Up To Date Business, by Various pdf

SEYMOUR EATONUP TO DATE BUSINESS INCLUDING LESSONS IN BANKING, EXCHANGE, BUSINESS GEOGRAPHY, FINANCE,... I GENERAL BUSINESS INFORMATION A Poorly Drawn Cheque A Carefully Drawn Cheque A C

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Title: Up To Date Business

Home Study Circle Library Series (Volume II.)

Author: Various

Editor: Seymour Eaton

Release Date: February 6, 2007 [EBook

#20531]

Language: English

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK

UP-TO-DATE BUSINESS

HOME STUDY CIRCLE

LIBRARY

EDITED BY

SEYMOUR EATON

UP TO DATE BUSINESS

INCLUDING

LESSONS IN BANKING, EXCHANGE, BUSINESS GEOGRAPHY, FINANCE,

TRANSPORTATION AND COMMERCIAL LAW

FROM THE CHICAGO RECORD

NEW YORK THE DOUBLEDAY & McCLURE CO.

1900

Copyright, 1897, 1898, 1899, by the Chicago

Record

Copyright, 1899, by Seymour Eaton Copyright, 1899, 1900, by Victor F Lawson

I

GENERAL BUSINESS

INFORMATION

I Commercial Terms and Usages

II. Commercial Terms and Usages (Continued

III Bank Cheques

IV. Bank Cheques (Continued)

V. Bank Cheques (Continued)

VI Bank Drafts

VII Promissory Notes

VIII The Clearing-house System

IX Commercial Drafts

X Foreign Exchange

XI Letters of Credit

XII Joint-stock Companies XIII Protested Paper

XIV Paper Offered for Discount

XV Corporations

XVI Bonds

X " " " " Australia and Australasia

XI " " " " South America

XII " " " " Canada

XIII " " " " The United States

Examination Paper

III

FINANCE, TRADE, AND TRANSPORTATION

I National and State Banks

II Savings Banks and Trust Companies III Corporations and Stock Companies

IV Borrowing and Loaning Money

V Collaterals and Securities

VI Cheques, Drafts, and Bills of Exchange

VII The Clearing-house System

VIII Commercial Credits and Mercantile Agencies

IX Bonds

X Transportation by Rail

XI Freight Transportation

XII Railroad Rates

XIII Stock and Produce Exchanges

XIV Storage and Warehousing

Examination Paper

COMMERCIAL LAW

I The Different Kinds of Contracts

II The Parties to a Contract

III. The Parties to a Contract (Continued)

IV The Consideration in Contracts

V The Essentials of a Contract

VI Contracts by Correspondence

VII What Contracts Must Be in Writing VIII Contracts for the Sale of Merchandise

IX The Warranties of Merchandise

X Common Carriers

XI The Carrying of Passengers

XII On the Keeping of Things

XIII Concerning Agents

XIV The Law Relating to Bank Cheques

XV The Law Relating to Leases

XVI Liability of Employers to Employés XVII Liability of Employers to Employés

Examination Paper

PREPARING COPY FOR

THE PRESS AND PROOF-READING

I

GENERAL BUSINESS

INFORMATION

A Poorly Drawn Cheque

A Carefully Drawn Cheque

A Cheque Drawn so as to Insure Payment to Proper Party

A Cheque Payable to Order

Ordinary Form of Promissory Note

A Promissory Note Filled Out in an Engraved Blank

A Special Form for a Promissory Note

The Advantages of the Clearing-house System

The Route of a Cheque

Backs of Two Paid Cheques

A Sight Draft Developed from Letter

A Sight Draft

An Accepted Ten-day Sight Draft

An Accepted Sight Draft

A Time Draft

Foreign Exchange

A Bill of Exchange (Private)

A Bill of Exchange (Banker's)

First Page of a Letter of Credit

Second Page of a Letter of Credit

A Certificate of Stock in a National Bank

A Certificate of Stock in a Manufacturing Company

A Protest

A Private Bond

A Shipping Receipt ("Original")

A Steamship Bill of Lading

A Local Waybill

II BUSINESS GEOGRAPHY

London the Natural Centre of the World's Trade British Mercantile Marine

London Bridge

The Coal-fields of England

The Manchester Ship Canal

The Great Manufacturing Districts of England

France Compared in Size with the States of Illinois and Texas Street Scene in Paris, Showing the Bourse

