Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1899-02-09

seems to be the pride OF some moneyed
men to be directors In a great many
institutions, and all they know Is
whether or not they get their divi-
dends regularly, and their names are
used as decoy ducks to bring others
near enough to be made game of. What
first OF all is needed Is that five hun
dred bank directors and insurance
company directors resign or attend to
their business as directors. The bust
ness world will be full OF fraud just
as long as fraud Is so easy. When you
arrest the president and secretary Of
bank for an embezzlement carried on
for many years, be sure to have plenty
of sheriffs out the same day to arrest
all the directors. They are guilty
either of neglect or completely.
"Oh." some will say. better preach
the Gospel and let business matters
alone" reply. If your Gospel does
not inspire common honesty in the
dealings OF men, the sooner you close
up your Gospel and pitch 1t into the
depths of the Atlantic ocean the bet
ter. An orthodox swindler is worse
than a heterodox swindler. The reci-
tation of all the catechisms and creeds
ever written, and partaking OF all the
communion chalices that ever glitter
ed in the churches of Chrlstendom, will
never save your soul unless your bust
ness character corresponds with your
religious profession. Some OF the
worst scoundrels in America have been
members Of churches and they got fat
on sermons about heaven when they
most needed to have the pulpits preach
that which would either bring them
to repentance, or thunder them out OF
the holy communions where their pres
ence was a sacrilege and an infamy.
We must especially deplore the mis-
fortunes OF banks in various parts OF
this country in that they damage the
banking institution, which Is the
great convenience of the centuries, and
indispensable to commerce, and the adj
vance OF nations. With one hand 1t
blesses the lender, and with the other
1t blesses the borrower. On their
shoulders are the interests OF private
individuals and great corporations.
In them are the great arteries through
which run the currents of the nations
life. They have been the resources of
the thousands OF financiers in days OF
business exigeucy. They stand for ac-
commodation, for facility, for individ-
ual, State, and national relief. At their
head, and in their management, there
is as much interest and moral worth
as in any class of men-perhaps more.
How nefarious, then, the behavior or
those who bring disrepute upon this
venerable, benignant, and God-honored
institution!
We also deplore abuse of trust funds,
because the abusers fly in the face Of
divine goodness which seems deter
mined to bless this land. We are hav-
ing a series of unexampled national
harvests. The wheat gamblers get
hold of the wheat. and the corn gambl-
ers get hold OF the corn. The full
tide of Gods mercy toward this land is
put back by those great dykes OF dis
honest resistance. When God provides
enough food and clothing to feed and
apparel this whole nation like princes,
the scrabble OF dishonest men to get
more than their share, and get 1t at
all hazards, keeps everything shaking
with unce. ,ainty, and everybody asking
What next?' Every week makes
new revelations. How many more
bank presidents and bank cashiers
have been specializing with other peo-
pies money, and how many more bank
directors are in imbecile silence, let
ting the perfidy go on, the great and
patient God only knows! My opinion
is that we have got near the bottom.
The wind has been pricked from the
great bubble Of American speculation.
The men who thought that the Judg-
ment day was at least FIVE thousand
years of, found it in 1898 or 1897 or
1896; and this nation has been taught
that men must keep their hands out OF
ether peoples pockets. Great business
ca built on borrowed capital have been
obliterated, and men who had nothing
have lost all they had. l believe We
are started on q higher career OF pros
perity than this land has ever seen, If,
and il, and If
A missionary in one of the islands
Of the Pacific preached on dishonesty,
and the next morning he looked out
of his window, and he saw his yard
full Of goods of all kinds. He Won
dered. and asked the cause OF all this.
well" said the natives, "our gods
that we have been worshiping permit
us to steal, but, according to what you
said yesterday, the Cod of heaven and
earth will not allow this so we bring
back all these goods, and we ask you
to help us in taking them to the places
where they belong" If next Sabbath
all the ministers in America should
preach sermons on the abuse OF trust
funds, and on the evils Of purloining,
and the sermons were all blessed Of
God, and regulations were made that
all these things should be taken to the
city halls, it would not be long be-
fore every city hall in America would
be crowded from cellar to cupola.
Let me say in the most emphatic
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