Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1871-12-28
PAYING ONES DEBTS.

The basis of all dealings among men
is the expectation that an obligation
to pay will be respected by the debtor.
The credit system in the advance of
civilization, scarcely known in barbar-
Gus States, has grown out of this con-
fidence, and with its growth has come
the opportunity and temptation to be
! dishonest. The system is necessary
in civilization, but it ha~ been extend
ed beyond all bounds of necessity and
has demoralized the country. The
man who buys goods on credit, or
borrows money without giving securi-
ty, or who induces his neighbor TO be
his indorser, incurs a liability to do
his neighbor wrong; and in many
cases the rashness with which he took
the risk was criminal, and his failure
to pay may justly involve him in pos
tive dishonesty. Yet very few men
think themselves dishonest simply be-
cause they fail to pay their notes when
due.
| HONESTY IN BANKRUPTCY.
Then comes in bankrupt law which
releases men from the legal obliga-
ton to pay their debts; a law which
in the opinion Of many cannot be NOR
al, because no law should relieve a
man from the obligation to do his NOR
al duty. Great hardslips would result
from the establishment of this doc
trine, and it is not at all probable that
a commercial age like ours will toler-
ate the principle; but it is true, never
thelees. Greater hardships result from
bankruptcy itself, and those who adj
vOcate bankrupt laws never take these
evils into account. But men who go
into business, incur liabilities and
make promises to pay, ought to have
the consciousness that no law of God
or man will ever let them escape from
the Lositive and perpetual obligation
to pay their debts to the utterm osl
farthing. 1t may require toll and
care and economy and fasting and
suffering: but no honest man will ever
imagine that bankrupt law has taken
off from his soul one straw's weight of
duty to pay principal and interest, ev-
cry cent he owes.
PUTTING PROPERTY INTO YOUR WIFE S
-..--.. HANDS.
There are many WAYS in which men
avoid paying their debts, which will
| ilOO OCcIA OdC GCob VI IlCuCSb HIVES
ton. Many man fails in business.
and when his creditors come upon
him for the property which surround
ed him, it is suddenly discovered that
his reputation for wealth was built up-
on the possession of a splendid house
and grounds which ne had made over
to his wife. He had been trusted be
cause he was supposed to be rich But
his riches were false pretences. His
wife was rich, and under our laws,
which are far more favorable to wo-
men than to men, she holds the wealth
and the creditors are defrauded. To
put ones property into the hands of
another, so as to save it from the liza
bilities of business, and then to do
business on the strength of that prop
erty, is not honest in the sight of God
or good But there is q vast deal
oftIis wrong doing in every CONNER
cial community, and it is not unlikely
that the most Of men will dissent from
my position that this is positively
wrong. The wrong lies in conceal1ne
the fact that the assignment has been
made, and continuing to demand and
receive credit on fictitious basis.
EvADING TAXES.
The subterfuges to which men re
sort to evade the payment of thei1
debts, are better known to men of the
world than to others but some O
these ways and means are SO common
= that they have almost ceased to bt
looked upon as dishonest. Probably
few men have scruples that preven
them from evading taxes it they can
s 1t is not the duty of citizen to pu
o himself in the way of the assessor, anC
le it is very trut that, in our city and ir
rs most cities, assessments are made with
d out justice and with great partiality
1T But the wrong-doing of officials doe
er not absolve the citizen from his obi
r CATION to tell the truth. The conceal
III ment of property, and giving decept
i've answers, are just as dishonest whe1
designed to evade government tax
p as when made to an individual to es
10 cape the payment of an ordinary debt
a. The Income Tax, perpetuated withou
n. justice or expediency, is an odiou
is and demoralizng imposition upon th
,r people; but he who makes an untrutl
- full or partial return of his income, t
IT. escape his full measure of taxation,
Of not honest, and cannot keep a goo
r. conscience in the sight of God.
al SMUGGLING.
Id The custom house is an institutio
OF which many hope Christianity of a,
other generation will utterly abolish
but while it exists as part of the y,