The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-08-12

ne cndesvored to draw for the benefit
a. orr neirhbor and for the benefit of.
1.-The subtle some we'll marked distinctions
between business and philanthropy, he.4
tween business and rescue work, bet ween
business ard sentimentality, between,
business ana highway robbery. But
marx sou, we had not employed the term
.'na wksh sentlmentality." The phrase
has been introduced by the News leader,
and We accept the cue. Our contemporary
has lkened a money lender dealing with
nm anxious borrower In time Of finan-
cial panic to o man with a life-savingt
board under his arm standing by the
brink or Ii pool in which a human being
was struggling to keep himself out Of q
5watery grave, vet refusing to lend as
sIstance In saving the strugg ler from, sud-,
den death, except for ruinous price,
I've ask II there Is not q faint OF
'nlawkisll sentimentality" In such q COM
Sparlson? ID
Our contemporary further likens q
banker, who unwillingly makes loan to
an anxious borrower, at a high COM
mission. 10 a highway robber who draws
a gun upon a defenseless fSwayferer and
demands his money or his life. We ask
IL that comparison Is altogether free from
tho faint of .'mawkish sentimentality?'
our contemporary further likens a
banker titus transacting business to a
money shark whose vocation is to lend
small sums of money to distressed
n idows at a ruinous rate OF Interest,
ana finally likens him to a Sfiend who
would, 10 satisfy his bond, cut from a
human teing tat the cost OF human life
a pound of quivering flesh We e ask II
there is not a faint Of ''inaWkish senti-
mentality" in these comparis ons
The Virginia Carolina Chemical Com.
lpany was a business corporation. seek
Ing 10 borrow money to = arry8 on Its Its
affairs. and offering to pay he market se't
price for large sum. but offering as
security paper which was not at that
time acceptable to banks and also a SIX
ing this favor from men who We're IN
no sense under obligation to give It ac-5
commodation. The company was sl q p bust
ness corporation, as we have said, and
not drowning man in a pool or away
farer in the hands OF a bber. or q
poor widow suffering for bread or 4 q
fend's victim under bond to forfeit Q.
pound Of flesh. Our contemp orary's Illus
trations do not Illustrate except upon the
score OF sentimentality Our contempor.--35
airy knows quite we'll, and with It's Gus.
tomary chivalry comedies, that we have
not meant in this discuss on to n justify
tile inhunan brute who would fuse to
save life except for a price. or to justify
the usurer whose business in life is TO-
prey upon widows and orphans; We are,
not discussing philanthro py and rescue
work anu charity, but the principles OF
business which have ruled in all ages
our contemporary knows as well as we
that business is business. and that when
men go on the market to borrow money
they must have satisfactory security and
must pay the market price or fail s. to
ret Eaccommoda ton. Would It have been
Morgan syndicate to have refused to ac-5
comm odate the Chemical Company at
any I ride: When the syndicate had SO
many tempting offers for its money, Is
ii reasonable to suppose that it would
refuse them all in order to accommodate
the Chemical Company. at six per cent?
Did the Morgan syndicate go after the
Chemical Company and compel it to-
stand and deliver? Did not the Chemi-
cal Company have access to- every bank
in New York and to every bank in the
South, End Is IT not fair to presume that
II 1t could have made better terms with
other E,oney lenders, at would have done
50 I? Why, then, in any other name than
sentimentality. should the Morgan syn
dlcate have offered to lend at the legal
rate OF Interest when no other money
lender would lend at twenty per cent?
one 1noret question in Conclusion: A
little willie ago the Virginia Passenger.
and Power Company was in financial
straits. 1t needed a large sum OF money
to carry on it's business and keep it out
If bankruptcy. and in Its emergency APP
Piled to Mr.. Frank J ay Gould. Il Mr.. Gould
saw, as he thought, Q chance to make q
good turn. He was unwilling to lend the
money at the usual rate OF interest. He
demanded, SO 1t has been alleged in the
courts. IS condition OF the loan that
! lie should receive a large bonus Of stock.
and that he should be permitted to buy
the bonds OF the, company at 80 cents on
the dollar. The Passenger and Power
Company closed the deal with him upon
Mr.. G Guilds own terms we ask our con-
temporary II IT believes that in this case
Mr.. Gould acted the part of n highway
robber. or the part OF a brute refusing
to save a drowning man excent for his
price. or a money shark preying upon
widows and orphans, or fiend demand
Ing his pound of human flesh? II there
is any difference between the part played
i by the Morgan syndicate in the Yir-