diff options
Diffstat (limited to '29276.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 29276.txt | 930 |
1 files changed, 930 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/29276.txt b/29276.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..438ec57 --- /dev/null +++ b/29276.txt @@ -0,0 +1,930 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Morals in Trade and Commerce, by Frank B. Anderson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Morals in Trade and Commerce + +Author: Frank B. Anderson + +Release Date: June 30, 2009 [EBook #29276] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MORALS IN TRADE AND COMMERCE *** + + + + +Produced by adhere and the Online Distributed Proofreading +Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from +images generously made available by The Internet +Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + +MORALS IN TRADE AND COMMERCE + + +A LECTURE BY +FRANK B. ANDERSON + +President of +The Bank of California +National Association + + +DELIVERED BEFORE THE STUDENTS OF +THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA +BERKELEY +February 15th, 1911 + + +Under the "Barbara Weinstock" Foundation + + + + +MORALS IN TRADE AND COMMERCE + + +The most beautiful thing about youth is its power and eagerness to make +ideals, and he is unfortunate who goes out into the world without some +picture of services to be rendered, or of a goal to be attained. There +are very few of us who, at some time or another, have not cherished +these ideals, perhaps secretly and half ashamed as though to us alone +had come an inspiration of a career that should touch the pulses of +the world and leave it better than we found it. And in the making of +youthful ideals we have changed very little with the passage of the +centuries. The character of the ideals has changed with changing needs, +but not we ourselves. Our young men still see visions; they still fill +the future with conflict and with struggle and prospectively live out +their lives with the crown of achievement in the distance. It is well +that it should be so. The ideals of our youth are the motive-power of +our lives, and even those of us who have lived far into the eras of +disappointment would not willingly wipe from our memories even the most +extravagant day dreams from which we drew energy and hope and fortitude +and self-reliance. + +If ideals have such a power over our lives, if they energize and direct +our first entry into the world of affairs--as unquestionably they +do--they must be counted among the real forces of the day and as such +they are as much a matter for our scrutiny and control as educational +development or physical perfection. Not, perhaps, in the same way, for +our ideals belong to that private domain wherein we rightly resent +either dictation or authority from the outside. But we can apply both +dictation and authority for ourselves. With a firm determination to be +upon the right side of the great issues of the day, to uphold honor and +justice in public affairs, to uproot the tares and to sow the wheat in +the domain of national business, we can apply our whole mental strength +to a proper determination of those issues, to a correct distribution of +praise and blame, to a careful adjustment of the means to the end and +to a precise appreciation of the facts. We can satisfy ourselves that we +have heard both sides and that enthusiasm has not deadened our ears to +all appeals but the most noisy. We can see to it that our attitude is +the judicial one and that our minds are so fixed upon the truth and upon +the whole truth that there is no room for prejudice or for passion. All +these things can be reared as a superstructure upon the groundwork of +lofty ideals, for just as there can be no progress without ideals so +there can come nothing but calamity from ideals that are not guided by +reflection and by knowledge. + +Never before has it been so hard to know the facts as it is to-day. +If we must give credit to the press for the diffusion of knowledge +so also must we recognize its equal power to diffuse prejudice and +bias. The newspaper and the magazine of to-day are vast and intricate +machines that supply the great majority of us with practically all the +data upon which we base our judgments. The public mind and the popular +press act and react upon one another, the press setting its sails to +catch every wind of public interest and the public upon its part +demanding to be supplied with all those departments of news to which +at the moment it is specially attracted. Commercialism and competition +have barred a large part of the press from its rightful office as leader +and molder of opinion and have reduced it to the position of a clamorous +applicant for public favor. The press, like everything else, is ruled +by majorities, and in order to live it must cater to the weaknesses of +popular majorities, it must reflect their prejudices, it must sustain +their ill-formed judgments, and it must so sift and winnow the news of +the day that the whims and the passions of the day shall be sustained. +There are some newspapers and magazines that are honorably willing to +represent only ripe thought and unbiased judgments, but they are not in +the majority. + +What verdict would the historian of the future pass upon the +civilization of to-day if he were restricted to the files of our +newspapers for his material. It must be confessed that we of to-day, in +the hurry and tension of modern life, are hardly in a better position. +Whatever we may suppose to be our attitude toward the press, with +whatever scorn we may regard its baser features, it has an effect upon +our minds far greater than we suppose. It is the steady drip of the +water upon the stone that wears it away. It is the steady presentation +of one aspect