The Nome daily nugget., 1935-08-15
Howe About:
Good Mans Reward The Case of Kruger Not a Real Philosopher
6. Iss,. Bell syndleats.-wNU Service.
By ED HOWE

pad one, ana ehIAed 10 uofe comfort, Is the only statement that has never been disputed by any. body. Even the best behaved con vict Is rewarded by being made a trusty; frequently his stripes are removed. and he Is sent downtown by the warden on errands. where he may experience the joy of ming. ling again with respectable people; again see sunlight, women and chil. dren. and avoid for a time the fetid air of the prison the worse behaved prisoners endure.
 So far as l know there has been no greater exhibition of bad con. duct than that displayed in Rus sia during the past dozen years. but even there the better behaved men are rewarded. The worse behaved receive only a dollar a day. while the best behaved receive up to thirty dollars a day. If specially efficient.
 This spread of 1-30 between the well and ill-behaved is admitted to be justice even in Russia. Their main complaint against us is that their dollar a day men get only thir. ty cents here, while their thirty dol lar a day men get thirty thousand dollars a day In the United States. Still. even the Russians do not dispute the principle that a good man Is entitled to more than a bad one; they only dispute the greater American rewards for decency and steadineSs.
 I call attention to the history Of 1var Kruger again. So long as he was an honest, industrious. efficient and polite man, he had no trouble making a good living, or attracting the helpful respect and friendship of those with whom he associated Indeed. while so ordering his life he became noted not only in his own country, but abroad. For years the policy of honesty for its own sake. industry for it's own sake. combined with efficiency and polite ness. not only earned Iyar Kruger a good living, but made him well. to-do; even rich. It earned him the respect and confidence of the best people everywhere. And the distinction he enjoyed enabled him to be a useful man; In his various well-managed organizations, he gave employment and good training to thousands.
 It was only when he became dis honest that his troubles began.
 I do not know how 1t happens when any man getting along well in the practice of a successful life throws t all away in becoming a drunkard. wanton or thief but such thing happened to Iyar Kruger.
 He left a record as a great scoun- drel when he might have easier left record as an honest, successful and useful man.
 Another man called a philosopher has been found He is eighty years old. very poor, and lives in the un- saved part Of a big town. One day a citizen called on him, and asked
 Have you any friends;-
 Did you ever know a poor man 10 have friendsf" was his reply: no; have only acquaintances."
 The visitor discovered that the philosopher was quite comfortable. and that the owner or the house IF which he lived charged him no rent: had, In fact. spent some money in making t more to the liking of his tenant.
 The candidate for the laurels of a philosopher also confessed that young men working in a filling sta tion nearby had been good to him for months; had regularly supplied him with food. fuel, clothing. news papers Another man had given him stove; others had given him money. Once when the philosopher was i'll, a doctor called. and made no charge.
 This man. fear, will not finally qualify as philosopher. His state ment that he has no friends: that no poor man has, is not only un- true but ungrateful. And no true philosopher tells falsehoods, or is ungrateful The mans own story shows he has friends, and that this is a friendly world that everywhere aequaintances easily develop into friends, If one behaves reasonably we'll
 If there Is any virtue that works out well in practice, it is the thrift and stinginess of the Scotch. Amer jeans are so liberal they use jokes on the Scotch in their propaganda to help everybody. Harry Lauder once asked a friend: "When can you go to breakfast with me?" The friend replied quickly and greedily: Any time" All right" Mr. Lauder said, tomorrow morning, at. your house"
 You will recall that the great breakfast to the Belgians, French. English, Germans. citizens of the a,,-