Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-08-15

BOND ENFoRcEs HONESTY
Chances Are 100 to That Employee
who Steals Will be Captured

| Chances Are 100 to That Employee
who Steals Will be Captured
| Honesty, despite the old-time the
ory of inherency, is being manufac-
lured and distributed on a commerce.
al basis in New York.
high-salaried employees in posi-
tions of financial trust are being re-
formed or kept in their virtuous
| groove by the expenditure of dollars
I and cents. The surety bond is the in
strument that bars the way to ill-got-
ten riches and Is barrier in the
path to the penitentiary.
Today men intrusted with the keep
ing of an employers money are hon
est. Their transgressions are negli-
gent and this small amount Of dishon-
esty is due to the surety bond. The
bank cashier can steal If he desires,
but he can't "get away with It,"
The surety bond undoubtedly Is one
of the greatest factors in preventing
wholesale . thieyery. And its enec-
tiveness Is maintained by an elaborate
system of espionage that almost COW
ers the civilized world.
Commit speculation and the chances
are 95 in 100 that you will be caught.
You may enjoy the liberty Of years
and the fruits OF your dishonesty, but
day of reckoning Is ahead. A bond
ing company never relents in Its hunt
for the man who steals and runs
away. 1t then has become matter
of principle to apprehend and prose-
cute him as an object lesson.
In the last two years the number
Of commercial houses requiring their
employees to give bonds has increas-
ed 60 per cent, and today there Is
hardly a single individual in the city
who occupies any position in which 1t
is possible for him to commit a fairly
large theft, whether Of money or mer-
chandles, who is not bonded.
From city officials who are bonded
by statutory command-the treasurer
of Chicago, for instance, whose recti-
tude is discounted by a bond of $2,-
600, 900, and the collectors Of the port
of New York, whose honesty is worth
about 500, ,OOO-down to the driver
of an express wagon, whose potenti-
ality for crokedness Is not estimated
at more than $500, in some instances,
the state and the individual has
sought by these means to protect it
self.
One of the largest bonding houses
in New York has in It's files the rec
| ords of more than 100000 persons
whose history, past and present, Is
there in fullest detail. And despite
the fact that the company Is compell-
ed to pay claims against several of
these every year, its officials are not
overwhelmed by human depravity.
Far from it.
AS the manager Of the company ex-
pressed it: THE average man is pref
ty straight and goes along and does
his work as he ought to; the great
majority are as honest as could be
wished. In fact, they have to be; If
they weren't we couldn't make
money-and we do"
The general method Of obtaining a
bond is simple. The head of a de-
partment store, or Of bank, or OF
any concern which contemplates en-
ploying q man or a woman in posi-
ton in which temptation may arise
and may be successfully gotten away
with" places him at work on proba-
ton and Immediately sends an appli-
cation for a bond to one Of the bond
| ing companies.
The latter requires the employee to
answer a certain number OF questions,
to give the names Of relatives, refer
ences and so on. With these as start
ers, the company goes through that
mans record as with fine-tooth
comb, and. according to what II
learns, either accepts or rejects the
application. If it rejects 1t, the man
usually is unable to retain his posi-
ton.
The amount of the bond naturally
varies according to the responsibility
| of the position, and there are any
number of instances Of bonds or per-
sonal honesty being written as high
as $3.50, 900. Although the premium
usually is $3.50 for $1,000, this Otter
is increased when the applicant Is
engaged in a so-called hazardous line
such as statesmen on commission
cashiers of banks, etc.
The bond once obtained, the mar
whose fidelity is covered by 1t be-
comes of vital concern to the bonding
company He may not realize the
fact, but he nevertheless is the subject
of continual scrutiny and periodic
reports.
| Not every man, Of course; for the
small cashier in a department store
for drivers and the host Of other EN-
ployees, whose opportunities fol
stealing are both small and rare, the
bonding company cannot provide ira
GERS or inspectors. IT cannot afford
to do so in consideration Of the small
bond that has been written.
But in the case of big risks, banl
cashiers, superintendents, treasurers
high officials 900, $4,000, s10O,
600 risks-the bonding company Il
extremely watchful. No one who Il
not on the inside" knows the tire
mendous and intricate system of th'
secret service which the bonding com
panies employ.
But it is readily admitted by then
that their agents are constantly watch
ing the business and private lives o
the men for whom large bonds have
been written, and make reports upoi
them sometimes as often as two o.
three times q month.
1--WE have agents scattered all owe
the United States" declared the heat
of one of the most prominent fidelit!
and surety companies, land we cal
place an experienced operator at worl
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