The Brookhaven leader., 1891-04-02

| tary revolution, or the burglars be pry-
| ing open his safe, or his debtors fleeing
the town, or his landlord raising the
rent, or the fires kindling ON the block
| that contains all his estates. Easy! Is
| il? God help the merchants! 1t is
hard to have the palms of the hands
| blistered with outdoor work; but a
more dreadful process when, through
mercantile anxieties, the brain in con-
In the next place we notice mercan-
tile lies, those before the counter and
! behind the counter. / will not attempt
| to specify the different forms of com
mercial falsehood. There are merchants
| who excuse themselves for deviation
from truthfulness because of what they
| call commercial custom. In other
words, the multiplication and univcr-
salty of sin turns it into virtue.
| There have been large fortunes gath
cred where there was not one drop of
unrequited toll in the wine; not one
spark of bad temper flashing from the
bronze bracket; not one drop of needle
woman's heart-blood in the crimson
plush; while there are other great
establishments in which there is
not one door-mat, not one
brick. not one trinl<et, not one
thread of lace, but has upon it the mark
| of dishonor. What wonder if, some
day, hand of toll that had been wrung,
and worn out, and blistered until the
skin came off, should be placed against
the elegant wallpaper, leaving its
mark of blood-four fingers and a
| n. th~t DIV xyallyinor tho
| halls, there should be voice accosting
the occupant, saying, six cents for
making a Shirt" and, flying the room,
| another voice should say, Twelve
cents for an army blankets" and the
man should try to sleep at night. but
ever and anon be aroused, until getting
up on one elbow, he should shrek out,
WHO'S there?"
One Sabbath night, in the vestibule
of my church after service, "a woman,
fell in commissions The doctor
said she needed medicine not SO much
as something to cat. AS she began to
revive in her delirium, she said gasp
ingly: Eight cents Eight cents!
wish | could get it done; | am so tired!
| wish | could get some sleep; but
must get it done, Eight cents; Eight
cents" We found afterward that she
was making garments for eight cents
apiece, and that she could make but
three of them day. Three times eight
arc twenty four! Hear it, men and
women who have comfortable homes.
Some of the worst villains of the city
are the employers of these women.
They beat them down to the last penny,
and try to cheat them out of that.
The woman must deposit dollar or
two before she gets the garments to
work on. When the work is done it is
sharply inspected, the most insig-
nifiGant flaws picked out and the wages
refused and sometimes the dollar de-
posted not given back. The Woman's
Protective union reports a case where
one of these poor souls, finding a place
where she could get more wages, re-
solved to change employers, and went
to get her pay for work done. The en-
ployer says: Il hear you are going to
leave me?n Yes" she said, land am
come to get what you owe me" lie
made no answer She said: Are you
not going to pay me- Yes" he said.
Il will pay you;" and he kicked her
down the stairs.
There are thousands of fortunes made
in commercial spheres that are through
out righteous. God will let His favor
rest upon every scroll, every pictured
wall, every traccried window: and the
Joy that flashes from the lights and
showers from the music and dances in
the childrens quick feet, pattering
through the hall, will utter the con-
CALCULATIONS of men and the approval of
God
A merchant can, to the last item, be
thoroughly honest. There is neverany
need of falsehood Yet how many will,
day by day. hour by hour utter what
they know to be wrong. You say that
YOU are selling at less than cost. If so,
then it is right to say it. But did that
cost you less than what you ask for it?
If not, then you have falsifed. You
say that that article cost you twenty
five dollars. Did it? If SO, then all
right. If it did not, then you have
falsified. Suppose you are a pur-
chaser. You are beating down"
TIC SOOtlo' lOu Say llliI IIihl al llSIS IOl
which five dollars is charged is not
worth more than four dollars. Is it
worth no more than four dollars? Then
all right If it be worth more, and tor
the sake of getting it for less than its
value, you willfully depreciate it, you
have falsitied. You NAV call it a sharp
trade. The recording angel writes it
down on the pOnderous tones of eter
nifty: "Mr. So and So, merchant on
Water street, or in Elizabeth street, or
in State street; or Mrs. So and So,
keeping house on Beacon street,
or on Madison avenue, or Ritten-
house square, or Brooklyn heights
of Brooklyn hill, told one false
hood" You may consider it insignifi
cant, because relating to an inSigniti-
cant purchase. You would despise the
man who would falsify in regard to
some great matter, in which the city or
the whole country was concerned, but
this is only Il box of buttons, or row
OF pins, or a case of needles. BE not de-
ceived. The article purchased may be
50 small you can put it in your vest
pocket, but the the sin was bigger than
the Pyramids, and the echo of the dis
honor will reverberate through all the
mountains of eternity.
You throw on your counter some
specimens of handkerchicfs. Your Gus
toner asks: lis that al silk? no cot