WORTH KNOWING
If things are said in this chapter that seem like a repetition of
things already told, it is that their importance warrants a
repetition in another form.
OVER-GENEROSITY
"There are no pockets in a shroud," it is said. True it is that we
cannot take material things with us to the other side of the
grave, and so before the end comes it is well to make preparations
for their disposition.
There are three ways of getting possession of property:
1. To have it given.
2. To earn it.
3. To steal it.
We shall not consider the last method; that is the business of the
law, but let us look at the first.
Property is given in two ways:
1. By direct gift from one to another.
2. By will, when the amount is payable on the death of the donor.
Of course, the widow and children, if there be any, are first to
be considered in either of the cases named.
Many people, when the end is nearing, think that it is better to
make sure that their wealth will reach the right hands by giving
it direct and at once.
Now, no matter the nobility of the motive that prompts such an
act, it is one which, on the whole, cannot be commended.
It is all very well to spend available means in order to set a son
or daughter up in business, but such sums, if there are other
heirs, should be charged against the share of the probable donee,
with interest, and a record made of the same.
Under no circumstances should old people, who, after raising a
family and living honorable lives, have saved enough to own their
home and secure an income for their declining years, deed or give
this property to their children, or to any one else, in
consideration of their having all their subsequent wants met.
The better way for the farmer, the merchant, or the manufacturer,
when he feels the years pressing heavily and that he can no longer
attend properly to the old demands on him, is to shift by a
properly drawn contract the business management of the enterprise
to his children, or to those whom he wishes to place in charge.
In this way the ownership is not changed, and if the new
management should prove to be inefficient, it can be placed in
more efficient hands.
CARE OF WILLS
As has been said, every person having property of any kind to
dispose of should make a will.
Already ways have been given as to how wills should be made and
estates administered, but to these it may be well to add another
point.
Do not imagine that the making of a will shortens life.
Too often, after the demise of a testator who it is known has made
a will, the heirs cannot find the document, and the lawyer who
drew it knows nothing more about it.
Many men leave their wills with their lawyers. If this should not
be done, then it would be well to keep it in the safe of the bank
in which the testator has his account.
But whether in these places or another, there should be no doubt
as to the existence of a will, or the place in which it may be
found.
Only the last will should be kept; all preceding wills should be
destroyed.
CARE OF PAPERS
While writing about the care of wills, we are struck with the
recollection that wills are not the only papers of value that are
apt to be mislaid or lost.
Never pay out money without taking a receipt, and never receive
money without giving one.
You are not responsible for the care of the receipts you give, but
you certainly are for the receipts you receive.
The trained business man has a place for everything, but there is
no reason why the man not so well trained should have to turn his
shop or his home upside down every time he wants a paper that
proves he has paid a bill, which he must pay again if that receipt
is lost.
Everything may be regarded as "lost" that cannot be found, even if
you are sure "it is about somewhere."
No valuable paper should be "about." The only place for it is just
where you can lay your hand on it when wanted.
In addition to keeping your papers where they can be found the
instant they are wanted, see to it that every paper is self-
explanatory and clear of meaning on the face of it.
CHECKS AND STUBS
It has been advised that the stub be always filled out before the
check, and that the check be then copied from the stub. This
course will greatly lessen the chances of disagreement between the
two.
When the last check in the book has been filled and torn out, do
not throw away the stubs. They contain important data and may be
of use in proving payment should a question arise.
In like manner, never destroy the cancelled checks handed you by
the cashier when your bank account has been balanced. Each of
these checks, if drawn to order as it should be, is a receipt, a
voucher, for some payment that may possibly be demanded again.
Be on the safe side.
SENDING AWAY MONEY
It may be well to repeat again, in more condensed form, just how
money may be safely sent to a distance.
1. By bank draft, payable to your order and endorsed over to the
person whom you wish to pay. The party receiving the draft must
endorse it before he can collect, and this endorsement is a
receipt for the money, as the cancelled draft must eventually come
into your possession.
2. You can buy an express order up to fifty dollars, but you may
send money in a package to any amount. Only banks or large dealers
in money do this. Like the bank draft, the express order must be
endorsed by the receiver, and the express company returns it to
you, when it becomes a receipt.
3. By post office orders, up to one hundred dollars.
4. By postal notes, in small amounts.
5. By telegraph.
6. By transmitting a personal check.
7. By a trusted messenger authorized to get a receipt.
The bank draft is the very best way of transmitting money.
As has been said, drafts can be bought at any bank, and they
should always be made payable to your order.
You want to pay a bill of goods to Lloyd, Smith and Company, New
York, so you sign on the back of your draft for the amount:
Pay to the order of
Lloyd, Smith and Company,
Henry C. Robbins.
Lloyd, Smith and Company must endorse the draft before it can be
cashed. The draft, after payment, is returned to you, and it
becomes the best form of receipt.
LOST IN MAILS
Were you ever at the Dead Letter Office in Washington? If you have
never paid such a visit, you can form no conception of the tons,
the hundreds of thousands of letters and parcels that are lost
every year in the mails.
Unaccounted for drafts, checks, postal orders, books, jewelry,
medicine, everything, indeed, that the mails will agree to carry,
may be found piled in that cemetery of lost communications, the
Dead Letter Office.
Have you added to the mortuary list?
All these deaths, like many of living creatures, are due to
carelessness.
As a rule, the sender is to blame. He has misdirected. He has
placed papers not properly folded in the envelope and then
neglected to seal it. He has neglected to write any address at
all, and dropped the letter into the box. Again he has addressed
the parcel, but neither men nor angels can decipher the writing.
MORE ABOUT NOTES
The note, as has been said, is one of the most usual forms of
obligation, yet misunderstandings often arise as to its
settlement.
Here are the points that must be attended to, nor shall we offer
any excuse for repeating them collectively:
1. The date and amount must be so plainly written as to leave no
doubt as to either.
2. The rate of interest, if any, must be clearly expressed.
3. The post office address of the signer or signees must be
written opposite the name.
4. The note should be made payable at a definite place and on a
definite date.
5. In taking a note or other obligation from a person who cannot
write, be sure to have his "x" mark witnessed.
Should you receipt certificates of stock as security for the
payment of a note, or the payment of any other debt, be sure to
notify the company issuing them.
In giving this notice, which should be done at once, state clearly
the number of shares you hold, the number of the certificates and
to whom issued.
The enforcement of this rule will depend altogether on the
character of the person with whom you are dealing.
Never, if you can help it, buy a past due note, especially if it
is not secured by a mortgage.
If a note, which a third party has endorsed, becomes due, never
agree to an extension of time without getting the written consent
of the endorser.
Many men have lost through their ignorance of this essential
transaction.