Business Hints for Men and Women

A >> Alfred Rochefort Calhoun >> Business Hints for Men and Women

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Emily Ratliff, Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks and the Online Distributed
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BUSINESS HINTS FOR MEN AND WOMEN

By A. R. CALHOUN

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I
COMMON SENSE FARMING
1. Wealth, Land and Labor. 2. Money. 3. Sources of Wealth. 4. The
Farmer, a Producer, and Seller. 5. Business Methods Essential.

CHAPTER II
DOCUMENTS YOU SHOULD UNDERSTAND
1. Deeds. 2. Abstracts of Title. 3. Parties to a deed.
4. Different deeds. 5. Making a deed. 6. Recording deeds.

CHAPTER III
FORMS OF DEEDS AND MORTGAGES
1. Trust deeds. 2. As to mortgages. 3. Mortgage forms.
4. Payments. 5. Assignments. 6. Redemption of mortgages. 7. Equity
of redemption.

CHAPTER IV
WILLS
1. Two kinds. 2. Limitations of wills. 3. How to make a will.
4. On executive duties. 5. Administrators. 6. Debts. 7. Final
settlement.

CHAPTER V
LETTER WRITING
1. Business letters. 2. The heading. 3. Forms. 4. The greeting. 5.
Body of letter. 6. Ending a letter. 7. Materials. 8. Letters of
introduction, etc.

CHAPTER VI
BILLS, RECEIPTS AND ACCOUNTS
1. Bills for goods. 2. Bills for labor. 3. Discounting bills.
4. Forms of receipts. 5. What is an order?

CHAPTER VII
WHO SHOULD KEEP ACCOUNTS?
1. An account with crops. 2. Workingman's account. 3. Other
records. 4. Copies.

CHAPTER VIII
AS TO BANKS
1. National banks. 2. Banks as lenders. 3. Interest on deposits.
4. Check and deposit banks. 5. How to draw a check.
6. Certificates of deposit. 7. Use of checks.

CHAPTER IX
SAVINGS BANKS
1. How business is conducted. 2. How to deposit. 3. How account
grows. 4. Limit of deposit. 5. How to draw money. 6. Savings bank
revenues.

CHAPTER X
NOTES--DRAFTS
1. Definition and illustration. 2. Days of grace. 3. Indorsing
notes. 4. Negotiable notes. 5. Joint notes. 6. Discounting notes.
7. Interest on notes. 8. Protests. 9. Notices. 10. Accommodations.
11. Lost notes. 12. Notes about notes.

CHAPTER XI
A DRAFT
1. To make a draft. 2. Forms. 3. For collection. 4. Dishonor.
5. Protests. 6. Buying drafts. 7. A good plan. 8. Good as cash.

CHAPTER XII
JUST MONEY
1. What is money? 2. United States money. 3. Metal money. 4. Paper
money. 5. Bank notes. 6. "Greenbacks." 7. Treasury certificates.
8. Worn-out notes.

CHAPTER XIII
OUR POSTAL BUSINESS
1. The department. 2. Rural free delivery. 3. Classified mail
matter. 4. Postal rules. 5. Foreign rates. 6. Stamps. 7. Postal
cards. 8. Registering letters. 9. Special delivery. 10. Money
orders. 11. Cashing P.O. orders. 12. Advice.

CHAPTER XIV
TELEGRAMS--THE TELEPHONE
1. Description. 2. Directions. 3. Charges. 4. Telegraphing money.
5. The method. 6. The telephone.

CHAPTER XV
BUSINESS BY EXPRESS
1. Two kinds. 2. Instructions. 3. The company's duty.
4. Collections by express. 5. C. 0. D. by express. 6. Money by
express. 7. Money orders.

CHAPTER XVI
ABOUT RAILROADS
1. Bills of lading. 2. Express bills. 3. A bill and a draft.
4. Some forms.

CHAPTER XVII
TAXES
1. Definition. 2. Kinds of taxes. 3. Customs duty. 4. Internal
revenue. 5. Stamps. 6. State taxes. 7. Exempt from taxes.
8. Insufficient taxes. 9. Personal property. 10. Town taxes.
11. Payments. 12. Corporation taxes. 13. Taxes in general. 13. The
returns.

CHAPTER XVIII
CONTRACTS--LEASES--GUARANTEES
1. Requisites to a contract. 2. The consideration. 3. Written and
verbal contracts. 4. Forms of contract. 5. Kinds of contract. 6. A
lease. 7. As to repairs. 8. Sub-letting. 9. What is a guaranty?
10. A bill of sale 11. Obligations.

