The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-09-06


lowing words of caution by Alva Agee
in the Country Gentleman:
"1f thou be surety for thy friend If
thou hast stricken thy hand with
stranger. thon art shared with the words
OF thy mouth Give not sleep to thine
eyes, nor slumber TO thine eyelids. De-
liver myself as a roe from the hand Of
the hunter. and as a bird from the hand
of the fowler" This counsel of Solomon
is unheeded by the majority Of men. It's
wisdom has come home forcibly and
sadly TO some of my neighbors lately.
and their experience is only that OF thou
sands of farmers A local business man
assigned with 10000 liabilities and only
a few thousand dollars assets. He was
an extensive patron of money-lenders.
and obliging neighbors Endorsed his
paper Banks lent for the sake of profit,
but only Woodworking farmers
staked their property upon the ability of
the borrower to repay The money. Now
they are shared by the words of their
mouths.
1T would seem that some exchange of
suretyship is almost necessity, but
there is a rule that is much more equit-
able and safe for the farmer than the
one that prevails today. The farmers
gains or losses in business are naturally
slow, while middlemen and spectators
risk mere and the gains and losses are
correspondingly large. A farmer may
give security for another farmer with
less risk than for the man engaged in
less certain line of business, but he
should not be expected to jeopardize his
accumulations in order TO furnish money
for those who risk more and hope to
make money faster.
When one man lends money to another
and makes a charge for it's use, ii does
not seem quite right that he should
quire that a third man, who reaps no
benefit from the loan, must step in and
agree to repay to the lender the full
amount of the loan if the borrower fails
to do so. However, this is the method
that prevails In the business world, and
there is no escape. But the farmer who
makes his money in slow ways has a
perfect moral right to refuse to become
surety for any man engaged in any other
business, without fear of giving offense.
If offense is taken, the friendship of SUCH
a one costs more than il is worth. The
man who takes risks should look for as
sistance to those who do likewise. To
such, the loss Of thousands is not so
serious as to farmer who can scarcely
expect to rise again If once his capital is
taken from him.
"Giving bond for the faithful discharge
Of duty is a necessity. When those who
handle public funds or have the property
of others in their charge ask one to be-
come surety, the difficulty is greater.
Usually il appears to be only a matter
of common honesty, and no one wants
to seem TO question his friends upright
ness. But here again the farmer, merely
because his name is backed by real es-
tate, shouldtnot be called upon to jeopar-
n fUn lie rfxy MI Z a N he
case of friends, who cannot well evade
the responsibility thrust upon them.
Within two years / have been especially
interested in two cases where the men
giving bond were strictly honest. 1t
seemed that the sureties were only asked
TO go through formality for near neigh
bors. And yet these two men nearly
brought loss to the men signing their
bonds. In one case a trusted relative
of the man got hold of the money. using
II IN his business, and escape from loss
was due TO the fact that the relative
did not become bankrupt until the money
had been gotten from him. In the other
case a valua bic farm, owned by the man
giving bond, could be sold to meet a big
deficit caused by supposed robbery, and
the secondNescape was made.
II know well a man who started life
worth nothing, and few months ago
he owned two valuable farms. He spent
fifty years in hard work, practicing econ
omy and managing well. He became
surety for a man in business, and today
his farm fences are plastered with at
tachments and he is not worth a penny
The principle Is wrong which leads to
such results. The friendship that re-
Quires one to jeOpardize the home that
shelters his family in order that another
may have plenty of capital to risk In
business is a curse. Security debts have
been paid and will continue to be paid
but much trouble and loss might be kept
of Il
only he that hateth suretyship is
sure"