The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1873-11-29
Duty of Debtors in Hard Times.

"A uItlc common sense IN common AFFAIRS
is always in order. But so fond are people
OF all persuasions and professions and pur-
suits, of going according to the received
nlaxims and preeedents OF business, that
they set man down as an ignorant pre-
tender who offers advice against the tradi-
tions.of the craft. This very wise remark
has its application to the prevalent habit of
honest and able men who neglect to pay
their debts when the times are hard. Sd
The business community, where the
credit system is the rule, is often and aptly
compared to a row of bricks on an end !;
when one falls it knocks over the rest. So
it goes till all are down. 1t is not likely
that society viii ever again get into the
way of obeying the best of all business
rules, pay as you go;o and there are
men having some reputation as financlers,
and statesmen, who think the 'scash'' sys-
tenn is incompatible with enterprise, pro-
gress, and great success. We are not of
that school. We believe the safest course
for individuals and communities is to bring
their business as nearly as possible within
the bounds of their present ability to pay
for what they get to consume or to sell.
We have lived through four or five
great panics, times of commercial distress,
times of many failures, suspensions of
banks and other companies; and we have
noticed this one thing as the type and tea
ture of them all, that they had their inn
mediate cause in the violation of the most
obvious moral laws, that ought to govern
the dealings of man with man. Good men
contract debts which cannot be justified By
the rules of Christian prudence and mo-
rality. They make engagements to pay
and, for their ability to. do SO, dependupon
Others over whose action they have no
xx-1aa nh "a
COMES due, the means are not in hand, and
| they fail. That is the word; suspend is
a milder word, but means the same thing.
They fail to pay their debts. They fail to
keep their word. They are professedly
| Christian men, but they stand before the
| world as having failed to abide by their
| promises. $50 e % -
1t is very true that they have the justifi-
cation or apology that their debtors failed
| to pay them. This is sufficient in theeyes
of the world. and.it is to be confessed that
the time has gone by when merchants and
bankers die of modification when their
name is among the bankrupts. But the
duty of a Christian is to do business on
those principles only which will bear the
scrutiny of the divine mind and will, and
| He who sees the end from the beginning
/ will not approve when a man makes com
/ tracts to pay, without having securities
i that will enable him to meet his engage
| ments. despite the vicissit1des Of the times.
/ If he promises to pay he must be-sure that
/ he Will pay. Anything short OF twill
| partake, as stock speculation largely does,
of the nature of gambling, and the inn
morality of that is too obvious to need ex--
/ we are IN fhe habit of supposing that
savings banks lend their money only on
good security, such as mortgages or Gov
ernment bonds But in the late sad reve-
/ lations in Rhode Island, it appears thai
/ one savings bank had lenta million of dol
lars to business firm engaged in manufae.
lures, and in the crash of last week this
firm failed. By what principle of morality
i is a savings bank justified in thus hazard
/ ing the money of the poor cenfided to its
keeping? The bank promised TO pay the
depOsitor his money on demand, and wher
/ the money is demanded, the bank diree
j tors-good men doubtless-can only say
ssWe lent the money to Sprague d Co.
4 and they have failed. we cannot fulfill otIl
4 promisegto pay you what we owe you.
/ This is wrong. 1t is breach of trust, ant
common morality refuses to sanction it.
8 But not less wrong is the neglect or the
refusal ofany other man to pay his debts
4 To contract debt without the reasonable
!. prospect OF ability to pay, is obviously dis
honest, and to neglect or refuse to pay ;
. debt is equally or more dishonest. AnC
Just here is the root of all the financia
troubles of these times or any other times
The whole difficulty lies in the disregard
of those principles of common I1eralit.
on which is based all sound politica
economy. No speculation mania, like tn
Il tulip of Holland, the South Sea bubbleo
London, the .morus mulicaulis of thi
country, or any of the more recent fever
. of speculation. had any other than a tic
titious, that is a false basis, and the .meI
: who promoted them did what is moral.
wrong. It is always wrong to do busi
, ness on a fictitious basis, and that princi
pie condemns half the speculations OF ou
: own times.
: Pay as you 90. If you would be a trl
man, and keep a name unspotted from tn
: world, keep clear of engagements to pay
: unless the ability is assured. And it yoI
are now in debt, you wilP hasten to pay
!, because it is your duty to do so, and you
creditor may be in danger of failing, or G
! suffering, because you are not true t
: your word.
! The want of our times is honesty, con
: mon honesty, that old-fashioned virtue
! which has now become so obscured b
! new names in the vocabulary of trade
. that it is scarcely recognized as the 'virtu
that requires man to pay his debts.-1
Y. Observer.