The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1875-03-20
Some Popular Proverbs.
FALLACIEs IN AN INVITING DRESS,
From Christian at Work.

from CnrlSLan at W OK.
"Honesty is the best policy;" therefore be
honest. This is the ethics of the popular max
i'm Of Poor Richard. The chest policy" doctrine
is bearing its natural fruits in the peculations
and corruptions ofthe day. The present alarm
ing state of public and private morality in Pc
cuniary matters is at least partly the result of
the growth of this proverbial principle, and its
logical application to the acquisition of wealth.
The converse of the proposition is fair fer
ence from it. Ifit pays, be dishonest. This has
crystalzed itself into the saying, often acted
upon, "Get money; honestly if you can sssts-
get money" Whatever promises to pay bests
accounted "best policy" Hence Credit Mo-
bilier, imitation schemes, salary grabs, and grabs
of all kinds, public and private, into other peo-
| ple's money, whenever there is prospect of
avoiding detection. Policy has been our polit
| ical watchword and our political ruin the
| author of compromises and bargaining, until
| the people have begun to learn to despise party
policy, and to act upon principle, which is
| above all policy Honesty is right; therefore
be honest, is the maxim of greater book than
| Poor Richards Almanac. The innate thirst for
acquisition of the American people cannot be
| restrained by any popular proverbs of the best
| policy. 1t can be restrained only by the thun-
dered law of Sinai, enforced by ell the instincts
and experience of human life: "Thou shalt not
| covet."
Another popular proverb, respectable only
USNoooN
eyes" says the captalist-with grim smile
of self-satisfaction, as he gives to the poor
| mite of the millions which he ground out of
| them-"yes; we must live, and let live" So
says the shark, so said the titled robbers of the
| feudal ages, in which this maxim must have
had its origin. 1t shows the first dawning up
| on the minds of men of the truth that the weak
have rights which the powerful are bound to
| respect.
| Must men be told not to devour their fellow
| men? Yet they are doing it every day in this
| age of monopolies. In the words of the home
ly proverb, "The large fish eat the small ones"
| wealth and power are daily becoming more and
more concentrated in the hands of "soulless
corporations" The man who cannot command
millions is daily finding it more difficult to
live. 1t is the spirit of the middle ages in an
| other form.
Even to olive, and let live" is not Christian.
| The Christian maxim is olive, and help live"
| He that would be first, let him serve. He that
| is greatest, is servant of all. So much as ac-
| cumulated wealth is power, great is the OBJ
legation of its possessor to help those who have
| not the talent or ability to acquire it. In all
| ages those who have best served their fellow
men have been accounted greatest. The mere
heapers up of gain live and die unknown, un-
honored, and unsung." olive, and help live"
| is the introduction of the millennial idea into
the baser thoughts ofmen. The words of Christ,
| if they have any mean ing, mean that when
live 10 help, the millennium Will be inlly come.
| Another fallacious maxim actually put forth
| by some is, "The world owes me living
| How often has it been made the excuse for theft
and baser crimes The world owes nothing to
| him who has not its note "for value received"
To him who has given it nothing, it towes moth
| ing. Something for nothing is not the law OF
| the commercial nor moral world.
"But must live" said young man, who
| believed that the world owed him living, TO
an elder gentleman. "That is not so apparent
as you may Think said the other. The world
| may be able to spare many who deem them
selves its creditors, without the least loss. II
you have done anything, or can do anything
for any one in any way, you will be paid
Whosoever shall give cup of water to drink
in Christ's name, verify, he shall not lose his
reward.
| Many more of our common proverbs will be
| seen, upon reflection, to have no basis in either
truth or Christian principle, but have grown
out of the disposition of mankind to cheat their
consciences with a fallacy which by many
repetitions has come to pass for them. But a
falsity repeated ten thousand times cannot be-
come truth. The way of truth is plain; the
light of duty shines clear; let us pursue the one
and use the other, and if we use proverbs we
shall at least have no occasion to take refuge
in fallacies. B. A. B.