The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1869-10-23
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BeneVOecnCei i'm Business.
From the Christian Unlon.1

cu>sion which hinged on the definition
of beneyolence. Which is the more be-
nevolent, he who gives ten cents to a
bcggar and ten thousand dollars to a
charitable society, or he who, without
giving away any money, conducts his
business in such manner that the
greatest possible number of his fellow
creatures shall share with him the bene-
fit of it9 As in all discussions, so in this;
more than half the arguments were sim
ply statements of prejudices,a : and the
largest show of these carried the day.
We suppose the majority of men will
always BE- in favor of doing good sin the
lump" rather than by detail it is an
easier process, sooner through with, and
clicits more general admiration. But
We would call attention to the exceeding
worth of that practical benevolence which
devotes time and thought to tightening
the burdens of the poor indirectly If
it is charity to give to the destitute, il
is more than charity to provide renuner-
ative emplo, ment, for thus, while afford
ing relief, we help men out OF a",,en-
dence to position ofself-respect. Aims
giving, even when most discreetlv Or
dered, is but temporary expedient,
which often aggravates the evil that it is
designed to alay. There are few reci-
pients of charity who are not weakened
in character by its bestowal, and the
givers are often betrayed into false theo-
ries OF philanthropy.
There is practical truth in the max
i'm, Business is business and yet it
is sometimes greatly abused When
man considers that money put into the
contribution boz on Sunday discharges
bis obligation CT helpfulness to bis fel-
bowman when he makes his annual
subscription a set-off to mefhodical
meanness in his treatment of employees;
when he is more anxious to obtain the
highest possible per cent. on his capital
than to make life tolerable to the worlds
workers, he is deceiving himself. He is
not benevolent; he is not a good busi-
ness man. The net result of his business
and charitable operations is loss to
manliness. He does not truly love his
neighbor, for he takes away with one
hand more than he has given with the
other He is not doing large and sue
cessful business, for while his own in
come may be large, he is making that Of
hundreds and thousands as small as he
can. He is pinching his own soul in
stead OF enlarging it, he is putting
drag upon human progress.
We do not believe that there will be
any extensive and permanent healing of
the moral diseases which spring from
poverty until tenevolence invades the
counting room and the factory. 1t is
not that clerks and laborers are to be
overpaid !; that the same amount of money
is to be,earned in eight hours that can
be earned in ten; or that capital aud
brains are to have and exercise no ad-
vantages over mere muscle but that
ev-ry man, from the capitalist to the
hod carrier, >hall be less greedy of prot
its-more willing to share his good luck
with those worse off than himself.
AS affairs are now generally conduct
ed, business is simply game of grab"
he who can use his elbows in manner
most regardless of his neighbor's ribs,
and do the most ''blutfing" is honored
with the highest reputation for business
ability. It matters little to the strug-
Cling poor at large that this or that firm,
which makes the "largest sales,' gives
$4,000 year to charitable institutions,
for there are thousands upon thousands
who feel the pressure of monopoly,
there are millions whose daily bread is
poorer for the extortions Of these "be-
nevoleut'' men. The ten or twenty per
cent. added to a fair profit is SO much
wrupg out of bodies already overworked,
out of souls already blistered by the bur-
dens of poverty A man who makes
his million by oppression like this can
not buy a title to benevolence by a
generous donation"
But in the "good time coming" will
it ever come, We wonder ?-we shall see
a greater readiness to take time and trou-
ble,-more precious to business man
than gold,-tor helping a neighbor, an
employee, a weaker brother in need of
help; we shall see no less earnestness
tempered by consideration for the well
fare of those less fortunate; we shall
perhaps have no more organizations for
the removal Of distress, but there will be
constant care to prevent it.
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"Money is very tight" said a thief
who was trying to break open bank