The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1859-01-29
THE DIS PA TIC H
s,ruRpAy MORNING. JANUARY 20. is,s
"A Chapter for Young Merchants.

hibit an awful dsproportion between TUG n"n'"et
Of successful aad unsuccessful 'erehants or those
who succeed aud those who 10 business We
do not remember the aggregate; out IL enough
a, .,art,e the Young adventurer aud very much In
erease his anxiety and apprehension bis own
fate.
Va would do we'll before spreading bis sails TO
the breeze, 10 inquire how IL 10 that the sea Of
oumerce I. ssrewn With wrecks, and that 20 fcw
indeed a. feiy survive the storms which threaten
al, who trus. their fortunes TO 1t. Few however,
pause 10 reflect upon the shore before launching
their banks on the treaoherous wave. Forgetting
the disasters of the sea and with minds bent only
upon the examples Of brilliant success Of some who
have gone before them, they push on cepidentand
selfreliant, scorning the advice OF old aud exps
rienoed mariners, looking ahead with eager hopes
aud sntcipations and crowdug sail with imaptien'
ardvur By aud bye, storm tears the saiis 10
shreds and leaves the helpless barks to the mercy
of the waves. Few ever reach the shore-few are
ever refi,ted for another voyage. The great ma
jority are hope.essly lost. IL requires more tnan
ordinary energy aud sagacity-more than ordinary
strength of hope-to gather up the remnants OF
a wrecked fortune aud prepare resolutely for
new and successful adventure. There are instan~
oes bat they are rare.
dropping metaphor Of ship aud sea, and coming
down TO plain sailing on lapd-let rs ask what IL
ths chief cause of commercial faiiuresl 1t To-,
We believe, ext-avagaat living and pretenstons $50
Failures are often owing to az overdoue business,
ever-credit and 0ver.trsdiuR; but With young mer-
chants much oftener TO expensive living-to ex-
pensiye houses, expensive tables and expensive
dressing. It Ia the remark Of q very sensible and
a very successful merchant, that any man OF or
dinary capacity, who has small capital, attends
to his business and iives economically, cao- not
only make living bat lay up money. We believe
the remark tiictly true. On the other hand, II
NAV be said with equal truth, that no business
however good, i'll support an exuavagaot man
who does not attend to 1t. To suppose pursuit
in life that fourisbes without attention, without
labor without care, without looking after in some
way or other, is to suppose an aosurdlty. l'
would be against common sense and against the
divine law. Aud to suppose business that can
long continue successfully while money is drawn
from It faster than il is received by It, is also alb
surd. tt is idle for any young adventurer 10 sup
pose that his enterprise Will prosper unless ne
deyotes his energies and his talents faithfully TO
II; and it is equally idle for him to suppose 1t can
long survive, If be spends money more rapidly
than he makes it.
The young merchant having batioueG hiihoSii s"a'
bo is Al for business has the means for it, and
that there is an opening, should next determine
that In no event will he live beyond his income
lie should calculate closely and begin upon the
most economical scale. He should know that it is
easier to enlarge the style of living than to curtail
it. The necessity to retrench expenses seldom
forces itself upon a man until he iails-whereas
he ia seldom backward about increasing his outlay
n Ea 6hOuld
determine TO live economicslly-to live within his
means. whatever they be. If he makes this good
resolution aud adheres to it, his neighbors will
resnect him the moro for i, aud his credit will rise
among merchants He will find himself soon on a
firm foo,ipg-he will owe no more than be can
nov vithout embarrassment, and he will be stead
i,v increasing his means. He will, pursuing stead
" this policy, find his credit more extensive than
his business wisely conducted demands. He
should not be too ready to rush into rapid exten.
.ion OF his operations because he learns that he
bas won the confidence of older merchants II be
spresds a little more sail than he can carry in a
storm, tho storm will more than probably come
and then he will be wrecked-he will find when i,
ia too late that lie has abused the credit he en-
ioyed-that he has thrown away one of the bright
est Jewels Commerce can bestow upon its constit-
uents-confdence Once lost,it is seldom retrieved
Rnt If our young friend avoids this rock on which
40 many have split and broken their fortunes, be
must go on to prosperity and independence He
mus. achieve high position amongst commercial
men, aud, it is to be hoped, before his head is Sill
yered DER with the frosts of age, be able to retire
from the cares of business, resiguiug his place 10
y Younger merchant, whom be has wisely traiued
in the paths OF his vocation. Such man can en-,
10. the evening of lite with all those happy asso.
Citations and reflections which are the rewards of
time we'll spent aud of that thrift earned by good
Judgment, industry and honesty.
The career Of the opposite character is gene
rally brief. His course begins with vanity and
folly which hardly anything but ruin can subdue
or check, aud which too often terminates only in
reck lessness and despair. He generally begins
business as though the mere beginning is all
that he is at ooce made merchant, with a made
business-that he must talk and swell around aud
make himself heard and felt, and bis consequence
appreciated. He must live as leading merchants
do-nay, as there is always the greatest facility
of reasoning ones self into the error and folly
for which there is predectiou-he finds no
difficulty in satisfying himself that to live finely
and literally is Que way to grow popular and
get bssinessi lie becomes more and more infIa.
tei-is decidedly on too magnificent scale for
his capital or his capacity. He plays the mer.
chant more out of doors than he does in bis
store, where some faithful clerk may be helping
him to spend his money, and he none the wiser.
What with slow business aud extravagant Iiv.
Ing IL is not long bef)re the shoe begins to pinch
-moasy is a little tight! Oh no, it is not him.
particularly, that is under the screws; it is a
general thing-everybody is hard up; even "tbs
times are hard !" He increases his demands upon
the Banks, but never dreams of reducing his
expenses and lowering his pretensionsi There
Is money pressure, and trade is dull just now
II he can only get little indulgence, q "Iitt'e
time" all will be we'll. By aud bye, the Banks
throw out some of his paper; for which he
damus them rouudiy as u set of ungrateful,
swindling or shaving shops, in which the mer.
chants have been fooiishy keeping their money,
while the aforesaid shops were conducting their
shaving operations upon it But he has himself
had little or none on deposite for a tweve-nonth
and the Bank clerk, who keeps his account, has &c
be very sharp to prevent him from over checking
The story is tod. Disappointed and ON.
barrsssed, he has not the resolution to look hi,
case firmly in the face. He will not now examin,
his affairs which he has 30 long neglected He i,
profoundly oblivious of his family expenses-hi,
habits become more reckless; and ii inclined te
drink, he increases the number of his daily po,a.
fions. The last act of the drama of his career a,
merchant, which has been until now farce
closes rapidly aud painfully. Exhausting his ere.
dit at Bank, and among his neighbors by sloan,
on call" be 10 finally protested makes an assign.
ment, and is wound mp, paying his creditors fif
teen or twenty cents in the dollar Aud this i,
the end of many young man of capacity, whs
had he begun with less vanity, less conceit, ant
with better understanding OF his means and the
economy and prudence with which they should
have been employed, would have made a successful
and prosperous merchant. But once fallen, few
ever recover from the fall.
This picture 10 all the more gloomy II the fate
Of the hero involves family with it. Alas, it 10
sad to see the misery to poor women and chill.
dren, which oft comes of folly and reckiessness
such ~ this. II may be said that tho ladies are