The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1905-06-16
FARMvILLE, VA, FRIDAY, JUNE Is, 1905.


For instance, the other day was
reading about one OF the great pre-
yentives Of crime which are decreas
ing the proportion OF the number Of our
criminals This preventive Is the reg
Istering machine which is now plac
ed at almost every cashiers desk and
in every street car. No sooner is the
five cent piece collected than the con.
ductOr has TO ring mp the fare. No
sooner Il the spool Of cotton or the
pound Of sugar or coffee bought than
the register records the sale At the
end OF the day the clerks or conductors
must have their registers tally with
the amount Of money on hand. Temp
tation is now being placed at a mini
mum. Lessen the temptation to crime,
and you lessen the number Of future
criminals.
This premise granted, do you not see
how you increase the temptations Of
your friends II you place money in
their hands for which they are unable
| TO give security? You practically say
10 that young man: Here. my friend.
is my capital. You are worth nothing
You take this money. and / will trust
YOU" What thought, then. is apt TO
come TO that young man? lie says to
! himself: III | risk that money | may
be able 10 double IT. II / lose il. why
then | might as well be financially lost
for sheep as for a kid. | am worth
nothing now | shall be no worse OF
even II fail" And what is the re-
sultf We see thousands Of men going
into wildcat speculations with other
peoples funds. We see thousands up
on thousands Of dollars lost because
men are risking money which is not
their own.
But a man 20 become security for
friend or an acquaintance does not
necessarily have to sign note for
money. lie can give 10 an acquaint-
ance a letter of recommendation That
letter may be- of more value than
money. When Ulysses :. Grant form
ed his famous Wall street partnership
with Ferdinand Ward he did not put
into that firm much money. Though he
had been lieutenant general and twice
president Of the United States. he never
had much money. He lived and died
a poor man. But he had more than
money. He gave Ferdinand Ward
financial standing in the business com
munity and the confidence Of the pub
lie The multitude Of admirers Of the
hero of AppomattOx poured their
wealth into his office. As a result
Ward was able to cheat the trustful
public out Of It's hundreds Of thou
sands. For the crime Of that misap-
preparation Ward was sent to prison
What Ulysses ). Grant did for Ferdi
nand Ward some Of us on small scale
have been doing for our friends and
acquaintanccs. II a man is out Of a
position and wants help we say. "Sil-
yer and gold have none but such rs
have give | unto thee" This however.
is not the gift OF grace. but Of a false
letter Of recommendation. We fre
quently give such letters OF recon-
mendatiOn when we know that the
men 10 whom we give them are in
competent or at least unknown to u.s.
and the result is that there are thou
sands Of frauds being perpetrated all
over the country not because bad men
are instgating them-there are bad
men eyerywhere-but because good
men have allowed their names TO be
linked to those frauds carelessly.
But my text has even a wider sweep
II men despise those for whom we un-
wisely have become sureties they are
apt to deSpise us also, and II they learn
to despise us they are very apt TO learn
to despise the religion we represent,
for, say what you will, every unfaith-
full Christian Is a representative, how
ever sadly delinquent, Of the God in
whom he processes to believe. We are,
or should be, the lights Of the world
the cities set upon hill, which
cannot be hid. II we are unfaithful in
our dealings with others our faith
lessness reflects on religion and Is an
offense against God himself This fact
is never better demonstrated than
when a minister Is untrue to his Divine
Master and his sacred calling At the
public funeral Of a worldly man or
worldly woman sometimes IN order TO
give comfort 10 the living a minister
will try to smooth things over. though
the dead man may have been an ex-
tortlOner, a drunkard, a libertine,
gambler or n despiser Of the church OF
the Lord Jesus Christ. OF course we
should speak no evil OF the dead, and
II IS not necessary that any one should
cause pain by reflections at a funeral
but surely there ls a limit to postmor-
TEN laudatiOn. If we dishonOr our
selves by trying TO become a surety
for our friends we dlshonor God also.
Therefore may God help us. one and
all. TO be true to Christ then we shall
we true to our fellow men.
Ten Times Easier.
IL is ten times easier TO cure coughs, |