The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1893-07-18
WORDS Of COMFORT
70 THE BUSINESS MEN WHO HAVE
HAD7O STRUGGLE.
He Hopes the Extra Session OF congress
Will Make Matters Easy-buslnesS
Men Worry Too Much.

ness. viz: Comfort for Business Men.
the text being Isaiah xl. :: SPEAK We
comfortably to Jerusalem.
What an awful six weeks in commerciai
circles. The crashing of banks from san
Francisco to New York, and from ocean
10 ocean, The complete uncertainty ,h''
has halted all styles of business ior lliree
months, and the pressure OF the mono! i"'i
ket for the past year have putsaii paisaii
makers ut their wits end. Some Oh inc
hest men in the land have faltcred; men
whose he,rts are enlisted in every good
work. and whose hands have blessed every
sreat charity. The church of God can
afford to extend to them her syhpatnleS'
and plead before heaven with all a'aiiihs
PRAYER The schools such men nave cS-
tabiished the churches they nave phH''
the asylums and bencflcent lhStHu'iohS
they have fostcrcd, will be their eui"S!
long after banking institutions are forgot
ten Such men can never fali. Inc! h"Ne
sbair treasures in banks that never break,
and will be milionaireS forever The Strih-
:.cncv OF the money market. Am &iad 10
SAY. begins 70 relax May the wisdom of
Almighty God come down upon our n;'-
tioual legislature at their cOnvenlnT next
month IN Washington, and such results be
reached as shall restore confidence AMI re-
yive trade and multiply proSp2rltIcS Yet,
not only now i'll the time of financial MS
aSter. but all through life our active buSl-
ness people have Il struggle, ana thihK
il will he appropriate ana useful TO me TO
talk about their trials and Try TO oifer
some curative prescriptions.
In the first place / have 10 remark that
a great many of our business men 1ecl
runous trials and temptations coming to
them from small and limited capiial III
business 1t Is everywhere undcrSloou
th,t il ,ukes now three or four times as
much TO do business well, as once II dhi
Once. Il few hundred dollars were turned
into goods--the merchant would Dc ms
own store sweeper, his own salesman, his
own buokkrcper: he would manage all Inc
affairs himself and everything would DE
NET profit Wonderful changes have come;
costly apparatus, extensive auNertiNiiG'
exurhitauc store rents, heavy taNaloh
extensive agencies, are Only par'H Oh inc
demand made upon our cOmIucfclai men
and when they have found themselves IN
such circumstances with small capital,
they have sometimes been tempted to run
against the rocks of moral and nnahclal
csfruction This temptation OF limited
capital has ruined men III two ways. Some
times they have Shrunk down under me
foundations They have yielded the bat lie
before 1.-The first shot WAS fired Al the
first hard gun they surrendered. Ihclr
~
auctioneer's hammer. They hanched ut
the financial peril. They did not under
stand that there is such thing as hcrolSm
in merchandise, and that there are Water
loos of the counter. and that man can
fight no drawer battle with the sword than
he can with the yardstick. Their souls
melted in them because sugars were up
when they wanted to buy, and down when
they wanted to sell, and unsalcabie goods
were on the shelf, and bad debts III their
thAir ON u =, rns
ovcrshadowed even their dry goods ana
groceries. Dependency. coming from unit
.'- 80 u i.'',i,i7t ar tifeSc years. iii'i
il is of no use. Now il is make or break.
The small craft that could have stood the
stream, is put out beyond the lighthouse,
on the great sea of speculation Stocks
are the dice with which he CANDLES. He
bought for a few dollars vast tracts OF
western land. Some man at the east living
on n fat homestead. meets tbs gambler OF
fortune. and is persuaded to trade off his
real estate here for lots in a western city
with large avenues and costly palaces and
lake steamers smoking at the wharyes. and
rail trains coming down with lightning
speed from every direction. There il is
all on paper, The city has never been
built. nor the raroa Is constructed, hut
everything points that WAY. and the thing
Will be done sure rs You live. And that
is the process by which many have been
tempted. through limitation of capital. into
labyrinths from which they could not he
eXtrcatel | would not want to chain
honest enterprise. | would not want to
block up any OF the avenues fer honest
accumulation that open before young men.
On the contrary. | would like To cheer
them on and rejoice when they reach tue
goal; but when there are such muliitudrS
of men going to ruin for this lie and the
life that is to come. through wrong notions
of what are lawful spheres of enterprise.
4 is the duty of the ministers Of rcliginu
hA all
a plain. enpha1 e. unmi>takahle protest.
These are the Influences that drown men
i'll destruction and prr,iitun.
Again. Il sreat many of our business men
arr tempted by OVcr-anXipty and care
You know that nearly all commercial bust
H"S>cS ar" "vrrlonn in this day. Snitren
with the love of Iu rk gain, our cities are
crowded with men resolved to hc yich 1T
all hazards. They do not care how many
comes. Our best merchants are thrown
into competition with men Of more mean;
and less conscience. and if an opportunity
of accumulation be neglected. one hour
some one else picks it mp. From January
t. December the struggle goes on. Night
gives no quiet to limbs tossing in restless
ness. nor 10 ii brain that will not stop
thinking. The dreams are narrowed by
imaginary loss, and flushed with ina ginary
gains Even the Sabbath cannot dam back
fhe tide of anxiety; for this wave of world
Illness daShce clear over the churches and
leaves lis foam on Bibles and prayrr-bookS
Men WhD are living ON salaries or by the
cHiiure ~ the soil, cannot understand the
wear and tear of the body and mind 10
which our merchants are subjected whom
they 10 not know hut that their livelihood
and their business honor ave dependent upUu
the uncertainties of the next hour This eN.
Clement of the brain. this corrodiny care
OF the heart. this strain of effort that OK
hauStN the spirit, sends a great manv of
our best men. IN mid life into the grave
They ind that Wall street does nor end
at The Fast river. II ends nj GreenwondI
Their life dashed out against money safes
They go with their store on their backs
They trud9e Ike camcls, sweating. from
AlepPo I" Damascus. They make their life
crucitixion. Standing behind desks ana
counters banished from the fresh mir
weighed down by carking cares, they are
50 many suicides. Oh, | wish | couId
today. rub out some of these lines of care
that could lift some of the burdens from,
the heart; that | could g.va relaxation to
some OF these worn muscles. 1t is time
for you to begin to take it a little easier
Do your best, and then trust God for the
rest. Do not fret. God manages MI the
affairs of your life, and He manages thrm
for the best. Consider the Hrs-they a.
ways haye robes. Behold the fowls Of
the ar-they always have nests. Take -
long breath. Bethnk, betGmcs that God
did not make YOU for a pack-horSe d.