David Harum

This is a novel book. 'David Harum' A Story of American Life is a best-selling novel of 1899 whose principal legacy is the colloquial use of the term horse trading. The main appeal of the work seems to have been to businessmen, attracted by its approval of a much more relaxed code of business ethics then was presented in most novels of the time. Harum was an inveterate horse-trader and considered engaging in the dubious practices long associated with this activity as morally justified by the expectation that similar practices would be employed by his adversary. In principle, he contended that this made horse-trading quite different from other lines of business, yet in practice most business dealings seemed to him to be a species of horse trading, justifying considerable deviation from conventional standards of probity. The fact that these sentiments were placed in the mouth of an elderly country banker -- on the face of it, a clear spokesman for traditional values -- was particularly appealing in that it made these business ethics appear a reflection of the practices of shrewd businessmen through the ages rather than an indicator of moral degeneration. Harum's version of the Golden Rule -- Do unto the other feller the way he'd like to do unto you, an' do it fust. -- was widely quoted, and the term horse trading came into use as an approbatory term for what others would deem ethically dubious business practices.