of human life, and that the lowest, that slowly jaundices +our view and that produces either a rank pessimism or else an +indignation against evil so strong as to efface judgment and to paralyze +reason. Day after day we see human nature presented in its worst aspects +and only in its worst aspects. We see fraud, cupidity, tyranny, and +violence paraded before us as being almost the only activities worth +reporting. Dishonesty is offered to us as the prevailing rule of life, +and we are asked to believe that the spirit of commercial oppression has +allied itself with the machinery of government for the oppression of a +nation. It is a dreary picture, a picture that, if faithfully drawn, +would justify almost any remedial measures within human power, a picture +that by the skill of its presentation arrests attention and almost +compels belief. + +That we so seldom compare the picture with the original is one of the +anomalies of modern life. And yet the original is before us and around +us all the time, inviting us to notice that it is only the exceptional +that is reproduced with attractive skill and that it is only the +abnormal that is emphasized with adroit arrangements of line and color. +Day after day we read of the sensational divorce cases, but there is +not one line of the tens of thousands of happy marriages upon which no +cloud of discord ever falls. Day after day we read of the scandals of +municipal government, but how often do we remember the great army of +municipal officials who do their whole duty devotedly, courageously, +unselfishly? Day after day we hear of corporation tyranny, corporation +lawlessness, or corporation greed, but what recognition do we give to +corporations that obey the laws, whose operations are above censure and +who add immeasurably to the wealth of the country and to the prosperity +of every citizen in it? With this constant presentation of depravity, +this incessant harping upon the one string of human dishonesty, what +wonder that our visions should be distorted or that we should exclude +from our horizon almost everything but the sinister features of modern +life. What wonder that the young men and women should look at the career +before them through an all-pervading fog of suspicion or that the days +ahead of them should seem to be filled with the struggle against a +universal dishonesty. + +It is from such illusions as this that we must free our ideals if we +would do effective work for the world and for ourselves. There are real +enemies enough without erecting imaginary windmills to tilt against. +Frauds, depravities, tragedies surely await us, now as ever, but +we shall be doubly armed against them if we look upon them as the +exceptions and not the rule and if we draw strength from the great +background of human virtue and honesty. And there is such a background, +unchanging, resistant, resolute, even though the limelight of publicity +be persistently directed upon the few sinister figures on the front of +the stage. We cannot afford to lose our faith in human nature, we cannot +afford to shut out the greater and the best part of life or to gaze so +persistently upon the abnormal that we can no longer see the normal +and the ordinary. Let us cultivate our sense of ethical values and of +ethical perspective rather than to crouch behind a shrub until it looks +like a forest. + +We are indebted to our commercialized newspapers and magazines for our +distorted views of human life and for the cynicism that it is the +momentary fashion to affect, but that is always disfiguring to the mind +that harbors it. Certainly we can get no such views and no such cynicism +from our own experience or from personal knowledge of the men and women +who surround us. Honesty is a more familiar sight than dishonesty. All +the common and familiar processes of our daily life are based upon an +expectation of honesty, and if you will stop to consider for a moment +you will see that those processes could not go on without that +expectation. And how seldom is it falsified. Sometimes of course there +comes the jar of disappointment, but the fact that there is a jar shows +that it is the exception and not the rule. However much we may talk of +guarantees and safeguards and securities, however much we may talk of a +business method or instinct that takes nothing for granted, it remains +a self-evident fact that we must take human honesty for granted, that +we must assume that the man with whom we do business intends to do +it rightly and honorably, that he is actuated by a settled principle +of fair conduct that will work automatically, and that without this +automatically working standard of behavior all our guarantees and +safeguards and securities would really have very little value. It is the +universal expectation of fair dealing that makes business possible and, +in fact, it is this universal expectation of good behavior that makes +its breach sufficiently novel to be reported in the newspapers. If fraud +and chicanery and violence were the order of the day, they would have no +value as news. After twenty-nine years of dealing with human nature in +a business where it is seen at its extremes--at its best and at its +worst--I believe that the great majority of men and women in business +are honest and I am certain that if this were not so, it would be +impossible to carry on business. Take the statistics of the credit +insurance business, a business that may be said to be based upon an +assumption of human honesty; examine the statistics of the losses made +in business and you will find that these are but a small fraction of the +total amount involved and even this small proportion is chiefly due to +errors of judgment or to causes in which dishonesty plays no part. Ask +any banker how much he relies upon human honesty as an