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Show FOREIGN MERCHANTS' WAYS. Their Faith in Integrity of Humanity Asctonished a Chicago Visitor. Chicago. Tribune.) Simple trust in humanity appears to be the business guide of the continental conti-nental merchant, as observed by Benjamin Ben-jamin J. Rosenthal in a recent tour of Austria, Germany and France. To the merchant from Chicago, where the rule of "trust no one until he has proven himself " is in-vogue, the ways of the European were a revelation. When a jeweler whom he had never seen before offered to let Mr. Rosenthal Rosen-thal take an article to America on approval, the Chicago man gave up trying to solve their business system. sys-tem. "The continental merchant's faith in humanity would receive many a sad shock here," said Mr.-Rosenthal in speaking of . his experience. "I had observed this tendency to take every man's word, but it was brought home with great force by one merchant. He was a jeweler, and, while I was looking look-ing at an article, he said to me: " "Take it with you to America, and if you don't like it, return it. If it suits you, pay me when you come back.' I wonder how he would get along he. The same is true in the restaurants res-taurants of Berlin, where you tell the collector what you have eaten, and pay him accordingly. He never iiis-putes iiis-putes you word. Still, I suppose if they lost much by this plan, they would change it. At the banks they let the money He about on the desks with only a three-foot railing to protect it. At the hotels instead of paying at' the office of-fice the waiter on your floor brings your bill and makes the change from his own pocket. The only time you need see the manager is when you leave, and he is at the carriage to bid you adieu and godspeed." Among the comparisons made by the Chicagoan between the manners of Austria, Germany- and Fiance, and those of America, are the following: "American women are respected and protected from hard toil. In Austria women are found doing the menial and arduous labor on the streets, in parks and in the fields. Conditions are better in Germany, but women working in the fields are a common sight, and France in this respect follows fol-lows Germany. "Public utilities are more closely controlled, con-trolled, and accommodations from them may be had at greatly lessened cost. Public officials are more polite and are more eager to extend services to strangers. Railroad fare and telegraph tolls are less than in America and the service is excellent. "Driving in the cities is at such low rates for fare that it is a universal pastime in all the countries visited." |
