Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1904-05-03
DISHONEST SUCCESS
THE WORST FAILURE

DISHONEST SUCCESS
THE WORST FAILURE
To be Straight Forward and
Stand Square in all Dealings,
Means Considerable to the
Young Man.
1t means something in these days
to be straight forward and honest.
1t not only gives you intimate salts
faction to maintain your whOleneSS,
your integrity. but it is also capital to
you. 1t means extension of credit, OF
increased public confidence. 1t means
something for young man to refuse
to make money without fairly earning
it, to stand foursquare to the world
when trickery and fraud offer such
tempting prizes.
OF course, it is hard for a young
man to jog along in what seems a
humdrum way while his acquaintances
all around are gaining wealth. ap-
parently, by leaps and bounds. It
takes courage to refuse to bend the
knee to questionable methods, when
they are so generally adopted. It
takes courage to tell the exact truth,
when little departure would bring
a great temporary gain. 1t takes
courage to refuse to be bribed. when
it could be covered by specious
justifications. It takes courage to
stand erect, when, by bowling and
scraping to people with pull" you
can get inside information that
would make you win what others
lose.
On every ha nd you will see flaunted
evidences of easily earned wealth.
You will see apparent happiness in
homes, costly clothing, and
fine carriages, all procured by
questionable means. You will find
many rogue covering up a life OF
despicable trickery, and apparently
himself, but remember that
there is no place in the world of real
for dishonesty. Unalloyed
enjoyment never mates with wrong:
fraud is never coupled with peace OF
mind. It may be true that such a
man may be SO hypnotized by the
glamour Of wealth, no matter how it
was obtained, that he will seem to
enjoy spending it, but there will be a
questioning in the soul, still, small
voice within him which will ever
repeat: "You know this money is not
your own, that it really belongs to
those you have defrauded, or robbed
of ambition opportunity, or a chance
in life. You know you got your stocks,
your houses, by fraudulent methods;
you know that you got your fine home
by making other homes poorer and
meaner and darker; you know that
your elegant tapestries, fine furniture,
works of art mean that you have
made such things forever impossible
for those whose money you have
stolen" AS he advances in years,
and pleasures of the senses pail, he
begins to think, to ask himself what
his life means, and sees that he has
been harboring wasp'S nest in his
heart, and then all the best of him
has been Stung to death.
Do not be deceived by appearance.
A great deal Of that which passes for
success is really failure or defeat. On
the other hand, that which passes for
failure really is often success and
noble achievement.
When you see young man Haunting
his quickly gained wealth in your
face, just ask yourself, "How much
did he lose in getting it? How much
of himself has he parted with
exchange for the money? Does it pay
to sell ones manhood and character
in order to get rich little faster?
Isn't it safer to take the slower and
approved method? Doesn't q youth
lose, unless his life is square and
clean, no matter what money he gets?
Young man, never envy the man
who seems to get on by questionable
methods, who wins by longheaded,
sharp practice. Your own self-respect
is worth more than all his ill-gotten
wealth.
Never put in your pocket a dis
honest dollar, lying dollar,
deceitful dollar, a dollar which drips
with human sorrow, a dollar that
has made another poorer, which has
robbed another of cherished plans or
education. Never touch dollar
which is net morally clean: it will do
you no good, but will rob you of peace
of mind, of self-respect.
Never put yourself in position
where the brute side of you will have
to apologize to your diviner self for
what you have done, or where you
will be obliged to cover your tracks,
or to conceal your idenity. Throw
your heart wide open to the world,
Have no business secret so far as
morality is concerned.
Never yield to a temptation to do a
dishonorable or questionable deed, no
matter what the promise of reward