firm name used in (1)]. Gentlemen I have just returned
from an extended trip through (the district spoken of
above) with reference to the forty acres I purchased
from you I desire to say that I am convinced that it
will prove a paying investment I am so pleased that I
shall certainly try to induce several of my friends to
purchase near my site while on the property I
carefully inspected the farm worked by Mr S R Jackson
I must say what he is accomplishing the immense crop
of vegetables and fruit he is marketing amazed me no
doubt what he is doing I may do for I made sure by
careful examination that the soil on my land is
exactly like his you may depend upon it that within
the next two months I shall move my family upon the
land for I am eager to develop it sincerely yours F W
Farrell
What advantage would there be in including such a letter as (2) in the
booklet spoken of in (1)?
3. To prove the possibilities of the land spoken of in (1), you intend
to start a model farm. Advertise for a farmer. Your plan is to give him
60 acres to develop for himself, in return for which he shall
demonstrate the possibilities of the land.
4. Write a letter applying for the position. You must have farming
experience, some money, a knowledge of crops, and a good deal of
enthusiasm.
5. Write an advertisement of your land for a big newspaper. Exploit its
most striking features, especially the price. Study such advertisements
before you write yours.
6. Reproduce a letter you received in answer to (5), asking for more
information concerning the lands.
7. Write the reply to (6). Say you are enclosing the booklet spoken of
in (1); tell of the model farm being established (3); and induce the
inquirer to become a purchaser.
8. Prepare a series of three follow-up letters to be sent out to
prospective purchasers who write as in (6) but who do not answer your
letter in (7). Make each letter set forth one of the following
advantages of buying a piece of your land: (1) The profits from the
crops are large; (2) The conditions are ideal--mention climate, water,
neighbors, transportation; (3) It is a good investment, since the land
will certainly rise in value--tell of other land in the neighborhood
that has risen in value within the last year. Arrange the letters in the
order that you think will be most effective.
=Exercise 298=
Topics for Investigation and Discussion
1. The cause of changes in city real estate values.
2. The price of downtown property in your town.
3. The rise in property values in the last few years.
4. The causes of the rise.
5. Stove heated or steam heated property--which is the
better income producer?
6. The Mortgage.--(_a_) Why people mortgage their
property; (_b_) Why people loan money on mortgages.
7. The increase in the total value of farm lands
during the last ten years.
8. The decrease in the value of farm lands in the
East.
9. The reasons for the growth of the West.
10. Will the South be a new West?
11. The reclamation of swamp lands.
12. The success of irrigation.
=Exercise 299--Insurance=
An exposition of the subject of insurance is hardly in place here,
especially as every one, to a certain extent at least, is acquainted
with the fundamental reasons why insurance is purchased. The questions
below should be used as a rudimentary review that will prepare for the
letters that follow.
_Oral_
1. What is the object of insurance?
2. What is meant by a policy?
3. By the premium?
4. By the beneficiary?
5. By life insurance?
6. By fire insurance?
7. By accident insurance?
8. By marine insurance?
9. What is the difference between a straight life and
a 20 year endowment policy?
10. Between the above and a 20 year pay policy?
11. Between the above and a term policy?
12. Why is it that the mortgagee, and not the owner,
holds the fire insurance policy? Why must the amount
of insurance equal or exceed the amount of the
mortgage?
_Written_
1. You are an insurance agent. A man came to your
office to-day to inquire about a life insurance
policy. Write him a letter, repeating what you told
him, advocating his taking out a straight life policy.
2. A new building has just been erected in your
neighborhood. Write to the owner, soliciting him to
let you write the fire insurance policy.
3. Write to a man who rides downtown on the train
every day. Convince him that he needs to take out an
accident insurance policy. Point out that the premium
is only $25 a year. If the man is injured he will
receive $25 weekly; if he is killed by accident, his
beneficiary will receive $5,000; if he is killed on a
train or in an elevator, $10,000.
4. Write to one of your clients, informing him that
the premium on his life insurance policy falls due in
ten days.
5. Write to another of your clients, informing him
that the insurance on his property runs out in ten
days. Inform him that, if he wishes the policy
renewed, he should let you know at once and remit the
premium.
6. From the client mentioned in (5) you receive a
letter in which he explains that the paint store which
formerly adjoined his property has been replaced by a
grocery. He would like a new policy at a lower rate.
Reproduce the letter. A paint store is insured at the
highest, or hazard, rate. The rate on property
adjoining a paint store would also be very high.
7. You investigate the matter and find that the facts
are as stated in (6). Write your client, offering him
a rate of 1½% and enclosing a bill for $45.
