Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1890-04-14

ing somewhere for those men, and II
it does not seize hold of the pillars and
in one wild ruin bring down the tenn
pie of commercial glory, it will break F
up their peace, and they will tremble F
with sickness and bloat with dissipa-
tons, and, pushed to the precipice of
this life they will try to hold back /
and cry for help, but no help will I
come; and they will clutch their
gold to take it along with them, but I
it will be snatched from their grasp, /
and voice will sound through their
soul, Not a farthing, thou beggared |
spirit" And the judgment will come
and they will stand aghast before 1t,
and all the business inlqultles OF life
time will gather around them, saying,
DO YOU remember this?" and, DO
you remember that?" And clerks that
thev compelled to dishonesty and run
hers and draymen and boOkkeeperS
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 q block with their mer-
chandise and overshadOWed the city
with their influence, and made right
eousness and truth and purity fall UNI
der the CALLING fire OF avarlce and
crime"
While we admire and approve of all
acuteness and tact in the sale Of goods,
we must condemn any process by
which fabric or product is represent
ed as possessing a value which 1t really
does not have Nothing but sheer
falsehood can represent as PERFECTION
boots that rip, silks that speedily lose
their luster, caicOes that Immediately
wash out, stoves that crack under the
first hot fire, books insufficiently
bound, carpets that unravel, old fur-
niture reiuvenated 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 SHIN
ING with foreign labels, imported goods
represented as rare and hard to get,
because foreign exchange is so high,
rolled out on the counter with match
less display Imported, indeed! but
from the factory in the next street. A
pattern already questionable and I'M
| salable palmed off 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 large
stock of goods warranted to keep.
DO NOT PATTERN BY. OTHERS.
Again. business men are often tempt
! ed to make the habits and customs OF
other traders their law OF rectltude.
There are commercial usageS which
will not stand the test of the last day.
Yet men i'll business are apt to do as
their neighbors do. If the majority
of the traders in any locality are lax
in principle the commercial code IN
that community will be spurious and
dishonest It is a 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
cheaper rate and decoy your custom
ers OF course you who promptly
meet all your business engagements,
paying when you promise to pay, Will
find it hard to compete with that mer-
chant who is hopelessly in debt to the
importer for the goods purchased, and
to the landlord whose store he Occu-
pies. and to the clerks who serve him.
There are hundred practices preva-
Ienti 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 admitted at
brokers' board or merchants eX-
change. Because others smuggle a
few things IN passenger trunks, be-
cause 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,
| IL not +borafnpa no of
temptation. Hollow pretension and
fictitious credit and commercial gam
bling 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.
AVOID THE FIRST BUSINESS DISHONOR.
Young business man, avoid the hrst
business dishonor, and you will avoid
all the rest. The captain of vessel
was walking near the mouth of river
when the tide was low, and there was
a long, stout anchor chain, intS one OF
the great links of which his foot
slipped, and it began to swell and he
could not withdraw it. The tide be
gan to rise. The chain could not be
Ioosened nor filed off in time, and a
surgeon was called to amputate the
limb but before the work could be
done the tide rolled over the victim
and his life was gone.
And I have to tell you, young man.
that just one wrong into which you
slip may be a link of a long chain Of
circumstances from which you cannot
be extricated by any ingenuity of youl
own or any help from others, and the
tides will roll over you as they have
over many. When POmpey, the war
rior wanted to take possession of
city, and they would not open The
! gates, he persuaded them to admit {
! sick soldier But the sick soldier afte1
l a while got we'll and strong, and h'
threw open the gates and let the devas
; tating army come In. One wrong al
mitted into the soul may gain IL
strength until, after while, It fling
> open all the avenues of the immora
! nature, and the surrender is complete
: Again, business men are sometime
! tempted to throw off personal responsi
, bility upon the moneyed institution t.
u which they belong. Directors in bank
= and railroad and insurance compan1e
| sometimes shirlz personal responsible
ity underneath the action of the cor
poration And how often, when som
banking house or financial institution
n explodes through fraud, respectful
S men in the board of directors say
d why, thought all was going on il
s an honest way, and [ am utterly cor
IS founded with this misdemeanor!" Th
e banks, and the fire and life and marin
e insurance companies, and the railroa
If companies, will not stand up for judg
d ment in the last day, but those who /
L them acted righteously will receive
e each for himself, a reward, and thos
IF who acted the part of neglect or trick
'e cry will, each for himself, receive
1T condemnation.
t. Unlawful dividends are not clea
v before God because there are those a
It, ISOLATED with you who grab just as bi
lie a pile as you do. He who counts
os nances the dishonesty of the firm, {
st of the corporation, or of the associ;
s. ton, takes upon himself all the NOR;
er liabilities. If the financial institutio
I'd steal, he steals. If they go into vii
IL