The Plymouth weekly Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1860-1869, 1869-06-17
On Going Surety.

OUGHT man ever go surety for an
other? Why not? 1t is most friendly
act. If prudently done, it may be of the
most eminent benefit to neighbCr. 1t
gives him the benefit Of your good
reputation when he is not known. 1t
lends him your credit where his own
is not sufficient 1t puts him in funds
which otherwise he could not command.
Such service to friend is generous, and
sometimes even noble. No better use can
be made of ones money than TO help a
true friend. We are commanded to re-
member those in bonds as bound with
them. To be sure, this was originally ap-
piled to bonds of different kind, but
with not a whit more propriety than to
pecuniary bonds. A man who, by a few
thousand dollars, can save his friends, and
perhaps his family, from bankruptcy and
want, could hardly spend his money in a
manner which, all his life long, he would
remember with more satisfaction.
But there are certain moral and pru-
Dental considerations which should al
ways be borne in mind in going surety
for friend. You should make up
your mind how much property you
have, and how much you are will
ing to give away, absolutely, for that
friend whom you indorse. For no
blunder oaa be worse than to in
dorse on the supposision that you will not
have 10 pay. Never indorse with
olt saying to yourself "This may come
around upon me. l may have to pay it
and, if 1t comes to that, L am able and
willing" Nine out OF ten of the fatal mis-
takes made by bondsmen arise from taking
the opposite course to this They consider
the act Of indorsipg friends paper as a
mere commercial FORM "There is no risk
snail not have it to pay. He is abundantly
able to take care of his paper. shall help
him without harming myself, and he is a
stingy man who will not do that" This
is the calculation on which a man binds
himself to pay his friends debts in case
| the friend cannot pay them himself But
how do these things turn out? One need
not go far to ascertain. Every village has
an illustration. The borrower was more
involved than you supposed, or perhaps
than he himself knew, and his creditors
closed on him and wound him up, and
were overjOyed to find such good name
as yours on his paper. Or, the sanguine
| scheme on which he had ventured
which seemed sure of success, almost
without possibility of failure, suddenly,
like loaded wagon, slipped off wheel
and upset into the dirt.
/ Or, just as every thing was at the point
of success, our friend sickened and could
not look after his affairs, some critical
| matter was neglected, or some dishonest
person stepped in and crooked matters,
| your friend died, the estate went into ex-
| ecutors' hands for settlement, was badly
managed, warped and crippled, and finally
| turned out ipsOlvent
And what became Of your Why, you
were surety for the full amount of what
you are worth In an hour you find
| yourself confronted with a debt that
sweeps away your house, your farm, your
little sum in the bank, and leaves you just
where you began twenty-five years ago,
with the difference, that then you had
only yourself to provide for, and now you
have Il wife and eight children. Then
| you were twenty five years old and life
was all before you, and now you are fifty
years old, and life pretty much all behind
you'll You have given away your
children's bread. You have not saved
your friend, but have ruined yourself
Perhaps your friend had settled on his
wife small property. So much the bet.
ter for her. if he had. OF course she will
divide with you, since it was to save her
husband that you were ruined. But, il
she will not (and nature is made up oil
shaky stuff, and her children go to school
while yours stay at home; and if they live
in comfortable house, pleasantly furnish.
cd, while you are hiring few rooms in
the cheapest quarter of the town, then
suspect that you will chew the cud of q
great many bitter reflections.
When it is too late, you will be very
wise. You will say to yourself, it may be
:" A man is fool who signs for any larger
sum than he can conveniently pay
Amen, say II
Before man puts his name down or
another mans paper, he should ask him
self, am | willing to give this person a,
much money as l sign for ?" Amen, say |
ITO sign bond on the supposition thai
it is mere form, and that you will have
nothing to pay, it is to put ones head into
a fools moose" Amen, again, say II
There is no harm in signing for a neigh
Dor If you have got the property if you
are able to pay the amount without harm
ing your own household; and if you love
the man for whom you sign enough to be
willing to give him outright the sum GOV
cred by your Endorsement. Otherwise, tc
go surety for a neighbor is a folly, sir
and shame.-Henry Ward Beecher.
Gen. Butler was taking tea at the
house of lady friend in Washington the
I'M