8. He replies that, since the risk of fire is now so
much less, he wishes to take only $2,000 worth of
insurance. He asks you to write such a policy, and he
encloses his check for $30. Write the letter.
9. A man writes to you, saying that he wishes to take
out an endowment policy for his fifteen year old
daughter, who has already been examined. He wishes to
give the insurance to her as a birthday present. He
encloses a check for the premium and asks you to send
the contract to her on her birthday (Name the date).
Write the father's letter.
10. Write a letter to accompany the birthday present.
Remember you do not know the daughter.
=Exercise 300=
Write the following from dictation:
1
MUST REFORM OUR FARMING
The average yield of wheat in the United States for
the five years ending in 1910 was eight-tenths of a
bushel per acre more than in the five years ending in
1905, but it was less than four-tenths of a bushel
more than for the ten ending in 1900. The average corn
product for the ten years ending in 1910 was a little
less than for the ten years ending in 1875.
Thirty-five years had not advanced us a step. European
countries--Great Britain, France, Germany--with
inferior soils and less favorable climate produce
crops practically double our own. In our studies of
conservation we find no waste comparable, either in
magnitude or importance, to this. The farm will fail,
and the foundations of our prosperity be undermined,
unless agriculture is reformed. The percentage of our
people actively engaged in farming had fallen from
47.36 in 1870 to an estimated 32 in 1910. Every man on
the farm to-day must produce food for two mouths
against one forty years ago.
--_J. J. Hill._
2
THE FARMING SPECIALS
One of the latest and most successful activities of
the railroads is the practice of carrying knowledge of
the best farming methods to the farmers by means of
special trains equipped like agricultural colleges.
These trains, bearing experts and all the equipment
for exhibiting the new methods of agriculture, bring
the knowledge to the farmers free, and the railroads
are glad to give it, for every bit of knowledge comes
back to them in a hundred fold profit in freight. In
the summer eager audiences all over the country listen
to the preaching of better methods and larger crops.
Dozens of special trains travel through the
agricultural regions disseminating information. The
"Breakfast Bacon Special" has been run to encourage
Iowa farmers to raise more hogs to take advantage of
the high price of bacon. The Cotton Belt Route
southwest of St. Louis runs the "Squealer Special" to
prove to the Arkansas and Panhandle farmers the
money-making advantages of blooded hogs over the
razor-back variety. Down the Mississippi Valley the
Illinois Central sends the "Boll Weevil Special" to
conduct a campaign against that pest. The Harriman
lines have six trains operating in California every
year. In one year they visited more than seventy-five
thousand people. Better farming specials run in
practically every state south of the Ohio and Potomac
and west of the Mississippi. The New York Central also
has two trains in operation in New York.--_The
Business Almanac._
3
A large proportion of farmers give little or no
attention to the selection of seed; yet it has been
demonstrated that a careful selection would add
hundreds of millions of dollars to the total value of
the crops. If, for example, a variety of wheat were
developed capable of producing one more kernel to the
head, it would mean an addition, so Burbank says, of
15,000,000 bushels to our average wheat crop. It is
possible, however, to do even more than this. At the
Minnesota station a variety, selected for ten years
according to a definite principle, yielded twenty-five
per cent more than the parent variety. Applied to our
average crop, that increase would amount to
185,000,000 bushels, worth about $140,000,000. As for
corn, it has been officially stated that our average
yield could easily be doubled. After exhaustive
experiments the Department of Agriculture says that by
merely testing individual ears of seed corn and
rejecting those of low vitality an average yield of
nearly fourteen per cent could be secured, adding
about $200,000,000 to the value of the crop. Does
scientific seed selection seem worth while?--_The Wall
Street Journal._
CHAPTER XX
BANKING
IMAGINE that you are a druggist in a small town. Suppose that a woman
comes in to buy two ounces of camphor and in exchange gives you three
eggs. In a few moments, perhaps, a man enters to buy a safety razor and
brings with him wheat enough to pay the bill. Another, again, wishes to
trade a turkey for a fountain pen. You can readily see the inconvenience
to which you would be put in such exchange of actual commodities; yet
this was the method used in primitive times, a method called _barter_.
To overcome the inconvenience of barter, as civilization advanced, it
became necessary to establish a common medium of exchange, which could
be accepted for anything one had to sell and with which one could buy
anything he wished. This is what we call _money_. To meet the
requirements, money must not be bulky, must be durable, and must not
readily change in value. In civilized countries gold and silver are the
bases of exchange.
