Karch 11, 1887
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT
ded with cowrie | a man would save he must be ed
This rather difflonlt
se some reckoned aries elsewhere, are really neces sary to us in Hongkong. But all extrava ance and expensiveness of habit must be shunned. This in the olden time was terribly forgotten. Money came in and was spent hand over fist." The general conditions of life were very inimical; the climate and surroundings in salubrious. The faith of many was emboded in the words “Let us eat and drink, for to- morrow we die.”
the annual meeting f your society the a member of the Council requested that, in this lecture I would show people how
get mone and especially-how to keep it.. If you see fit therefore to accept the few added remarks, I shall appreciate the compli- ment if any one is displeased, I shall, at any ate, escape the censure upon those who offer insolicited advice:
How to get money and how to keep it. The order should rightly be reversed, and a man learn how to keep money before he gets it, otherwise the knowledge is usually acquired only by repeated logs.
to the getting of money, a very lengthened experience has only served to deepen my belief in the old saws upon the subject. Solomon An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning, but the end thereof shall not be blessed." He doesn't say wrongly but hastily, Money is lost or won hastily. It is earned slowly; and if it is to be kept, it must, as a rule, be earned, not won. Those who have no money must serve faithfully those who have, making themselves essential. How many of such men are there abroad and in the Colonies? Almost all around me are what may be called picked men. The same may be said of the majority in Hongkong, the ports of China and Japan. Men who have distinguished themselves in some way at home, and earned the confidence of their seniors, by special qualifications or long-tried integrity and diligence. These must be united; knowledge, capability, and character must go together. How many most promising enterprises have been destroyed by the lack of really faithful and devoted management. And how many undertakings have failed to find support through the want of upright men, who could be implicity trusted with large discretion, at long distances from the central power. There is less chance now than ever for young men getting on by flukes. Three-fourths of the good appointments in the world go by favour; but there is a portion left for those who will, with patient thoroughness, prepare them- selves to fill them. Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you" does not only refer to spiritual things, but has its application also to temporal affairs."The hand of the diligent maketh rich," and long as we may have to wait, and painful as may be the drudgery of years of labour, lack of recognition, and unremunerated toil, I believe that, to every one of us, there comes, at some time in his life, an occasion, an opportunity, when, as it were, a ladder is per- ceived between heaven and earth, and he who is ready and prepared, and on the alert, can mount, often to his own astonishment. But the conditions precedent must be fulfilled. Happy he in whom opportunity coincides with full preparedness and maturity of physical and mental powers. To such an one nothing is impossible. It has been said that a man must be handsome at 20, strong at 30, wise at 40, and rich at 50, or he will never be either handsome, strong, wise, or rich. If a man is to be rich it is generally necessary that he should intend to be so, and a legitimate intention, too, if rightly followed. To secure success in any walk of life, in these days of active and ever-increasing competition, it is essential to step out pretty early But a fortune never comes all at once, except in romance. It must be saved at the beginning. Saved money will make money. Won money will lose money. Saving serves probity and generosity. Gambling produces Indifference to debt and obligation.
те
First money is like seed corn, and should be stored with care. Given favourable conditions, will breed as surely as rabbits, rats, or cock- roaches. Money is the producer. It must not be parted from. It is like farmers' stock. Sheep eat the grass and dung the ground for more whilst they increase in fleece and flesh. The cattle fatten and the pigs grow heavier. ted my friend David Petrie a good formerly rtner in Linstead and one day
maged to make He
When I get a dollár, f it. No one bor- debts so promptly
mones
WB-80
use money, in
vou desire to save,
payments and not chit
The horses which contended at Wong-nei- chong cost £5,000 a piece, and the bets were made in chests of opium, sometimes ten, some- times a score. I well remember a young com- mercial assistant taking $45,000 off our leading barrister on & single race. This would be about the equivalent of $100,000 now! But it was honourably paid, and the young man left Hongkong and started for himself a business in London, and, .I think, did well. This was the excoption which proves the rule au contraire.
