Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1905-04-01

lie could deny nothing when he was
alive. had to deny themselves every
tling when he was dead. His only son,
the pride of his heart, the boy to whom
he gave unlimited pocket money and
sent across the seas on pleasure trips,
applied few years ago in Chicago for
the position of IA janitor. and he could
not get work ut that This was the
aftermath of the career of Il man who
purchased the unstable friendships OF
fieeting moment by being untrue to
the best interests of his own wife and
children. Now. men. you have no right
TO help your brother with an indorse-
ment if at the same time il cOmpels
you to become untrue to those who are
dependent upon you. You have no right
to give the luxuries to your neighbors
until you first provide the necessities
for your own household. Can you af-
ford TO pay that Endorsement for your
friend? Dare you risk the temporal
and perhaps the spiritual welfare Of
your children by that hidden trap?
A Careless Method.
But another danger turks over the
indorser's trap. BY going upon a
friends note man may be teaching
his friend to be careless-aye, sinfully
careless-with money. DIR. Bowers
once wrote: Temptation resembles the
rocks which rest their jagged sides
above the waves when it is low water
No vessel dare come near them. But
after awhile the tide comes sweeping
into the bay and buries the rocks under
a flood of water so that the largest
ships may ride in safety above their
teeth of death. together with the light
est skiff." That is beautiful orator
ical figure. But the incoming tide will
soon be the outgoing tide. Then woe
betide 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 position where they shall
soon meet temporal as well as spiritual
shipwreck.
Why temporal and spiritual wreck i?
you ask. In the first place. start with
the premise that many people are
bear. Place upon them one extra
temptation, and you may lead them to
become dishonest men and women.
For instance, the other day l was
reading about one of the great pre-
ventives 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 up the fare. No
sooner is 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 Mt n 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: 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? He says to
himself: IF / risk that money l may
be able to double it, II lose II, why
then / might as well be financially lost
for sheep as for n kid. am worth
nothing now. l shall be no worse off
even if fail" And what is the re-
suit? We see thousands Of men going
into wildcat spcculations with other
peoples funds. We see thousands up
on 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. If brother has no
money and no security do not teach
him how to be criminally reckless with
capital not his own.
The Greatest Danger.
The indorser's trap may not only en-
danger the indorser. but also the in
dorser's loved ones and the indorsee
as well. Ralph Erskine once said,
There is no devil SO bad as no devil"
That means. interpreted in plain Eng
lish, There is no temptation SO dan
gerous as where one does not expect
to find temptation" But l do not
see how Ralph Erskine's words can
be applied to my text. for l see dan
gers everywhere lowering about the
indorsers trap. l 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 indorser and the indorsee
Every argument that can be urged
against the cause of willfully running
into debt may be applied here to the
sin of indiscriminate Endorsement.
But a man to become security for
a friend or an acquaintance does not