The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1909-05-13
DISHONESTY IN BUSINESS
Deceitful Craftsmanship classed With
the Work of the Pirate

not done by the footpad or the DUR
glar." declared President Faunce OF
Brown University before the Congress
of Religious Liberals in Philadelphia.
1T is done by every man who pro-
fits by adulteration in manufacture
or deception in trade. or by accepting
wages for which he has not rendered
full equivalent. All false and deceit
full craftsmanship is to be classed with
the work of the brigand and the pirate
and all true, genuine work is part OF
the coming of the kingdom OF COO.
President Faunce found that the
principal problems OF our time are not
political but economic and asserted
that the question is not how to chris
tianize the results Of business but
how to Christianize the process OF
business itself.
MANY citizen" he said, who
would willingly die for his country IN
time of war is quite willing to work
against his country TO circumvent IT'S
laws. elude its officials and prey upon
it's citizens in time of peace
In the course of his address which
was entitled The Protestant and
Citizenship" President Faunce said:
one of the first truths of Protestan-
tism is that no man can be a good
Christian unless he is a good citizen.
Thousands of men fail to realize how
clearly civic obligation flows from re-
ligious faith. 1t is in the modern city
that Christian patriotism finds its
chief challenge and its finest oppor-
tunity."
One section of the address Of Pres
ident Faunce follows:
THE chief stealing of our time is
not done by the footpad or the burglar
it is done by every man who profits
by adulteration in manufacture or de-
ception in trade, or by accepting wag-
es for which he has not rendered full
equivalent. Dishonest labor, whether
II goes into shoes, or cotton cloth, in
to the making of life preservers or
impure food, into the building or a
capitol at Albany or Harrisburgh or
Philadelphia is not only individual
falsity, but social treachery and a sub
tie form of attack upon the state. All
false and deceitful craftsmanship is
TO be classed with the work of the
brigand and the pirate and all true
genuine work is part of the coming OF
the kingdom OF God.
"All legitimate business is a form
of social service. My business, says
the owner proudly as he looks about
his mill or his store. But in the
closely woven network of modern in
dustrial life, what possible enterprise
is there of which man can truly say
In, Union man
made a whole pair of shoes, the poss-
essive pronoun had some significance.
But when thousands of pairs are daily
turned out OF one factory no living
man can in the sight of nod look up
on the product and say mine. When
We pray said Jesus. say our Not
only when we pray, but when we or
ganize and administer and produce.
the modern world is slowly learning
to say our
We talk of some enterprise as
public utilities But such distinc-
tons are rapidly becoming shadowy
and unreal. The smallest private un-
dertaking, as it expands, becomes
either public utility or public dam
age and impediment. No one of us
manufactures to himself. If the
number shall say ! am not respon-
sible for society is he. therefore not
responsible? If the switch tender
shall say. Il am not OF the social body
is he therefore not OF the body III
the vender of milk shall say: 1 am
not of the state is he therefore free
from the state? Every man says
recent writer in the London Spectator
whether he is tilling the soil, heaving
coal. laying bricks, writing books, or
ganizing business, or planning some
industrial work great or small, must
accustom himself to feel that he is
doing 1t not for himself, or his family
alone. but partly for his country. In
In every form of activity the mother
land must be tie silent partner who
calls upon him for an extra margin
of effort, energy and self sacrifice.
THE idea of doing business purely
for pecuniary gain is one that we no
longer tolerate in certain forms OF
social effort. If we suspect that to
be the chief motive Of the physician,
we do not ask him to enter our homes
and If we find it in the clergyman we
pay no heed to his message. The
common soldier is supposed to have
risen far above it. The fireman who
has been two weeks on the force of
fire fighters is supposed to have far
higher aim in view. The trained
nurse and the college professor are
surely not living chiefly for financial
reward.
Private business in the strict mean
ing of the words is as inconceivable
as private fighting in the army. The
of Poor Richard, cOldly cal
culating, shrewdly egotistic, are
poor foundation for social coopera-
ton.
NO man becomes lawfully rich I'M
less he enriches society in the very
process of enriching himself. If he
rises he must rise as the mountain
rises, lifting forests and homes and
villages on its broad shoulders into
new light and air The saving of the
individual becomes meaningless ex-
cept as it involves in some measure
the salvation of society.
INTERClTY HAS DELEGATES