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Show "Character, Essential to Success ' "In one of our metropolitan cities." says John Field, president or the National Na-tional A'-soclatlon of Credit Men, "one of the linest, If not the tinest, mercantile mercan-tile establishments lias been built up fiom comparatively small begiuningi until its power and influence was felt not only In our own country butacross the seas. With this piesllgc and with ample capital It fell into other hands, and finally this great structure hastened to its rail. Not only so, but the business .shifted fiom that part or the city and it was supposed that it could never bo biought back again to the place where It had been so sue-cessrul sue-cessrul and piosperous. A merchant from an adjoining city, however, was Induced to buy out that biokcn-down business, lly the Impact or his personality per-sonality he both stemmed the ciiiicut that had set in against that locality, and turned It back and ictalned It in the old dlsti let. enhancing the value or the pioporty in the immediate neighborhood. This description of the lemarkablc effect of the chaiacter of one Individual on the business of an entlie section of New York City, illustrates clearly a tiansfotmation that Is taking place in business methods meth-ods or today. The pendulum no sooner soon-er leaches one end or Its swing t!:nn it starts toward the other; and commercial com-mercial methods are experiencing a healthy icactlon toward the most honorable relations among business men. "There Is a large number or Influential Influen-tial merchants who, partly through the agency or the National Asssocla-tlon Asssocla-tlon or Cicdit Men, arc hastening this desirable change. In the words or its president, "The association Is reforming reform-ing and Improving business methods; It Is everywhere elevating commercial lire and instilling principles of honor and truth In the business world; It Is training young men to more careful business methods; It Is breaking down the jealousies that existed In mercantile mercan-tile lire and Inspiring mutual confidence confi-dence among business men; It Is laying lay-ing the foundations of business on a broader and deeper scale, and is eliminating elim-inating the weak points and developing develop-ing the strong ones. It stands for the most modern and progressive ideas. The business world today asks what a man is and what he Is capable of doing; do-ing; whether he Is honest and Industrious; Indus-trious; whether he Is a well qualified merchant with deep laid plans; whether he is a good executive, and whether he has good business Judgment." Judg-ment." The example cited above shows that it is the man that makes the business and not the business that makes the man. Any business will bo elevated by a noble, high minded man of character. char-acter. The ambitious business man must continually remember that he himself, In contact with his customers, counts for more than anything else, a principle that applies to all in the business, from the pioprlctor to otllcc boy. From this arises one of the most encouraging things for young men in business, that within their reach are elements of success fully equal to the possession of dollars and cents, namely, name-ly, brain and brawn united In one personality. per-sonality. Capital today, as valued by the commercial world, Is at a mini mum, and brain, power and character at a maximum. Never In the history or the world was there the demand, the nbosolutc unqualified necessity for men who can be depended on, as there Is In this day of vast combinations combina-tions of business. "The corporation or Integrlty.the honest combination," sajs James 1!. 1)111, one or thegrcatast corporation lawyers or New York, in an article in Munsey's, "Is conducted upon the essential element and roun datlon or co-operation, existing rrom the workman to the president or the company on the one hand, and on the other rrom every stockholder to the public as a consumer. The corporation corpora-tion problem or today calls ior great development or character. You can answer the question at once when 1 ask you, what, under present circumstances, circum-stances, is the llrst requisite in a corporation cor-poration man? The answer comes as quickly us the question, and is formulated for-mulated In the single word, character." charac-ter." Sklkctkd. |