Faith in Fellowmen Awakened.
A curious fact in regard to the action of many of these penitents is that, having become awakened to a sense of high ethics, their distrust of others vanishes. This is not a universal trait among the contributors to the Conscience Fund, but there have been many conspicuous examples of it.
The Treasury Department receives daily about ten thousand letters. One morning, in 1905, there was received in the mail at this department a package in manila paper, folded to resemble an ordinary official-size envelope. It bore several two-cent stamps, but no more than was necessary to carry it, and nothing whatever to indicate its contents. It was the sort of package which might be expected to contain the vouchers of some claimant or subordinate official.
When the contents were shaken out, twelve thousand dollars in paper money lay on the desk of the astonished clerk. The letter accompanying this contribution to the Conscience Fund read as follows:
Hon. L.M. Shaw, Secretary of the
Treasury,
Dear Sir:
I am sending you herewith twelve thousand dollars, which is to go to the use of the United States government. Years ago I defrauded the government of money, but have returned it all, and now am paying fourfold, in accordance with the teachings of the Scriptures. The way of the transgressor is hard, but no one but God knows how I have suffered the consequences, and I would seek to do a bountiful restoration. May God pardon while the United States government is benefited.
That letter was simply signed "A Sinner," which is a common signature to these interesting confessions.
Of an entirely different turn of mind was a penitent a few years ago, who sent in eight thousand dollars to the Conscience Fund. He tore the bills making up this sum exactly in half, and sent the first instalment to the keeper of the Conscience Fund, saying that if the government would acknowledge its receipt, he would forward the other half. True to his word, upon receipt of the Federal acknowledgment, he mailed the necessary fragments of the bills. Pieced together, these were, of course, as good as gold, and the Conscience Fund was materially increased.