The Monmouth inquirer., 1890-04-17


course it is expected they willard so
they do-take drink. Other merchants
lodging in adjoining rooms find it hard to
sleep for the clatter of decanters, and
coarse carousals of these ''hail fellows
well met" wakes louder. But they sit
not all night at the wine cup. They must
see the sights. They stagger forth with
cheeks flushed and eyes bloodshot. The
outer gates of hell open to let in the
victims. The wings of lost souls fit
among the lights, and the steps of the
carousers sound with the erumbling thun-
der of the damned Farewell to all the
sanctities of home! Could mother, sister
father, slumbering in the inland home,
in some vision of that night catch
glimpse of the ruin wrought they would
rend out their hair by the roots and bite
the tongue till the eblood spurted, shrek
ing out: "God save him!''
What, suppose you, will come upon
sucn business establishments? and there
are hundreds of them in the cities.
They may boast of fabulous sales, and
they may have an unprecedented run of
buyers, and the name of the house may
be terror to all rivals, and from this
thrifty root there may spring up branch
houses in other cities, and all the part
ners of the firm may move into their
mansions and drive their full-b1ooded
span, and the families may sweep the
street with the most elegant apparel
that human art ever woye, or earthly
magnifcence ever achieved. But curse
is gathering somewhere for those men,
and if it does not seize hold of the pill
lars and in one wild ruin bring down
the temple of commercial glory, it will
break up their peace, and they will
tremble with sickness and bloat with
designations, and, pushed to the preci-
pice of this life, they will try to hold
back, and cry for help, but no one will
come; and they will 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 the
judgment will come and they will stand
aghast before it, and all the business in
iquities of lifetime will gather around
them saying: "Do you remember this?"
and, "Do you remember that?" And
clerks that they compelled to dishon-
esty, and runners and draymen and
book-keepers who saw behind the scenes,
will bear testimony to their nefarious
deeds, and some virtuous soul that once
stood aghast at the splendor and power
of these business men will say: ''Alas!
this is all that is left of that great firm
that occupied block with their mer-
chandise and overshadowed the city
with their influence, and made righteous
ness and truth and purity fall under
the CALLING fire of avarice and crime"
While we admire and approve of all
acuteness and tact in the sale of goods
we must condemn any process by which
a 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,
stoves that crack under the first hot
fire, books insufficiently bound, carpets
that unrayel, 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, ho-
siery 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
.matchless display. Imported indeed!
but from the factory in the next street.
A pattern already questionable and
unstable palmed off as new print
upon some country merchant who has
come to town to make his first purchase
of dry goods and going home with q
large stock of goods warranted to keep.
Again, business men are often tempted
to make the habits and customs of other
traders their law of rectitude. There
are commercial usages which will not
stand the test of the last day. Yet men
in business are apt to do as their neigh
bors do. II the majority of the traders
in any locality are lax in principle, the
commercial code in that community will
be spurious and dishonest. 1t is hard
thing to stand close by the law of right
when your next-door neighbor by his
lOOSSu0SS VI ucdllNS 10 SAdUlcu W oS1l
goods at cheaper rate and decoy your
customers. OF course you who promptly
meetall your business engagements, pay
ing 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 land
lord whose store he occupies, and to the
clerks who serve him.
There are a hundred practices preva-
lent 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 be-
ing multiplied and admitted at brokers'
board or merchants exchange. Because
others smuggle a few things in passen-
ger trunks, because others take usury
when men are in tight places, because
others deal in fancy stocks, because
others palm off worthless Endorsements,
because others do nothing but blow
bubbles, do not, therefore. be overcome
of temptation. Hollow pretension and