The sun., 1904-05-22

,,x - any of tho bonding companies
..s. United States are older than q score
'.s.s,s The majority have been in busi-
onlv a decade. Many are only one.
20 or three years old.
r,.rv wear or so now one starts, to
AZ nienty Of business awaiting It and,
~ NV t.r as can be learned. the concerns are
-ore or less prosperous, although every
..sr ~ each company is obliged to pay heavy
iossss on It's fidelity premiums.
An this has led some people to conclude
,,ot the world is growing less honest every
d,v that the my word Is as good as my
hond. tyne is becoming less frequent and.
-ors. vet. that mans trust In man is at
,rettv low ebb As a matter of fact, In this
ritv at least, there Is hardly a business
,onosrn OF Importance which does not
hond all employees. from the highest grade
~ tbe lowest, who have access to cash or
i,s collateral-porters and drivers Of de-
nartment store delivery wagons as we'll
az treas,lrers, cashiers and men In charge
Of safe deposit vaults.
In these days the employers idea seems
10 BE- not to take any chances on a mans
bopestv. He let's the bonding companies
and the insurance and guaranty compa-
u". which include q fidelity department,
do that; and these concerns take the risk,
sometimes to their loss, oftener to their
rain. The individual bondsman, the man
who goes surety for his friend, seems to
have gone out Of fashion or at least to be
scarce and getting scarcer, which Is prob
ably one reason why bonding companies
are prosperous.
In spite of these facts, the heads Of sev-
e-a Of the largest bonding concerns In
New York take the view that as a rule .
man is inclined to honesty rather than
dishonesty, that at any rate he Is no moro
Inclined to be dishonest than he ever was.
There are no statistics to provo the
point, said an official OF the City Trust
Safe Deposit and Surety Company Of Phila-
delphia at the New York headquarters.
Our losses In the fidelity department are
heavier in some years than they are In
others, not 30 much because men are moro
dishonest, but because there have been
more chances for speculation.
when times are good. as We say, our
risks are greater for the reason that the
speculative spirit Is stirred up and many
get into a hole trying to crafty It. have
noticed that dishonesty goes or comes In
waves which recur about every six or seven
years We have just gone through one.
NO, it's not easy to explain the cause
II We knew that. or when tho waves wore
coming, we might be able to protect our.
selves. but We don't.
Il firmly believe that the majority OF
uen in their business transactions are
nest or mean TO be honest, but whether
Sm inclination or fear Of consequences,
Am not 50 sure.
Tho bonding business Is growing fast,
md on the whole the proportion Of loss
. lees now than 1t used to Be; mainly,
though, because We don't take such big
risks. Often and often We refuse to fur
nish q man with bond even after he has
filed out satisfactorily his application
paper and his employers statement is
equally convincing. for tho reason tina,
through private Investigations We set or
foot lot has been learned about tho man
which helps to bias our judgment un-
favorably.
What those unfavorable facts arc W
keep strictly to ourselves. Even when the
man deecends upon us in . rage and de-
mands to know why his application Il
turned down ! refuse to enlighten him
further than to say: 4 guess you know just
as well as do why you have been refused
by taking these precautions We manage
to keep our Losses within reasonable limits,
As rule, though, 1t is the Trustworthy man