The Late Commercial Crisis [pp. 100-126]

THE LATE COMMERCIAL CRISIS.
world's goods. They will best enjoy their wealth, that regard
themselves therein as stewards of God, who must give an account
of their stewardship.
The true sense of the apostolic injunction, "Owe no man
anything," receives an impressive enforcement in these events.
This injunction, like another, " swear not at all," is to be taken,
not so much according to the letter which killeth, as the spirit
which givethl life. Those who have most rigidly conformed to
this injunction, have found the advantages of their position in
the recent crisis. Those who have been furthest from conformity
to it have suffered most severely. It cannot be that it means
the absolute prohibition of all borrowing and lending. This
wiould contradict other portions of Scripture, destroy all productive capital not worked by its owners, and the whole machinery of commerce and trade. It is none the less true, that it
is within the intent of the foregoing injunction to teach, 1, That
all ought to pay their debts, and that this is the most safe and
righteous investmnent of money. 2, That none ought to contract
debts which, in the probable course of nature and providence,
they are not reasonably sure of being able to pay. 3, That men
keep free of bondage and temptation in proportion as they keep
free of debt, since the "borrower is the servant of the lender."
4, That therefore all business is to be avoided which requires the
overw.vorking or overstraining of cred(lit, and especially the building of a series of credits upon credits, if one of which fails all
fail. 5, Hence all borrowing to speculate beyond one's ability
to pay, if the speculation fails, is an immorality; one most
prolific source of trouble is the unprincipled risking of other
peoples money. 6, Ventures in speculation in which, according to
the known 1awvs of nature and providence, there is no reasonable
'oresight of the result, aft(d }o cotributttiou to anyq usefu?tl result, are
siimple gambling, and if made on borrowed mtoney, this is gambling
on other people's money. Our recent troubles would have been
altogether avoided, hiad these simple moral axioms been heeded.
The old way of thriving by honest industry, careful savings, pru dent investments and gradual accumulations, and paying as we
go, will, in the long run and on the largest scale, prove to be one
of wisdom's vways which are ways of pleasantness. The contrary
way too often ends in those wrecks which lie stranded in melan henoly profusion all around us. "They that will be rich fall into
1874.]
125