The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1899-08-09
eousness and truth and purity fall under

QcutepeSB and tact IN the SAFE OF 80OQS we
must condemn any process by which q
fabric or product Is represented as pos
sessine 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, cali
Goes that Immediately wash out, stoves
that crack under the first hot fire, books
insecurely bound, carpets that unravel.
old furniture rejuvenated 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 adulterated 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
m uatchless display. Imported, indeed! but
from the factory In the next street. 4
pattern already Questionable and un-
salable palmed off as new print upon
some country merchant who has como to
town to make his first purchase Of dry
goods and going home with q large stock
OF goods warranted to keep.
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 busi-
ness are apt to do as their neighhors do.
II the majority Of the traders in any local
ity are lax in principal, the commercial
code in that community will be spurious
and dishonest. It is q 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 oil your business en-
gagements, paying when you promise to
pay, will find 1t hard 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 q 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 Mt brokers' board or mer-
chants exchange. Because Others smuggle
n few things in passenger trunks, because
others take usury when men are In tight
places, because others palm OF worthless
fndorsem ents, because others do nothing
but 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.
ness dishonor, and you will avoid all the
rest. TIE captain OF vessel was walking
near the mouth OF q river when the tide
was low, end there was long stout anchor
chain, into one Of the great links OF which
his foot slipped, and 1t began 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 O 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. I have to
tell you, young man, that just one wrong
into which you may slip may be link OF q
long chain of circumstances from which
you cannot De e1trlcated by any ingenuity
ofyour own or any help from others, and the
tides will roll over you as they have over
many.
Again, business men are sometimes
tempted to throw of personal RESPONSE
bility, shifting it to the institution to
which they belong. Directors i'm banks
and railroad and insurance companies
sometimes shirk personal responsibility
underneath the action OF the corporation.
And how often, when some banking house
or financial institution explodes through
fraud respectable men In the boarI OF
directors say, "Why, thought all was
going on in AL honest way, and 1 am ut:
terly confounded with this demeanor!'
The banks and the fire and life and
road companies will not stand up for judg-
ment in the last day. but those who In
them acted righteously will receive, each
for himself, reward, aud those who acted
the part OF neglect or trickery will, each
for himself, receive condemnation.
Unlawful dividends are not clean before
God, because there are those associated
with you who grab just as big pile as you
do. He who countenances the dishonesty
OF tile firm or OF the corporation or asso-
citation takes upon himself all the moral
liabilities. II the financial institutions
steal, he steals. Ii they so into wild specu-
lations, he himself is gambler. II they
needlessly embarrass creditor, he himself
is guilty Of cruelty. II they swindle the
nninitiated, he himself Is detrauder. No
financial institution ever had money vault
strong enough, or credit staunch enough,
or dividends large enough, or policy acute
enough to hide the individual sins OF Its
mem bers. The old adage that corporations
have no souls is misleading. Every cor
poration has as many souls as It has mem
bers.
Again many business men have been
tempted to postpone their enjoyments and
duties to future season OF entire leisure.
What q sedative the Christian religion
would be to all our business men II, in
stead Of postponipg its uses to old age or
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. A mer-
chant in New England village was
standing by o horse, and the horse
lifted his foot to stamp 1t in pool
Of water, and the merchant, to escape
the splash, stepped into the door OF an
insurance agent, and the agent said. ~
isuppose you have come to renew your hre
nsurance?" "Oh," said the mere nant, II
had forgotten tbat!" The insurance was
renewed, and the next day the house that
had been insured was burned. Was 1t all
accidental that the merchant, to escape q
splash from horses foot, stepped into the
insurance Office? No; 1t was providentlal.
And what a mighty solace for business
MIN to feel that things are providential!
What peace and equilibrium In such u con-
sideration, and what grand thing II all
business men could realize 1t!
Many, although now comparatively
straitened in worldly circumstances, have
q goodly establishment. in the future
planned out. Their best treasures in
heaven, they will so up and take possess
sion Of them. The tolls OF business life,
which racked their brains and rasped
their nerves for so many yeurs, will have
forever ceased. "There the wicked cease