CHAPTER XIX
LIFE INSURANCE
1. A definition. 2. How it is done. 3. As an investment. 4. Forms
of life insurance. 5. Mutual insurance. 6. Amount of policies.
7. Policies as security. 8. Lapses. 9. Proprietary companies.

CHAPTER XX
INSURANCE--FIRE--ACCIDENT
1. Like a gambling risk. 2. What is fire insurance? 3. Premiums.
4. Collecting. 5. Insurable property. 6. Mutual companies.
7. Stock companies. 8. Accident insurance.

CHAPTER XXI
PARTNERSHIPS
1. Defined. 2. Prepare and sign. 3. Silent partners. 4. Nominal
partners. 5. Liability. 6. How to dissolve. 7. Notice necessary.
8. A form.

CHAPTER XXII
INVESTMENTS
1. What is an investment? 2. Savings. 3. Capitalists.
4. Stockholders. 5. Kinds of stocks.

CHAPTER XXIII
BONDS AS INVESTMENTS
1. As to bonds. 2. Sorts of bonds. 3. Railroad bonds. 4. Buying
bonds. 5. Requisite in a bond.

CHAPTER XXIV
THINGS TO REMEMBER
1. Don't deceive yourself. 2. Be sure you are not losing.
3. Weeding out old stock. 4. Dropping worthless accounts. 5. Let
your wife know. 6. Children and business. 7. Farmers' sons.

CHAPTER XXV
WORTH KNOWING
1. How title is acquired. 2. Over-generosity. 3. Care of wills.
4. Care of all papers. 5. Checks and stubs. 6. Sending away money.
7. Lost in mails. 8. More about notes.

CHAPTER XXVI
LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP
1. As to receipts. 2. Notes in bank. 3. Well to know.
4. Discharging liens. 5. Prompt but not too prompt. 6. Be in no
haste to invest. 7. Meet dues promptly. 8. Counting money.
9. Ready money. 10. In traveling.

CHAPTER XXVII
CONTRACTIONS AND SIGNS
1. An alphabetical arrangement.

CHAPTER XXVIII
WORDS AND PHRASES USED
1. Defined and alphabetically arranged.

INTRODUCTION

What is a good business man? "The rich man," you may answer. No,
the good business man is the man who knows business.

Are you a good business man?

"Up to the average," you say.

Well, what do you know of business laws and rules, outside your
present circle of routine work?

Now, this handy little volume is a condensation of the rules and
the laws which every man, from the day laborer to the banker,
should be familiar with.

We have not put in everything about business, for that would
require a library, instead of a book that can be read in a short
day, and be consulted for its special information at any time.

It isn't a question of the price of the book to you, or of the
profit to the publisher. Is it good?

Many a man has failed because he did not know the rules and laws
herein given.

Never a man has won honestly who did not carry out these rules and
laws.

CHAPTER I

COMMON SENSE FARMING

The three things essential to all wealth production are land,
labor, and capital.

"The dry land" was created before there appeared the man, the
laborer, to work it. With his bare hands the worker could have
done nothing with the land either as a grazer, a farmer or a
miner. From the very first he needed capital, that is, the tools
to work the land.

The first tool may have been a pole, one end hardened in the fire,
or a combined hoe and axe, made by fastening with wythes, a
suitable stone to the end of a stick; but no matter the kind of
tool, or the means of producing it, it represented capital, and
the man who owned this tool was a capitalist as compared with the
man without any such appliance.

From the land, with the aid of labor and capital, comes wealth,
which in a broad way may be defined as something having an
exchangeable value.

Before the appearance of money all wealth changed hands through
barter. The wealth in the world to-day is immeasurably greater
than all the money in it. The business of the world, particularly
between nations, is still carried on through exchange, the
balances being settled by money.

Money is a medium of exchange, and should not be confounded with
wealth or capital; the latter is that form of wealth which is used
with labor in all production.

Broadly speaking, wealth is of two kinds, dormant and active. The
former awaits the development of labor and capital, the latter is
the product of both.

Labor is human effort, in any form, used for the production of
wealth. It is of two kinds--skilled and unskilled. The former may
be wholly mental, the latter may be wholly manual.

The successful farmer must be a skilled laborer, no matter the
amount of his manual work. The unskilled farmer can never succeed
largely, no matter how hard he works.

Trained hands with trained brains are irresistible.

Too many farmers live in the ruts cut by their great-great-
grandfathers. They still balance the corn in the sack with a
stone.

