The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1912-08-17

makes II dangerous These personal vices are
slces in the public purview only ia so far as
I their influence Is to weaken standards OF citi
zenship. taking citizenship IN tho mass The
horrible example is no longer parsded as an
aid 10 temperance crusades; nor is the gam
bler's end, in a paper snow~storm. longer de-
pended upon to discourage the giving OF prizes
At csrd-psrties The virtue or the change in
methods r. shown IN the loss of drink and
gambling alike TO The pastimes OF respecta.
bnity
, why should the practical sense that has
come TO the reformers OF personal viclousness
not be adopted by those who seeking 10
apply personal standards to political and bust
ness life? Why weaken a good cause and
sound logic with the exceptional case, with the
oyerdrawn picture. with the absurd deduction?
Why not keep the principle clear OF rubbish.
the reform sufficient to ITSELF Thls is. or
should be an age o, reason. The reasoning
quality is not to be helped along by reckless
oratory or the near logic OF ridiculous charges.
We are moved to these reflections by read
ing the speech of Representative Stanley. in
which he accuses George V. Perkins or The
theft Of nifty thousand dollar check from the
New York Life Insurance Company, which
amount Was taken to swell Mr. Roosevelt's
campaign fund Technically az course the
charge Is true The check itself is the best
evidence No. 72s3--duly drawn 10 Perkins
order 10 reimburse him for theYpersona check
which he handed 10 the campaign committee
The transaction was theoretically nothing less
than the larceny of trust funds. but we submit
that the abstraction of the money had no such
dire effect that lent II by Mr.. stanley when
he said
VINO Mere these pil;ered poheyhold"rsn The
most ia hectic. and HELPLESS hgtlrpa I'm .u this
vale Of tears. The Young mother wrapped III
the black habiliment u woe. PROSTATE upon tuls
new-madc grave OF her once loving lord; e.
phanS wailnlE the name OF father above Tie
silent dead lie robbed the widow OF her slender
parimony and snatched the last crumb from
the pinched Anglers OF helpless CHILDHOOD In
all the loathsome annals Of greed and graft
there is nothing 80 sordid and pitiless a. he
creatures who did IT,
The vice IN this picture of Perkins snatch
ing sustenanee from the widow eating the
grass on her husbands grave and the baby
wailing over empty bottle is the fault that
hurting through inhnuy. It is logical. but not
tangible. We are vet uneonyinced that Perk-
ms ever starved widow or a child As an
arithmetieaI. proposition, he may have taken a
crumb here and there. and afterwards swept
| the floor aud started bakery with the sal
wage But that Mig populations IN the interest
OF politics ever produced infantile emaciation
ls matter that will have to"be proved by a
moving picture film.
> or Mr.. Perkins immunity from a
charge OF accessory before the fact TO widow
and iufanticide does not remotely relieve the
quality OF his act in apDroprsting by inhnites-
SINAI amounts lump sum to expend in Roose-
| welt graft The moral cailousness that per
mirted him such act is proper subject OF
comment in the House or elsewhere. But does
not Mir. Stanley weaken his case OF a crime
against principle Nhen he tries 10 convert an
mpersonsl peculaton into personal assault?