The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1889-12-17

lnIScreantS. And yet many SO cAllou
honest men, men of high standing ~
forsooth, are guilty of this self same
dastardly inhumanity. No thorough
ly honest man will drive a hard bar
gain, nor take undue advantage Of
ones ignorance, necessities nor
straigatened circums ances. He seeks
fer no undue advantage whatever In
his dealings; he wants TO do what is
fair and no more; beyond this he
would deem himself but n move
from a downright swindter.
There is a type of character that
glories in being "cute" and sharp,
and it is surprising how such cal
perpetually indulge in ne~farious trans
actions without having their repu1a-
tions smutched as honest men. But
such is the low tone of moralsin com
munities generally that such charsc
tiers enjoy an immunity from being
held up to public odium, and pursue
the even tenor of their ways unscathed.
1t is an everyday occurrence to hear
such men coast of their disruputable
transactions, as though they deemed
it praiseworthy to have gouged an
other by a display of unblushing cute
ness. That a man should be shrewd
in his business transactions does not
necessarily follow that he is not up,
right, for there is a description of
shrewdness in no way allied TO dis
honesty. This sort means to De wide
awake, on the alert, and to seize the
chances to further ones interests in a
legitimate way, and not be eve sniff
ing the breezes to take a mean, under.
handed advantage of somebody and
to gobble up the unwary. But there
is a sort of shrewdness synonymous
with cuteness and crafty trickery that
never thinks of giving a man a fair
showing in a bargain, but prides itself
upon its cunning adroitness in wheel
ing another into a losing trade. This
sort of dishonesty takes refuge behind
the gullibility of human nature and
thinks it is not to be held in strict &C
count if a man is fool enough to be
duped; as if, forsooth, a mans being
a fool is any eXcus for a game of de.
ception being practiced upon him. To
say the least of it, such shrewdness is
deserving of emphatic reprobation and
is the first cousin to rascality. In
fact, no honest man will resort to any
kind of underhanded means in his
dealings with another, for he has no
desire to get out of his followman any
more than what is strictly fair and
honora ole. Such a man is never ex-
brilliant in disposing of anything, and
while he wants a just price for his
wares or products, he deems it incom-
patible with honesty to overvalue.
Indeed, he has no desire to obtain
more than their marketable value.
But these sort of people, strange to
say, are few and far between.
There is a type of character that
holds a medium place; a character
that you car neither style honest nor
dishonest, for it is decidedly neither
the one nor the other. While they
are far above the crafty, cute sort,
their standard of honesty is naturally
not of a high order. They mean we'll,
generally speaking, but their sensibil.
tiles are so blunted that they have not
a due relation of what constitutes a
high standard of honesty, and there.
fore should not be held strictly &C
countable for what a man of naturally
heightened sentiments would deem dis.
honest. Many a man, honest at heart,
is often guilty in taking underhanded
advantage in his trading, bargaining
and swapping transactions through
sheer ignorance that he is doing any
thing wrong. Of course no man who
has set up for himself an exalted
standard of honor could be guilty of
such acts, but, at the same time, he
should be moderate in his denuncia
ton of those whose opportunities, as
sociations, and rearing were such that
they could acquire no moral pabular
sufficient to engender lofty notions of
integrity. Su n should make all due
allowances for the short comings of
their less fortunate fellows, etc, so
long a. they do not transcend recogn-
'Sed and customary rascality, not an
athemized too severely. Such men
err through that natural propensity of
human nature to look after A No. l,
than from any actual generalization
to commit a wrong. There are thou
sands of such characters everywhere
who, while they would chat you in a
horse trade without the least scruple
of conscience, would, at the same
time cor to commit a downright
villianous act, and with whom your
we'll filed pocketbook (if you enjoyed
such a happiness) would be as safe as
in a bank. Such men, too, are reliable
in the performance of trusts, and so