Chapter LVIII: Dishonesty on the Pretext of Insufficient Wages

DO not let the devil delude you with another false pretence. He may say to you that you do not get enough wages; that other girls are getting more, who do not work more than you do, and that you are justified in helping yourself, if you can, to what will make up the difference.

Or, he may whisper in your ear that your work is harder than usual, or that you work a longer time than other girls, and that you should have something for it; and that you might as well take something when you see your chance.

Now, all these are truly devilish suggestions. Take the wages you have agreed to serve for and be satisfied. It may be a little more or a little less, but it is what you agreed for.

A bargain is a bargain. When you make a bargain and benefit by it, you are glad enough to get that benefit; and others think as you do when they make a close bargain. You have no right to make a bargain unless you intend to hold to it. If you have not been aware of all the facts of the case, try to make a better bargain; and if you do not succeed, then you are at liberty, after due notice, to go somewhere else.

It is a wide door of sin to undertake to recompense yourself on any plea of low wages or extra work. If such excuses were once allowed there would be no such thing as putting confidence in any agreement.

The merchant would cheat, delivering not what he agreed to, but what he pleases. The tailor would cheat in his clothing, putting in worse material and work than he agreed upon, and pocketing the difference. He would say: “Oh! I give them pretty nigh the worth of their money, and that is all that can be expected of me.” The carpenter and the mason would do just as they pleased. “Oh! the material I put in is not what I agreed to, but it is good enough; I don’t make any more than I ought to.” The milliner and the dressmaker would cheat. The world would be filled with deceit and fraud of the basest and meanest kind. The dishonest thief would carry on his thieving operations under the cloak of a saint: “Oh! I do no wrong; I am entitled in justice to all I have taken.”

God in Heaven cannot abide such practices. Listen to what St. John the Baptist has preached on the subject: “He said therefore to the multitudes that came to be baptized by him: Ye offspring of vipers, who has showed you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth, then, fruit worthy of penance.” And the people asked him, What shall we do? He replied and told them what to do. Then the publicans asked him the same question. He told them also. But when the soldiers asked, What shall we do? He replied: “Do violence to no man, neither calumniate any man”; and remark well what else: “Be content with your pay” (St. Luke iii. 14); that is, do not plunder and steal on the plea of having too little pay. The soldiers are here threatened with the wrath of God if they should undertake to increase their gains beyond the wages they had agreed upon.

In the same way the wrath of God will fall on the person in these days who increases his pay by secret means. Such suggestions are like false teachers, “wolves in sheeps’clothing.” They are ravening wolves, never satisfied, but attacking one thing after another, until they have devoured every bit of goodness and virtue in you. Wherever you may be employed or whatever your work may be resist, then, with fortitude every such temptation.

If money passes through your hands in buying or selling, use no fraud or deceit about the price, but give back every cent of change. Sell nothing out of the house, nothing whatever, no matter what others may do or say. Accept no presents or bribes from storekeepers, or any one else, to cover up any dishonest transaction. Come down, completely and simply, to your pay, and be content therewith, that you may flee from the wrath to come, and commend yourselves as truly honest servants in whom there is no guile.