Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1899-08-02

who saw behind the scenes will bear testI-
mony to their nefarious deeds, and some
virtuous soul that once stood aghast at the
splendor and power of these business men
will say, "Alas, this is all that is left OF
tn It great firm that occupied block with
their merchandise and overshadowed the
city with their influence and made right
eousness and truth and purity fall under
the calling fire of avarice and crime"
While we admire and approve of all
acuteness and tact in the sale OF goods we
:. must condemn any process by which u
fabric or product Is represented as pos
sessing a value which 1t really does not
have. Nothing but sheer falsehood can
represent as perfection boots that rip,
Silks that speedily lose their luster, cali
Goes that Immediately wash out, stoves
that crack Under the first hot fire, books
ipsecure,y bound, carpets that unravel,
old furniture rejuvenatcd with putty and
glue and sold as having been recently
manufactured, gold watches made out OF
brass, barrels OF fruit, the biggest apples
on top, wine adultcrated with strychnine.
tosiery poorly woven, cloths of domestic
manufacture shining with foreign labels.
imported goods represented as rare and
hard to get because foreign exchange
Is o high rolled out on tho counter with
| matchrcss display. Imported. indeed but
from the factory in the next street. A
pattern already unfashionabie and un-
salable palmed of n new print upon
some country merchant who has come to
town to make his first purchase of dry
! goods and going home with a large stock
| of goods warranted to keep.
Again, business men are often tempted
20 make the habits and customs of other
traders their law of rectitudc. There ari
commercial usages which will not stand
the test of the last day. Yet men In busf-
ness are apt to do as their neiShbors do.
II the majority of the traders in any local
ty are lax in principal, the commercial
| snIa In bat yyil he rin
and dishonest. 1t is a hard thing to stand
close by the law Of right when your next
door neighbor by his looseness of dealing
is enabled to sell goods at cteaper rate
and decoy your customers. or course, you
who promptly meet all your business en-
gaeements, paying when you promise to
pay will find 1t harl to compete with that
merchant who Is hopelessly in debt to the
Importer for the goods and to the landlord
whose store he occupies and to the clerks
who serve him. There are a hundred
practices prevalent III the world
of traffic which ought never to
become the rule for honest men. Their
wrong does not make your right. Sin
pever becomes virtue by being multiplied
and admitted at brokers' board mer-
chants exchange. Because Others smuggle
l few things in passenger trunks, because
others take usury when men are in tight
places because others palm off worthless
Endorsements, because others do nothing
out blow bubbles, do not, therefore, be
overcome of temptation. Hollow preten-
sion and fictitious credit and commercial
gambling may awhile prosper, but the day
of reckoning cometh, and in addition to
The horror and condemnation of outraged
communities the curse of God will come
blow for blow Gods law forever and for
ever is the only standard of right and
wrong and not commercial ethics.
Young business man, avoid the first busi-
ness dishonor. and you will avoid all the
rest. The captain of n vessel was walking
near the mouth of q river when the tide
was low, end there was long stout anchor
.hain, into one of the great links OF which
MS foot slipped and it began to swell, and
le could not withdraw it. The tide began
% rise. The chain could not be loosened
nor fled off in time, and n surgeon was
,alled to amputate the limb, but before the
work could be Gone the tide rolled a-ss-the
~ Z and his -
s-.s ....l., eas $50 one wfo..s,
INTO which you may slip may be link OF a
ong chain Of circumstances from which
you cannot be extricated by any ingenuity
ofyour own or any help from others, and tho
:ides will roll over you as they have over
many.
Again, business men are sometimes
:empted to throw of personal RESPONSE
oility, shifting it to the institution to
which they belong. Directors In banks
and railroad and insurance companies
sometimes shirk personal responsibility
underneath the action OF tue corporation.
And how often, when some banking house
or financial institution explodes through
fraud respectable men in the boar of
directors say, "Why, / thought all was
going on in an honest way, and l am ut
.erly coniounded with this demeanorl'
The banks and the fire and life and
marine insurance companies and the rail-
:oad companies will not stand up for judg-
nent in the last day, but those who In
them acted righteousy will receive, each
for himself, reward, and those who acted
The part of neglect or trickery will, each
Tor himself, receive condemnation.
| Unlawful dividends are not clean before
1od; because there are those associated
with you who grab just as big pile as you
do. He who countenances the dishonesty
Of the firm or of the corporation or asso-
citation takes upon himself all the moral
liabilities. II the financial institutions
,teal he steals. If they 20 into wild specu-
lations, he himself is gambler. II they
ueedlessly embarrass a creditor, he himself
ls guilty of cruelty. II they swindie the
uninitiated, he himself is defrauder. No
| financial institution ever had money vault
strong enough, or credit staunch enough,
Dr. dividends large enough, or policy acute
enough to hide the individual sins of Its
members. The old adage that corporations
| nave no souls Is misleading. Every cor
poration has as many souls as 1t has men,
'ers.
| Again many business men have been
tempted to postpone their enjoyments and
duties to future season of entire leisure.
What n sedatiye the Christian religion
would be to all our business men if, in
stead of postponing its uses to old age OF
| death, they would take 1t into the store or
factory or worldly engagement now! 1t is
| folly to go amid the uncertainties of busi-
ness life with no God to help. mer-
chant In New England village was
itanding by horse, and the horse
| lifted his foot to stamp it in a pool
If water, and the merchant, to escape
he splash, stepped into the door OF an
| Insurance agent, and the agent said, 81
| suppose you la e come to renew your fire
lsnrance?" "Oh," said the mere hant, 81
lad forgotten that!'' The insurance was
renewed, and the next day the house that
nad been insured was burned. Was 1t all
| accidental that the merchant, to escape a
splash from n horses foot, stepped into the
Insurance office? No; 1t was providential.
And what a mighty solace for business
man to feel that things are providentiall
What peace and equilibrium In such a con-
sideration, and what q grand thing IL all
business men could realize it!
| Many, although now comparatively
| straitened in worldly circumstances, have
l goodly establishment in the future
| damned out. Their best treasures In
heaven, they will go up and take possess
| sion of them. The tolls OF business life,
which racked their brains and rasped
forever ceased. "There the wicked cease
rom troubling, and the weary are at rest
"A peculiar question of ethics has
arisen between dry goods store pro.
prietor of Racine, Wis, and one of hi:
clerks named Vlasdislar Altman