Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1869-06-29
On Going Surety.

another? Why not? 1t is mos
friendly act. If prudently done, i
may be Of the most eminent benef
to a neighbor. 1t gives him the ben
EFT of your good reputation when b,
is not known. 1t lends him you
credit where his own is not sufficient
1t puts him in funds which otherwise
he could not command. Such ser,
vice to friend is generous, anC
sometimes even noble. No better
use can be made of ones money thar
to help true friend. We are com.
manded to remember those in bonds
as bound with them. TO be sure
this was originally applied to bonds
OF a different kind, hut with not Q
whit more propriety than to peouni-
airy bonds. A man who, by few
thousand dollars. can save his friends
and perhaps his family from bank
ruptcy and want, could hardly spend
bis money in a..manner which, all bis
life long, he would remember with
more satisfaction.
But there are certain moral and
prudential considerations which
should always be borne in mind in
going surety for a friend. You
should make up your mind how much
property you have, and how much
you are willing to give away, abso-
lutely, for that friend whom you in
dorse. For no blunder can be worse
than to indorse on the supposition
that you will not have to pay. New
er indorse without saying to yourself
This may come around upon me
| may have to pay it; and if it comes
to that, | am able and wiling
Nine out of ten Of the fatal mistakes
made by bondsmen arise from taking
the opposite course to this. They
consider the act of indorsing a friends
paper as mere commercial FORM
There is no risk. / shall not have
it to pay. He is abundantly able to
take care of his paper. | shall help
him without harming myself, and he
is stingy man who will not do that
This is the calculation on which man
binds himself to pay his friends debts
in case the friend cannot pay them
himself. But how do these thing rs
turn out? One need not 90 80 far
to ascertain. Every village has an
illurtration. The borrower was more
involved than he himself knew, and
bis creditors closed on him and wound
him up, and were overjoyed to End
such a good name as yours on his pa
pers. Or, the sanguine scheme on
which be had ventured, which SEEM
ed sure of success, almost without
possibility Of failuge, suddenly, like
loaded wagon, slipped off wheel
and upset into the dirt.
Or, just as everything was at the
point OF success, our friend sickened
aud 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 executors
hands for settlement, was badly man
aged, warped and crippled, and Gnal-
" turned out insolvent.
And what became of you? 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 diff
ference, that then you had only your
self to provide for, and now you have
a 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! You have Civ.
en- away your childrens' bread. You
have not saved your friend, but have
ruined YOURSELF Perhaps your
friend had settled on his wife small
property. So much the better fol
her, if be had, OF course she will di-
vide with you, since it was to save
her husband that you were ruined
But if she will not (and nature i.
made Of shaky stuff, and her chill
dren 60 to school, while yours stay
at home and If they live in a com.
Portable house, pleasantly furnished
while you are hiring few rooms in {
cheapest quarter of town, then l sus'
pect you will chew the cud of a grea
many bitter reflections.
When it is too late, you will be very
wise. You will say to yourself, i
may be, "a man is fool who signs
for any larger sum than he can con
veniently pay" Amen say II
"Before man puts his name dowr
on another mans paper, he should
ask himself, am | willing to give thi
person as much money as / sign for p
Amen, say | J
"To sign bond on the suppositior
that it is a mere form, and that yor
will have nothing to pay, it is to pu
ones head into FOOLS moose" Amer
again, say II
There is no harm in signing for +:
neighbor ifyou have got the proper
ty if you are able to pay the amour
without harming your own house
hold; and if you love the man TO
whom you sign enough to be willing
to give him outright the sum covered
by your Endorsement Otherwise, t,
go surety for neighbor is folly, .
sin and shame Henry Ward Beech
err.
bg According to an estimate mad