The daily morning Alaskan., 1904-02-25
A Compromise
 With Conscience


 est number. After years Of study of the principles of political economy and Of the workings of trugts and uadea unions be came to the conclusion that ths foundation of an good rested with the individual
 About this time be inherited a great business. An uncle who had been Q dry goods merchantall his life had died suddenly without arranging his affairs. and as Cecil was next of kin and there were no other heirs be stepped Into his uncle's counting room, hung up hia hal | and proceeded to manage the business. After spending some days in familiar lzing himself with the details be called the head of the undergarment depart ment to him and said:
 'I see that we are advertising cer- tain goods as all wool which we are ! relHng at less thnn the cost of mate rial How is thisl Are they all woolr
 '.No. Blr. They are part cotton"
 Cease to advertise or to cell them as all wool hereafter
 But our compeutors'-
 "Our competitors eonsciencos are not our consciencea. We are only reaponsl- ble for ourselves"
 Sylvester turned bis revolving chair to his desk. and the head of tho under clothing department retired with the word "FOolw inaudibly uttered.
 The next head summoned was the manager of the shirt department.
 .I notica" said Sylvester, "that ws are paying a poor sewing girl 80 low price for making a shirt that she can not possibly gain a living at such work. You will raiBe the amount paid 30 per cent
 And go out of the shirt buHinessF
 Certainly. uir, if necessary. ] do not propuao to force young girls Into sin
 The head Of the shirt department col orrd and retired in confusion. Thus did Sylvester proceed Go reform his uncIe'a business. and at the end of the drst day be went home feeling the happiness of one who has righted a number Of wrongs Re was engaged to an excellent young woman, Miss Ethel Griggs. who loved him for his no ble ideas but who was Of somewhat practical mind herself He told her ! what be had done. and, though che knew nothing of business, something whispered to her that it was not likely that her beloved could step in and re form the business of a hard headed old man Ike John Sylvester. She there fore cautioned him not to go too fast with his reform because in some cases ! they might tend to curtau the business. At the same time she admitted that the reforms were juBt and proper. From tnlking about tho buEinesH they entered mon the matter Of how they would live after marriage and the preparation for their wedding. which was set for an early date. They had agreed on a house ! tbs cost Of which was S50.OO0. They | would employ aeven servants. besides ! the coachman. and had figured upon spending out of the profts of the ousi- ness SlO,OOO a year. As this would legve between S20.O0O and S300oO in- come untouched their expenditures would be very moderate Still, Cecil felt that he should spend no more be- ] cause be had determined to run his ! business not only honestly, but without grinding hls employees. and be expect ed that thls would at drst curtal the prodts
 Six months passed during which Ce- cu Sylvester. successor to John Sylves- fer continued to raise wages and sell only goods that were as represented. His marriage had been deferred till be could strike a balance at the end of the | fiscal year and see where be stood. Ills store was as full of buyers as ever, and inc sales were vlslbly iocreasing. He therefore looked forward to the fiscal statement with great hopefulness that his reforms had not proved unprohta- ble When it came in. it showed that there was a dedcit of about STOOO. Syl- vester noted this and get bis teeth.
 That evening when he informed hih sweetheart as to the result of his TO form she turned tride pale He at- tempted to reassure her by saying that honesty was the best policy and that the store had now got a start on the reform principle that would surely tell for the next year. He tried to explain to her how be proposed to establish very large trade by dealing honestly on which the margin. though a very small percentage would be very large in amount Ethel was not convinced or well satinhed with the prospect es- pecially as Cecil proposed that, as their mode of living was to be based on the profits of bis business, they should de | fer the wedding for a year.
 The year rolled round, during which the house of Sylvester continued to nay fair prices for goods and fair wages to employees, especially the taleswomen and cashgirls, in the ame Horation of whose condition the pro prietor was much Interested.
 At the end of the second fiscal year, when the head accountant presented the statement to the proprietor, Syl- vester turned pale. His capital waa sunk. and for months he had realized that hls business had greatly fallen of. When he lmparted the unwelcome paws to Ethel. she said: