The receiver is as bad as the
thief--ay, and the thief is finer than the receiver; he at least has
the courage to run the risk. But the good, kind people who don't do
anything won't believe this, and the assertion will make them angry--
for a moment. They possess several magic phrases, which are like the
incantations of a voodoo doctor driving devils away. The phrases
that the good, kind people repeat to themselves and to one another
sound like "abstinence," "temperance," "thrift," "virtue." Sometimes
they say them backward, when they sound like "prodigality,"
"drunkenness," "wastefulness," and "immorality." They do not really
know the meaning of these phrases, but they think they do, and that
is all that is necessary for somnambulists. The calm repetition of
such phrases invariably drives away the waking devils and lulls to
slumber.
Our statesmen sell themselves and their country for gold. Our
municipal servants and state legislators commit countless treasons.
The world of graft! The world of betrayal! The world of
somnambulism, whose exalted and sensitive citizens are outraged by
the knockouts of the prize-ring, and who annually not merely knock
out, but kill, thousands of babies and children by means of child
labour and adulterated food.
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