Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1879-01-01
Will IL Pay?

VIII IL ul
When business venture of any sort is
proposed, if it is not likely to pay, men are
very certain to keep out of it. They may be
grievously disappointed in the result but
il there had not been in the beginning a
reasonable prospect of making something
out of it, they would never have gone into
the speculation.
The question " Will it payY" is some
times asked in low, mean spirit, and men
turn away from a grand and noble work
merely because they " see no money in it,"
There are other ways in which thing may
pay, which are of more account than riches
or houses or lands &; whether these are appre-
ciated or not, depends upon the mans stand
ard of action.
"Will it pay ?"--If this question had
been carefully weighed by certain per-
sons whose dishonored names are in every
body's mouth, what blessing it would have
been TO them and to the community. The
air is full of melancholy and indignant talk
because of the frauds and defalcations of
prominent persons who were trusted with
out limit and had always been regarded as
models of integrity. They did not fall from
their high estate without some degree of de-
liberation; they were not suddenly tempted,
like the man who, in the desperation of hun
ger, snatches loaf or steals purse, to keep
himself from starving. They found them
selves embarrassed, disappointed in specu-
lations, liable for more than it is easy TO
pay, and, being treasures of rich corpora
tions, or holding large sums of money in
trust, handling freely every day hundred
times more than would be needed to tide
them over the existing crisis, it seemed no
great crime to appropriate to their own use
certain portion of funds belonging to
other people, just for a little time.
1t is not actual stealing, but only kind
of surrepttious borrowing. Suppose that
everything had turned out as they hoped
refund what they had appropriated without
Il pay9 Is the crime condoned by the for
tunate result Nothing damages man s
nature more than successful fraud. Other
people know nothing about it, but the stain
is all the deeper because the offender has
been called to pay no penalty. And then
observe what, in such cases, is very likely
to happen. The man has had the benefit
of his sin, while no one else has suffered
and so, when another emergency comes
the temptation to renew the fraud is almost
irresistible, and he goes on from bad tc
worse, until the tide turns, and he is left
stranded on the shore.
Directly before me / can see on the edg,
oil the horizon the long roofs OF factories
the tops oil houses, tne spires oil churches
belonging 10 CITY which ior years mas oeei
proverbial Tor enterprise ana prosperity
Today It's falr name Is tarnished' lts credi
gone, It's population suffering III oouy ah'
soul, because certain men, honored and be
loved, and trusted by everybody, thougn
that 1t would pay Tor tnem 10 Apply 10 incl
own beneht money which diu hot Deiohg y
them. Banished from nome, smut up II
prison cells, their name Dy-word and Mss
ing, their poor 1amiies Impoverished ah'
dlsgraced, how does II all looR 10 them now
Again, does 1t pay Tor one 10 sacrlhce M
! convictions OF night and truth ior the sax
OF some worldly advantage Here is
man IN pubic lie, cahdldate LOT the nor
, ors OF the state; he has already attained
position OF no lttle eminence, ana win
: good prospect OF rising much higher' II
) can manage 10 retain tne popular iaVo
a There comes CRISIS tnat is 10 put nun
r the test and when may result IN sehditl =
/. him back into the opscurity from which
. started. A political delusion has taken po
= !, session OF the public mind, and especially
), the party with which he is connected'-son
. wild notion OF finance, when ne knows mu
: result in nothing but disaster ana com
! sion. WW pay Tor MN 10 declare MS re
:, sentiments, and do what ne can 10 resist u
- tide OF Ignorance and ioiiy oh 1he oth
= hand, WM Il pay lor MN 10 DO violence
70 his convictions and give his vote Tor mea
~ ure which his best Judgment condemns
% % Many strong man Is now engaged IN pu
~ 70 ing paddock on his conscience, and ALLOW
y his name to become Identified with what
- - knows to be lie. When history comes
70 be written, or when the sober second thoug
y = of an impoverished people asserts Itself, W
= :, it look as II the lie had pad
at Another man Is only private citizen, b
- he is the model man oil the town, to who
~ - opinion 1t is the general custom to del
70 70 In process of time there breaks out In t
ui ~ community one OF those moral epidemics
which our countrymen seem to be peculia
n99 exposed, some high'sounding and pretentio
~ piece of quackery, that carries away capt
80 men, women and children, hlgh and le
u " rich and poor. This wise man is well sal
no fled that the popular new nostrum In
na ~, end will only aggravate the evil which
So a processes to cure, but VIII 1t pay Tor him
:" no say so 81 shall lose my influence II
%" speak out must save that at all hazar
=, ] am greatly needed Ill this oommunit
~ Influence is thing to be used, and
saved, and the men who have done the .
IN work for the world are those who have b.
of ready to sacrifice reputation for Gods 81
4 . t.s.tl Ina OF ala tfaan "a