Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1883-11-10
Letters to a Young Trader.
BY AN OLD MERCHANT.
American Grocer.


There is one thing about which you
have not asked my advice, but | pro-
pose to write to you about it, now thatI
have my hand in and though you may
think you do not need any on that
subject, | assure you that you do. |
refer to the matter of your personal ex-
pense, in so far as it relates to your
business. No doubt you think your
self abundantly able to take care Of
your private expenses but you will
find that unless carefully guarded
against, they will Increase to such an
extent as to become embarrassing to you,
and once saddled with such a habit,
you will find it a very difficult one of
which to get rid.
During the first few years of your
business you, no doubt, will be economi'
cal enough to satisfy even an old man
like myself; but when your business
begins to prosper and you find your
self making money, then You will be-
gin to feel your Importance and be
tempted to make display commensu-
rate with the growing young man Of
business" you have become. Your
old watch you will think is rather
shabby for the proprietor of flourish
ing store, and a costly gold one would
let people know when you looked at it,
which you will probably do quite fire.
quently, that you are young man of
means. And of course, a new chain is
necessary to correspond with the char
acter and style of the watch.
And then you will probably feel
that fine gold watch and chain look
little odd with the plain working
clothes you have been accustomed to
wear, and a more dressy suit must be
obtained to match your other pur-
chases. Then you, perhaps, imagine
that a diamond pin would about set
you right in the eyes of the commu.
nifty, and the additional luxury will be
procured. About this stage of your
career you will probably make arrange
ments for home OF your own, and
you enter into partnership "for bet
ter OR for worse" And unless your
new partner has more sense and eau
ton than you, there will be an increase
in your expense beyond all proportion
to your means.
Your jewelry and fine clothes viii
seem out of place in a plainly furnish
ed, modest home, such as young mau
in your position should be satisfied with
and you will want fine furniture, ricf
carpets and thousand and one othel
luxuries that such furnishing will de
mand. Then, of course, you will wan
a horse and carriage, which are mighty
expensive things, my boy; they are al
bad as the interest on big mortgage
no let up on them. People in you
position will be going to places o
amusement, and if you are an atten
dant at church you will have abundan
and ever-recurring opportunities to Civ
sums of money, and these sums must b
in proportion to the social standing you
have chosen to occupy, or you will b
frowned upon in such manner as yo1
can only realize by experience.
Now, to keep up all these things re
quires a lot Of money, and you vii
: need long purse from which to ORA,
longer than in all probability yo
: will possess. And so l mention thes
things to warn you against them. M
! observation has been that many me-
, increase their expense in geometrica
| ratio. Of course, such state of affair
cannot long continue, and many busi
ness failure has been caused by extravG
, giant personal expenses.
S Of course, / would not have 20
' misery. Little danger of that, how
! ever, nowadays, as misery men al
}. rather an object of curiosity on accour
: of their scarcity. l would have 20