e mass of figures before him. I said to him:
"Instead of pawing over these earnings and striving to select yourself
the safest bond, you will do better to go to a reliable banker or
bond-house and leave the decision with him."

"Why," he said, "I couldn't do that."

"Mr. Jones," I went on, "tell me the truth! After you buy a bond or a
stock certificate, do you ever take the trouble to see if it is signed
and countersigned properly? Moreover, if you find it signed, is there
any way by which you may know whether the signature is genuine or
forged?"

"No," he said, "there isn't. I am absolutely dependent on the integrity
of the bankers from whom I buy the securities."

And when you think of it, there is really no value at all in the pieces
of paper which one so carefully locks up in these safety deposit boxes.
There is no value at all in the bank-book which we so carefully cherish.
There is no value at all in those deeds and mortgages upon which we
depend so completely. The value rests _first_, in the integrity of the
lawyers, clerks and stenographers who draw up the papers; _secondly_, in
the integrity of the officers who sign the documents; _thirdly_, in the
integrity of the courts and judges which would enable us to enforce our
claims; and _finally_, in the integrity of the community which would
determine whether or not the orders of the court will be executed.

These things which we look upon as of great value:--the stocks, bonds,
bank-books, deeds, mortgages, insurance policies, etc., are merely
nothing. While fifty-one per cent. of the people have their eyes on the
goal of Integrity, our investments are secure; but with fifty-one per
cent. of them headed in the wrong direction, our investments are
valueless. So the first fundamental of prosperity is integrity. Without
it there is no civilization, there is no peace, there is no security,
there is no safety. Mind you also that this applies just as much to the
man who is working for wages as to the capitalist and every owner of
property.

Integrity, however, is very much broader than the above illustration
would indicate. Integrity applies to many more things than to money.
Integrity requires the seeking after, as well as the dispensing of,
truth. It was this desire for truth which founded our educational
institutions, our sciences and our arts. All the great professions, from
medicine to engineering, rest upon this spirit of integrity. Only as
they so rest, can