But gold and silver are heavy and inconvenient to carry about in large,
or for that matter in small, quantities, and for convenience the
following kinds of paper money have been established:
1. _Gold Certificates_ are issued with the government's guarantee that
there is gold deposited in the Treasury equal to the amount of the face
of the bill. At any time the one holding such a bill may demand of the
Treasury that he receive gold for it.
2. _Silver Certificates_ are similar to gold certificates, except that
silver is deposited in the Treasury instead of gold.
3. _United States Treasury Notes_ are promissory notes of the government
to pay the sum indicated. They are not payable on demand.
4. _National Bank Notes_ are promissory notes issued by the national
banks and are payable on demand of the bearer. Before a national bank
may issue such notes, it must own United States government bonds of at
least the amount for which it issues notes. These bonds are held by the
Treasurer of the United States as security that the bank will pay its
notes. According to the Owen Glass Bill, passed in December of 1913,
national bank notes may at the option of the banks be gradually
withdrawn from circulation.
Credit
_Credit_ is a promise to pay at some future time for a thing which you
receive now. Its use is probably as old as the practice of exchange and
quite as important. The simplest and most extensive form of credit is
"book" credit, such as you get at the grocer's or butcher's or at the
department store. To explain a little more complex kind of credit:
Suppose you owe Smith one hundred dollars. At the same time Smith owes
Jones one hundred dollars. Because you owe Smith, he may give Jones an
order to collect the money from you. With this order Jones may pay his
lawyer, let us say. Perhaps the lawyer has bought a bill of goods from
you. He pays you with the same order. You destroy the "note," and thus
four actual transactions have been taken care of without the use of any
money. The business institution which deals especially with credits is
the bank.
Banks
A bank which fulfills every banking function must have these three
departments: (1) the commercial department, (2) the savings department,
(3) the trust department. Some institutions specialize in one department
more than in either of the others, and thus, taking the name from their
principal function, banks are known as follows: (i) commercial banks or
banks of deposit, (2) savings banks, (3) trust companies.
Banks of Deposit
[Illustration]
Banks of deposit or commercial banks are business men's banks. Their two
principal functions are (1) receiving money for safe-keeping on deposit,
and (2) loaning money to business men at interest. The deposit function
is based on confidence and credit. The business man takes his money to
the bank not only because it is convenient for him to do so, but also
because he has confidence that the money will be more carefully
protected than if he kept it in his own possession. In depositing his
money in the bank, the business man uses a _deposit slip_ such as the
one illustrated here. The teller puts down the amount in the _bank book_
of the depositor, who is credited with that amount on the bank's books.
He is entitled to draw just that much actual cash or that much credit in
the form of _checks_. (See page 339.) Most firms do not deposit a sum of
money and then promptly draw it out again in the form of checks to pay
current liabilities, but maintain a fairly steady balance in the bank.
On large average monthly balances most banks allow interest, varying
from one per cent on balances of one thousand dollars to three per cent
on balances of ten thousand dollars or more.
Discount
Because a large bank has many depositors, the aggregate of all the
balances makes a considerable sum of money. Bankers have learned by
experience just what proportion of their deposits they can depend on to
remain steadily on deposit as a balance, and thus they know what
proportion of their deposits it is safe to use for the purpose of
_discount_. The simplest case of the discount function is the discount
of a promissory note. In the note shown in the illustration after ninety
days John H. Blodgett will receive from Lucius Thomas five hundred
dollars with interest. But perhaps Blodgett cannot wait ninety days for
his money. In this case, he takes the note to his banker, who will pay
him the five hundred dollars less a certain percentage or discount,
which is the bank's profit on the transaction. The bank then collects
the note when it becomes due.
[Illustration: PROMISSORY NOTE]
Collateral
Instead of cashing a note held by one of its customers, the bank may
itself loan money at interest for a short period of thirty, sixty, or
ninety days, taking the note of the business man to whom the money is
loaned. In most cases, however, unless the bank knows the business man
well, a certain amount of _collateral_ is demanded as an assurance that
the borrower will pay the loan when it becomes due. The amount of
collateral deposited with the bank is usually 10% to 25% in excess of
the amount loaned, and it may take the form of stocks or bonds;
mortgages on real estate; liens on stock, fixtures, or personal
property; or warehouse receipts. When the amount borrowed is paid, the
collateral is returned; if it is not paid within a reasonable time, the
collateral is sold, and the amount loaned, with interest to date, is
taken from the proceeds.
There are, of course, other functions of banks of deposit practised
quite generally by all banks, and these will be explained later. The
functions just described, however, distinguish banks of deposit in a
general way from the other two classes.