Farming is the world's greatest industry. All the ships might be
docked, all the factory wheels stopped, and all the railroads
turned to streaks of rust, and still the race would survive, but
let the plow lie idle for a year and man would perish as when the
deluge swept the mountain tops.

The next census will show considerably over 6,000,000 farms in the
United States. Farming is the greatest of all industries, as it is
the most essential. Our Government has wisely made the head of the
Department of Agriculture a cabinet officer, and the effect on our
farming interest is shown in improved methods and a larger output
of better quality.

The hap-hazard, unskilled methods of the past are disappearing.
Science is lending her aid to the tiller of the soil, and the wise
ones are reaching out their hands in welcome.

BUSINESS METHODS NEEDED

As farming is our principal business, it follows that those who
conduct this vast and varied enterprise should be business men.

The farmer is a producer of goods, and so might be regarded as a
manufacturer,--the original meaning of the word is one who makes
things by hand. He is also a seller of his own products, and a
purchaser of the products of others, so that, to some extent, he
may also be regarded as a trader or merchant.

Enterprise and business skill are the requisites of the
manufacturer and merchant. Can the farmer succeed without them?

No business can prosper without method, economy, and industry
intelligently applied.

No man works harder the year round than does the American farmer,
yet too many are going back instead of advancing. In such cases it
will be found that there is enough hard work for better results,
and that the cause of failure is that the industry has not been
properly applied, and that economy has had no consideration.

Economy does not mean niggardliness, or a determination to get
along without tools that your neighbor has purchased. A neglect to
secure the best tool needed might be classed as an extravagance, a
waste, if the tool in question could have added to the quality and
quantity of the output, without the expenditure of more labor.

Business common-sense is taking the place of old-fashioned
conservatism and scientific methods are no longer sneered at as
"book-farming."

CHAPTER II

DOCUMENTS EVERY FARMER SHOULD UNDERSTAND

All property implies an owner. Property is of two kinds, real and
personal. The former is permanent and fixed, the latter can be
moved.

Every occupant of realty holds it through a deed, which carries
with it sole ownership, or through a lease which carries with it
the right to occupation and use in accordance with the conditions
as to time and the amount to be paid, set forth in the written
instrument.

A deed carries with it sole ownership, a lease covers the right of
use for a fixed period.

AS TO DEEDS

The purchaser of real estate, say a farm, should receive, from the
person selling the property, a written instrument, or conveyance
known as a deed.

The deed must show clearly that the title to or interest in the
property has been transferred from the seller to the buyer.

Before the deed is signed and delivered, the buyer should know
that he is getting a clear title to the property described in the
conveyance.

In order to insure the accuracy of the title and thus avoid
subsequent complications and perhaps lawsuits, the paper should be
submitted to some good lawyer, or other person acquainted with
real estate law and the methods by which titles are traced from
the first owner to the present possessor.

TITLE ABSTRACTS

In all the great business centers of the United States there are
Title Guarantee Companies, who for a consideration--to be paid by
the seller--furnish an abstract of title, and insure its validity.

In smaller places the local lawyers know how to make up an
abstract and one should be employed. Never trust the search of the
inexperienced.

An abstract of title is a memorandum taken from the records of the
office where deeds are recorded, and showing the history of the
title from the Government up to the present time.

The seller should furnish the buyer with a certificate from the
proper county officer, showing whether or not all taxes have been
paid up to the last assessment.

In addition to this, before the money is paid and the deed
accepted, the purchaser should be satisfied that there are no
mortgages, liens, attachments or other claims against the
property.

If such claims exist and are known to the buyer, he may assume
them as a condition of the sale.

PARTIES TO A DEED

The person selling the land and making the deed is known in law as
the Grantor. The person buying the property is known as the
Grantee.

A deed is a form of contract, and in order to have its terms and
statements binding on the maker, he must be twenty-one years of
age, or over, and he must be of sound mind.

The grantee need not be twenty-one, nor of sound mind in order to
make the terms of the deed binding on the grantor.

In some states, if the grantor be a married man, his wife must
sign the deed with him. This should be seen to, for without the
wife's signature the grantee will not have a clear title, for the
woman could still claim an interest in the property equal to her
dower right.

Also, if the grantor is a woman, her husband, for the reasons
given, should join with her in the execution of the deed.

The preparation of a deed should not be left to the unskilled.

DIFFERENT DEEDS

There are three kinds of deeds, viz.: General warranty deeds,
special warranty deeds, and quit-claim deeds.

The general warranty deed, if it can be had, is the one every
purchaser should get.

