The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1852-03-17
WOODsFIELD OHIO, WEDNESDAY, MARCH II, 1852
"You've made mistake in your bill,


Mr.. Lee,' ,''said Clinton. $50
"Ah! are you certain?"
u "You can examine for yourself. max.
an error of twenty dollars in the add
4 TONS" .,..,
'.Then you only owe me sixty dollars
said Lee, with disappointment in hi.
tones that he could not conceal. .gg
4 Rather say thai owe you hundred
| for the mistake is in your favor. The frs
column in your bill adds up fifty, instead
of thirty dollars ,os s..
"Let me examine it," Lee took the. bill
and added up the column three times be-
fore he felt entirely satisfied. Then he
said
$50 it does! Well, should never have
been the wiser if you had only paid me the
eighty dollars called for by the footing up
of the bill. You might have retained youl
advantage with perfect safety"
Lee said this on the impulse of the mo.
ment. lie instantly saw change in Mr.
Clinton's countenance, as if he were slight.
ly offended.
"Oh, no; not with safety" was gravely
replied '"na :" '..', e
81 should never have found It out" T
"But there is coming day, with every
mar, when the secrets OF his heart will
stand revealed. lfnot now, it would then
appear that had wronged you out oi
twenty dollars" '''1"
True True! But all men don I think
of this" .'-'"-
"No one is more fully aware of that
than | am. 1t is for me, however, TO live
in the present, SO as not to burden my lu-
ture with shame and repentance. Know.
ingly, Mr.. Lee. would not wrong any man
to the value of a single dollar. lmay err,
add do err, like other men; for, to err is
human" y"
After the expression Of such sentiments,
Lee felt curious to know what Mr.. Clinton
thought Of, and how he felt toward Max
WELL So he said, alter referring to the new
mil-dam in the process of erection
"You didn't take the lowest bid for its
construction"
IL took the lowest competent bid"
"'Then you do not think Maxwell COM
petent 10 the work?" '.
81 do not think him man to be trusted,
and therefore, would not have given him
the contract for such a piece OF work at
any price. You are aware, that the giving
away OF that dam would almost inevitably
involve serious loss of life and property
among the poor people who live along the
course Of the stream below. must regard
their safety before any pecuniary advan.
tage to myself; and have given Mr.. jack
son, who has the contract, positive insruc.
tions to exceed his estimates, if necessary,
in order to put the question of safety be-
yond doubt. know him TO be a man
whom | can trust. But have no conf
dence in Maxwell" " ai "..t
ga good reason why you declined Civ
ing him the job"
81 think SOD | 4
"Maxwell was greatly disappointed"
81 know, and has spoken very hard
against me. But that avails nothing. My
principle of action is to do right. and let
others think and say what they please. No
man is my judge. Maxwell is not proba-
bly, aware that know him thoroughly, and
that | have thrown as much work in his
way as could safely do. He is not, of
course, aware, that one of my sons over
heard him in reference to this very mill.
dam, say--'l'm bound to have that con-
tract whether or no. have learned the
lowest bid, and have put in bid still low
err How did you learn this?' was asked
Of him. q'No matter, he answered, Il have
learned it, You can'tgo lower and build
the dam safely was said. To which he
replied-'I can build the dam, and make
a good profit. As to the safety, III leave
that in the hands of Providence He'll
take care of the good people below Mr..
Lee, felt an inward shudder when this
was repeated to me. | could not have be-
leyed the man so void Of common honesty
and common humanity. Was not right
to withhold from him such contract!"
"You would have been no better than
he, if you had given it to him." was an
swered. . .57,a1r aH5, ~ -3's1 4
''And yet the same man inveighs against
the rich, and thinks their chance of Heav-
en- poor bne. silao1 wei Ho s'AJ
i.sSimply because they are rich!'j a'
s"Or, il might with more truth be said,
because they will not yield to his covetous
and envious spirit. He is not content with
tile equivalent society renders back to him
for the benefit he confers, but wants to
share what Of right belongs to others.'' a
."That spirit lchave often seen him man.
:fest. We'll, simple riches are bar to
mans entrance into Heaven, how much
more SO is discomfort, envy, malice, ha-
tired, and a selfish disregard, for the rights
and well,being pfothers., The rich have
their temptations and so have the poor,
and neither will enter Heaven, unless they
overcome in temptation, and receive pu.
r6sd love of their neighboro This at least
is my doctrine. q SEsslq aa9a,og io s4isI |
s"0f the twoyI would rather take Gins
ton q chanca of Heaven . said ee To him.