Approximate Size of the German Empire

North Central Germany, Showing the Ship Canal and the Leading Commercial Centres

Spain Compared in Size with California

Italy and its Chief Commercial Centres

Russia, the British Empire, and the United States Compared

Comparative Sizes of India and the United States

China and its Chief Trade Centres

Japan's Relation to Eastern Asia

The Partition of Africa

Australia

The Most Prosperous Part of South America

Trade Centres of Canada and Trunk Railway Lines

Export Trade of United States and Great Britain Compared

United States Manufactures and Internal Trade Compared with the Manufactures and Internal Trade of all Other Countries

Principal Articles of Domestic Exports of the United States

FINANCE, TRADE, AND TRANSPORTATION

The Bank of England

Showing Cheque Raised from $7.50 to $70.50

A Certified Cheque

A Bank Draft

A Bill of Exchange

Illustrating Cheque Collections

A Mercantile Agency Inquiry Form

Specimens of Interest Coupons

Judge Thomas M Cooley, First Chairman of the Interstate Commerce Commission

The Paris Bourse

Interior View of New York Stock Exchange

V

PREPARING COPY FOR

THE PRESS AND PROOF-READING

A Printer's Proof

A Printer's Corrected Proof

GENERAL BUSINESS INFORMATION

I COMMERCIAL TERMS

AND USAGES

HERE is a distinctionbetween the usage of the

n a m e s commerce andbusiness Theinterchange of productsand manufactured articles between

countries, or even between differentsections of the same country, is usuallyreferred to as commerce The term business refers more particularly to our

dealings at home—that is, in our owntown or city Sometimes this name is used

in connection with a particular product, as

the coal business or the lumber business,

or in connection with a particular class, as

t h e dry-goods business or the grocery business The name commerce, however,

seldom admits of a limited application Inthe United States trade is synonymous with

business The word traffic applies more

especially to the conveyance than to theexchange of products; thus we refer to

railroad traffic or lake traffic Products,

when considered articles of trade, are

called merchandise, goods, wares The

term merchandise has the widest meaning,and includes all kinds of movable articlesbought or sold Goods is applied moreparticularly to the supplies of a merchant.Wares is commonly applied to utensils, as

glassware, hardware, etc.

Gross commonly means coarse or bulky

In trade it is used with reference to both

money and goods The gross weight of a

package includes the weight of the case orwrappings The larger sum in an account

or bill—that is, the sum of money beforeany allowance or deductions are made—

is the gross amount of the bill The word

net is derived from a Latin word meaningneat, clean, unadulterated, and indicatesthe amount of goods or money after all thedeductions have been made To say that a

price is net is to indicate that no further

discount will be made

The word firm relates to solidity,establishment, strength, and in a businesssense signifies two or more persons united

in partnership for the purpose of trading.The word house is very frequently used in

the same sense In mercantile usage house

does not mean the building in which thebusiness is conducted, but the men whoown the business, including, perhaps, thebuilding, stock, plant, and businessreputation The name concern is often used

in a very similar way

The name market expresses a locality forthe sale of goods, and in commerce isoften used to denote cities or even

countries We say that Boston is a leathermarket, meaning that a large number ofBoston merchants buy and sell leather Inthe same sense we call Chicago a grainmarket, or New Orleans a cotton market.

In its more restricted sense the name

market signifies a building or place where

meat or produce is bought and sold We

say that the market is flooded with a

particular article when dealers arecarrying more of that article than they can

find sale for There is no market for any

product when there is no demand The

money market is tight or close when it is

difficult to borrow money from banks andmoney-lenders

II COMMERCIAL TERMS AND USAGES (Continued)

The natural resources of a country aremainly the mineral commodities andagricultural produce that it yields Thelumber and fish produced in a country arealso among its natural resources Thepositions and industries of cities areusually fixed by natural conditions, but themost powerful agent is the personalenergy of enterprising and perseveringmen, who, by superior education, orscientific knowledge, or practicalforesight, have often been able to foundindustrial centres in situations which nogeographical considerations would

suggest or explain.

