"Falsifying the Balances by Deceit."
By Editor
THE following extract from an editorial in the Christian Union, entitled, "A General Indictment," should be read in connection with the article on page 343 of this paper, entitled, "Why Look for Honesty?" As the Union justly says, this tacit recognition of corruption is far more alarming than are the open defalcations. It indicates an undermining of all moral restraint. When there is so general a yielding to dishonest methods, it is no wonder that people are not more ready to accept the great truths of the Bible:— "Corrupt methods have become so common that many men, otherwise honorable, have ceased to feel any repugnance to them, and even go so far as to employ them when other means fail. The president of a great corporation said not long ago that nothing discouraged him so much as the ready acquiescence of men of high business standing in the use of corrupt methods. In dealing with corrupt men, he said, it is coming to be generally understood that corrupt methods are justifiable. This gentleman described a meeting of a large corporation, at which one of the directors called attention to the fact that the property of the corporation was seriously threatened by the action of the common council of a certain large city. There was some discussion as to the means by which the threatened danger could be averted. After some debate one outspoken director said, in effect, that it was useless to waste words; that, as they all knew, there was only one way of meeting such cases, and that he proposed the appropriation of a certain sum of money to be used at the discretion of the attorneys of the company. Everybody present understood what this meant; it meant bribery, and nothing else. Two or three of the leading directors present were also leading men in business circles, in society, and in church life. They arose, put on their overcoats, and were about to withdraw. The presiding officer called them back for a moment, with the question, "What shall we do with this?" "Well," said one of them, "I suppose our property must be protected." And with this remark they went out of the door. It is this tacit recognition of corruption which is far more dangerous than the purchase of boards of aldermen and the passage of bills through legislatures by the use of large sums of money."