The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1916-06-16
BANKING TALK,
B j 81 n ESS
s. CHARA 7 { R
BUILD NoUR BUSINESS STRUc.
TURE WITH CHARACTER AS
THE CHIEF SUPPORTING PIER
GIVE SQUARE DEAL.

In all business operations involving
credit, certain requisites are essential
If the risk is to prove satisfactory to
the one who extends the credit. These
requisites are best expressed in what
has well been termed the Three Big
C's of Credit" namely, Character Ca
pacity and Capital This talk will
cover the first
In order to possess a business char
acter. a man need not have what is
ordinarily known as business homes
ty, for business honesty is not as big
thing as business integrity. Neither
need man say long prayers, and
pass the plate, however admirable
these traits may be. He must have
more than a sembance of religion:
he must carry the religion of the ten
commandments. the sermon on the
mount and the golden rule into his
business life He must do no tricky
must give square deal. His word
must be better than his bond. He
must mark goods fairly, advertise
honestly, rectify an error, correct any
misunderstanding, and never forget
that his best advertisement is a sat
islied customer, and satisfied custom
ers are made only by business integ-
rity
The underlying reason why some
men have become great merchants is
to be found in the spirit of the house
There are great stores in every large
city whose greatness is due to the
single fact that they have back of
them business character. Their good
will, worth millions, is a good will of
integrity. 1t has taken years to build
it up.
The buying public soon finds out
the spirit of the house. You can catch
sucker but once. 1t doesn't pay to
try the second time. You do well
to inquire how this element of integ-
rity enters into your business life, for
if the banker does not believe in you,
you can get no loans from him. You
can lose this priceless asset by a
single lapse from business virtue. And
once it is lost ii is hard shedding to
regain It,
A certain bank made a large sized
loan to a builder for a specific opera
ton, with the understanding that the
funds were to be used to purchase
material and pay labor for that one
job. 1t soon developed that in spite
of the fact that the contractor claim
ed to be progressing well with work,
nothing had been done-he had used
the money elsewhere. 1t was breach
of trust. The banker had checked
him up, as bankers generally do He
has lost his character at that bank,
and his word no longer goes.
Another concern was buying auto
mobiles with the banks money, giving
the bank trust receipt whereby cars
could not be delivered without OBJ
tanning a release from the bank and
paying on the loan. The banker be
came suspicious that something was
wrong and checked up the cars pre-
sumed to be in stock on the trust
agreement, and found that four had
been sold without accounting to the
bank. Result-a hasty calling of the |
entire loan, loss of confidence, loss of |
a helpful business arrangement,
You cannot play fast and lose in
business and win out. You cannot |
deceive your banker for long. He has
a knack of finding things out Gossip
gets to him fast. He has a second
sense that smells danger. He is a
detective.
Therefore, build your business struc-
ture with character as the first of
-hree supporting piers. BE as active in
he church as you like; be as good as
you pretend to be. but remember al
ways. that in business it is not what
you seem to be but what you are that
counts, and your true nature will soon
become manifest to those who are in