Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-04-08
CROOKED DEALS
IN BUSINESS
DENOUNCED
Honesty at Premium, Declares
Forbes, and Tricky Financiers
Must Pay for Misdeeds.
BY 3. c. FORBES.
The man who IS III steal for you will
steal FROM you.


The man who. win steal for you will
steal FROM you.
The employee who VIII obey your
instructions to be crooked Will turn a
crook toward you.
The employer who asks an en-
ployee TO do wrong places himself in
that employees power
Guilt hereafter is TO be brought
home Ia INDIVIDUALS, not to firms
or corporations
The official who tells men to break
law win not. by and by, be able to
have his company shoulder the re-
sponsibility. The law viii fasten
upon the official who transmitted the
order II the Official can prove that
be acted under orders from higher
M, then the individuals higher up
VIII have to toe the line.
You can not be honest and stay in
business nowadays is an oft-repeated
statement
you can not be DISHONEST and
stay in business promises to be the
the new rule
This article is inspired by an Incl
dent Of which / have personal Dnowl-
edge Here IL IS
a large concern had as accountant
and semi confidential man friend of
D.. itstt
came bad SURPRISES were deteriorat-
ing into deficits Heavy bank loans
were necessary. To induce the banks
To hand over the thousands wanted,
good financial showing had to be made
-a true record would have killed ne
gotiations The heads OF the concern
decided 10 pad their accounts, to dis
tort facts and figures, to lug in as as
sets utterly worthless de1s, etc, etc.
The accountant refused to be a party
TO the deception The money OBJ
tanned under false pretenses kept the
company on it's feet for while, but
the inevitable happened-the crash
came From the wreckage another
firm was formed, hut the honest ac-
Countauts services were dispensed
with His code was not elastic
enough TO suit their purposes!
q am out of work" he told me,
"but ] can at least face my wife ard
play with my children. I'll get an
other job. an right And next time
honesty may not be II drawback
The truth Is that shocking
amount Of Misrepresentation is in
dulged in By business concerns OF
doubtful standing. And deception is
also the rule with many corporations
some II magnitude The Havemey-
ers and the Morses are not all dead.
But the path Of the business crook
is not To be pleasant by and by. Hon
estv win prove the best policy in
practice as well as in theory
one profession in America is only
in its sWaddling clothes. refer to
aCconnt1ncy
The charge win be resented, yet II
is absolutely true, that American ac-
countahts subscribe time and again
to statements which are designed TO
mislead the public. often the con-
sequences are costly The account
ants guilty of such things are either
dishonest or incompetent And they
ought 10 suffer In either case
Every company and corporation
whose securities have been sold TO
the public Ought TO be compelled 10y
law 10 have their books audited an
ruaUv by certified public accountants,
And should subsequent Developments
reveal that crookedness was @. X. d,
the accountants should be hailed 20
court and given opportunity to eN-
culp8te themselves or receive exem-
plary punishment
I believe that our accountants
could tell more about underhand bust
ness practices than any other set OF
men iu America Sometimes let it
be said to their credit they refuse 10
indorse statements which they can
not in conscience approve But many
padded and crooked balance sheet
has borne the signature of supposed
ly reputable accountants
The Whole standard OF honesty IS TO
be raised True. YOU can not make
men honest by law but YOU can
make dishonesty so dangerous that
most men will shrink from riskng IT,
This course Is to be followed