Perth Amboy evening news., 1906-03-16
Individual Character
Is the Power Which
Sustains the Bust
ness World :: !: :

<MEaW o me there can be no sadder sight than an old man, already
n i~ncumbered by this worlds wealth, but eager only to in
% crease it before he topples from the earth. They are more
numerous in smaller towns than in large cities. Almost
every small town has its wealthy men who never part with
a dollar IF THEY CAN HELP IT.
Recently / saw a letter from a millionaire referring to the death of
a clerk who faithfully had served him thirty years. The man who
wrote this letter is rated at 100000. In this letter, after disposng
of several matters, he referred to the death of his old employee Incl
dentaly and directed that the exact date of the severance of his con-
neetion with the Office, BECAUSE OF HIS LAST ILLNESS, be
ascertained, the exact amount due him for the fraction of the month
he had worked be figured up and a check for the amount be mailed to
his widow. Do you imagine that old c~urmudgeon has A SOUL?
My word to the man who would succeed is, "Save your soul" "Forl
what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own
soul ~ And that I take to mean "What shall it profit a man that if to
gain the whole world he lose his own soul IN THE STRIVING~
Perhaps it may be necessary to be cold blooded in business TO" the
sake of your employer or for the sake Of business principles, but if you
find that true be one fellow in business and ANOTHER OUTSIDE.
To your family, your friends and your fellow man be true also.
If an inhabtant of another planet could come to one of our big
cities perhaps he at first would find it ruled by the law of selfshness,
the almighty dollar. Later, he would find underneath all the SILENT
FORCES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. z
The power which susans the business world is INDIVIDUAL.
CHARACTER. While busy men are planning and struggling to build ,
up their material fortunes, every word, every action. every thought of
theirs is weaving that eternal structure, their individual characters
That it is the groundwork of the business world is shown by the credit
system. I am a dealer in credit. I sit all day dealing in lit. Yet I find
it elusive. I think sometimes it doesn't exist. W. |
A man comes to my office for a loan of 100000. hand his note
to the cashier with instructions to credit him with 100000 Il have
made the loan, have increased my banks deposits AND HAVE
PAID QUE MOI A CENl. The mar draws acheck, gives IL o n l
other of III customers, and he deposits it anew. Other banks get
checks against us. The clearing house wipes all out except a balance
so small that the cash required to settle it is too small to notice. And
for that we give-A CHECK. |
So credit, whether that of the government. the business house or the
individual, is the LFEBLOOD OF MODERN BUSINESS, or,
comparing business to a structure, it is the mortar which binds the
bricks together. And credit rests on the foundation of character. AT
least 90 per cent of all business is transacted on credit. And, IS char-
acter is the foundation of credit, so TRUTH is the foundation OF
character.
A person who is known as a man of his word, whether spoken or
signed, sealed and delivered, has the very best equipment And this
includes frankness, which does not mean telling all you know, but does
require that YOU must not keep back what the other man HAS A
RIGHT TO KNOW. @N #
A man to succeed must possess modesty. The boastful man is I'M
der the disadvantage that all of his statements are DISCOUNTED
whether they re true OF not. Conservatism also is a necessary attri-
butte. Commend me to the man who is not in a great hurry to get rich,
but is satisfied with the old plan of gradually adding to his pile and not
trying to get SOMETHING FOR NOTHING. Occasionally you
see a man get rich by speculation, but my experience has been that
when a man goes up like q rocket it is not long before he comes down
like a stick. AND A BURNT STICK AT THAT.
Ihave several rules for young and for old. The first is, Save your
money" I say it earnestly, not because 1 want to increase the deposits
in bank. but because 1T is NECESSARY. I have had experience
with Young men. have seen a few go wrong, lose their positions
through dishonesty, without any fuss being made about it, but they
were damned all the a so far as their futures were concerned.
BUT NEVER KNEW ONE TO GO WRONG WHO HAD A saw.
INGs BANK ACCOUNT. :