Savings Banks
A savings bank accepts from its depositors small amounts of money which
are not subject to withdrawal by check, but on which it pays a low rate
of interest. As a general rule, an account may be opened with one
dollar; and when the initial deposit is made, the depositor is furnished
with a pass book, similar to the bank book, in which further deposits,
interest credits, and withdrawals are recorded. Interest is compounded
every four or six months, and money must, as a general rule, remain on
deposit until an interest payment date before the depositor receives any
interest on it. The usual rate of interest is three per cent, although
four is often paid. Frequently, before banks allow deposits to be
withdrawn, they demand a certain number of days' notice, usually thirty.
It is well to investigate the conditions under which the depositor
places his money in the safe-keeping of the bank, because the withdrawal
requirements are often stringent. Because of the stability of this
class of deposit, banks are always anxious to increase their savings
accounts, as a large proportion of the funds may be used for loans.
A form of the savings bank established in the United States in 1911 is
the postal savings bank, in which the post-office is made the depository
for savings. The post-office in the town deposits its funds in the local
national or state bank, which, as security for safe-keeping, must
deposit with the Treasurer of the United States bonds at least equal in
value to the amount of savings deposited in the bank. Postal savings
banks are practically absolutely safe, because, if the bank which takes
care of the funds should fail, the bonds may be sold, so that the savers
will receive their money. From deposits made in the postal savings bank,
the return to the depositor is only two per cent, whereas the return
from deposits made in the bank's own savings department is three, three
and a half, and sometimes four per cent.
Trust Companies
_The Richards' Baby Stocking Fund_
A miner named Richards was killed in an accident in an
Alaska mine. Among his possessions were found a number
of letters and a baby stocking containing a little
gold dust. The letters told that Richards had a little
six-year-old daughter, who was now left destitute. The
rough miners made up a fund of $2,500 in gold dust,
depositing it with the United States Commissioner of
the Territory of Alaska, to be held by him until the
proper disposition of it could be made. A committee
was appointed, who agreed that one hundred dollars a
year for ten years should be used to give the child a
common school education, and then five hundred dollars
each year to give her a college education. A legal
guardian was appointed, and the Kansas City Trust
Company asked to act as co-guardian to invest the
money and make the required remittances. The funds
were first deposited by the commissioner in a bank in
Portland, which sent them to the Kansas City Trust
Company. Correspondence was of course carried on at
the same time, the Kansas City Trust Company agreeing
to accept the trust without remuneration. They have
invested the money in five per cent bonds, thus
increasing the fund yearly.
This is called a _trust_ because the money is entrusted for safe-keeping
and investment to the bank, which is called the _trustee_. A bank may
also become the trustee for property left at the death of a person, both
when there is a will and when there is none. When there is no will and
the bank takes charge of the affairs of the deceased, the bank is called
the _administrator_; when there is a will, the _executor_. Another
important function of the trust company is acting as _receiver_ for a
company which has failed; that is, adjusting the company's affairs in
the way fairest both to the stockholders and to the company's creditors.
The trust company often acts, also, as _agent_ for its clients'
property, performing the same duties as a real estate agent.
Form of Remittance
Banks as a class are distinguished one from the other according as they
specialize in one or more of the functions described above. However,
there are certain services that all banks perform and certain facilities
that they all offer in connection with the payment of money from one
person to another. These concern the forms of remittance.
If you have studied business arithmetic or bookkeeping, you very likely
know the definite forms that are used. At all events, you know that
currency should never go through the mails. The following is a brief
review of the more important forms that may be used. Study the
illustrations carefully, noticing particularly the similarity of form in
all. Uniformity in such matters is desirable because it saves time as
well as misunderstandings. The forms we shall consider are:
1. The check
_a._ Personal
_b._ Certified
2. The money order
_a._ Express
_b._ Postal
3. The bank draft
4. The time draft
5. The sight draft
_Check._--A check is a written order on a bank, signed by a depositor,
directing the bank to pay a certain person a certain sum of money. When
the bank pays the order, it deducts the amount from the depositor's
account. The one who signs the check is called the _drawer_ or maker;
the person to whom or to whose order a check is made payable is called
the _payee_; the bank on which a check is drawn is called the _drawee_.
[Illustration: CHECK AND STUB]
Of course, before you could write a check for one hundred dollars, you
must have deposited at least one hundred dollars in the bank on which
the check is drawn. The bank supplies you with a check book, consisting
of blank checks, each attached to a stub. When you write a check, you
put the same information on the stub to be kept for reference. Then you
tear off the check through the perforated line, using it to pay for
whatever you may have purchased.