Commission merchants receive and sellgoods belonging to others for acompensation called a commission Aselling agent is a person who represents amanufacturing establishment in itsdealings with the trade The factory may

be located in a small town, while theselling agent has his office and samples inthe heart of a great city As regards thequantity of goods bought or sold in asingle transaction, trade is divided intowholesale and retail The wholesaledealer sells to other dealers, while theretail dealer sells to the consumer—that

is, the person who consumes, or uses, the

goods A jobber is one who buys fromimporters and manufacturers and sells to

retailers He is constantly in the market forbargains The names jobber andwholesaler are often used in the samesense, but a jobber sometimes sells towholesalers Wholesale has reference tothe quantity the dealer sells, and not to thesource from which he buys, or the person

to whom he sells The wholesaler, as arule, deals in staples—that is, goodswhich are used season after season—though of course there are wholesalers inpractically all businesses

Wholesale dealers send out travellers ordrummers, who carry samples of thegoods Frequently the traveller starts outwith his samples from six months to a year

in advance of the time of delivery It isquite a common thing for the retailer to

order from samples merchandise which atthe time of placing the order may not even

be manufactured

By the price of a commodity is meant itsvalue estimated in money, or the amount ofmoney for which it will exchange Theexchangeable value of commoditiesdepends at any given period partly uponthe expense of production and partly uponthe relation of supply and demand Pricesare affected by the creation ofmonopolies, by the opening of newmarkets, by the obstructing of the ordinarychannels of commercial intercourse, and

by the anticipation of these and othercauses It is the business of the merchant

to acquaint himself with everycircumstance affecting the prices of the

goods in which he deals.

The entire world is the field of the modernmerchant He buys raw and manufacturedproducts wherever he can buy cheapest,and he ships to whatever market pays himthe highest price Our corner grocer orproduce-dealer may furnish us with beeffrom Texas, potatoes from Egypt, celeryfrom Michigan, onions from Jamaica,coffee from Java, oranges from Spain, and

a hundred other things from as manydifferent points; and yet, so complete isthe interlocking of the world's commercialinterests, and so great is the speed oftransportation, that he can supply us withthese necessaries under existingconditions more easily and readily than ifthey were all grown on an adjoining farm

III BANK CHEQUES

A cheque is an order for money, drawn byone who has funds in the bank It is

payable on demand In reality, it is a sight draft on the bank Banks provide blank

cheques for their customers, and it is avery simple matter to fill them outproperly In writing in the amount begin atthe extreme left of the line

The illustration given below shows apoorly written cheque and one which

could be very easily raised A fraudulent

receiver could, for instance write,

"ninety" before the "six" and "9" before

the figure "6," and in this way raise the

cheque from $6 to $96 If this were doneand the cheque cashed, the maker, and notthe bank, would become responsible forthe loss You cannot hold other peopleresponsible for your own carelessness Acheque has been raised from $100 to $190

by writing the words "and ninety" after the words "one hundred." One of the

ciphers in the figures was changed to a "9"

by adding a tail to it It is wise to draw arunning line, thus ~~ ~

~

~

~ , after the amount in

words, thus preventing any additionalwriting

The illustration on page 8 shows a chequecarefully and correctly drawn Thesignature should be in your usual style,familiar to the paying teller Sign yourname the same way all the time Have a

characteristic signature, as familiar toyour friends as is your face.

A cheque is a draft or order upon yourbank, and it need not necessarily bewritten in the prescribed form Such anorder written on a sheet of note-paperwith a lead-pencil might be in every way

a legally good cheque

Usually cheques should be drawn "to order." The words "Pay to the order of John Brown" mean that the money is to be

paid to John Brown, or to any person that

he orders it paid to If a cheque is drawn

"Pay to John Brown or Bearer " or simply

"Pay to Bearer," any person that is the

bearer can collect it The paying tellermay ask the person presenting the cheque

to write his name on the back, simply tohave it for reference

In writing and signing cheques use goodblack ink and let the copy dry a littlebefore a blotter is used

The subject of indorsements will be treated in a subsequent lesson.

IV BANK CHEQUES

(Continued)

The banks of this country make it a rulenot to cash a cheque that is drawn payable

to order, unless the person presenting thecheque is known at the bank, or unless hesatisfies the paying teller that he is reallythe person to whom the money should bepaid It must be remembered however, that

a cheque drawn to order and then indorsed

in blank by the payee is really payable tobearer, and if the paying teller is satisfiedthat the payee's signature is genuine hewill not likely hesitate to cash the cheque

In England all cheques apparentlyproperly indorsed are paid withoutidentification

to insure payment to proper party.

In drawing a cheque in favour of a personnot likely to be well known in bankingcircles, write his address or his businessafter his name on the face of the cheque.For instance, if you should send a cheque