The Richmond climax. (Richmond, Ky.) 1897-1914, 1909-08-18
WEDNESDAY. AUG IS 1909

A man IS either CROOKED or ne is
"square"-there is no middle ground.
A man is either hypocrite or he is
honest-there is no point of COM
promise. In this as in every other
community, there are those who
think that they may be able to ''get
by,"-to use sporting term-with-
out effort or by means of dishonesty.
Some OF them boast of the things
they have been able to "put over" by
dishonest methods, but we have yet
to find one of these boosters who is
successful in any sense of the term,
either financially or otherwise. II
were better to be poor all your life,
and honestly poor, than to have bad
credit with the grocer. 1t is better
to own bicycle than an automobile
if you can honestly support the
former and not the latter. We are
all, the most honest of US, given TO
too much pretense. Mrs. Smith is
afraid that Mrs. Jones will fear that
Mr.. Smiths income is not equal to
that of Mr.. Jones, and just to show
that it is, Mrs. Smith spends little
more on a gown, or a summer
vacation or on party than she can
afford to spend, and Ms. Jones, un-
daunted, proceeds to 60 her one
better.
Then, some day, the blase world in
which the Jones and Smith families
revolve in precise orbits, is startled
for day or two by the announce
ment in the newspapers that Mr..
Jones or Mr.. Smith has confessed
that he is guilty of embezzling a few
thousand dollars from the firm that
employs him.
Then there is the disgrace Of the
publicity, the trouble of buying of
people-and occasionally the terrible
affront of finding somebody that can
net be bought off nor cGjoled off-and
the necessity for removal to a new
city while the husband is either
living down the disgrace-if he have
enough pull" to get out of a
sentence-or the publicity of tbe
thing if he have not; for whatever
other punishment may happen, the
one sure punishment if the crime be
great enough, is that Of newspaper
publicity.
Sometimes the family OF poor,
misguided wretch who is in trouble
for the first time with the police
comes around to the editor of a news
paper and begs that the individual in
question be given another oppor-
tunity to live better life. There is
no question Of "pull" in this. But
the newspaper editor looks into the
merits of the case, always with his
heart warmed and his brain pre-
JUDGED in favor of the erring one and
unless the case as represented to him
is palpably false and the ofrense is
not too great, the veil Of charity, as
far as the newspaper man is con-
cerned, is cast about the erring one
For, whatever he may be in private
life, the newspaper man remembers
that ''the greatest OF all is charity"
But there should not be in the life
of anybody who is in the public or
semi-public service, any excuse for
the exercise Of maudlin sympathy
over the wilfully vicious or criminal
II criminal be Of sufficient shrewd-
ness. it is absolutely certain that he
will be able to govern certain avenues
of influence, either financial or legal,
and that he will be able TO make a
considerable showing against right
endeavor, however deep may be his
own guilt. and viii be supported in
this endeavOr by the hypocritieally
rightsods.
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