The Holly chieftain., 1907-10-25
A Yesx ce.nsnon Disease.

annoyance and discomfort so gen.
orally thruout the country that
there is now hardly a community
which has not some sporadic
cases. 1t dema4ds attention and
treatment. but the AN. D. whose
services it requires is the Doctor
Of Morals rathef than the Doctor
oi Medicine.
The ailment il the commercial
i'll known as substitution or
the "just-as-good" disease. Three
classes of persons-manufactur-
ers, storekeepers and purchasers
ARE subject to it. 1t is germ
disease, caused and spread by the
microbe of dishonesty. The Ell
ology of it is this:
A man of integrity, brains and
energy studies the problem. let
lis say, Of a stovepolish. He
works at it for years, not content
ing himself with the result until
he has produced something which
does the work better than any,
thing else has ever done it, and
with less labor, more permanent
cy. and at smaller cost.
He hits upon an attractive
name for his product, register it
as trade mark, patents his for
mula, and tells the public Of the
merits of the article by system
of publicity for which he spends
large sums of money.
In time he reabs his reward.
His intelligence and conscien-
tiousness begin tobear fruit. The
polish makes a reputation and
keeps it, and the sales increase.
Now comes another man who
lacks the inventive genius to de-
wise anything for himself, and
has no concern about what he
puts out; but only about what he
takes ia. He seiects name that
Sounds III much as possible ike
that Of the wefI-khown polish,
puts up something that will black
the fingers if not the stove. and
sells it at half the price. Here is
where the microbe starts. The
dishonest manufacturer is the Or
iginal Couture medium"
The storekeeper thinks he can
make twice as much money on
package of the new polish as on
one of the old, SO when the next
customer calls he passes out the
imitation with the remark that
'here is something much newer
and just as good, at a lower
price" He, too, has the germ.
If the customer takes the sub
stituted goods he also exposes
himself to the disease; for the
whole matter, stripped of details,
and with the medical metaphor
dropped, is one Of honesty, says
Youths Companion. No. one
would imply that the customer
means to be dishonest, or, indeed,
is dishonest knowingly. But if
the article offered him is plainly
an imitation, an obvious attempt
to trade upon the reputation and
character of something whose
good name is established. it is
aiding and abetting dishonesty to
accept it.
Business men, and especially
manufacturers, are beset by temp
tations which the public little
realizes. 1t does not matter
whether the man makes stove
polish, varnish, prepared foods,
canned goods, crackers, soap. den
tifrice, or any other commodity
that is offered to the public !; if he
has resisted the pressure follow
er quality, has maintained the
standard Of integrity and square
dealing, and spent his money in
acquainting the public with the
facts, he deserves the credit and
the benefit OF it.
Direct infringement of a patent
or a trademark can be punished
by the law; but that far more
common and more cowardly imi-
tation which falls short of violat-
ing the law must be punished bv
the American love Of fair play.
The customer who refuses the
dishonest substitute which is Of