Polynesian., 1859-08-06
CHE poIpnesiau.
From the Westminster Review, April, 1881
The Morals of Trade.

selfshness of the savage, Why, after the careful
inculcations of rectitude during education, comes
there in after life all this knaveryt Why, in
spite Of all the exhortatiOns to which the CONNER
cial classes listen every Sunday do they next morn
ing rec0mmence their evil deeds What is this so
potent agency which almost neutralizes the disci-
plire of education, of law, of religionl
Various subsidiary causes that might be assigned
must be passed over. that we may have space to
dwell upon the chief one In an exhaustive state
ment, something would have to be said upon the
credullty Ot consumers, which leads them % be-
lIeye IN representations of impossible advantages
and something. too. their greediness, which,
ever prompting them to look for more than they
ought to get encourages the sellers to offer delu-
slve bargains. The increased difficulty of living
consequent on the growing pressure of population,
would also come in as u part cause and that
greater cost of bringing up family. which results
from the higher standard of education, might be
added. But all these are relatively insignificant
II we inquire what is the great inciter of these
trading mai practices, we find it 10 be-intense
desire for wealth. And if we go a step further
back and ask-Why this intense desire for wealth
the reply is-It results from the ndiscrin,nate re-
Spect paid 10 weahh.
To be distinguished from the common herd-to
be somebody-tO make name, pOsition-this is
the universal ambition and every one finds that
easiest way Of fulfilling his ambition. Very early
in life all learn this. At school, the court paid To
one whose parents have called in their carriage to
see him, is conspicuous; while the poor boy whose
insufficient stock of clothes implies the small
of his family, soon has burnt into his memory the
fact that poverty is cuntemptible. On entering
the world, the lessons that may have been taught
about the nobility of selfsacTifce, the reverence
due To genius, the admirableness of high integri-
mems actions proving that these are not. their
standards of respect. 1t is soon perceived that
while abundant outward marks of deerenee from
fellow citizens may almost certainly be gained by
directing every energy to the accumulation of
property, they are hut rarely To be gained in any
other way; and that even in the few cases where
they are otherwise gained, they not given with
entire unreserve; hut are commonly jjuned with
more OF less manifest display of patronage When,
seeing this, the young man further sees that while
the acquisition of property is quite possible with
his mediocre endowments, the requirement of dis
tiuctiOn by brilliant discoveries, or heroic acts,
implies faculties and feelings which he does not
possess; 1t is not difficult To understand why he
devntes himself heart and soul to business.
We do not mean 10 say that men act upon the
consciously reasOned-Out conclusions thus indcat-
ed; hut We mean that these Conclusions are the
unconscIOuSly formed products of their daily expe
rlence. From early childhood the sayings and
dOings nf all around them have generated the idea
that wealth and respeetbility two sides of the
same thing. This idea, growing with their growth,
and strengthening with their strength, becomes at
last almost what we may call an organic convic
tion. And this organic conviction it is which
prompts the expenditure of all their energies in
We contend that the chief stim-
ulus is not the desire for the wealth ITSELF but Tor
the applause and position which the wealth brings.
And in this belief we find ourselves thoroughly at
one with various intelligent traders with whom we
have talked on the matter. Ii is Incredible that
men should make the sacrifices, mental and bodily,
which they do, merely to get the material benefits
which money purchases. Who would undertake
an extra burden of business for the purpose of get
ting cellar OF choice wines for his drinking
tie who does 1T, does 1t that he may have choice
wines to give his guests and gain their praises.
What merchant would spend additional hour
at his office daily merely that he might move into
u larger house in better quarterl In so far as
health and comfort are concerned, he knows he
will be loser by the exchange and would never
be induced to make it were it not for the increased
social consideration which the new house will bring
him. Where is the man who would lie awake at
nights deVisng means Of increasing his income in
the hope Of being able to provide his wife with a
carriage, the of the carriage the sole con-
sideration 1t is because of the sciat which the
carriage will give, that he enters these addition
al anxieties. so manifest, trite, indeed, are
these truths, that We should be ashamed of insist
ing on them did not our argument require it.
For if the desire for that homage which wealth
brings is the chief stimulus to these intense striv
ngs after wealth, then is the giving of this hOm-
given, as ii is, with but little discrim-
chief ultimate cause of those count
less dishonesties into which these intense srivings
betray mercantile men. When the shopkeeper, on
the strength of prosperous year and toerably ia
Eorably prospects. has yielded to his wiie's per-
suasiOns, and replaced the old furniture with new
At an outlay greater than his income coyers-when,
instead of the hOped-lor increase, the next year
brings decrease in his returns-when he finds
that his expenses are Outrunning his revenue, then
Ices he fall under the strongest temptation to adopt
some neWly-introduced adulteration other NAL
practice. When, having by display gained GER
recognition, the wholesale trader begins to give
iinners appropriate only to those of ten times his
income, and other expensive entertainments to
natch-when, having for time carried on tn
style at cost greater than he can afford, he hnds
hat he cannot discontinue it without giving up his
position; then is he most strongly prompted to en-
.er into larger transactions; to trade beyond has
neans to seek undue credit; to get into that ever
,omplcating series Of misdeeds, which end IN dis
yracefnl bankruptcy And IT these are the facts
he undeniable iaets-then is it unavoidable
conclusion that the blind admiration which the
mass of society gives to more wealth, and the dis
play of wealth, is the chief source of these multi
udinous immOraities.
Yes, the evil is deeper than appears-draws its
lutriment frum far below the surface. This gi-
,antic system of dishonesty. branching out into
very conceivable form of fraud has roots that run
Underneath our whole social fabric, and sending
ibres into every house, suck up strength from our
laiIy sayings and doings. In every dining-room a
ootlet finds food when the conversation turns up
N So-and-sps successful speculatOns, his purchase
# an estate. his probable worth-upon this mans
eeent large legacy, and the others advantageous
match; EDI being thus talked about is one form OF
hat tacit respect which men struggle for. Every
rawing-rUom furnishes nOurishment IN the adInl-
alton awarded to c0stliness-to silks that are
rich, that is expensive To dresses that contain
N enormous quantity of material that Is are eA'