Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-03-30

after awhile the tide comes sweeping
into the bay and buries the rocks under
q flood Of water, so that the largest
ships may ride in safety above their
teeth Of death. together with the light
est skiR." That Is a beautiful orator
ical figure. Hut the incoming tide will
soon be the outgoing tide. Then woe
betlde the boat that fingers there over
the jagged rocks of death! Yet the
temporary financial help we give our
brothers by Endorsement or unjust
credit may be the means Of carrying
them into a position where they shall
soon meet temporal az we'll as spiritual
shipwrcck.
Why temporal and spiritual wreck?
you ask In the first place. start with
the premise that many people are
tempted just as much as they can
bear. Place upon them one extra
temptation, and you may lead them to
become dishonest men and women.
For instance, the other day I was
reading about one Of the great pre-
ventives of crime which are decreas-
ing the proportion Of the number Of Our
criminals. INN preventive Is the reg
isterlng machine which IL now rlac-
cd Mt almost every cashiers desk and
in every street car. No sooner is the
five cent piece collected than the con-
ductor has to ring up the fare. No
sooner is tho 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.
tntion Is now being placed at 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 If you place money IN
their hands for which they are unable
to give security? You practically say
to that young man: "Hcre. 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: He says to
himself: IF risk that money l may
be able to double it. If I lose IT. why
then might as we'll be financially lost
for sheep as for n kid. am worth
nothing new. ! shall he no worse of
even IL fail" And what is the re-
suit? We see thousands of men going
into wildcat speculations with other
peoples funds. We see thousands up
OH thousands Of dollars lost because
men are risking money which Is not
their own. My friend as an indorser
you have no right to lead Your brother
into temptation. II q brother has no
money and no security do not teach
him how to be crimnally reckless with
capital not his own.
The Greatest Danger.
The indOrser's trap may not only en-
danger the indOrscr but also the in
dOrser's loved ones and the indorsee
as we'll. Ralph Erskine once said.
There Is no devil SO bad as no devil"
That means, interpreted in plain Eng
fish. There is no temptation so dan
gerous as where one does not expect
to find temptation" But I do not
see how Ralph Erskines words can
be applied to my text. for see dan
gers everywhere lowering about the
indorser's trap. find them here for
the man who sets the trap. / find them
for the person whose fingers hold the
pen which Is caught in the trap.
find them for all the dear ones on both
sides Of the indorscr and the indorsee.
Every argument that can he urged
against the cause of willfully running
into debt may he applied here to the
sin Of indiscriminate Endorsement.
But man to become a security for
a friend or an acquaintance does not
necessarily have to sign note for
money. He can give tn an acGuaint
ance letter of recommendation. That
letter may be Of more value tnan
money. When Ulysses s. Grant form
cd his fam ,,,s Wall stree: partnership
with Ferdinan,. Ward he did not Put
into that firm much money. Though he
had beer lieutenant general and twice
president Of the United States, he neve,
had much money. He lived and died
n poor man. Bat he had more than
money He gave Ferdinand Ward d
|
munity and the confidence Of the pub
aic. The multitude Of admirers Of the
hero of Appomattox poured theil
wealth into his Office. AS n result
Ward was able to cheat the trustfu
, public out OF its hundreds OF thou
sands. For the crime OF that misap
preparation Ward was sent to prison.
/ What Ulysses s. Graft did for Ferdi
} nand Ward some of US Oh a small scale
! have been doing for our friends and
! acquaintance. II II man Is out Of &
position and wants help we say. "Sll
,, vcr and gold have none. but such rs
!, have give unto thee" This. however
; Is not the gift of grace. but Of false
, letter of recommendation. We fire.
quently give such letters of recon
mendation when VIC know that thu
. men to WHOM We give them are in
competent or ct least unknown to us
and the result Is that there are thou
! sands of frauds being perpetratcd al
: over the country not because bad lnei
are instigatins them-there are bat
men everywhere because goot
: men have allowed their names to b'
linked to those frauds carelessly. AND
there are thousands Of good men out o.
} the positions In life which they arr
qualified to oil merely because medic
l q