Hard times follow good times with unerring regularity and certainty;
this is in perfect accordance with the rule of compensation.
In good times we should prepare ourselves and erect strong guards
around our business, so that when hard times come we may find ourselves
able to go through the troublous times.
If prosperity ran on unchecked, the ordinary, well-established business
would soon be a thing of the past, for people would speculate instead
of work.
When the manufacturer has his bills paid and finds a surplus in the
bank, that surplus is likely to be turned into speculation. When
everyone speculates values rise, and continue to rise until prices
reach fictitious altitudes, and then comes about the cashing in. It so
happens that the cashing in is a general movement, and when this
happens hard times quickly follow.
The successful business man should keep his money where it is
get-at-able, and when hard times come and the prices go away down to
low water mark, then he should buy. Later on prosperity will return, as
sure as the sun will rise, and the things bought during the hard times
will greatly increase in value.
Hard times and prosperity rotate several times in a man's business
career.
Hard times are necessary to the general scheme, for with continuous
prosperity business would increase to such a momentum that there is no
telling what the results would be.
In times of prosperity you must make preparations for the hard times
that are sure to come. If your pumps are greater than your leaks, your
craft won't sink when the storm of adversity and hard times breaks
across your ship.