here is no policy in the world, to
say nothing of the right or wrong of it, that compares with honesty and
square dealing.

In spite of, or because of, all the crookedness and dishonesty that is
being uncovered, of all the scoundrels that are being unmasked,
integrity is the biggest word in the business world to-day. There
never was a time in all history when it was so big, and it is growing
bigger. There never was a time when character meant so much in
business; when it stood for so much everywhere as it does to-day.

There was a time when the man who was the shrewdest and sharpest and
cunningest in taking advantage of others got the biggest salary; but
to-day the man at the other end of the bargain is looming up as never
before.

Nathan Straus, when asked the secret of the great success of his firm,
said it was their treatment of the man at the other end of the bargain.
He said they could not afford to make enemies; they could not afford to
displease or to take advantage of customers, or to give them reason to
think that they had been unfairly dealt with,--that, in the long run,
the man who gave the squarest deal to the man at the other end of the
bargain would get ahead fastest.

There are merchants who have made great fortunes, but who do not carry
weight among their fellow men because they have dealt all their lives
with inferiority. They have lived with shoddy and shams so long that
the suggestion has been held in their minds until their whole standards
of life have been lowered; their ideals have shrunken; their characters
have partaken of the quality of their business.

Contrast these men with the men who stood for half a century or more at
the head of solid houses, substantial institutions; men who have always
stood for quality in everything; who have surrounded themselves not
only with ability but with men and women of character.

We instinctively believe in character. We admire people who stand for
something; who are centered in truth and honesty. It is not necessary
that they agree with us. We admire them for their strength, the
honesty of their opinions, the inflexibility of their principles.

The late Carl Schurz was a strong man and antagonized many people. He
changed his political views very often; but even his worst enemies knew
there was one thing he would never go back on, friends or no friends,
party or no party--and that was his devotion to principle as he saw it.
There was no parleyi