" Commercial Rascals "

" The question is one of utilitarian-ethics--of doing right because it pays." So says The Colombian Review, referring to the not infrequent dishonesty of representatives of U. S. firms in Colombia and other Latin American countries. The animadversion is principally upon the misrepresentations in which United States representatives are said to indulge. The main points: samples shown, different goods delivered; promises given to send goods of a better quality, bad goods sent; goods sold which the firm does not handle, goods " practically the same " or " just as good " sent; goods not sent in parcels of the correct size; no attention paid to wrapping them up in wrappers that are proof against the elements. The article advises U. S. firms to exercise the greatest care in choosing their representatives, as " one dishonest agent does much harm not only to his firm but to his country--more than enough to offset the work of 20 honest agents." It also points out that in the minds of the gullible " having no previous knowledge of Americans--the conclusion is, not that that particular salesman is a rascal, but that all Americans are rascals."