At this period I understood that the French cook's monthly bill for one of our princely houses was $6,000, to say nothing of wines, etc. and Fortman and Mason's annual account. The distinguished head of Marine House, close to where the Clock Tower now stands, was doubtless a kindly hearted man. He kept open table, and sat down, day by day, to tiffin with thirty or forty guests, and himself carved a piece of tender juicy beef weighing half a pical, the first slice of which, three or four pounds, used to go over his shoulder to the office dog waiting for a catch. It reminded one of France shortly before the revolution, rather than of staid old England. Moreover, the influence and example of it all was far from good; indeed, its effect upon many young men, coming out from quiet middle class homes in England, was most disastrous. The free and the P. & O. Co., at this time, was unwise. generous supply of wines and spirits also by
19
And
We have learned to take our pleasures less recklessly in later years, and the value of our race ponies is about a tenth part of that named above; and as to our house-keeping, we now boil our fish in water instead of champagne. It was truly said by the clever and respected compradors of one of our old established banks, "That Englishman before have got two piece fowl that dinner tim; he chow chow littes that front side, then talkee Boy, no wanchee } take away.' Now, more, can
you too muchee likee chow chow that leg." what is nicer for breakfast than the leg of a cold chicken which has been hanging for some days, with a piece of real good English bacon? I feel convinced that for the great majority of people it is a religious duty to save money in early life. Money is not only a danger, but "B defence and the destruction of the poor is their poverty.” "It is difficult to make an empty/sack stand upright." To a sensitive and honourable man there is no slavery on earth like the slavery of pecuniary obligation. But it is possible to become familiarised to this, like the young man who, observing his friend looking haggard and careworn, enquired the reason, and understanding that it was owing to his anxiety and solicitude to get out of debt, replied "Get out of debt! Why, my only care and anxiety is to know how to get into debt." George Elliot satirically writes, "The fact that my tradesman is out of pocket by me is to be looked at through the serene certainty that somebody else's tradesman is in pocket by some body else; and since there must be bad debts in the world, it is mere egoism not to like that we, in particular, should make them instead of our fellow citizens."
܂
A man who, for his personal gratification, contracts a debt, with only a half purpose to repay, when it is convenient to him, is, in prin- ciple, a thief. Who would steal if he could only buy P Save money, then. Close buyers and careful paymasters are not ill for trade. But it is ill for trade when dealers feel themselves obliged, by uncertainty of payment, to seek demnity by charging those who
pay much more than & simply remunerative price for goods
they may replace by return of post They then becom barriers instead of distri butors, and themselves stimulate the enquiri
to the raison d'étre of middle men.
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And now
for many
es
the
method of eBay 20=-18
by vanity
ereth by labour sha ited wealth, apart tro inferior in value to that and frequently has an en ing influence. As Ge Some great estates, proi
a master mind. We as
to our northern climate and
189
to me. A
mon
ing for our success. I reme Manchester manufacturer saying don't know what to do with my answered" You have three sons, mediately replied, "I don't mean to ruin I got nothing from my father, or I have a fortune now. They must wo have done. It is essential for their safety
In trade and commerce there is a very natura tendency to follow up a success. This heartens us for future enterprise. The majority feel disposed to trace it to some gift, revelatio discovery, or power inherent in themselves and unchangeable, and not to a fortunate mbina tion which may not recur. At times of com mercial inflation and popular excitement, all young people, aye, and grey heads also, are convinced that the millennium, so long ox pected, has dawned at last, that this is indeed an exceptional and unprecedented opportunity of which the very fullest advantage should be taken. No length of years or experience is sufficient to guard a man from the dangers of excess at such periods, in the absence of fixed principles. You know what these are as well
as I. Let us take this one that, however
justifiable enterprise and even speculation may be, malgré the German Emperor, they should be entered into with a man's own means, rather than with borrowed funds. Do not, on any ac- count, play an unequal game of "Heads I win, tails you lose." Keep legitimately within your means. It is hardly helpful to being rich to be ashamed of being poor. The sage advice respect- ing cards may well be applied in Hongkong to shares. "He who stakes more than he can lose with pleasure stakes his heart, perhaps his wife's too, and her's whom she hath borne. Dost win, rise up; dost lose, rise in that state. Those who would sit out losing hands are lost." Don't borrow money e except for purposes of trade; and then most carefully. Half a score strokes with the pen may embitter a life-time,
The observance of a wise limitation would have spared Hongkong many shadows in the past, the felt darkness of which has hardly yet passed away.
As a guide and wholesome restraint in all business transactions it will be well for us ever to remember the large golden letters forming a halo of glory around the hall of the Manchester Exchange. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.”
Amongst young people there is too generally an impatience of letting money lie quietly at low and safe interest. To some there is nothing so trying as inaction. Simply think less about it. If you sell out, it is not sary to re-invest the same day. Let have a turn with it. What, at four Yes, and a good rate, too, for savings. I wish I had banked all mine. Think of the int a £25 Bank of England note mountin 111 years to £6,000! Nothing like com interest. If you prefer commerci thoroughly know your market, and don't simply
follow others. Norfolk beast can your ma meddle A former
"mers say, asman -
command
Surgeon of Hongkon ago, to England with
for his need
In th
know