indispensable +background to the ordinary precautions and safeguards of his business. +Ask him what is his attitude toward a client whom he detects in a lie or +in sharp practice, and he will tell you that he has no use for such a +man. He would rather be without his business and free from all contact +with those whose natural and innate sense of honesty is lacking. Go +wherever you like, and you will find the same expectation, the same +assumption of honesty. You will find that no business can be carried on +without it. Whatever high and honorable ideals you may have formed you +need have no apprehension that they will be scorned in the business +world or that you will have to put them away to win success. It is +in the business world that they will be valued, and even the mental +equipment that you are now seeking will be less important to you, a +lesser guarantee of success than your sense of honor and truth and +probity. When you reach the business world--and many of you perhaps will +go into the great corporations that are now ceaselessly paraded before +you as wolves and as public enemies--you will find there the same kind +of human nature that you find here in college, the same estimation of +probity and of fair dealing. If you do mean or underhand things, you +will find that they are branded in the same way there as here. You will +find that manliness and integrity are the rule and not the exception, +and I will venture upon the prediction that when the time comes for you +to look back upon your career you will see that there has been a steady +improvement all along the line, just as those who are already able to +look backward find that there has been an improvement since their own +college days. But that will rest with yourselves, for the future is in +your own hands. It is for you, gentlemen, to see that moral and ethical +progress is unbroken. + +Now let me say a word about the corporations of which we hear so much in +the newspapers and magazines and that are so persistently represented as +enemies of the community and as vampires that are sucking the +life-blood of the nation. I think there may be plenty of room here for +clarification of our views, and, indeed, we should all be better for it +if we could give more precision to our thinking and free ourselves from +the imputations that have been allowed to cluster around certain terms. +You may be sure that I am under no inclination to defend criminality or +wrong-doing or to deny their existence wherever they are actually to +be found. There are criminal corporations just as there are criminal +doctors, and lawyers, and clergymen. Wherever men are gathered together +there you will find a certain number who are disposed to seek their +personal advantage in reprehensible ways, but because some doctors and +some lawyers and some clergymen are criminals we do not attach an +imputation to their respective professions. We are content to say that +there are black sheep in every flock and so pass on. But the newspapers +and the magazines have seen fit to concentrate their attention upon +the criminal or the illegal acts of certain individuals who belong to +corporations and to explain those acts in a manner which often leads +their readers to assume that the acts are an essential part of +corporation business. As a result, the very word "corporation" has taken +on a sinister meaning, and we are asked to look upon the corporations +very much as the Rhine peasants used to look upon the robber barons who +were accustomed to swoop down upon them and carry off their flocks. A +corporation is absolutely nothing more than a partnership of individuals +who prefer to do business under certain regulations imposed by the +government. There is no difference between the corporate and the +individual ways of doing business except a piece of stamped paper issued +by the Secretary of State. The corporation is made up of individuals who +have just the same ideas of honor as you have yourselves, who have just +as much integrity, just as great a love of fair play. A man does not +change his nature just because he turns his business into a corporation +any more than he changes his nature because he moves from one street to +another or from the first floor to the second. A corporation then is a +combination of men that has been formed under the sanction of law to +carry out certain projects that it would be difficult or even impossible +to carry out in any other way. The men forming those corporations are +just such men as we meet in daily life, no better and no worse, and +therefore with all those normal inclinations toward honesty that we are +conscious of possessing ourselves and that we are in the habit of +finding in others. The fact that these men have formed themselves into +a corporation is no more significant of evil than a combination or a +partnership among doctors or laborers. It is a part of the spirit of the +age, an age that is called upon to do great things, to develop vast +natural resources, to feed and clothe great centers of population, and +to undertake a hundred other enterprises too large for the strength of +the individual. I should like you to think over the real meaning of +this term "corporation" in order that you may understand that it has +no sinister significance whatever, that it is nothing more than a +partnership that has registered itself under certain legal conditions +for purposes that are laudable and honest. If you will do this, you will +understand at once how senseless is the outcry against corporations as +such and how absurd it is that any stigma of dishonesty should be placed +upon a particular form of doing business that is exactly like other +forms of doing business, with the addition of a legal registration. +As I have already said, there are some corporations that break