GREED AND ITS PUNISHMENT
The government very properly interfered to curb aggression and
extortion. That is a most appropriate function of government,
but a very inappropriate end and can be carried too far.
Just cause for complaint did, does and always will exist. The Kingdom
of Heaven has not yet been established by human agencies. Greed of
gain, whetted by indulgence, led to practices in many instances
reprehensible. Some of the big fellows who had achieved great things,
and rightfully owned what they had accomplished, seemed to think they
also owned the little things that others had done. Punishment became
necessary and the government administered it wisely and with lavish
hand. Not a few of the big boys were whipped in the presence of the
infant class, a thing always gratifying to juniors. Thereupon, all the
little people became hilarious over these just punishments and it
became a pastime to get after “those higher up.” One of our
distinguished senators is credited with the statement that the people
changed the motto over their Temples of Justice to “Soak Him.” It soon
became more difficult to secure the acquittal of an innocent man of
affairs, than it had been to convict the guilty. Until time is no more
the pendulum will continue to swing from one extreme to another.
PUNISHMENT A MEANS, NOT AN END
I know of no better illustration of the necessity of punishment and the
desirability of quitting when its purpose is accomplished than an
incident told me by a man who claimed to have been an eye-witness.
Back in the days when young men attended school until they were
married, a theological student attempted to teach in a country district
on the frontier of Ohio. The big boys became obstreperous. He urged
them to treat him respectfully for he said he was studying for the
ministry. The effect was as one might suppose. They carried him out,
they washed his face in the snow, they dipped him in the creek until he
gave up in despair.
Shortly thereafter, another youth applied. The director told him he
could not maintain discipline. He said if he failed, it would cost the
district nothing. Certificates to teach were then unknown. When the
pupils assembled, they found him sitting at his desk reading. They
looked him over, sized him up, thought him an easy mark and commenced
pounding their desks and stamping their feet, and kept it up until nine
o’clock. Then the new teacher laid aside his book, locked the door, put
the key in his pocket and called school to order. The preliminaries
having been unusual, silence was secured. He informed them they need
not attempt to escape, for the windows were nailed down. Then, opening
his carpet bag, he brought forth a revolver, a bowie knife and a
blacksnake whip. Then after warning the pupils not to arise until their
names were called, he summoned John Jones to the floor. With whip in
one hand and revolver in the other, he proceeded to give private
lessons. When through with John he called Bill Smith. He did not need
to ask their names. After going some distance down his list, he told
them they had probably learned more that day than they had ever learned
in any one day in their lives, and perhaps as much as it was wise to
attempt to learn in one day, adding: “When you come again, come
expecting to obey the rules, attend to business and make no false
motions. There will be no further exercises today.” They never knew
whence he came nor where he went. He had performed his mission and
wisely left future tasks to his successor.
I did not inquire concerning the subsequent history of that school, but
I understand human nature enough to know that if his successors were
men without plan or purpose or policy of their own, and only sought to
repeat the popular practices of their predecessor, they permanently
ruined that school. There was but one wise course. Without apologizing
for what had been done, or lowering the standard of discipline, there
should have been a return to the ordinary tasks of the schoolroom
without unnecessary delay, for I declare to you that corporal
punishment is not the purpose for which schools are established, nor
are criminal prosecutions the aim and end for which governments are
instituted among men. Both are essential at times, but let us hope that
captains of industry and business men generally have learned their
lesson sufficiently so that it shall not be necessary to continue
indefinitely what was so admirably done a decade or more ago.
Unless punishment is discriminately administered, demoralization will
follow, and if the big boys are whipped for no other purpose than to
please the little folks, they will probably go fishing. And whenever
the big boys of America take a day off, trouble ensues. Only a very few
years ago, I saw a thousand men standing in line awaiting their turn
for a cup of coffee and a slice of bread at the hands of charity.
Business simply could not stand the lash incessantly applied. It had
taken a day off.
Then the war came, abnormal demands were created and great prosperity
ensued. But before the revival of industry, sufficient time elapsed to
permit a fundamental economic principle to be elucidated in the
greatest school of the world, the school of experience.