The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-08-14
Business and Philanthropy

we assure our esteemed contemporary,
the Danville Register, Il that its$ is quite
welcome 10 come into the discussion be-.
tween the News Leader and The Times
Dispatch on certain business proposition
under review and that It's coming In, SO
FAR as we are concerned, Is no intrusion
Referring to tho illus ton emp oyed by
the News Leader, in Will the Morgan IN
syndicate w9s flikened to a man on shore
refusing to save$a drowning man except
for a runous price, the Register say Us
.,rhe plank which the man on land car
ried was his, 1t was said, and he need
not shove it 20 the man in the Waters
unless he saw fit to. do So This stiaI -
ment was followed by the Z declara tioil.s
Business is business. The drowning
man was represented as being u US e y
citizen, 4 This being the case, It appears
t.. us that aside from any consideration
of ethics, good policy would demand that
the needed assistance be given. Such a
citizen is worth something to tho COM
munity and to every worthy interest IN
it. TO permit him t o drown, when It vas
possible to save him, would be to bring
4. loss upon8th com munity The discus
sion in question relates specifi ally 70 me
usurious and extortionate h rate charged
TIE Virginia. Carolina Chemical Company.
for the use of money by the Morgan syn.
stlicate, It was probably q case OF sink
or swim wlth8the chemical company. 10
permit It to sink, when the means were at
hand to save 1t, would have been to entail
on the country the loss of IA useful In
dustry-anE enterprise that is constantly
contributing to the wealth OF the copn-s
try. Before extending the aid a hard
bargain was driven. 1t happened In that
case that the enterprise was able TO com
My with the conditions, hard as they
were. It Is a. matter@of common knowlT
edge, however, that many a., an indiylauai
ana many. an indust try has been forced
to the wall by Just such bargain driving
AS contributors to the wealth Of the COM
munities where such individuals and in.
dustres were located, they were destroyed
and lost. " if5 VA Il " X 4 W. IA ~
we entirely agree with our Danville
contemporary that in such a case 1t
were a matter Of Kindness and sometimes
a matter Of good business policy to keep
a struggling concern srom failing, Such
things have been q one in Richmond and
elsewhere, and they are altogether COM
mendable. 3
r. But Wndt slIllSFtSC liAA ~ A>0n ! - ~ oy -
dicate inathe Virginia Carolina Chemical
Company? q Would any Richmond bank
nave felt under obligation to help a
| New York concern out of trouble? Why
1 did not the Southern banks come to the
rescue Of this Southern concern7
/ Goodness knows. 1t is not up to us to
i defend the Morgan syndicate, 1t dealt
i with the Chemical Company in a cold
blooded way. and charged an enormous
commission for the service But we can
4 not see wherein the syndicate was under
4 any sort of obligation TO accommodate
tho Chemical Company, and as a matter
OF simple fairness we have endeavored
to show that In charging a large fee fol
A the service rendered. In taking 1t from q
company which was able to pay. In charg,
Ing, for the service what In that emer.
gency the syndicate thought and wha
the Virginia Carolina Chemical Company
Thought the service was worth. 1t did no
act the part OF the highway robber. Tht
Morgan syndicate simply followed ths
business rule,