Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-10-21
Business is Business.

In all the language probably there Is
no older, more worn and trite,. or truer
expression than this .hackneyed old
phrase Of business is business" and
yet there is hardly another fundamen-
tai principle bearing on everyday re-
lations between man and man that is
less generally understood. .......'
II there Is a higher and better rule
Of living in the home, in the church or
In the community, we do not know of
it; but we do know that there is very
little real conception Of this rule in all
those places, and we know also that
If the knowledge and practice of bus
mess were generally better, living
would be on a much higher plane than
| 1t now is and there would be less fric-
ton in every day affairs.
One of the commonest conceptions
of the business man Is the man who
knows how to make" or more prop
erly speaking, get" money without
getting into Jail; but in that sense the
term business" as applied to such a
man Is a wide misnomer.
The meaning Of the word business"
as comprehended in the phrase "busi-
ness is business does not properly
suggest the idea Of money making and
much less the idea Of getting money
and getting away with It; but rather
a certain high and correct rule Of ac-
tion as between man and man in their
every day relations, wherein each and
every individual tries to do as he
would be done by, instead of following
the rule of doing unto the other fell
low as he would do unto you and do 1t
first"
One of the best men this writer has
ever known, a man long since in his
grave, used to hold not only that bus
mess is business" but that If you vio-
late business principles, which princi-
pies he held were comprehended in the
golden rule, you are going TO be hurt
You might think that you have a
good scheme by which you can do the
other fellow, by which you can fool
people to your own profit, deceive your
enemy out of his coin or spite the man
you do not like; but you had better let
it alone. Business is business When
it comes to tricks that are not war
ranted by business principles, leave
them to the other fellow, and instead
Of being afraid Of him just content
yourself about your every day affairs
in the full assurance that he will be
caught in the trap he has prepared for
you. Then after that has happened,
you may reflect that If it had been you
who had been trying to overcome him
by expedients that did not come with
in the rules, 1t would have been you
who would have been in the trap"
The first rule Of business lies in the
giving Of value received" not merely
in pretense but in actual fact. 1t is
often an easy thing to make the mex
perienced man believe he is getting
value received; but there Is no better
way of teaching him the difference
than by deceiving him once or twice.
and when he Is once taught the diff
ference, he Is not to be deceived again.
Yes, value received Is the beginning
and end of business-of the kind Of
business comprehended in the term
business Is business. The man who
pays the money gets the goods and If
the exchange Is one that comprehends
the idea Of a sound article and a sound
price, that ends the transaction and
leaves both parties to the bargain in
state of mutual respect each for the
other: but If there has been any in
equality, then there is basis of fu-
ture hard feeling and suspicion on
both sides.
Business is business, and a violation
Of business principles means that some
body is going to be hurt Strict ad-
herence to business principles means
that the individual who so adheres Is
going to make a success, not only OF
his business, but of his whole life.