Claiborne guardian. [volume] (Homer, La.) 1877-188?, 1882-02-01
japanese Standards OF NoNeUey.

You have dealt with Q certain
tradesman for years and found him
scrupulousiy upright. Never once
has he failed to point out defects,
however trivial, in the goods he
sells you; nor ever hesitated to take
back anything that tails short of the
quality described. Yet your friend
goes, as a stranger, to the same
merchant, and is not only grievoos-
ly overchSrgetl, but otherwise pal.
pably victimized. With us such
conduct could only receive one cpl.
tibet In Japan nobody would be
more surprised than the offending
merchant if you called him dishOn.
est. lie refers his conduct to the
simplest possible principles. Differ
ent merchants, he says, have differ.
ent standards of profit. Some arc
content with Ave per cent. SONG
consider ten a minimum, and some
look for twenty or thirty, but none
acknowledge any limits savo occas.
ion. Let olrly opportunity be fav.'
ornbfe. and even your western ira.
der will pocket his cent. per cent.
without fiinching. Did you never,
he will probably add, did you never,
In your early days of intercourse
with the Orient, purchase for q
string Of casli goods that sou knew
10 be worth as many pieces of silverf
Were you then acting dishonestlyf
You think not, and 30 do !; for you
gave the owner Of the goods the full
local value of his merchandise, per.
haps more, and your heavy gains
were the product OF your own s0pe.
rior shrewdness or business expert.
ence, whichever men please to cali
it. That shrewdness is a property,
valuable, but not always markcta.
bic, and TO invest it at the highest
possible rate of interest 10, acCefd-
ing to my creed, a legitimate bnsi.
ness. When, therefore, a foreigner
and stranger visits my store, aud
shows that he understands neither
the value nor the quality of the ar.
ticies he sees, | should be defraud.-
ing not only my own shrewdness,
but also the experience Of those who
are better informed, did | sell him
my goods OH the most favorable
terms. l respect honesty no less
than you do, but the range of my
obligation is wider. | owe q duty
To my own requirements, and / owe
duties, rarioasly imperative to the
capacities Of my customers. When
yon bid me treat them all alike you
remove the premium that properly
belongs TO the higher standards OF
mercantile ability, whether possess
ed by the buyer or the seller. Thus
you will tind-to revert to our crafty
tradesman--that there will he no
hesitation aftcrward about confess
ing the deception practice,l upon the
foreign stranger. You yourself be.
fore you became an intimate were
similarly treated, but your subss.
quent circumstances elected an
apology only for the want of court
esy TO you personally, not at all for
the violations Of an abstract princi-
pie. To practice integrity for it's
own sake was luxury confined to
the gentleman Of old japan. His
position made him superior to all
those calculations of pecuniaIy expe-
diency that found q place ia the
merchants moral ledger. His word
was as good as his bond, and his
vocabulary included no more appro-
briOus epithet than "trades tnan-
like But if this was among the
distinguishing attributes Of his sta.
tiOn we might reasonably conclude
that his example would beget imita-
tors in the social stratum next be.
low his own. And no 1t was. Be.
yond all question there have been
and are many merchants in Japan
whose business conduct satisfies the
strictest standard of probity ever
set up by any society. The balance
of experience tends, however, to
show that these are to be regarded
rather as exceptional than typical.
In most cases the influences Of en-.
vironment, opportunity and expedi-
ency seem to be more powerful than
the attractions Of principle. Japan
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