The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1891-04-03

1t? God help the merchantSi 1t Is
hard to have the palms of hehands
blistered with outdoor work; but a
more dreadful process where, 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 OF 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 univer-
salty of a sin turns it into a 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 Flushing 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 trinlzet, not one
thread of lace, but has upon it the mark
of dishonor. What wonder if, some
day, a hand of toll that had been wrung,
| aud worn out, and blistered until the
Il SIAll C1llC JILL D1ctCCd dlLlob
| the elegant wallpaper, leaving its
mark of blood-f0ur fingers and a
thumb; or that, some day, walking the
halls, there should be a voice accosting
the occupant. saying, six cents for
making a Shirt" and, flying the room,
another voice should say, Twelve
| cents for an army blanket 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 eat. As she began to
revive in her delirfum, she said gasp
ingly: Eight centsr' Eight cents! l
wish / could get it done; l am so tired
/ wish l could get some sleep; but
must get it done! Eight centsi Eight
| centsr' 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
are twenty-four! Hear it, men and
women who have comfortable homes
I oOu1C Oh Ii1C WOISL NIl1dlIS VI IIlC Guy
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-
! nifcant flaws picked out and 4he wages
refused, and sometimes the dollar de-
| posted not given back. The Woman's
| Protective union reports q case where
! one of these poor souls, finding 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: II hear you are going to
! leave me?'' Yes" she said, land am
come to get what you owe me-" He
! made no answer. She said: SAre you
not going to paTnaNRRp YES" he said,
IT will Ind he kicked her
ExN 8fe thousands of fortunes made
iS commercial spheres that are through
out righteous. God will let His favor
! rest upon every scroll, every pictured
wall, every traceried window; and the
| Joy that flashes from the lights. and
|
the children's quick feet, pattering
/ through the hall, will utter the con-
/ gratulations of men and the approval of
| God.
A merchant can, to the last item, be
thoroughly honest. There is never any
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 falsiied 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"
| the goods You say that that article for
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 falsified. You NAV call it sharp
trade. The recording angel writes it
down on the ponderOus tones of eter-
I nifty: ''Mr. So and So, merchant on
| Water street, or in Elizabeth street, or
| in State street; or Mrs. So and So,
lxeening 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 insignif-
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 box of buttons, or a row
| of pins, or a case of needles. Be not de-
ceived The article purchased may be
so 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 handkerchief. Your Gus
toner asks: us that all silk? no cot
| ton in it?'' You answer: sit is all silk.
| Was it all silk? If so, all right. But
was it partly cotton? Then you have
falsified. Moreover, you have lost by
| the falsehood. The customer, though
| he may live at Lynn, or Doylestown,
| or Poughkeepsie, will find out that you
| have defrauded him, and next spring
| when he again comes shopping, he will
| look at your sign and say: Il will not
! try there. That is the place where l
/ - 4ba@ ba1dlxa-chiof " So that nv