The San Francisco call., 1904-03-10


Copyright 1909. 10y Joseph B. Bow-les1
Certain general qualifications for
success. must be assumed in one who
enters any line Of business or COM
mercfaI endeavor. and we viii take il
for granted that a young man who is
taking Up the bond business and
means 10 get to the top has industry
integrity. frugality, earnestness. tact
good address. power Of application and
intelligent interest in himself and his
work. Good health is important and
honesty absolutely essential. If he can
have il. good education is 10 be earn
estly desired-but no young man
should think that a college education
is indispensa BILE. II viii help him
greatly. but T he is made Of the right
STUFF he viii make a success without it,
The business Of dealing in bonds has
certain elements in common with
commercial business, perhaps more
than with general banking. Two pri-
mary divisions are immediately no
ticed in this Work-the buying and the
selling departments. In a general way
the qualities that promise success in
one department viii give success in
the other, because at the foundation
OF both must be a thorough knowl-
edge OF every feature Of the business
and an instant readiness TO take ad-
vantage Of favorable opportunities.
Il often happens. however that a man
may make a particularly good buyer
and Yet not have the qualifications
that viii bring him success in selling.
The first work OF a beginner in the
bond business viii probably be the
copying Of letters. delivery Of mail and
running such errands as can be in
trusted 10 one OF his inexperience.
And right here he viii have an oppor-
1unity Of proving his value and fitness
for the work that he may never get
afterward. Intelligent application to
the work in hand, even if il be seem
ingly the most Insignificant in the en-
tire business. viii bring an employers
appreciative commentator. BY at
tentiveness, even in running errands.
a young man can learn a great deal of
value 10 him. He Will become ac-
ouainted. in a superficial way, Of
course. with men and things. He viii
learn much about the forms Of doing
business and acquaint himself with
mechanical details Of commercial life.
A young man who succeeds here
viii not be long in attracting the at
tentiOn Of his superiors to his earnest
efforts and he may soon be put upon
the record books, which are in the
nature Of memoranda of facts regard
ing public and private corporations
that are about 10 issue bonds, records
OF detail in connection with previous
and prospective bond issues and sales
and other matters of a like nature.
From these he will probably be ad-
vanced 10 bookkeeping. in which he
has as wide a range as he would have
in the bookkeeping department Of any
mercantile institution. During all of
these experiences he will make a Sc
rious mistake if he does any part Of
his work fippantly and fails to under
stand anything he does. and he will
make another serious mistake if he
fails 70 grasp the significance of his
work as a whole, for many a young
man in his intense application to the
work in hand sees only the words
that flow from his pen. He knows the
details of the 1siness. but he does
not know il as a whole.
BY this time an employer will have
formed a pretty good idea of the
young mans application, honesty and
test viii come to him when he is sent
out to look for business. relying large
ly upon his own resources. PERHAPS
he viii be asked to interest purchas-
ers in the bonds Of certain municipal
ities. This viii put TO the test the
thoroughness Of his education during
his earlier work in the office. A man
who sells bonds should know abso-
he fc toll L I,a
must be familiar with the matter in
hand to the last detail; he must know
what to say and how much to say.
Very often he can say too much. He
should be ready TO answer every ques-
tion concerning the investment with
out hesitation and without error. He
must be able to explain and convince
directly from his own knowledge
II the young man has done nothing
but attend strictly to the duties as
signed him in the Office he may find
something lacking in his presentation
Of the subject 10 prospective in
weston. His Office work must have
been supplemented by study and
thoughtful investigation of the whole
question Of values. securities, interes;
rates. commercial conditions and q
vast number of similar subjects. for
the matters that affect the desirable
ity of bond as an investment are le-
gion. Municipal bonds OF perhaps q
score or more of cities may be submit
ted in one offering, and the young
man must be able to speak accurately
about many points in connection with
each Of these cities-their population
valuation, the amount and nature OF
their various items of public debt, the
value of the cities public property
the revenues of their water works and
other proprietry institutions, the
character OF their industries, the
amount Of business done by theil
banks. whether they depend upon ag-
riculture or manufacturing or mining
for their prosperity, what their trans.
portation facilities are, of what class
OF people their population is com.
posed whether the purpose of tht