The Cadiz sentinel. [volume] (Cadiz, Ohio) 184?-1851, 1844-11-20

The honesty of a people is to be properly
measured, not by what is, honest simply accord
ing TO law, but what is honest from their spon-
%taneons action. The one kind Of honesty, though
practical, may have no spirit of truth, but may
merely spring from fear of punishment; the 9th
.er arises from conscientious motives, and deter
mines the existence of the principle itself. We
hear "A great deal of the infdelity Of Americans
to their pecuniary engagements; the cry has
been iterated and reiterated until many people
have come to the belief that their countrymen
suffer in a comparison of integrity with the rest
of the world. This scandal originated in the
English and French journals, and in the books
of ~insolent foreign tourists. If we look TO the
fact of the law regarding the collecting of debts
is so much less rigid III this country than abroad,
we shall find that the superiority Of honesty be-
longs to the Americans who are not forced in
the same degree by legal enactments TO meet
their engagements. We have long been of the
opinion that the more, left to the discretion of
ind yiduals by the government the better, the
general safety being considered; and, according
to this theory, the collection of debts being left
to private management, they would become
debts of honor, and would be incurred and paid
accordingly. But a reliance On The power OF
government to collect them in case of necessity,
interferes with the freedom Of action, essential
TO the development Of honest principles.
In eXcmpli6cation Of the fact Of The existence
of American honesty in a pre-eminent degree,
notwithstanding the extensive denial given to
it, we will quote a few foreign authorities.
One of the house of Barihgs, London, recent
ly stated TO an American dining with him, that
The Americans were the most honest people in
the world; for during the whole of his long OK.
periencc, with the numerous credits OH theiI
house that had been granted to Americans, not
a single case had occurred of an improper appli-
cation of the money.
Captain Marryatt, in his travels, says, while
N New York, that there is no legal mode fol
compelling the payment of debts. Afterwards
while in Buffalo and Rochester, commenting on
the SIC and appearance Of the shops, he states
that every body obtained goods upon credit
The Edinburgh Review, commenting upon these
two passages, says that they must be an extraor.
binary people, where every body has dtedit, al
though debts cannot be recovered by process OF
law. So it is. The best evidence Of honesly a.
monga people is To be found in the existence O
credit, as no one parts with his goods withour
expecting, to be paid for them.
The difference between the official honesty
of England and the United States is shown by
the following: Here losses of money by the
post are of occas, onal, though of rare, occur
renee. There, Col. Maberly, Deputy Postmas.
ter General, says, in his evidence before a com
m ttee Of the House of Commons, that "a letteI
posted with money i'll it might as well be thrown
down into The gutter as TO be put into the post
Office" IL is stated that the money contained
in the dead letter office sent TO Washington
monthly is $4,000 strong contrast to the 9th.
or, and yet our Offices are scattered over the
wilds of this immense country -Ledgcr.