eceive the person he is
doing business with to some extent. It is not altogether his fault, for
he knows that if he didn't do so, the other man would deceive him, and
so get the better of the bargain. That is the way of the world, as it is
called, and a very bad way, and, as we believe, a very unchristian way
it is.

"Still, it is impossible to blame the trader and the man of commerce for
this. The real fault, the real sin, is not individual, it is
collective--the guilt properly belongs to Society. Men do not descend to
these mean subterfuges and these despicable trickeries merely to make
money, to pile on hundreds on hundreds and thousands on thousands. In
their hearts all the best of them despise the methods by which they are
forced to earn their incomes and make their fortunes; but the penalties
which the laws of Society place on honesty are so tremendous that a
really honest man will deliberately sacrifice his own honour rather than
incur them. That is a very serious thing to say, and yet it is the
literal truth, and the most pitiable part of the matter is that he
commits these sins of unscrupulousness and dishonesty chiefly for the
sake of his wife and children. The social penalties of honesty would
fall most heavily on them. Their houses and their luxurious furniture,
their carriages and their horses, their costly clothing and precious
jewels would be theirs no longer; in a word, they would become poor, and
Society has no place for people if they are poor, whatever else they may
be.

"To put the question in another way, a tiger seeking for its prey and
slaying it ruthlessly when it has found it is not a pleasant subject for
contemplation, but before we blame the tiger we must remember that
somewhere at home in the jungle there is a Mrs. Tiger and some little
tigers who have to be fed somehow. The tiger's methods of killing for
food are merciful in comparison with the methods of many men who already
possess enough to give the ordinary comforts of decent life to those who
are depending upon them, and yet go on deceiving and swindling, for
deception in commerce is swindling, in order to obtain those
superfluities of life which are absolutely necessary to keep up what is
called position in Society.

"I do not say that wealth and comfort would be impossible in an honest
world; there is no reason why they should be, but they would be gained
in greater moderation and by different methods. For instance, if Society
cou