St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1899-08-26

What, suppose you. will come upor
such business establishments? and
there are hundreds of them In The
cities. They may boast of fabulous
sales. and they may have an unprece'
denied run of buyers, and the name oi
house may be a terror to all rivals, and
from this thrifty root there may spring
up branch houses in other cities, and
all the partners of the firm may move
into their mansions and drive their full
blooded span, and the families may
sweep the street with the most elegant
apparel that human heart ever wove
or earthly magnificence ever achieved.
But curse is gathering surely for
those men, and if 1t does not seize hold
of the pillars and in one wild ruin bring
down the temple Of commercial glory it
will break up their peace, and they will
tremble with sickness and bloat with
designations, and, pushed to the preci-
pice of this life, they will try to hold
back and cry for help, but no help will
come, and they will clutch their gold
to take il along with them. but it will
be snatched from their grasp and a
voice will sound through their soul:
Not farthing. thou beggarlied spir-
it," And the judgment will come, and
they will stand aghast before it. and all
the business iniquities of lifetime will
gather around them, saying: do you
remember that?" And clerks that they
compelled to dishonesty and runners
and draymen and bookkeepers 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 that great firm
that occupied block with their mer-
chandise and overshadowed the city
| with their influence and made right
eousness and truth and purity fall I'M
der 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
fabric or product is represented as
possessing value which it really does
not have. Nothing but sheer falsehood
can represent as perfection boots that
rip. silks that speedily lose their luster,
| calicoes that Immediately wash out,
stoves that crack under the first hot
fire, books insecurity bound, carpets
that unravel, old furniture rejuvcnatcd
with putty and glue and sold as having
been recently manufactured, gold
watches made of brass, barrels of fruit,
the biggest apples on top. wine adrl-
terated with strychnine. hosiery poorly
woven, cloths of domestic manufacture
shining with foreign labels, imported
goods represented as rare and hard to
get, because foreign exchange is SO
high, rolled out on the counter with
matchless display. Imported, indeed,
but from the factory in the next street.
A pattern already questionable and
unstable palmed on MS 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 tempt
ed to make the habits and customs Of
other traders their law of rectitude.
There are commercial usages which
will not stand the test Of the last day.
Yet men in business are apt to do as
their neighbors do. If the majority of
the traders in any locality are lax in
principle, the commercial code of that |
community will be spurious and dis |
honest. 1t lisa 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 cheaper rate |
and decoy your customers. OF course
you who promptly meet all your bust
ness engagements, paying when you
promise to pay, will find it hard to COM
pete with that merchant who is hope
lessly 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 hundred practices
prevalent in the world of traffic which
ought never to become the rule for hon
est men. Their wrong does not make
your right Sin never becomes virtue
by being multiplied and admitted at
brokers' board or merchants exchange.
Because Others smugglc a few things
in passenger trunks, because others
take nsury when men are in tight
places. because others deal in fancy
stocks. because others palm off worth
less Endorsements, because others do
nothing but blow bubbles, do not. there
lore, be overcome of temptation. Hol-
low pretentions and fictitious credit
md commercial gambling may awhile
but the day OF reckoning
and in addition to the horror
ind condemnation of outraged COM
the curse of God will come.
,low after blow. Gods law forever and
orever is the only standard of right
ind wrong and not commercial ethics.
Young business man, avoid the first ,
BUSINESS dishonOr, and you will avoid {
II the rest. The capt2in of vessel ,
ras walking near the mouth OF river
1hen the tide was low, and there was q ,
ong, stout anchor chain, into one Of
he great links of which his foot !
tipped. and it began to swell. and he Z
Ould not withdraw it. The tide began l
D rise. The chain could not be loos- '
ned nor filed of in time, and surgeon ! q
'as called to amputate the limb, but | ]
efore the work could he done the tide i
olled over the victim, and his life WIS "
one. l have to tell you, young lSan. e
nat just one wrong into which you 7
lip may be a link of a long chain of cir v
from which you cannot be c
xtricatcd by any ingenuity of your t
vn or any help from others, and the il
des will roll over you as they have "
'er many. When Pompey. the war d
or, wanted to take possession of
ty and they would not open the gates,
persuaded them to admit a sick SOL n
er. But the sick soldier after awhile Il
IT well and strong. and he threw open 81
e gates and let the devastating army Al
me in. One wrong admitted into the Il
ul may gain in strength until after o1
While It filings open all the gates to the m
tack of sin. and tho ruin is complete. q
Again, business men are sometimes o,
mpted to throw of personal respon- s,
Dilities. shifting it to the institution el