The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1874-08-05
SHAPING N0rEs.

81
There IL no more sin IN buying note than
IN buying 4 load Of wood, . heifer, Or i two
year old colt. When a note is made It becomes
an article Of merchandise. The merchantable
element is that Of tins and vsspopsi6ility Of
the drawer. If a note has months to run, and
one sells it for less than its face, the difference
is simply the interest which the seller is will
ing to pay for the use of the money until the
money becomes due. Negotiable notes are
subject to precisely the same terms Of BAR
gain and sale that other property in the mar
ket is. The evil Of shaving notes does not lie,
therefore, in ali any intrinsic sin in the trans
action itself, and must be looked for in some
other direction.
Men that make business Of shaving notes
are brought into circumstances where, almost
inevitably, they will become both very hard
hearted and very avaricious.
In general, notes that are shaved are in the
hands of needy sellers. They submit to a
great loss because their necessity leaves them
no alternative. II Is that or ruin. When the
note shaver perceives this, he is tempted to
press his advantage, based upon his neigh
boris misfortune, to the EXTREMIST point
His avarice grows. He becomes less and less
affected by another's trouble. He nourishes
his own greed out of the distress of a fellow
man. Whatever may be said of the right to
buy note in open market at its cheapest 60
ing rate, the effect upon mans moral nature,
of continual business of that kind, is not
doubtful. 1t hardens the heart. 1t teaches
man to look upon another's misfortunes in
worse than selfish light. 1t destroys pety,
whets avarice, and goes far and fast toward
making note shaver cruel Shylock.
No man can afford to pursue a business
that makes him merciless and inhuman.-
While note shaving may be done equitably
and usefully, yet the temptations which at
tend it, to extortion, to almost robbery, are
such that few men long practice 1t without
suffering, in greater or less degree, moral
and social deterioration. They exchange their
manhood for money They enlarge their pos
sessions but shrivel up their hearts.
If any one doubts this, let him inquire of
business men who have had opportunity of
watching and studying the operation of this
business. He will be told that while there
mag be such thing as honorable and humane
note shaving, there very seldom is any such
thing and that the practice very soon begets
cruelty of the most unfeeling kind.
AS to the matter of buying a farm below
its market value, we have this to say
That no man who aims to live by Christ
ian standard, should desire to obtain anything
whatever without paying for it a fair equiva
Elent of some kind.
If farms forced to sale under their real value
were as thick as notes in market, and mel
should make daily business of buying them
at a discount ruinous to the seller, the evil Of
buying real estate on such principles would
be as great as that of note shaving.
No bargain is fair which, all things consid-
cred, is not, at the time, honestly supposed to
as beneficial to one party as to the other.
If it be said that IL such principle were
carried into business 1t would very greatly inn
pede the conduct of affairs we reply, that no
man should expect, In the great battle of the
world between selfishness and benevolence, to
win without severe conflict. No man can be
honest, just, kind, and moderate in all his de-
sires, without taking up a cross.
Better that men should be larger and for
tunes smaller, than that fortunes should grow
while manhood sbrinks. --Senti,se5