In the general warranty deed the grantor agrees for himself, "his
heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns," that at the time
of making the deed he is lawfully in possession, "seized" is the
legal term, of the estate described in the deed, that it is free
from all incumbrance, and that he will warrant and defend the
grantee and his heirs and assigns against all claims whatsoever.

In the quit-claim deed the grantor conveys to the purchaser his
interest in or right to the property under consideration.

The quit-claim grantor does not guarantee the title to the
property, nor warrant the grantee against any other claims. He
simply, by the deed, quits his claim to the property.

The special warranty deed covenants and warrants only against the
acts of the grantor and those claiming title under him.

MAKING A DEED

After a deed is properly drawn, it is ready to be signed, sealed,
and delivered to the grantee.

If the wife of the grantor is to sign, her name should follow that
of her husband.

If one or both cannot write, the signature can be made in this
way:

His
George X Jones.
Mark.

Witness..............

In some states one or more witnesses are required to the signature
of the grantor; in others, witnesses are not necessary, except
where a "mark" is made.

An important part of a deed is the Acknowledgment. This is the act
of acknowledging before a notary public, justice or other official
properly qualified to administer an oath, that the signatures are
genuine and made voluntarily.

The acknowledgment having been taken, the official stamps the
paper with his seal and signs it.

In some states the law requires that a wax or paper seal be
attached to the paper, while in others a circular scroll, made
with the pen, with the letters "L.S." in the center answer the
purpose.

When the foregoing essentials are complied with the deed must be
delivered to the grantee. The delivery is essential, for without
it the deed is of no value, even though every other requisite be
complied with.

A deed may be made for land on which full payment has already been
acknowledged, but if the grantor dies before the deed is
delivered, then the deed has no legal value.

A deed obtained by fraud, deceit or compulsion is void.

RECORDING DEEDS

As soon as possible after the grantee has received the deed, he
should have it recorded.

In every county in the different states there is an officer, known
as register or recorder, whose duty it is to enter in regular
folios, or books, a copy of every deed or mortgage presented to
him. The document then becomes a part of the county records.

The grantee must pay the recording fees.

Anyone, on paying the fee for copying and certifying, can obtain a
copy of any document that has been recorded in a register's
office.

If an original deed is lost, the certified copy of the register
has all the legality of the original.

All deeds and other papers of value should be carefully kept, so
that they may be available, if needed.

A small safe deposit box with a company that keeps such spaces for
rent, is often a wise investment.

Keep all related papers in one package or envelope.

If there is one lawyer who attends to all your legal business, he
will be a good custodian of all papers of record, for he usually
has a fireproof safe.

CHAPTER III

OTHER FORMS OF DEEDS--MORTGAGES

There is one condition under which the grantor does not turn over
or deliver the deed to the grantee after it is made. This is known
as a Deed in Escrow.

A deed "delivered in escrow" is when the document is placed with a
third party to be by him delivered to the grantee when a certain
time has elapsed or certain conditions have been fulfilled.

When the conditions have been complied with, the deed is given by
its custodian to the grantee, which is as legal as if it were
given by the grantor in person.

TRUST DEEDS

A trust deed is the form used to convey property to some person
who is entitled to its proceeds or profits.

This form of deed is often used to secure the payment of a debt.
In some states they take the place of mortgages.

Where the trust deed is meant to take the place of a mortgage to
secure a debt payment, the property is deeded to a third party
known as a "trustee."

The trustee in this case is the agent for debtor and creditor, and
he must act impartially.

The trust deed specifies the character of the debt to be secured.
In case of failure to pay the debt as agreed on, the trustee may,
if so warranted, sell the property, and pay the obligation from
the proceeds.

The grantor in a trust deed, if not stipulated to the contrary, is
entitled to all the rents and profits of the property; for it
remains virtually his, until he has failed to fill his contract.

When the indebtedness secured by the trust deed has been paid, the
trustee must at once execute a paper known to law as a Release
Deed. When recorded this instrument discharges the lien.

AS TO MORTGAGES

Mortgages are of two kinds, real and chattel. The first is a lien
on real estate, the second on personal property.

A mortgage may be defined as a conveyance of property, personal or
real, as security for the payment of a debt, or it may be given as
a guarantee for the performance of some particular duty.

MORTGAGE FORMS

When a mortgage is given as security for the payment of a debt,
the rule is to give a note for the payment of the amount involved.
The mortgage becomes in this case the security for the note's
payment.

In the body of the note it must be stated that it is secured by
mortgage.

The date of the note and mortgage should be the same.

The man who mortgages his property is the mortgagor.

The man to whom the mortgage is given is the mortgagee.

