Manager's Column

Authored by: Richard Fowler

A man in the old west was being tried for stealing a horse. You need to remember, now, that stealing a horse in the old west was a very grave and serious offense. A person could be hanged if found guilty of such a deed. It so happened that the man was accused of stealing a horse from another man whom no one liked. The man whose horse had been stolen had always made it a point to get the best of any person he dealt with. He had never tried to do anything good for anyone other than himself. Consequently, the man whose horse had been stolen didn't have a single friend in the entire town.

The case was tried and presented to the jury. The evidence against the accused man was pretty strong. After about 30 minutes of deliberation, the jury returned to the court. "Gentlemen of the jury, have you reached a verdict?", the judge asked. The chairman of the jury stood up. "Yes, we have, your honor," he replied. "What is your verdict?", inquired the judge. There were a few moments of silence and then the chairman spoke, "We find the defendant not guilty if he will return the horse." 

After the judge had silenced the laughter in the courtroom, he told the jury, "I cannot accept that verdict. You will have to retire until you reach another verdict, " said the judge. So, the jury went back to consider another verdict.

Now no member of the jury had any particular liking for the man whose horse had been stolen. At one time or another he had gotten the best of each of them. About an hour passed before the jury reached another verdict. The chairman stood and read their decision. "We find the defendant not guilty, and he can keep the horse?" The courtroom burst into laughter!

Well, the moral of the story is that it pays to be interested in people other than yourself, and it pays to guard your reputation. I hope that our employees at Howard Electric always demonstrate their interest in you and guard the reputation of your cooperative. Our service to you must always come first! Otherwise, our horse will show up missing.