The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1874-11-05
Mind Your Own Business.

The history of the late panic proveL
Enthusiastically the existence of what
may be called the higher law of trade.
Those merchants, bankers and capital
lists who attended closely to their own
proper business, and who left other
peoples business alone, as a rule, passed
successfully through the ordeal. On
the other hand, those who transacted
a large and doubtful trade were the
first TO succumb to the storm. The
great firm of jay Cooke & Co. passed
away almost like the memory of a dream,
90 leaving no wreck behind" But it is
now clearly seen that. this firm fell be-
cause it oyer-stepped its proper business
of banking, and engaged in railroad
construction to an extent far above
and beyond its proper business of bank
ing. The long lists of published assets
showed a quantity of worthless securi-
ties, larger than might have been Tea-
sonably supposed to have existed in the
United States. The dry-rot must have
got into this firm years before it failed.
Then, again, take the firm of Clews &
| Co., for which so much deserved SYM
patty has been cited on account of its
repeated efforts to retrieve its position,
and we see the same career of specuIa-
| ton IN worthless securities. This firm
was loaded down with all sorts of south
| ern railroad and state bonds of q worth
| less character. It was the same with
several other concerns that could be
named. Now, prudent bankers will gen.
| orally be careful to avoid all securities
of this kind, and if they deal in them
at all it will be only on account of GUS
toners whose collaterals they will al
ways take care shall fully cover their
accounts.
OF the failures that have occurred
| during the last year, it is ascertained
that three-fifths consisted of firms which
had stepped beyond their proper line OF
business. It is also noticeable feature
that the failures which occurr ed by and
through outside speculations were what
is called "bad" ones, yielding only q
nominal percentage of assets, while the
failure of houses which attended to
their proper business yielded an aver.
age of so per cent. dividends.
In the case of the Sprague failure we
have a conspicuous example of the con
sequences of not minding ones bust
ness. This great firm had inves ted Its
resources in all kinds of enterprises
from Maine to Texas, and when the
pressure for money came they could
not be realized on, and the result wal
| rus DCA4o4OL4s vi COulSCg TIC NlubJ VI DIT
tention to ones business is not iucom
patible with all reasonable enterprise
But the trouble in many cases is tina
they involve too large a loss of capita
to the regular firm, so that the latter il
unable to bear a strain which under
other circumstances would seriously b.
felt.
Perhaps one secret of the stability o
the great European business house,
consists in the fact that the owners sci
dom take much money out of the firm
The founders of a trade generally livt
, modestly, and leave most of their earn
ings in the business to fructify and ex
pand a hundred fold. Thus, when
storm comes, they are in a position t,
defy it. We put too little capital OIL
the shelves and in the drawers, and to,
much in snowy windows and gOrgeou
fittings up which matter nothing to bu
siness men. And so the tide drifts OF
until the inevitable panic comes, whel
those who were taken unawares will dis
appear from sight forever Unitet
States Economist.