Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1905-10-10
THE FITTssT SURVIVE.
And the Fittest in Business Are the
Honest Merchants.


The fittest survive in the moral
world as we'll as in the physical and
the mental The man who is honest
and true and noble will always, in the
long run, win over the man who is
deceitful and dishonest There is alb
solutely on doubt about it. All other
things being equal, there is a sur
vival of the fittest in the moral realm.
Yet to hear some people talk you
would suppose that it never pays to
be honest or truthful in business life.
s.Sell where you can sell the dear
est. Buy where you can buy the
cheapest Get all of the money out
of the people you can without land
ing in JAIL" is their motto. Look at
P. T. Barnum's success" they say.
I'm one of his books the great show
man SAYS, The American people love
to be humbugged.' Then he had
the unlimited iLfpudence to write a
book entitled The Humbugs of the
World" In thai book he showed
how he had humbugged the American
people. ooh, yes" they say, cit never
paws to be honest The man who
can cheat ana deceive and lie and
steal the most in business is the man
who makes the greatest success in
mercantile life.' Is that your opinion
of mercantile life? Well, my friend,
/ want to tell you that you are wrong,
and wrong in toto. There is a sur
viyal of the fittest in the moral world.
All other things being equal, the
man who is true and honest and up
right and just is the man who will
win in business life, and not the
scoundrel.
The merchant who is successful in
the true sense of the world is not
the man who cheats his customers,
but the man who will give his Gus
toners more for their money than
anv one else will give. A great mer-
chant builds up his business by win
ming the confidence and the respect
of a community, not by selling them
shoddy goods. The story is told that
MANY years ago a rev trader went
out to live among the Indians. No
sooner had he landed and opened his
store than the Indian chief came to
him and bought some goods. The
chief said, 81 pay you tomorrow.
The next day the Indian chief return
ed with many members of his tribe.
Then he commenced to pay the trader
for his goods. He gave him one otter
skin, then another skin, then another
skin and then another skin until ne
had given to him four skins. The
goods were worth just about four
skins. Then the chief drew out
beautiful otter skin and offered 1t
also. He offered this fifth skin 70
test the traders honesty. "Chief,
said the trader, 'I do not want that
fifth skin. You have paid me
enough" The Indian chief said: mo,
no. White man, take this skin also.
Again and again the white trader re-
fused. "No chief" said he you
have paid me enough do not want
any more With that the Indian
chief gave a grunt of satisfaction.
He turned to his warriors and said:
Come. trade with paleface. He hon
est man" Then turning to the white
trader he said: "Paleface, suppose
YOU take that last skin, Indian no
trade with you Then me know you
dishonest white man" All, yes, the
old Indian trader knew the survival
of the fttest in the business world.
The way the great merchant builds
nm his true business success is not
nv cheating his Gus omers, but by
always being honest. always true and
alaslys trying to give his customers
more for their money than they can
get in any other store.-New England
Grocer.