The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-07-24

| through their soul, mot farthink, thou
beggarsd spiritp And the Judgment will
come, and they will stand sshast before
It. and all the business iniquitiss Of q
lifetime will gather around them, say
ing, "Do you remember thisw and "Do
you remember thatT And clerks that
they compelled to dishonesty and runners
and draymen and bookkeepers who saw
behind the scenes will bear testimony to
their nefarious deeds, and some virtuous
soul that once stood aghast at the splen-
dor and power Of these business men will
say, "Alas, this is all that Is left of that
great firm that occupied block with
their merchandise and overshadowed the
city with their influence and made
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
fabric or product Is represented as
possessing q 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 IN
raveI, old furniture rejuvenated with
putty and glue and sold as having been
recently manufactured, gold watches
made of brass, barrels of fruit, the big
gest apples on the top, wine adulterated
with strychnine, hosiery poorly woven,
cloths Of domestic manufacture shining
with foreign labels, imported goods rep
resented as rare and hard to get, because
foreign exchange is so high, rolled out on
the counter with matchless display. I'm
ported indeed, but from the factory In
the next street. A pattern already UNI
fashionable and unstable palmed off as
new print upon some country merchant
who has come to town to make his first
purchase of dry goods and going home
with large stock Of goods warranted to
keep.
Won't Stand Light.
Again, business men are often tempted
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 bust
ness are apt to do as their neighbors do.
If the majority of the traders in any To-
cality are lax in principle, the CONNER
cial code in that community will be spuri-
GUS and dishonest. 1t is hard thing to
stand close by the law Of right wnen
your next door neighhor, 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 business engagements paying when
you promise to pay, will find it hard to
compete 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 honest men. Their
wrong does not make your right. Sin
never becomes virtue by being multiplied
and admitted at brokers' board or mer-
chants exchange. Because others snug
gle few things in passenger trunks, be-
cause others take usury when men are
In tight places, because others deal in
fancy stocks, because others palm off
worthless Endorsements, because others
do nothing but blow bubbles, do not,
therefore, be overcome of temptation.
Hollow pretentions and fictitious credit
and commercial gambling may awhile
prosper, but the day Of reckoning cometh,
and in addition to the horror and con
demnation of outraged communities the
curse of God will come, blow after blow.
Gods law forever and forever Is the only
standard of right and wrong and not
commercial ethics.
Young business man. avoid the first
business dishonor, and you will avoid all
the rest. The captain of vessel was
walking near the mouth of river when
the tide was low, and there was long,
stout anchor chain, into one of the great
links of which his foot slipped, and it be-
gan to swell, and he could not withdraw
it. The tide began to rise. The chain
could not be loosened nor filed off in time,
and surgeon was called to amputate the
limb, but before the work could be done
the tide rolled over the victim, and his
life was gone. l have to tell you, young
man, that just one wrong into which you
slip may be link Of long chain of cir
cumstances from which you cannot be
extricated by any ingenuity of your own
or any help from others, and the tides
will roll over you as they have over many.
When Pompey, the warrior, wanted to
take possession of city and they would
not open the gates, he persuaded them to
admit sick soldier. But the sick soldier
after awhile got well and strong, and he
threw open the gates and let the devas-
tating army come in. One wrong admit
ted into the soul may gain in strength
until after awhile it filings open all the
gates to the attack of sin, and the ruin is
complete.
Individual Responsibility.
Again, business men are sometimes
tempted to throw off personal responsible
ity, shifting it to the institution to which
they belong Directors in banks and rail-
road and insurance companies sometimes
shirk personal responsibility underneath
the action of the corporation and how
often, when some banking house or fnan-
cial institution explodes through fraud,
respectable men in the board of directors
say, "Why, thought all was going on in
an honest way, and l am utterly con-
founded with this demeanor" The banks
and the fire and life and marine insur-
ance companies and the railroad compa-
MES will not stand up for judgment in
the last day, but those who in them act
ed righteously will receive, each for him
self, n reward, and those who acted the
part of neglect or trickery will, each for
himself, receive a condemnation.
Unlawful dividends are not clean be-
fore God because there are those associ-
ated with you who grab just as big pile
as you do. He who countenances the dis
honesty Of the firm or of the corporation
or association takes upon himself all the
moral liabilities. If the financial institu-
ton steals, he steals. If they go into
wild speculations, he himself is gam
bier. II they needlessly embarrass
creditor, he himself is guilty of cruelty.
If they swindIe the uninitiated, he hun
self is defrauder. No financial institu-
ton ever had money vault strong
enough, or credit stanch enough, Or divi-
dends large enough, or policy acute
enough to hide the individual sins Of its
members. The old adage that corpora
lions have no souls is misleading. Every
corporation has as many souls as it has
members.
Again, many business men have been
tempted to postpone their enioyments
and duties to future season of entire
leisure. What sedative the Christian
religion would be to all our business men
if instead of postponing its uses to old
age or death they would take it into the