The herald., 1897-06-06
GOOD THINGS

It IL sAid that over twenty years ago
lone Of the leading capitalists and shrewd-
est business men Of San Francisco had q
slgn over his dssk, in large letters:
Positively No Good Thingt Wanted Al
Any Price"
II this were 80 twenty years ago, what
10 1t likely to be today? There were
thousands of rich people who felt the
same. even then. But not one in q
thousand cared to say 20 In that way
The one In question was like an Invalid
who some years ago used to promenade
the hotel porch OF Yuma. with large
placard on his hat: please do not aels
me how feel today"
1t fs really too bad, but we might a.
well recognize the fact that the day OF
selling good things at towering price
10 well-nigh done. The cessation in that
line Is one Of the revolutions that never
80 backward. We have been selling
grizslies on the run so long that It will
really be bit awkward to have to deliv-
er the article, hide and tallow, before we
get our money; but 1t Is to be feared that
the buyer is little tired of paying the
full price and then taking all the labor
and chances of the capture. He has no
business to be weary, but. then, II he is,
what are we to Go about it--for killing
him will not get us the money?
We have for years resented the imputa-
ton that We were selling futures at too
high q price, but suppose we lay aside
our pride and look results sQuarely in
the face. Can we ignore the fact that
too many who have bought our beautiful
prospects of immediate wealth are
mourning for both principal and inter-
est? This Is not in California alone. but
all through the west. With a very few
exceptions. it has been assumed that
rapid settlement would follow some de-
velopment. Rapid settlement has fol-
lowed--settlement more rapid than any
other country ever saw--but 1t has not
been as rapid as the soaring imagina-
tion of the owner of the good thing
pictured it.
Most of our good things have been
very good-almoet as good as they were
represented. The amount of swindling
has been almost nothing. Yet somehow
fruition has failed just when 1t seemed
ripening. That is one of the difficulties
of making money. 1t is always the un-
expected that turns up at just the criti-
cal time. If it were not SO, money would
be so cheap that it would not fill the re-
quirements of money. 1t Is its slippery
nature that makes 1t so desirable. But,
all the same. our good things" get q
black eye. People look at results and
are not very analytical in investigating
causes of loss. And they care still less
for excuses.
In spite of all this there is still q
market for good things and California
has such very good ones left that she
not be too paSticular about the price.
We have too many who think the man
who finds good thing should have a
fortune for his sagacity. We think so,
too, and the fortune should be a very
large one. Unfortunately the world
thinks otherwise. 1t thinks that he who
has merely located the whereabouts of
a grizzly should be willing to deduct
from the price of the animal something
reasonable for the danger, labor. time
and uncertainty involved in securing
the beast in suitable shape for market.
The owner of the good thing by no
means agrees with this view. He figures
that it is the first chance he has had to
get fortune after years of work, that
another chance may not soon turn up
and that he should make the most of It..
All of which is very proper reasoning il
there were only some way to hammer It
into the brain of the man who has the
money But he figures quite differently.
He says 1 have worked and saved many
years for this and now that I have 1t
safe and can keep it safe am not going
to part with 1t until I see value re-
ceived. I am willing to take some
chances to increase it, but cannot take
them all. My profit must be In proper
ton to my risk, labor and waiting. And
1t will have to be very large before ex-
change certainty for an uncertainty.
Capital will reason thus as long as the
world stands and the man with only
ten thousand dollars does so as certain
ly as the man with ten million. Cali
fornia is full of good things of various
kinds, especially mines, irrigation works
and land development propositions that
have been asleep for many years be-
cause those who have them cannot real
ize that they cannot get rich over night
on the capital of stranger. The propo-
sition to which they cling till death or
the Sheriff generally the latter shakes
them off is much like a partnership in
which one partner takes out his share
at the start in gold coin with interest,
while the other goes ahead with the
business, takes all the chances and does
all the waiting. There are dozens of men
now gray headed who have been hang
ing for half lifetime on the ragged edge
of some fine proposition, living in pow
erty on borrowed money, refusing n
competency and expecting to live 100
years and enjoy fortune in the last
year.
California has been cursed with such
men. The development of the land would
be far ahead of where it now Is had they
been content to take some Of the chances
themselves. But very few will even
make a reasonable part of the price con-
tingent on the outcome. Twice the num-
Der of mines would now be worked and
twice the area be under irrigation were
1t not that each man who controls any
of the conditions thinks he holds a
special twist on the tail of the situation
and that he can some day wake up rich
without taking any chances. All such
might as we'll prepare to pucker" The
day OF good things is about done. We
have run fences long enough in cloud
land. We can no longer sell meteors on