The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-04-14

tremble with sicknesses and bloat with dis
sipations, and, rushed to the precipice of
this life. they will try TO hold back aud cry
for help. but no help will come; and they
viii clutch their gold to take it along with
them but it will be snatched from their
grasp. and a voice will sound through their
soul, Not farthing, thou beggared spirit ~
And tue Judgment will come, and thew will
stand aghast before it. and all the business
/ iniQuit.es Of lifetime will gather
around them, saying, do you remember
| this.' and "DO you remember thatP And
clerks that they compelled to dishonesty.
and runners aud draymen and bookkeepers
who saw behind the scenes will bear testi-
mony 10 their nefarious deeds, and some
| virtuous soul that once stood aglast at the
! spleudor and power of these business men
will say, ALAS! this is all that is left of
that great firm that occupied block with
/ their merchandise and overshadowed the
city with their influence, and made right
eousness aod truth and purity fau under
the CALLING fire of avarice and crimen
| While We admire and approve of all acute
ness and tact IN the sale of goods we must
! condemn any process by which fabric or
| product is represented as possessing a value
which it really does not have. Nothing but
sheer falsehood can represent as perfection
| boots that rip. silks that speedily lose their
luster, calicoes that Immediately wash out,
1 stoves that crack under the first hot fire
books insuf1iciently bound, carpets that un-
ravel, old furniture rejuvenated with putty
and glue, and sold as having been recently
manufactured, gold watches made out of
brass, barrels of fruit, the biggest
apples on the top, wine adulterated With
strychnine. hosiery poorly woven, cloths of
| domestic manufacture shining with foreign
| labels imported goods represented as rare
and hard to get because foreign exchange
| is SO high, rolled out on the counter with
matches display. Imported indeed but
| from the factory in the next street. A pat
| tern already questionable and unsuitable
palmed Uff as a new print upon some
country merchant who has come to town to
make his first purchase of dry goods, and
going home with a large stock of goods
warranted TO keep.
Again, business men are often tempted to
make the habits and customs of other trad
ers their law of rectitude There are COM
mercial usages which will not stand the test
Of the last day. Yet men in business are
apt to do as their neighbors do. If the ma
jority of the traders in any locality are lax
in principle, the commercial code in that
community will be spurious ana dishonest
1t is hard thing to stand close by the law
of right when your next door neighbor by
his looseness OF dealing is enabled to sell
goods at a cheaper rate and decoy your Gus
toners. OF course you who promptly meet
when you promise to pay, will find it hard
to compete with that merchant who is
hopelesSly in debt to the importer for the
goods purchased, and to the landlord whose
store he occupies, and to the clerks who
serve him.
There are hundred practices prevalent
in the world of traffic which ought never to
become the rule for honest men. Their
wrong does not make your right. Sin never
becomes virtue by being multiplied and adj
mitted at brokers' board and merchants,
exchange. Because others smuggle few
things In passenger trunks because others
take usury when men are in tight places,
because others deal in fancy stocks, because
Others palm of worthless Endorsements. be-
cause other do nothing but blow bubbles, do
not, therefore, be overcome of temptation.
Hollow pretenSion and fictitious credit, and
commercial gambling may awhile prosper,
but the day OF reckoning cometh, and In
addition to the horror and condemnation of
outraged communities, the curse of God
will come, blow after blow. Gods will
forever and forever is the only standard of
right and wrong, and not commercial
ethics.
Young business man, avoid the first bust
ness dishonor, and you will avoid all the
rest The captain of a vessel was walking
near the mouth of river when the tide was
low, and there was a long stout anchor
chain, into one of the great links of which
his foot slipped, and it began to swell and
he could not withdraw it. The tide began
to rise. The chain could not be Ioosened nor
filed off in time, and surgeon was called
to amputate the limb, but before the work
could be done the tide rolled over the vic
tim, and his life was gone. And | have to
tell you, young man, that just
one wrong into which you slip
may be link of long chain Of circum
s,l.
Gated by any ingenuity of your own, or
any help from Others, and the tides will roll
over you as they have over many When
Pompey, the warrior, wanted to take pcs
session of city, ana they would not open
the gates. he persuaded them to admit
sick soldier. But the sick soldier after
awhile got well and strong, and he threw
open the gates and let the devastating army
come In. One wrong admitted into the soul
| may gain in strength, until, after awhile, it
filings open oil the avenues of the immortal
| nature, and the surrender is complete.
Again, business men are sometimes
| tempted to throw off personal responsibility
upon the moneyed Institution to which they
| belong. Directors in bank and railroad
and insurance companies sometimes shirk
| personal responsibility underneath the
action of the corporation. And how often,
when some banking house or financial iIsti-
tuition explodes through fraud, respectabl ole
men in the board of directors say: WHY.
/ thought all was going on in an honest
| way, and am utterly confounded with
this misdemeanorp The banks, and the fire
| and life and marine insurance companies
| and the railroad companies will not stand
up for Judgment in the last day, but those
who in them acted righteously will receive
each for himself, reward, and those who
acted the part of neglect or trickery will
| each for himself, receive a condemnation
| Unlawful dividends are not clean before
| God, because there are those associ-
ated with you who grab Just as big
a pile as you do. He who countenances the
dishonesty of the firm, or of the corporation.
or OF the association takes upon himself all
| the moral liabilities. If the financial insti-
tuition steal he steals. If they so into wild
| speculations he himself is a gambler. If
they needlessly embarrass a creditor, he
himself is guilty of cruelty. If they swindle
| the uninitiated. he himself Is a defrauder
| No financial institution ever had a money
vault strong enough. or credit stanch
enough, or dividends large enough, or policy
acute enough to hide the individual sins of
its members. The old adage that corpora
tions have no souls is misleading. Every
corporation has as many souls as it has
| members.
Again, many business men have been
tempted to postpone their enjoyments and
| duties to future season of entire leisure
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