laws, +or rather certain individuals who are parts of corporations and who +break laws, just as there is a certain small proportion of law-breakers +in every section of every community. But that fact carries with it +no reflection upon corporations as such, and when our sensational +publications and politicians use the word "corporation" as though it +were an alternative term for brigand or pirate they are simply assuming +a public ignorance that may exist outside, but that certainly ought not +to be found within a university. They are taking advantage of a nearly +universal disposition to believe one's self injured and are appealing +not only to ignorance, but to a low form of cupidity and of mob greed. +They would have no success in their crusade against corporations as such +if there were any general understanding of the meaning of terms or if +it were generally recognized that there are thousands of corporations +in this State, and thousands in every State against whom no whisper +of wrong-doing has ever been raised and who are doing a useful work, +of which every individual among us is a beneficiary, directly or +indirectly. Now it is not only in our definitions that we need to be +precise and to think clearly. We have already seen the need of a better +discrimination between the very few corporations that are accused of +breaking the laws and the vastly greater number that we never hear of at +all and that do their business as quietly and honestly as the baker or +the butcher. If lawbreaking is to be found in the business of some +corporations, it is incumbent upon us to determine just in what way the +law is being broken, why it is being broken, what sort of law it is +that is being broken, and how much moral turpitude or public wrong is +involved. All these factors would be determined by a judge upon the +bench before passing sentence upon the meanest malefactor, and yet we +find that the public is constantly urged by the newspapers to pass +sentences of ruin and confiscation upon corporations as a whole, with +their tens of thousands of innocent stockholders, without any kind of +inquiry and under the influence of uninformed passion. + +There is no department of ethics more disputed than the meaning of +abstract right and wrong, and as I am not talking either on philosophy +or ethics I will ask you to accept just such commonsense definitions as +can be applied to the business world and that may be usefully employed +as a working basis. Commercial morality and honesty are determined by +each community for itself in the light of its own special needs and +point of evolution. To-day we hold many things to be wrong that were +done by our forefathers with clear consciences, and on the other +hand we now believe that many things are right that were held by our +forefathers to be wrong. There was a time when slavery did not offend +the most delicate conscience, and if we go still further back, we shall +reach a time when theft was almost the only crime recognized and when +wholesale murder was a virtue. Every age had its own standards, and it +would be absurd to argue that an act was wrong if it received the +sanction of the whole community. It was the communal conscience that +determined all problems of right or wrong, and it is still the communal +conscience that gives us our definitions of morality and honesty. Here, +in my opinion, is where a great part of our trouble arises. The communal +conscience has changed, and some things regarded right and proper twenty +years ago are frowned upon to-day. But business methods tend to become +rigid and inelastic, and a sudden evolution of the public conscience +leaves them in the rear. Then comes a sudden recognition of the +disparity, and laws are passed to prevent the practices that formerly +went unchallenged. Usually these laws are passed in a hurry and by +politicians who have no clear grasp of the problem. As a result the laws +are ineffective. That is to say, business, clinging conservatively to +its familiar ways, finds a plan to continue those ways in spite of the +laws passed to prevent them and then public opinion, finding no relief, +is angered,--not at the breaking of a law, but because the law itself +was ill-designed and ineffective. In other words, public opinion has +failed in its effort to force the individual to set aside his own +interests for what public opinion considers to be the interests of the +community. Public opinion in this country is not a steady and persisting +force, as it is in some older communities. It moves spasmodically and +after long periods of quiescence and usually under some stress of +excitement, which prevents deliberation and therefore effectiveness. Law +being more unwieldy than conditions, naturally lags behind them, and +what we have to recognize is a change in conditions and in laws and not +an outbreak of lawlessness. Another evil result from the impetuous way +in which we make laws is that they are not enforced because they are not +in harmony with the views of the community. The statute books of every +State are encumbered with laws passed in moments of hysteria and never +put into operation, or else allowed to lapse after a few months of +confusion. Every newspaper in California, for example, breaks the law +every day when it prints a news item without appending the name of the +writer, and probably we are all of us breaking laws of which we never +heard. This sort of thing brings a law into contempt and robs it of the +sacredness that should attach to it. The Sherman anti-trust law, for +example, would bring the whole business of the country to a standstill +if it were strictly enforced, and I believe it is not good to bring +large and innocent sections of the community within the scope of a +criminal law simply for the purpose of reaching a minute proportion +whose methods are flagrantly bad. If the Sherman anti-trust law were +enforced, it would have to be repealed at once, and I think honest +traders have a right to complain of a law that makes them technical +criminals and is enforced only against notorious wrongdoers. The law +should be so framed as to reach only wrongdoers and to leave honest +traders outside of even its technical scope. + +President Roosevelt was emphatic in his declaration that he intended to +enforce the Sherman anti-trust act, and during the four years beginning +with 1902 his administration was active in that direction. + +In 1906 he stated: "Combinations of capital, like combinations of labor, +are a necessary element in our present industrial system. It is not +possible completely to prevent them; and, if it were possible, such +complete prevention would do damage to the body politic. It is +unfortunate that our present laws should forbid all combinations, +instead of sharply discriminating between those combinations which do +good and those combinations which do evil. + +It is a public evil to have on the statute-books a law incapable of +full enforcement, because both judges and juries realize that its full +enforcement would destroy the business of the country; for the result is +to make decent men violators of the law against their will and to put a +premium on the behavior of the willful wrongdoers. Such a result, in +turn, tends to throw the decent man and willful wrongdoer into close +association, and in the end to drag down the former to the latter's +level; for the man who becomes a law-breaker in one way unhappily tends +to lose all respect for law and to be willing to break it in many ways. +The law as construed by the Supreme Court is such that the business of +the country cannot be conducted without breaking it." + +But let it be admitted that there are cases where abuses exist and where +methods of doing business that were harmless enough and even necessary +enough a few years ago are now working hardship upon the public as a +result of changed conditions. These abuses should be corrected; there is +no question about that, and they will be corrected either by violent +methods that will leave behind them a heritage of bitter resentments and +wrongs or by the way of a real statesmanship that will recognize only +facts and that will do justice by methods that are themselves just. For +a long time to come it must be the greatest of all problems confronting +the statesmanship of our day, a problem that must try our patience and +our capacity for self-government. Do not imagine that America stands +alone on this perilous path of reform. All the countries of civilization +stand in the same place. All are confronted with the same conflict +between new ideals and old methods, between the spirit of to-day and the +mechanism of yesterday. The problems of other countries arise from their +own peculiar conditions just as our problems arise from our conditions, +but their essence, their purport, is the same. And do not imagine that +there is any one solution that can be applied or that there is any +virtue in the sovereign cure-alls that are clamorously urged upon us +by demagogues and by reformers who are eager to reform everything and +everybody but themselves. There is no such panacea. It is to be found +neither in municipalization, nor nationalization, nor confiscation, nor +any of the nostrums advocated so wearisomely by sensation mongers. There +is indeed no hope for us except by laborious study of conditions and by +an infinitely cautious advance from point to point, so that there may +be no injustice, no concessions to prejudice, no incitements of class +feeling, no embittering of relations that should be cordial as between +citizens of the same republic, whose differences are infinitely small as +compared with the well-being of a great nation. Of all the dangers that +threaten the path of the reformer that of injustice is the greatest. It +is better even that abuses should continue for a time longer than that +they should be corrected by injustice and by the infliction of hardships +upon those who are wholly innocent. Two wrongs can never make a right, +and wherever we find a so-called reform that is based upon injustice be +assured that we are only substituting one evil for another and that our +latter end shall be worse than the first. It would be impossible for one +now to indicate the direction in which reforms should lie, and there is +of course nothing human to which reform is impossible. But it is perhaps +suitable that I should indicate some of the ways that can end in nothing +but calamity, however alluringly and speciously they may be advocated. +For example, there is neither good sense nor honesty in penalizing a +corporation because some of its officials have done wrong. Wherever +wrong has been done, the guilt is with some individual and not with +the corporation as a whole. Find out who that individual is and let +him answer to the law, but do not visit his misdeeds upon innocent +stockholders who have had nothing whatever to do with the offense, +who knew nothing of its commission and could have done nothing to +prevent it if they had known. Remember, that a penalty inflicted upon +a corporation is actually inflicted not upon guilty persons but upon +innocent investors. + +Let me give an illustration of the so-called "reforms" that are +recklessly urged upon us to-day and that are to be found in operation +here and there throughout the country. I refer to the matter of street +franchises. Now it may be true, it probably is true, that in many cases +these franchises have become of great value and that they ought not to +be granted without adequate return. But would it not be just to remember +that when these franchises were originally granted they provided