Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1871-05-09
On Going Surety.

Ought man ever go surety for
another? Why notp 1t is a most
friendly act. If prudently done, it
may be of the most eminent benefit
to neighbor. 1t gives him the ben
eft of your good reputation when he
is not known. 1t lends him your
credit where his OWE is not sufficient.
1t puts him in funds which otherwise
he could not command. Such service
to friend is generous, and some
times even noble. No better use
can be made of ones money than to
help true friend. We are command
ed to remember those In bonds as
bound with them. To be sure this
was originally applied to bonds of
different kind, but with not q whit
more propriety than TO pecuniary
bonds. A man who, by few thous-
and dollars, can save his friends, and
perhaps his family, from bankruptcy
and wanC, could hardly spend his
money in manner which, all his
life long, he would remember with
more satisfaction.
But there are certain moral and
prudential considerations VIII C b
should always be borne in mind in
gong surety for friend. You should
make up your mind how much prop
erty you have, and how much you
are willing to give away, absolutely,
for that friend whom you indorse.
For no bunder can be worse than to
indorse on the supposition that you
will not have to pay. Never 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 willing. Nine out of
ten of The fatal mistakes made by
bondsmen, arise from taking the
opposite. Consider the act ofindOrs
ing friends paper as a mere COM
mercial form. There is no risk. l
shall not have to pay. He is abund-
antly 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 cacu-
Iation on which 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 Dor
rover was more involved than you
supposed. and his creditors closed on
him and wound him up. and were
enjoyed to find such good name as
yours on his paper. Or, the sanguine
scheme on which be had ventured,
which seemed sure of success, almost
without possibility of failure, sudden
ly, like loaded wagon, slipped off a
wheel, and upset into the dirt.
And what became of you? Why
you were surety for the full amount
Of What you are worth In an hour
you are confronted with 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 dif-
ference, that then you had only
yourself to provide for, now you
have 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 all pretty
much behind you You have not
saved your friend, but have ruined
yourself. Perhaps your friend has
settled on his wife a small property.
So much the better for her, if he had.
OF course she will divide with you,
since it was to save her husband that
you were ruined. But, if she will
not, and her children go to school,
while yours stay at home; and if
they live in comfortable house,
pleasantly, furnished, while you are
hiring few rooms in the cheapest
part of the town, then we suspect
that you will chew the cud of a great
many bitter reflections.
When it is too late, you will be
very wise. You will say to your
self it may be "A man is a fool who
signs for any larger sum than he can
conveniently pay" Amen, say | !
Before man puts his name down
on another mans paper, be should
ask himself, "am | willing to give
this person as much money as | sign
for?" Amen, say | !
Tnere is no harm in signing for
neighbor if you have got the prop
erty if you are able to pay the
amount without narming your own
household, and if you love the man
for whom you sign enough to be will
ing to give him outright the sum
covered by endorsement. Other
wise, to go surety for neighbor is
folly, sin and shame.