FARMERS AND BUSINESS. MORALITY.

Franklin Times, Volume 9, Issue 710, 28 February 1922, Page 8

FARMERS AND BUSINESS. MORALITY.

(By “Progressus.”)

“And the Truth is not in us.”

Love of gain... .develops greed.... then selfishness .... hypocrisy... .and untruthfulness... Then the sweeping away of all honour and principle. These are the natural and inevitable steps consequent upon the manner in which business dealings are conductin this “so enlightened” age of ours. Years ago isolated cases occurred of individuals in a community stealing .in the dark down these awful steps, but public opinion then prevented that course in all e.vcefft the few morallydepraved to be found in every community' in all times. Now, however, the terrible condition obtains all over the world < f a moral slackness, the reaction after the strain of the great war., when conventions and custom disappeared into the past in a diapason of world-wide foreboring and uncertainty. What before was true of a few .individuals is now true of whole communities and nations, and the pity of it is in the unashamed manner of oil! - moral avalanche and the open toleration of practices actually d'shonourabie, amounting 'to cheating and thieving. Distrust and ‘unitrust are the prime feelings between parties in business matters now and a man’s word is held to be a light, valueless thing. Instead, so far has the lack of principle proceeded that it is now customary to obtain the simplest business promises in writing in order to be able by law -to compel the vendor to give value according to his statements. And the seller has but one object.... gain the dread dragon of grasping greed . . . .and no means are beneath his use to achieve that end : do get as much moie ns he can than the value of that which he sells. To obtain this price by taking advantage'of the law of supply and demand is aj totally different thing’ to deliberately lying and deceiving, to acting the hypociite, in order to convince your buyer thud your statement of value is correct. This is despicable... .is the lowness of weak natures. .. .and ;the

moral carelessness of the world is to blame for allowing this principle to gradually permeate and direct our commercial life.

A peculiar 'thing about the matter is that only in business affairs does it exist ; in friendship and philanthropy it does not come into consideration, and these are still as sincere and spontaneous as of 01d.... unless h matter of business comes between, then the ruling passion -—perhaps moderated—ascends the throne of heart and head.

A few years ago a man’s word was his sure bond, and between the members of the last generation promises were more faithfully observed than written agreements and a statement, was only made if it was 'true. There are a few now who are the same, thank Heaven ! and 'these few, it is fervently hoped, will gradually lea-

ven the whole social and commercial structure to a sense of decency and moral responsibility. As a result of long experience of cattle sales and dealing in stock. I mu -t sadly say that now there seems m he little or no conscience or principle amongst most farmers when they are the sellers. This article is menat 'to apply to farmers particularly, for the business men of Tuakau are limited in obtaining an unhealthy profit Py competiton either ; n their own town or those nearby. But not so with farmers : their goods for sale are such that the buyer has to depend upon 1 he farmers’ description. in estimating a value and so the •v ooi trinity for dishonesty is unlimited. And how greedily are they taking advantage of their chances. Inexperienced men “inexperienced” only I.:'i “had," then “shrewd” inecau.se “once, bitten, 'twice shy” are bieng shameful'y .fobbed by unscrupulous farmer.- who put jet ft ess culls and won bless animals in the salt, and, unashamed, say t fi.-ii they are “sound” in order to filch a few more shillings trm4 mr.e man v. ■. is “foolish” enough to believe tnem. I was stirred to write in this strain through seeing a returned soldier settle.'. who is just getting on his feet a liter a hard, self-denying, struggle, buy some stock at a. recent sale, stock which the owner said “I- perpcctly sound.” Now, that owner is a neighbour of mine, and I know every cow he has. as f have helped to m*!k them at odd times of need, and f know that the cows he sold do not pay for f.hei:* grazing, and certainly do not pay for the kdfSur of milking. They were heifers of no breeding, raised by himself and, after being proved failures, were put in the sale. He knew this, and deliberately deceived the returned soldier settler to gtj: n| few extra pounds of his hard-earned money. Gaol would be too easy a punishment for him ; the only thing that'"would hurt him would be to take his money, stock and farm from, him* ■ That returned man had had a tryling, comfortless time sruggling to accumulate those few ponds with which to purchase several extra cows so that he might he able to earn a Jittle more from the profits he naturally expected from them. But instead of profits the poor fellow has been robbed and given animals that will ireduce the small margin he couicl have saved from his own herd. Worfis fail to adequately condemn so mean, so contemptible, so deliberate a fraud!

The Government should be urged to establish regulations at once so that a cow producing under a certain necessary payable quantity of milk or butter fat should, before being permitted to be sold, be branded with an easily distinguishable brand so that no disgraceful roguery could succeed in selling a failure as a good cow. If a man disobeyed’ this iaw fine him the equivalent of five good cows ; that would make him pause and think.

Fortunately there are good men, too, men of honour, men whose word is sacred to them ; and to these men I bow the head.

It is time, before our moral sense is completely numbed, to try to realise the incorrupt trend of modern business morality and to ftry, each one of us, to opt back to the fine old gentlemanly standard of truth and honour.