MISPLACED SYMPATHY

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 46, 23 August 1922, Page 4

MISPLACED SYMPATHY

The creditor who, at a bankruptcy meeting, protested against a certain tendency to condone insolvencies that ought not; to be condoned, put his finger upon a fault of the times. To unduly protect a debtor from the just consequences of his'own default is not an act of merit, any more than it is an act' of merit tp protect, or to underpunish, a defaulter who has brought himself under the criminal law. The penalties of bankruptcy, and the punishments of defalcation, are deterrents the operation of which should not be lightly interfered with, save for just cause. Mercy is a sublime virtue, but \a good deal of the current condoning of financial plunging or misconduct is founded not upon virtue, but upon widespread experiences of the winning of "easy money." Adverse economic conditions may correct the tendency by abolishing "easy money," and by putting a premium upon diligence and honour. The more necessary it becomes to earn one's bread by the., sweat of one's brow, the less disposition will 'there be to forgive a misadventurer because he bore himself like <" a sport." It may even happen that the "sports" will have to go to work. y ;