The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1886-10-27

oHo CaA SOe 10 YoAso 80 ASfS "A~~ :.
take only what is exactly just, and il
seems to me, this, like poison virus,
runs through all the operations Of the
time; it can not be but eoruptng to
every one whose hands are dabblng
in it. OF course it turns on what one
may consider honesty, bat it seems to
me that it can not be hard 10 see that
II you take more than an exact recon-
pense for your trouble of buying xnd
bringing the merchandise 70 him who
buys again, yea take what does netbe-
long to you; when you add indirec-
ton, in however slight degree, in
order thst you may take this megiti-
mate profitit only jatensi6es the wrong:
1t seems to me you can not bat see it. y
81 think see one thing clearly, and
that is that you ought to be a preach
err said Joel, with o dry kind OF
smile.
"No, sir" said the youth, earnestly,
81 can not see that this question has
such a tendency as you imply BY that.
This matter is a question Of doing
right for rights sake, and the man who
is governed by any other incentive can
not do wholly right for the motive is
wrong. 1t is a question of being hon
orable, manly and just; why, it seems
to me that every man who stands
squarely on the earth IN the image Of
God should feel too proud, too
honorable. too respectful of him
self, to injure any one; to do mean
ness like beast; to prey upon his fell
lows, and take what belongs to them
to feed himself upon"
The book-keeper, who had been
sitting motionless upon his stool with
his head bent down and his pen poised
above figure, took out his handker-
chief and wiped his forehead. Joel sat
still with his face flushing as he looked
at the fob between his thumb and
finger, and John Earring walked up
and down, speaking in kind of sor-
rowful, passionate way. Joel looked
up as he finished. Under your doc
trins how would you expect any body
to get rich?" he asked.
'.Men should get rich honestly or not
at all. o that is the curse! the curse!
the curse! The world is polluted by
it! The world is full of starvation,
distress and misery from it. This in
sanity, this greed, this hunger, this
worse than foolish desire to have more
than one can ever use! What can there
be in it2 Emptiness! Vapor! or hard
ships for those beneath you with .
moral rot within your He stopped
before Joel, breathing hard. II know
l am but boy, sir, he said. "aad
perhaps am immoderate and unwise,
but it hurts me, sir; it stirs me to see
the few rolling in finery and comforts,
nay, with mountains of plenty heaped
up behind them that they can not
use, while the many toll on in
perjury and want, stunted, pressed
down, with cruel narrow limits for
their lives. 1t can not be right, it can
not be right; no amount of pleading
the rich mans privilege can make it
so. 1t can not but brin z trouble in the
end; for we are not bound down as the
poor and miserable are in Europe by
the iron military rule of Kings; here ali
is loose and free, and as the rich and
comforting fabric of our wealth il
gradually anraveled and wound in
great balls before which the rich set
down leaving the masses bare, what
think you is to come of it at fast?"
II don't know as l ever considered
the matter" said Joel, little huskily.
"What is your remedy for this state OF
things?"
Honesty; nothing else can compass
it," said John EARRING. Honesty
if universal, it seems to me, would
allay, well-nigh all the troubles Of the
world"
"If it was practical it might"
"It is practical! The perfectly incon-
ceivable wisdom of that which has dis
played itself in the making of the ma
chinery of worlds, and all the beauti-
full and unutterab4e things that fill
them, never made the most reasonable,
the most beautiful, the most natural
principle that operates upon them an
impractical thing. 1t is dishonesty,
sir, that is impractical and Hnwiss
for it never brought any man aught
but trouble in the end, and hardship
for those who are the victims of it.
do not wish to be rude, sir; do not
wish to say that [ had not ought to say.
for you have been kind to me, and m
my heart of hearts I am grateful to
you. but | can not willingly be an in
strument to injure others with, for it
seems to me that out of sef-reverence,
if for no other nobler cause, every man
should keep his motives and his prac-
tice pure"
81 suppose So" said JOEL taking out
his knife and beginning TO pare his
broad finger-nails. "Have you got any
idea what you are going to do?"
II have gone to work in the Office OF
Bower & Woodman. l have thought
for a long time l should ultimately
enter the law if could bring it about. "
Joel colored little. "Well," he
said, pulling himself straight in his
chair, you certainly have the gift of
CAB, and l guess that is what a law
yer wants; but when you get there
with your Atwood, superfine honesty,
you will get left. You mind what I
tell you, you will get left! don't be.
lieve any man can be as honest as
you represent and ever amount to a
bawbee!"
"Thatdepends altogetherbywhat proc
ess you estimate aman. If he amounts
to much or little, just in proportion as
he represents dollars and acres, which
is villainous, ignoble measurement,
why, then, your assertion might have
some force; but mans worth lies in
him not in what he has. There are
human beings-I will not grace them
with the name of men-with hearts as
cruel and unfeeling as tigers, and