Amarillo daily news. [volume] (Amarillo, Tex.) 19??-current, 1921-01-29
THE ACID TEST.

There Is perhaps no surcr test Il
a mans business morality than TINT 10
which he IL subjected when he finds he
has made had bargain that h. cat
wrigglc out 81 without being held an.
swerable by the courts Half year
II tumbling prices has put innumerablc
business men t. this test of honor. with
the result that many a fair reputation
has been anirched.
Great numbers " merchants have
bough, goods at high prices and hav,
cancelled orders as the market fell. oi
have refused L. receive ordered M r..
chandlse when delivered In some cases
the terms of sale have been such that
the sellers have grounds for legal pro
ccedings: but quite as often the buyers
good faith Is the only real binder uf
the bargain, and n he chooses to welsh
the seller must bear the loss thai
should fall On the man he trusted. Tn.
state 81 affairs here referred 90 IL
neither rare nor localized hut IL h.
mentally common from coast TO coast.
From ocean to ocean trade bodies are
taking cognizancc Of this sudden par.
alysis II the business conscience; and
Senator Lenroot lately observed In .
public address that business ought at
least 10 be as honest as politics.
Everyone knows that much of GU
trading II loosely conducted Import.
ant transactions are not uncommonly
based upon oral agreements. Great
commitments are made and heavy oh
legations are assumed without the pro.
lection u lawyers ca the execution @;
alright contracts. The good faith OF
the contracting parties Is the only
guaranty that mutual obligations will
bc fulfilled.
II was not Ia h. supposed that every
business man could withstand the aclf.
test 10 which the mercantile world h
now being subjected. hut Il Ii disheart
cning 20 observe how much supposedly
fine guld turns out To be- only brass.
stu more dispiriting is the cynlcism
with which disclosures IL had faith
have been too generally received
Perhaps time viii tell another tale.
for It IL written that though the mills
Of God grind slowly they grind exceed.
ing small, Every old trade has It's trh.
ditions and It's legends. some of which
run back for n hundred years. Thes
settled callings have long memories
old men can still reciie the names ~
contractors who swindled the Govern.
meni during the Civil War Some ~
these have atoncd for their sins by un
broken decades of fair dealing. but tn.
passage 81 nearly sixty years has not
utterly washed out the stain.
Detection 81 base metal II happily
not the sole effect 81 the acid test. it,
more heartening result IL its conclusive
proof that IN unknown spcclment Dr.
fine gold. II reveals the high.mindci
merchant who will keep his worl
though the heavens fall: who will strln
himself bare 10 meet his obligation..
who will instantly choose honest bank.
ruptry rather than solvency nnintain.
ed by unpunishable dishonor. Towar 7
such man no consideration shown can
bc too great. no creditor can h. too
Kind Ia him, no fellow merchant tn1
helpful. As long as character IN the
foundation stone uf confidence. AMI
confidence n the basis 81 all credit, the
enc Indispensable factor In the financial
relations ~ civilized peoples viii he
honor In business. George Horace
f.orim"r In Saturday Evening Post.