Year: 1875

Il
OF tltles-such as repudiator, dcfaulter, and
detacator-as descriptive of some of our
more popular modes Of cheating. Give TO
any vice gentle name, and it is said to
lose half its grossncss. And SO instead of
using the good old Saxon which meant
something, even if it was coarse, We say Of
one who has robbed the bank. that ':there
Is a difcit in his accounts" and of the man
who spends money that does not belong to
him, that he is ''obliged to compromise with
his creditors" | do not think that there
is much gained by this Carrion meat may
be called high, but it does not smell any
sweeter for that. IF man has robbed me-
do not feel any better to be told that che
has appropriated my property to his own
use. Let us call spade a spade, and a
rascal rascal, and we shall know better
whore we stand.


If [ should enter in detail upon all the
various modes in which we are now chea-
ted, | could ill all the forty columns of the
Ledger. As it is, l shall confine myselfto
few, which are just now most prominent


Highest in the scale of thieves and al
together the most respectable, is the pro-
fessional burglar, who calls his vocation by
no fictitious name, and is prepared to meet
the consequences fairly and squarely, if he
happens to be caught. He has probably
been trained to his business from childhood
and as matter Of taste prefers it to any
other. y lawyer in Boston once asked the
captain Of band Of English burglars if.
with his skill as an accountant and other
accomplishments, he could not do better by
earning living in some honest way; to
which he replied: Certainly, sir; was it
not upon the whole paying business but
do you suppose that 1t is the pecuniary re-
! turn which makes il attractive to me by
no means it is the pleasure that [ take
in bringing my wits to bear, so as to cir
cumvent the plans of others for the presses
vation Of their property


The elevation of burglary to the ranks of
a mental science is somewhat novel, but the
the intellectual pre-eminence of the profes-
sional robber may be justly disputed by the
accomplished swindler, who never breaks
| lock or strikes blow or uses 4 tool. House
breaking requires only a certain amount of
mechanical skill, but to get possession of
another mans property by hood winking
| him, or playing upon his feelings, it is ne
cessary that one should study something
more than the mysteries Of iron bolts and
bars. Take, for instances, the mendicant
! thief-not one of the ragged regiment OF
beggars who are always ready to pilfer
whatever is not to be had in other ways
but well-dressed traveller, who has not
lost his wallet or had his pocket picked, or
failed to collect a bill upen which he relied
to meet the expense of his journey. Now
it is only by the exercise Of considerable
ingenuity that any OF these stale devices
can be made effectiove.


a pleasing young man, with an inimit-
able address, calls upon me in some such
distress, asks for a simple loan of ten or
twenty dollars to reach his home, "Now',
he adds, 81 have been sufficiently familiar
with clergymen to know how liable they
are to be imposed upon by such stories as
mine, and for this reason L would not like
to take the money without leaving in your
hands few books which [ brought with
me from home as security for the loan"
"What are the books ?" | inquired. He
then mentioned the titles of three or four
religious works of the highest character ly
ing at the hotel in his trunk, such as only
a very good man would be likely to read,
and the bait took The youth kept his
books-if he ever had them-obtained the
loan, and that was the last ever saw or
heard of him. This is a very ordinary
specimen of the ingenious deceits by which
the tribe of mendicant swindlers obtain a
living


Cheating the government by evading the
payment of duties and taxes, by smuggling,
and buying goods known to be smugged,
and various other modes of fraud, Is popu-
larly regarded as a somewhat venial crime.
So far as the abstract morality of the deed
is concerned, | do not see the difference be
tween putting my hand into the public
treasury and taking out a hundred dollars
that do not belong to me and abstractng
the same sum from my neighbors pockets.
The arrangement of certain branches OF
trade, as well as the loss of revenue occa-
stoned by this evil, have recently aroused
public attention, and the conviction of a few
conspicuous criminals may tend to abate
the fraud


The rascalities of contractors have never
been exceeded or equalled in any former
generation One fat job is a fortune and
an easier way to make fortune can hardly
be conceived. Only get the papers signed
secure the money, and under-let the work
at half price, and the thing is done How
the work will be done, and with what sort
of materials, is another matter.


"Of the numberless other ways in which
the communities are cheated-the forma
ton of stock companies based upon It's
sue of lies, where the little savings OF hard
working men, and the patrimony of or
phans and widows are Systematically swal
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