Editorial February 13, 1909 Issue

"THE TONGUE OF THE CRAFTY."

Archibald McLellan

From time to time there come to us from readers of the Sentinel letters which tell us that the cities in which the writers reside have been visited by itinerant impostors who, upon the strength of such plausible tales of destitution as are best suited to their purpose, have succeeded in victimizing Christian Scientists by borrowing money from them.

Some years ago we used to publish these letters in the Sentinel, or by giving descriptions of the impostors and their particular modes of enlisting sympathy endeavor to warn Christian Scientists against them ; but finding again and again that these efforts to save our readers from being imposed upon were largely ineffectual, the conclusion was reached that space in our crowded columns was too valuable to be thus wasted, and that some other method must be adopted if such fraudulent practices were to be stopped.

After mature reflection we now feel justified in advising the readers of the Sentinel to lose no time in turning these swindlers over to the local police authorities. Perhaps this advice may seem harsh to some of our friends, but when it is remembered that at least two of these frauds—the man whose horse (which he never possessed) has been stolen, and the man who asks for his railroad fare to another city where employment is waiting for him (but which he never seeks)—have for at least a decade been getting their living by imposing upon tender-hearted Christian Scientists, there will be little sympathy with more lenient methods. Mawkish sentimentality in such cases would simply perpetuate the swindle by leaving the trickster free to victimize others.

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