The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1893-12-28

day can live better, easier, with less
sacrifice called for by modern life, than
ever before in the history of the world.
And the man that says, II cannot live
today unless do these things" simply
lies. Is the business world in conflict
with ChristianityY So much the worse
for the business world. The curse of
Coda living, whitening, blasting
curse-is on that society, on that COM
merce that makes success possible
against truth and right and honor.
HONEST WORK SACRED.
"All things are yours, and because
the business world is legitimate field
for a Christian its obligations are high.
It is yours; but, precisely because it is
it is holy ground. The merchant that
sits at his desk is doing as sacred work,
when honest in his transactions and deal
ings, as ! do when ! am here at this
desk before you on Sunday. The labor
er at his anvil, the farmer who holds
his plow, every wOrkingman that does
his work unto the Lord, is doing a sa-
cred work. His shop, his office, his
place of business, is as sacred as the
ed him there to be the high priest. But,
you say, what is the use to be honest?
People love to be humbuGged. But,
my friend, for your own sake, be hon
est. Most people, take them all in all,
have large streak of fool in them.
They will run after special bargains
and sales. For your own heart and life
he honest. You do not fool yourelf, and
when you mark your goods to fool the
people and to rope in the unwary you
know in yourself you have degraded
yourself. You have sold your own soul
out to the devil in the process Be hon
est and avoid every man who in the
process of the business world seeks to
coin money ont of other peoples blood.
l am done with bargains, sheriff's sale
and bankrupt clothing establishments.
! If you support those establishments, you
are trading in the blood of broken
hearts and homes, for it took good, hard
labor to make those goods, and if they
are sold at less than it costs to make
them you are buying the price Of good
| hearts blood. As for the man that can
| undersell another man and make it pos
| sible to undersell by cheating clerks and
| giving small wages and making them
| work their lives out would rather 60
to man that gives his clerks honest
salaries. The time may come in your
life when adversely may be yours, and
| your loved ones are thrown on this great
vulgar labor market of the world, and
in your own flesh and blood others can
trade in dollars and cents. If you get
what are called bargains today, it means
somebody's heart is broken-somebody
else has paid for it too high a price.
| sOULLEsS CORPORATIONS.
| do not want anything to do with
business transactions where the princi-
pies that are used are such that an indi-
vidual would not touch. We have
corporations. A distinguished man
died some years ago in New York city,
the soul of honor in every personal
transaction. His servants stood weep
ing by the door when he died. He did
not owe cent. Everything was paid
for in cash. He said do not owe your
wOrkingman cent. 1t is dishonest to
keep his wages from him, unless you
pay him interest on it-pay him
promptly" But he was at the head of
a gigantic corporation that held mo-
nopoly and made his fortune out Of the
lives of a community that were ground
in the process. And when men ap-
preached him he said, II am honest in
all my transactions, but corporation
has got no soul" God does not call cor
porations to account, The devil does not
call them to account. They have no
soul. They will even cheat the devil.
But God does call the individuals that
constitute the corporation TO account.
God will call to account all the persons
involved in the conduct Of that business.
individuals will thus render their &C.
counts at the last. Why, you know that
| a,town council and a school committee
sometimes will be cruel and unjust
and unprincipled IN transaction that
| an individual man or woman would
scorn to stoop to. A merchant who
would scorn TO sell -four mixed with
chalk, scorn to mix up his goods and
adulterate them and sell them to the
world, who would kick another man
ont of his store who would offer him
trick by which he could adulterate
sugar or -four or coffee-yet sometimes
those very men will go into corpor-
alton and swindle thousands.
If you think you can, through the
process OF your social or political ma
ehinery, cheat Almighty God, let me
assure yog that, while men may not I'M
| derstand, 'fhe great God of heaven and
earth understands, and you are just as
responsible as though you had done 1t
personally. Let us understand, then,
that while cannibaIism may be Justified
on the high seas sometimes, the soul of
the world still revolts at it. Some sail
| ors came in the other day and reported
that, starving TO death, they fell on
brother sailor and ate his body. They
arrested them and put them in jail
They are waiting trial for their life
They will not be convicted, because the
jury will say that it was life or death.
They cast lots. They could not execute
a man for saving himself from starva-
ton. But when a man eats his neigh
Dor for the very luxury of eating him,
just takes the choice parts of his body
and discards the others, IL there Is any
law above the earth Or under 1t or on
1t that will Justify that l have yet to
find 1t.
THE HEART IN THE WORK.
Enter and abide, young man, in no
business that you cannot put your heart
In. Some of us have to do things that
are disagreeable. II you have to choose
your profession, choose something that