The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1900-09-13

er from the fact that in our. day the
large business houses are swallowing
up the smaller, the whales dining ON
bluefish and minnows. The large
houses undersell the small ones, be-
cause they buy in greater quantities
and at lower figures from the pro-
ducer. They can afford to make moth
ing, or actually lose, on some styles
of goods, assured they can make it
up on others. So, great dry goods
house goes outside of its regular line
and sells books at cost or less than
cost, and that swamps the book
sellers; or the dry goods house sells
bric-a-brac at lowest figures, and that
swamps the small dealer in bric-a-
brac. And the same thing goes on in
other styles of merchandise, and the
is that all along the busi-
ness streets of all our cities there are
merchants of small capital who are in
terrific struggle to keep their heads
above water. The ocean liners run
down the Newfoundland fishing
smacks. This is nothing against the
man who has the big store, for every
man has as large a store and as great
a business as he can manage.
To feel right and do right under
all this pressure requires martyr
grace, requires divine support, re-
quires celestial Reinforcement. Yet
there are tens of thousands Of such
men getting splendidly through. They
see others. going up and themselves
going down, but they keep their pa
tience and their courage and their
Christian consistency, and after
awhile their success will come. There
is generally retribution in some form
for greediness. The owners of the
big business will die, and their boys
will get possession of the business,
and with cigar in their mouths, and
full to the chins with the best liquor,
and behind pair of spanking bays,
they will pass everything on the turn
pike road to temporal and eternal
perdition. Then the business will
break up and the smaller dealers will
have fair opportunity. Or the spirit
of coptentment and right feeling will
take possession of the large firm, as
recently with famous business
house, and the firm will say: 1--WE
have enough money for all our needs
and the needs of our children. Now
let us dissolve business and make way
for other men in the same line" In
stead of being startled at solitary
instance of magnanimity, it will be
come a common thing. | know o1
scores of great business houses that
have had their opportunity OF vast
accumulation and who ought to quit
But perhaps for all the days Of thi!
generation the struggle of small
houses to keep alive under the over
shadowing pressure of great house.
will continue; therefore, taking
things as they are, you will be wis
to preserve your faith and throw owe
all the counters and shelves and cask
the measuring line Of divine right
"And the Lord said unto me: Amos
what seest thou? And said: i
plumb line"
In the same way we need to rectif.
our theologies. All sorts Of religion
are putting forth their pretensions
Some have a spiritualistic religion
and their chief work is with ghosts
and Others religion Of political econ
omy, proposing to put an end to hu
1 man misery by new style Of taxa
ton, and there is humanitarian re
ligion that looks after rhe bodies Q
men and let's the soul look after itsel
and there is legislative religion tha
proposes to rectify all wrongs by er
actment of better laws, and there
an aesthetic religion that by rules {
exquisite taste would lift the hear
out Of its deformities, and religions I
all sorts, religions by the peck, n
ligions by the square foot and rel
gions by the ton-all of them device
Of the devil that would take the hear
away from the only religion that wi
ever effect anything for the huma
race, and that is the straight up an
down religion written in the boo
which begins with Genesis and ent
with Revelation, the religion Of IL
skies, the old religion, the God-give
religion, the everlasting religio
: which says: "Love God above all al
your neighbor as yourself" All :
; iigions but one begin at the wrong e1
and in the wrong place. The Bible +
; ligion demands that we first get rig
with God. It begins at the top al
measures down, while the other /
? ligions begin at the bottom and t
E to measure up. They stand at &
8 foot of the wall, up to their knees
3 the mud of human theory and specul
ton, and have q plummet and stril
= tied fast to it, and they throw t
q plummet this way and break. he
: here and throw the plummet anoth
e way and break head there, and tn
8 they throw it up, and it comes doy
e Apon their own pate. Fools! w
e stand at the foot Ut the wall rectii
Is ing up when you ought to stand
c the top rectifying down? ! was
Is the country, thirsty after . long wa
: And I came in, and my child was bio
# ing soap bubbles, and they rolled 9
]; Of the cup blue and gold and gre
e and sparkling and beautiful and o.