The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-09-03
THE BEST POLICY.

Referring to the outcry against poi- sonous and misrepresented foods, drugs
 and drinks, The Brooklyn Eagle sa.s:
 Nothlne vii stimulate honesty better
 than prove that it navs. And when the merchants and manufacturers
 whose departure from the ways Of our ancestors has astonished and shocked tae world begin to realize that there IS money in goods that are precisely
 what they pretend to be--meat without nth, wine without haywood. milk with out formaiin, cheese without animal re- fuse, favors without coal tar snythet- ics. ketchup without dye and turnips, ice that weighs as much as it seenrs to, ana drugs that not just as rood" as those the customer supposes he Is
 paying for--they will be sorry that tEey ever darkened the pages of their personal history by acts of dishonor. Fer the successful man of business in future Is going to be the honest man.
 The saying of Cervantes that Hon. esty Is the best poll - has fallen into disrepute in these latter days. In all most every occupation or profession of life the adage has been by many people changed to Getting money is the best palicy," and they carry it out. If 1t can
 be made possible that people can be educated to know just what they are buying. and can be further educated to refuse any and everything that i5 not exactly what it is represented to be, there will be little substitution Of one product for another and little attempt to deceive the people. Dishonesty that does not pay will not he long practiced. The thing to do is to make honesty pay, and this can best be done by proving to dealers in all commodities that the
 way to get patronage is to deserve it by adhering strictly to all the rules of
 fair dealing The following from The Chicago Journal is ease in point: A day or two ago there died in Phila- delphia an aged saloon keeper who had gained. through a life time, the reputa- ton of always selling honest woods over his bar. Physicians came to send their prescriptions for alcoholic stimu-
 lants to him to be filled. rather than to the nearest apothecarv. Though his place was fairly surrounded by saloons
 making an equal bid externally for pat
 ronage, his business exceeded the com bined business of them all.
 The reason for 1t is as simple as sim pie honesty He sold just what he pre- tended to sell, neither better nor worse. With the knowledge to be gained on on pIentifully, can be sold at the price of excellent liquor, he eschewed the water and served the undauted liquor Not one drinker in a hundred. however, great his pretensions. can tell good H- quor from liquor only fairly good. but this generally disseminated ignorance did not appeal to this honest man as anything to be taken advantage of. And he died rich.
 This is the case of an humble trades man, it is true. It is also true that he
 was engaged in a business upon which | many look with disfavor. but there are
 thoso fin hfgn places in the commercial world who would N- better if they were governed by this old mans ideas of hon. esty and fairness. The fact that he was trusted and patronized shows that square dealing is its own reward. The result in his case was what 1t would he in other branches of trade If his methods were followed.