The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1905-11-18
PAY What Thou Owest," the Text Upon
Which the Cardinal Based His Sermon
Sunday, November 5th.
The Tardy Debtor, the Deceitful Borrower,
the Extravagant Liver and Others
Receive Attention.

Pay what thou owest." That DIS the
text upon which Cardinal Gibbons
based his sermon in the Cathedral ct
Baltimore, Sunday morning, November
g.. His Eminence said:
This subject is most opportunc and
is invested with vital interest at this
time, when colossal frauds and defalca-
tions are revealed to us in rapid sue
ccssion.
Justice is n cardinal virtue, prompt-
ing us to pay what we owe our neigh
Dor. Justice is the foundation of so
cial order and of business intercourse.
lNor if we did not believe that men had
confidence in their integrity. and with
out this confidence commercial life
would be paralyzed. Dishonesty is
Numerically opposed to justice.
i purpose this morning to aot,sbefcre
you some of the principal ways In
which dishonesty is practiced in mer-
camille and in private life. ! think
that this subject should be treated
more frequently in our churches, for
there would be fewer occasions for the
exercise of charity il every man came
by his own
In the first place, that man has n
loose conception of business integrity
who does not keep Il strict account of
his indebtedness. For if he has no
record of his obligations he is liable ito
overlook and forget them. If he forgets
Them he may be tempted to increase
his liabilities. He goes on augmenting
his debts he may be startled by their
magnitude, and may be unable to meet
them when the day of reckoning
comes.
Second. BE punctual in the payment
IF your bills. There are some men who
are criminally negligent and dilatory in
dischnrging their honest debts. They
will allow weeks ana months, and
sometimes even years, to pass without
meeting their just obligations. Their
lrcmissncss does not arise from their
| inability to discharge this duty but
rather from Il bluntcd conscience and
II morbid attachment to wealth. They
regard the creditor as Il Shylock, and
complain of his opportunities, though
I,, ,,J, IT,, f,t l.,
his due. They make no account of the
annoyance Inconvenience and pecuni-
airy loss which the creditor sustains
from their pervcrse procrastination.
| Some years ago l met citizen in
a distant city who had Il formidable
title prchxcd to his name. He regard
ed himself as a man Of honor, and
would resent any imputation on his
| integrity. He would deem it a dis
grace not to pay promptly gambling
debt, but had lax notions about his
grOcer's, his butchers or his tailor's
tain man had the assurance to ask
me today, in the street, to pay a bill
which owe him. felt insulted, sir,
| and did not fail to tell him So"
| If | had had any spiritual jursdic-
tiOn over the person referred to would
have replied to him: "Sir, 1t is not
you, but your creditor who ought to
feel offended. Pay your debts. The
money you have in bank or in your
purse is not yours so long as your
creditors just demands remain un-
paid"
| Third. Don't make a promise to re-
fund loan unless you have the ability
to do so. Dishonesty in another form
is committed by those who borrow
money without having any we'll
grounded hopes of being able to re-
fund it. Yet they will give you the
positive assurance that the loan will
be restored at n stated time. When
you press them for information re-
gnrding their ability to make good this
assurance, they will acknowledge that
for some time they have been out of
employment, that they have no visible
means of support and that the pros
poets before them are far from being