The form of the mortgage is the same as that of a deed, except
that it contains a clause called the Defeasance, which states that
when the obligation has been met the document shall be void.

MORTGAGES MUST BE RECORDED

The forms for "signing, sealing and delivering" a mortgage, are
the same as with a deed.

A mortgage must be recorded the same as a deed, the mortgagee
paying the fees.

Chattel mortgages are filed and recorded in the same way, except
that it is not usual to make copies of the instrument. They are
described in books prepared for the purpose.

A wife need not join her husband in making the note secured by a
mortgage, but if she agrees to the transaction it is necessary for
her to sign the mortgage; however, some states do not require
this.

PAYMENTS

Often a life insurance policy is used as security for the payment
of a mortgage.

The mortgagee, if there be buildings on the property, should see
that the buildings are insured and that the policy or policies are
made out in his name.

If the insurance policy is in the mortgagor's name he may collect
and keep the insurance money.

The mortgagor must meet, as stipulated, every payment of the
principal and interest.

Failure to meet one payment can result in a legal foreclosure.

When a payment is made, the date and the amount must be entered on
the back of the note. This should be done in the presence of the
mortgagor.

If possible always pay the obligation by check.

If a payment is accepted on a mortgage and the amount is not
sufficient to meet the sum required, the interest is first settled
in full, the rest is credited to the principal.

When the full amount, with interest, is paid in, it becomes the
duty of the mortgagee to have the mortgage "discharged."

A complete settlement is when, all payments being made, the
mortgagee surrenders the note and its security, and causes to be
written by the register, on the margin of the copy in his books,
the words, "discharged," or "satisfied," affixing thereto his
official signature and the date.

ASSIGNMENTS

A mortgage is regarded in law as personal property.

A mortgage need not remain in the hands of the mortgagee in order
to be valid. It can be sold like bonds, stocks or other property,
and there are men who deal only in that form of security.

In order to sell a mortgage, the owner must make, to the
purchaser, what is known as an "assignment of mortgage."

The assignment should be recorded in the same way as the original
mortgage, the assignee paying the fee.

REDEMPTION OF MORTGAGES

While the rule as to the redemption of mortgages remains the same
in some localities that it formerly was, the law in most places is
now more lenient.

Now the mortgagor who has failed is usually given by law an
extension of time in which to make good the payment of principal
and interest.

Lenders, when the interest is met, are content to let the mortgage
run on as an investment, though it will often be found, in such
cases, that it is better to make a new mortgage.

EQUITY OF REDEMPTION

Where the payments on a mortgage have not been met and the
instrument has not been foreclosed, the mortgagor has still what
is known as an "equity of redemption."

In some states after the foreclosure of the mortgage and the sale
of the property there is still a period of redemption of from
sixty days to six years.

The mode of foreclosure differs in some states. The usual method
is to foreclose on an order from the court, and to have the sale
conducted by a court officer.

The proceeds from the sale are used to pay the principal,
interests and costs. If there is money left over it is paid to the
mortgagor, whose interests in the property are then at an end.

Many people, not familiar with business methods, are inclined to
regard a mortgage as something of a disgrace, when, as a matter of
fact it is a most usual and honorable means of raising money for
the securing of a home or the conducting of a business.

Nearly all of the great railroads of the country have been built
by the sale of the mortgage bonds, which are usually renewed when
due, and are sought out as a safe and sane form of investment.

The fact that a mortgage payment has to be met on a farm is often
in itself the strongest inducement to industry and economy.

CHAPTER IV

WILLS

Whether farmer, manufacturer, merchant or professional man, and
whether in youth, mid-age or declining years, every owner of
personal or real property, or both, should make a will.

If you have not made a will, get over the foolish notion that it
is a premonition of death, and do so at once.

A will is a written and signed declaration of the disposition one
wishes to have made of his property in the event of his death.

The maker of a valid will must be of sound mind and not less than
twenty-one years of age.

Women, whether married or single, if of proper age, are competent
to make a will.

OF TWO KINDS

A will may be written or unwritten.

Unwritten wills are known as "nun-cupative." Nun-cupative wills
are employed only when through accident, or sudden seizure by a
fatal disease, the time necessary to write and sign a will cannot
be had.

The unwritten will must be authenticated by reliable and
unprejudiced witnesses, and generally it can dispose of personal
property only.

In the written will no precise form is necessary, though when
drawn by a lawyer it usually begins with some such form as: "I,
George Brown, being of sound mind and good understanding, do make
and declare this to be my last will and testament", etc.

A will is not necessarily permanent. It may be cancelled or
changed in any way by the maker before his death, or a new will
can be made.

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