The united American : a magazine of good citizenchip., June 01, 1926, Image 5

THE
UNITED
merican
A MAGAZINE OF GOOD CITIZENSHIP
Devoted to the Cause of
Vol. 4
Americanization, Assimilation and Group Elimination; Pointing the way to a Constitutional
Americanism, to Equality in Citizenship, and a better understanding
between Native born and Foreign bom.
vo“umeous 22
June, 1926
Number 9
THE TOLL WE PAY ONBROKEN PROMISES
A DRAIN ON OUR RESERVOIR OF NATIONAL INTEGRITY
By H. J. LANGOE
TA ID YOU EVER make a promise and, suddenly
changing your mind, neglect to keep it?
Well, what of it if you did, it’s a common occur­
rence, anyway you probably didn’t think that it was
necessary for you to feel obliged to live up to a verbal
bargain any more than those who have bargained
similarly, time and again, with you and without any
seeming scruples broke their promises and left you
waiting in vain at the appointed time and place.
Probably at first you had a troubled conscience,
but its sensitiveness wore off by constant and re­
peated practice until you most likely became an adept
at making promises of the kind that helped to clinch
the bargains you were driving — promises you never
intended to keep, but glibly made with the intention
of breaking them.
No doubt you gained your experience where other
unscrupulous individuals had bargained with you at
the sacred fountain of faith, where promises are
taken at face value. No doubt, you cashed in at a
sacrifice, became bitter and vowed that you would
get even. Eventually, as you took it all in, you came
to regard it as a good lesson in “sharp practices” and
finally resolved that if others could get away with
it, treating you that way — promising you this and
that, as a matter of business convenience, breaking
their promises without any compunction or evidence
of moral scruples — there was no good reason why
you should stand “licked.” Well, that’s probably the
way you came to play “the game,” making money
by plausible misrepresentation and bad promises. All
in all, perhaps it has been a fascinating game, with
plenty of thrills, especially when you took desperate
chances with the law; but, you have to admit that
it has left you bereft of that joy that is his who has
lived up to his promises and never taken an undue
advantage of anyone who placed trust and confidence
in his integrity.
The foreign born as much as the native born citi­
zen has been discounting his assets in this respect,
and taken profit by placing a mortgage on his integ­
rity, honor and manhood. It is such a common thing
to do in business and politics that the precedent
justifies the offence in the minds of those who are
clinching “deals” by unsavory methods.
The tainted business game that is sustained by
deception and the damnable practices of fraud and
misrepresentation is publicly frowned upon, yet,
somehow, it cannot be gainsaid that it has obtained
a position of apparent respectability in the mart of
business, and, there is a margin for the Contention
that only those who are foolish make good on
verbal promises-
This breaking down of our moral principles in
business is the reason for the present day necessity
of putting every agreement and every promise in
writing so that a record, “black on white,” can make
the business bargain a reasonable certainty.
A promise, a pledge, an obligation, a vow and an
oath are practically all in the same category. The
sacredness attaching to their origin has been turned
into promiscuous violations no less unwarranted than
alarming.
Promises must be kept, and oaths never violated,
Such is the language of the business and political
code of morals handed down to us from an earlier*
period of time. Adherence to this .rule, records tell,
was common, as violations were classed as excep­
tions. In principle this rule stands acclaimed today,
and men pay homage, in public places, to those who
most eloquently espouse the cause of strict integrity.
In theory the principle stands as inviolable today as
any time, notwithstanding our shabby practices of
deception, our flaunting disregard of the sacredness
of an obligation and the wanton way in which we
violate an oath.
May we call to mind a once very popular “toast,”
it may be a discourtesy to recite such ancient and
stale phrases, but the old fashioned citizen may be