The Washington times., 1934-02-08
True To
Type
Can Prosperity
Do Its Bit
For Us?
By GILBERT SELDES

By GILBERT SELDES
My public indignation boiling
point must be exceptionally
high, because when people tell
me that this form of graft or
that form of Skullduggery is
q shame and a disgrace, gen.
orally agree and do nothing
about it. Nevertheless; do
read the newspapers pretty
thoroughly, and from first to
last, so I cannot entirely escape
the conviction that a great
many Americans have escaped
conviction Tin the courts) only
by extraordinary good luck or
quite exceptional influence.
We are in for an era Of eX-
posures, and the only lucky
man is one who has had no
opportunity to graft and steal
and mishandle funds; his name
may not be known to posterity,
but at least it will not be
known with a footnote of con-
tempt. In this connection the
fact that q man escapes a jail
sentence counts for very little,
human beings remaining skep-
tical even when juries acquit.
It isn't fair, I am sure, but it
happens. And human beings
will continue for some time to
think that even if the laws
were so framed that people can
commit an antisocial act, a
crime in ethics if not in civil
law, they are not worthy Of
enduring respect.
Ireland VS.. Egypt
In addition to the news
papers, I read a bit of history
and biography. and I discover
that two thousand or two hun
dred years ago men bent on
riches or power used to bear in
mind one thing: Their good
name after death. the verdict
of the future upon their deeds.
At least they spoke often enough
of their respect for poSterity.
And our motto, now, seems to
be the famous Irish bull: Why
should we worry about pos
terity, what has posterity ever
done for us?
The Egyptians used to have a
Trial of the Dead, which they
took seriously, because they be-
lieved that the dead must
prove their innocence or suffer
some form of damnation. Every
man was privileged to stand
and accuse the. deported, and
his family and friends had to
defend him. If the accuser was
rejected by the court he suf-
fered a penalty; if the accusa-
tior held, the dead man was
considered damned as well as
dead.
No Law
Today our powerful men are
contented if a skillful lawyer
points out the way to- escape
the minor rigors of ordinary
courts, and the fear of eVerlast-
ing hellfire has been banished
by the advance Of liberal the
ology. Nothing remains, then,
to deter men from doing their
worst, provided a loophole has
been found in the ordinary law
of the land. Yet it might occur
to some of them that an ordi-
nary respect for the opinion OF
mankind, their own living con-
temporaries, is worth having.
You can't pass a law making
this obligatory, but it has its
points
Footnotes Wanted
I suggest that we create a
new set of words for use in
all accounts of international
currency. Something simpler
and less dramatic than "the
battle of the dollar against
the franc" something we can
all understand. For instance,
when I read that the dollar
rose sharply, I have a totally
ignorant and illogical feeling OF
patriotism and joy-and mo-
ment later I begin to wonder
whether the rise of the dollar
is going to do me. my friends
or my country the least bit Of
good. Perhaps a fall would be
better.
So would consider it a
favor if, at the beginning or
end OF each news item of this
sort, IT,, editors would print a
a little note like this: ED.
Note-This is good news for
U.S." Or, "P. S.-Sour neDS to-
day. Sorry" We could then. as
edit :ial writer's say, orient our
selves; we would not only have
the news but the meaning of
the news. How the editors
would find out what to say is
another question. They might
ask washington. And Washing
ton might ask someone who
knows.