a +service that was absolutely essential to the growth of the community and +that those who obtained the franchises faced a serious risk to their +capital and practically threw in their lot with the prospective welfare +of the city? It is hard to realize how serious that risk sometimes was +and how problematical were the returns. The shareholders in these street +traction corporations are spread over the population and every class of +the population is represented in them. They invested their money in good +faith at a time when no question had ever been raised as to the +propriety of these franchises and at a time when these franchises were +considered to be for the public good and indubitably were for the public +good. And I will ask you if it is honest to use all the machinery of +the government, all the artifices of the politician to depreciate the +value of those franchises, to threaten their holders with confiscation, +to hamper and harass them by all the ways that are open to a +democratically governed people? I say unhesitatingly that it is +dishonest to do these things, and I will go so far as to say--believing +as I do in the good faith of the great majority--that most of those who +noisily advocate such measures would be ashamed to do so if they would +but face the facts and understand what it is that they are actually +doing and the wrong that they are inflicting upon innocent men and +women. If mistakes have been made in granting franchises, then take care +to avoid such mistakes in the future, but do not enter into a bargain +that seemed advantageous to yourselves and then repudiate it when you +find that it is not so advantageous as you thought. There is no way +to reconcile such a thing with common honesty, and it is in no way +mitigated by the fact that it is done by a community and by means of a +vote rather than by an individual and in the ordinary small affairs of +life. We all know what we should say of the man who acted in this way +toward ourselves personally, but in advocating some of the schemes that +are now recommended to us by sensational politicians, newspapers, and +magazines we are making ourselves responsible for a dishonesty far +greater than the evils that we are trying to remedy. Let us by all means +reform whatever needs to be reformed, but let us do it with clean hands. + +Now, I think that I have said enough to justify my belief that these +great problems of our social life are not of a kind to be settled +off-hand by violent or radical legislation. They are not to be settled +by any one scheme or by any one plan. The only way to approach them is +by careful and conscientious thought, a minute examination of the facts +at first hand and a rigid determination to act toward corporations and +business interests in general in the same spirit of unswerving honesty +that you would wish to display to a comrade or to a friend and that you +would wish to be displayed toward yourselves. You will find that honesty +is the royal road to success in commercial life, and it is also the +royal road to all reform in our communal life. Do not go out into the +world with any expectation that you will be required to surrender the +ideals that you have formed in your youth, or that you will be asked to +choose between honor and success. Those ideals will be the greatest +capital with which you can be endowed. They will attract to you +everything that makes life desirable and without them you can have +neither self-respect nor the respect of others. + +And as a last word let me recommend you not to be carried away by those +gusts of prejudice and passion that sweep periodically through the +community. There is a contagion in these things that it is hard to +resist, and so much that to-day passes for thought is not thought at +all, but merely the automatic, unreflecting acceptance of wild theories +that are enunciated with so much force that they seem to be almost +axioms. Your study of history will show you that the world has always +been subject to these waves of emotion, that are sometimes religious, +sometimes political, and seem for the time to carry everything before +them. We are passing through such a period now, a period of intense +unrest, of revolt against conditions that we ourselves made, against +methods that we ourselves created and sanctioned. I advise you to look +askance upon every movement that in the language of the day is called +popular. Do not accept a theory or a doctrine because it is popular, +but on the other hand do not reject it for that reason. Do not permit +yourselves to be carried off your intellectual feet by indignation or by +protest. Demand of every political theory that it stand and deliver its +credentials, and before you allow it to pass into the realm of your +adoption, see to it that you understand it in all its bearings and that +you have traced its results so far as is possible to your foresight; let +the final test be one of human justice and of honesty, and then with +courage use your power to aid in the formation of public opinion, +remembering that public opinion is after all the great controlling +force. + + + + +Transcriber's Note. + +The typographical error "resistent" has been corrected. Variations of +hyphenation from the original document have been retained. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Morals in Trade and Commerce, by Frank B. Anderson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MORALS IN TRADE AND COMMERCE *** + +***** This file should be named 29276.txt or 29276.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/9/2/7/29276/ + +Produced by adhere and the Online Distributed Proofreading +Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from +images generously made available by The Internet +Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |