The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-12-26

- -OusSSoA us own, AID he could
save from nls income sufficient TO leave ms
family in no niggarily Circumstances
Inc book-keeper was parsonage of con-
sequence 10 the community in which he re-
Slueu- The church which he attended
looked up to him as one of the pillars of the
congregation, and in all respects he was re-
Iharkaole as a grave, reverend, and impor-
tant individual.
They were selfish set in some WAYS
THESE CID book-kespers. They had their
guilds, ard JealOusly guarded the knowI-
edge which, by years of study. thew he'd
acquired. They allowed only a certain
number OF apprentices, and these were
cuoseh from among the sons and nearest
relatives OF the members of the guild The
Oh boys were shrewd enough to maintain
their own commercial value by limiting the
number OF those to whom they would i'm
part their precious knowledge. Their rules
IN this respect were as strictly enforced as
are the rnles OF printers chapel at the
present time.
To-day all these things are changed. The
Old time bcok-keeper exists no longer. or if
ne does exceptionally exist, it is in the far
away corner of some ancient business house
wnlch stlll cilngs to the antique methods of
half century ago.
mere are good many causes which NAV
De assigned for the decay and fall of the
cas- OF men once SO powerful as account
anus In business houses. The main one is
tha5 IN the large cities of the United States
Une market became suddenly over-sappIied
with bright, brainy, and brilliant you7g
fellows, anxious to make a living and read Y
TO take places as book-keepers at almost any
salary. They sprung from the commercial
coleges, and 1t was these colleges that
practically swept out OF existence the old
style OF book-Keeper. They turned out ac-
countants by the scores-well euuipped
competent, practical fellows, hustlers i !
business, ready to labor hard and long for
sllght compensation.
They, too, in their callow DAYS. doubt-
less, dreamed that later on, as they grew in
experience, knowledge and importance to
the firm, they would become the trusted
ana confidential employees, and in ten or
twenty years might acquire an interest in
the business. ANY of them who NAV have
Rugged that sweet delusion to his heart
within the last ten years, and who has con-
tlnued book-keeper. has long since sadly
but surely relinquished it. The business in
situations that are being built up to-day are
not dividing their profits with their book
keepers, and are not inviting them 10 places
in the firms.
The man who earns SIS q week as 8
bookkeeper in business firm in New York
or any of the large cities of to-day, with a
seml-certalnty OF permanency, is considered
lucky book-keeper. The majority of them
DO not receive that amount There are a
few princes of the science, however, who
exercise their knowledge in the large banks
the government buildings, in brokers
offices, or in some of our largest counting
houses, who receive even more dollars a
year than some of the old-time accountants
but these are phenomena among book
keepers, and are few and far between.
An advertisement inserted TODAY in anv
one OF the daily papers of New York asking
Tor an experienced accountant willing to
assume charge of the books OF a firm for a
salary of SO week would doubtless bring
an array of applications that would make
tue most skeptical wonder how they in
tended to live on the $40 a week. a ma
lorlty OF them would prove to bs men with
families to support on this income.
The worries of book keeper in a large
mercantile house are not few or seldom.
The man who wrestes-wi a set of books
is just as human as any of us, aud, 10 mat
ter how careful he may be. he will most as
suredly make mistakes occasionally, and a
small one is as bad as large one. In fact.
large one is sooner discovered than n
petty one. AT any rate, in case of an error.
his calculations must be revised time and
again till the mistake is discovered. Sup
pose his cash to be wrong; it may be only a
few cents or few dollars, but it is all the
same to him cause of worry and embar-
rassment. True, if the account shows a
surplus, he eau put the difference in his
pocket, but the bonest man will not do
this. Still less, should the difference be
against him, can he put his hand in his own
pocket and draw from his meager salary to
make his cash straight.
The truth is, the glory of the book-keeper
has departed from the land. He is no
longer a factor in big business operations.
His advice is not asked when important
enterprises are to be undertaken by his firm.
The old and loyal employee, who knew the
innermost family and business secrets of the
partners, old and young, has passed into
the realms of history and exists to-day only
in some CT the old establishments in Eng
land and the continent, where, from genera
ton to generation, the same business tradi-
tions are handed down from father to
son. Practically, he has no place in Amer
lean business houses, save in a few excep-
tional cases where an old firm clings to
the old business methods. The new book
keepers are hustling. rollicking, bright
young fellows, fresh from school or college,
ready to take up the first occupation that
comes in their way; careless about salary
and trampling down tradition, intending to
keep at a book-keeper's desk only long
enough to secure place in the dash and
push of the sale.room, where a myriad of
opportunities exist for earning big salaries
and obtaining excellent business conuec-
tioIs.
The bright and successful salesman to-
day is the autocrat in business circles. The
old-time book-keeper used to be, but he is so
no longer.