Evening star., 1936-10-08

o policeman. A couple Of
years ago I found a large
- sum Of money in a station
house. Tn a married man with sew
eral children and many obligations.
and am heavily in debt. I pocketed
the money and with 1t paid the doctor,
the butcher, the baker, taxes, etc.
make no excuse for the action beyond
saying that the sum Of money was so
large that I knew that whoever had
lost 1t or thrown 1t away for fear
Of 1t being found upon him had not
come by it honestly himself. Then
the unexpected happened. My pal
and good friend, by a trumped-up
chain of circumstantial evidence. was
accused Of the theft by our captain,
who disliked him. He was transferred
to a very disagreeable post, charges
were brought and he was fined. He
was not convicted of the actual theft
because Of lack of evidence, but his
reputation was ruined, as few people
believed in his innocence. The battle
he has put up for vindication has
already cost him many hundreds Of
dollars. To say that my heart is
broken Is putting it mildly. 1 have
harmed my friend for whom would
have risked my life, and have lost
his friendship because cannot bear
to face him. What can I do now?
To confess the true story probably
would not help him with his bosses,
and would certainly result in my be-
ing fired. I have a wife and two chill
dren and We are expecting a third.
What would become Of them? I can
not eat or sleep for thinking Of this.
My health Is being shattered by
incessant brooding over it, and the
only peace Of mind that comes to me
Is when I am drunk. Please tell me
what to do before I completely crack
under the strain.
VERY WORRIED.
Answer-It seems to me that your
line of conduct Is very plainly marked
out for you. 1t Is to make a clean
breast of the AFFAIR and exonerate
your innocent friend. That alone will
give you back your lost self-respect,
without which you are finding life
intolerable.
Suppose your confession does cost
you your position. grant you that
is q terrible thing to happen to a
man with Q wife and little children TO
support. but It's not so terrible nor
as fatal as the thing that is happen
ing to you because your worry Is driv:
ing you to drink and wrecking your
health. and when that happens you
will be down and out for good.
NOW with your conscience cleared
by having made a really heroic
gesture-for it's going to take more
courage to stand up and tell your
friends and your superior officer what
you have done than 1t would to face
mob Of gunmen-you will be a man
again, able to look the world in the
face. Relieved Of worry and shame,
your health will return, you will be
able to give up drink and to make a
new start in some other line, even II
you are dismissed from the police
force.
Certainly those who know the des-
peration Of a man swamped by debts
that he sees no way Of paying,
bounded by bill collectors and with
the incessant needs Of little children
pulling not only at his purse but also
his heart strings, will realize the
temptation to which you were sub
jected and will not judge you too
hardly for taking the money that ap-
parently belonged to no one and that
at least the owner was afraid to
claim.
But nothing can justify you for let
ting your friend suffer for your deed.
You will never know a minutes hap
piness or peace until you stand up like
man and assume responsibility for
what you did and take its conse-
quences, whatever they are. The one
thing we cannot live without is our
own self-respect. When We lose that,
we begin to degenerate.
4 r
nEAR MISS DIX-I am q girl who
does not know whether she is in
love. I do not have the symptoms
that the heroines Of novels seem to
have. My appetite, for instance. Is
grand. I sleep like a log. No trouble
with insomnia. Nor does my heart do
q fip-dop every time I see him. But
here Is how I feel: think of him q
million times day. notice his every
little mannerism. When he is around
I can see no one but him. I hear no
one else when he speaks. I am in a