
the case of the most obscure thug OF
cheap thief who is his companion Ii
ignominy.
Fate OF Van VIIssinEen.
To the same fate Van Vlissingen was
sentenced after a trial lasting little
longer than an hour. No abjectly pool
man could have had more speedy con
viction than has this man who, suppos
edly wealthy, found himself in such 9
position that he was able to steal the
vast sum of more than $1,00O0OO 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
Piles of the alleged condition against
which socialists and others who harL
continually on the favors of the rict
and the troubles of the poor complain
When they were finally discovered II
their crime neither put up fight. Ii
reality their fortunes were such bub
bles that when the denouement came
they vanished into nothingness.
A somewhat similar condition con
fronted George X. McReynolds, the for
mer grain broker and warehouse mar
convicted for defrauding banks By
means of fictitious warehouse receipts
McReynolds, however, put up q hare
legal fight extending over a number O
months The highest courts were In
voked in an effort to have him his lib
erty, but, despite sufficient money Il
secure all legal aid possible and thu
powerful influence of the friends b,
had made in his afIiuent days when b,
was rated a millionaire, he had to q
to prison and don the hated gray uni
form
NaWt0n n Danuharfu thu an1hoz1IfT,,
Peoria educator, had short shrift, al
though an effort was made to save hin
the disgrace of going to prison. But i
was unavailing, as have been efforts
made since to have him pardoned.
John A. Cooke, the Chicago pollti
clan, reputed to have amassed a com
Portable fortune through his connec
tion with politics for years, fought a
hard as any man, possibly, who eve
went to prison. Not only his owl
means, but millions of dollars of tn,
money of his wealthy associates, wer
at his disposal. and used lavishly. Blu
neither that nor political pull" saveC
him.
Morse Not Saved by Riches.
The Morse case in New York is an
other example of the inexorableness o
laws made for the government of ricl
and poor alike Dealing in millions, tn
ice king had transgressed the laws a
times when in his arrogance he believes
himself stronger than the law. Hi
[; hard-fought trial, only recently finish
ed. which resulted in his being ser
fenced to prison for fifteen years. whic