In this
particular instance, the lies crashed down upon the heads of the
people fleeing from their reeling habitations, and many were killed.
They paid the penalty of dishonesty.
Not alone should the construction of a house be truthful and honest,
but the material must be honest. They that lived in San Francisco
were dishonest in the material they used. They sold one quality of
material and delivered another quality of material. They always
delivered an inferior quality. There is not one case recorded in the
business history of San Francisco where a contractor or builder
delivered a quality superior to the one sold. A seven-million-dollar
city hall became thirty cents in twenty-eight seconds. Because the
mortar was not honest, a thousand walls crashed down and scores of
lives were snuffed out. There is something, after all, in the
contention of a few religionists that the San Francisco earthquake
was a punishment for sin. It was a punishment for sin; but it was
not for sin against God.
Pages:
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178