_Certified Check._--Suppose, however, that you are writing this check to
pay a debt to a stranger who lives in another city. He may hesitate to
accept it as money. That he may have no cause to doubt your ability to
pay the check, you take it to your bank to have the cashier investigate
your account. If he finds that you have sufficient funds, he writes or
stamps _Accepted_ or _Certified_ on the check and signs his name. At the
same time the amount of the check is deducted from your account. Such a
check is accepted without question when the holder is properly
identified.
_Endorsement._--If A gives you his check for twenty-five dollars, you
could not receive the money until you had endorsed the check; that is,
put your name on the back, which is, in effect, giving a receipt for the
money. You may do this in various ways. You may endorse:
1. In blank; that is, merely write your name across
the back.
2. In full, by saying, "Pay to the order of ----" and
signing your name.
3. By restricting the payment to a particular person;
as, "Pay to ----" This check cannot now be cashed by
anyone except the one named in the endorsement.
[Illustration: EXPRESS MONEY ORDER]
_Express Money Order._--An express money order is much like a check,
except that it is drawn on an express company instead of on a bank and
reads, for example: Continental Express Company agrees to transmit and
pay to the order of ---- (the one to whom you are sending the money)
---- (the amount). The order is signed by the treasurer of the company
and countersigned by the agent who sells it. You can buy such an order
at any express office. It may be endorsed like a check.
[Illustration: POSTAL MONEY ORDER]
_Postal Money Order._--The other form of money order, the postal, is an
agreement signed by the postmaster of one city that the postmaster of
another city will pay the amount of money named in the order to the
person named in the order.
_Bank Draft._--A bank draft is very much like a check, except that
instead of two individuals dealing with each other two banks conduct the
transaction, their places of business being in different cities or
villages. A bank draft is sometimes called a bank check, because in the
case of both a draft and a check one party draws upon another with whom
the first has funds deposited. As a general rule, banks and business
houses require that remittances be sent to them by drafts drawn on New
York or Chicago banks, as there is a charge called _exchange_ made in
the collection of checks drawn on local banks.
In the draft that follows, the State Bank of Utah, of which Henry T.
McEwan is Assistant Cashier, makes out the draft. The bank which is
ordered to pay the money is the National Park Bank of New York. The
money is to be paid to Henry L. Fowler. The State Bank of Utah is called
the drawer; the National Park Bank of New York, on whom the draft is
drawn, is the drawee; Henry L. Fowler is the payee.
[Illustration: BANK DRAFT]
[Illustration: ENDORSEMENT]
The payment indicated above was probably made without actually sending
the money from Salt Lake City to New York. It was done in this way:
Henry L. Fowler of Salt Lake City owes one hundred dollars to a man
living in an Eastern city, let us say Charles Emery of Rochester, N. Y.
Mr. Fowler goes to the State Bank of Utah in Salt Lake City and "buys a
draft on New York," made payable to himself. The bank makes out the
above, charging Mr. Fowler one hundred dollars plus a fraction of one
per cent for its trouble. Mr. Fowler endorses it in full to Mr. Emery of
Rochester and sends the draft to the latter. He has the draft made
payable to himself so that the endorsement will constitute a full
record of the transaction. Mr. Emery takes the draft to his own bank in
Rochester, endorses it in blank, and receives the one hundred dollars.
Thus Mr. Fowler has paid out the money and Mr. Emery has received it.
The way the banks conduct the transaction is as follows: There are
certain big money centers in the country; e.g., New York, Chicago, St.
Louis, San Francisco. Important banks in other places have money on
deposit in at least one bank in each of these centers. The banks which
thus deal with one another are called _correspondents_. The National
Park Bank is the correspondent of the State Bank of Utah. When Mr. Emery
cashes the draft at his Rochester bank, the latter sends it to its New
York correspondent, and at the same time charges the correspondent one
hundred dollars. The correspondent presents the draft to the National
Park Bank, which pays the money and charges the same amount to the State
Bank of Utah. Explain how this settles the transaction.
_Time Draft._--A time draft is much like a bank draft, in that two banks
conduct the principal part of the transaction for two individuals, but
no money is actually paid at the time the draft is drawn. The details of
a transaction of this kind are explained on the following page.
[Illustration: TIME DRAFT]
Horace Prang of 1008 Elm Street, Columbus, Ohio, owes Loetzer & Co. five
hundred dollars, due August 27, 1915. Loetzer & Co. make out the draft
above and deposit it in the Bank of Buffalo. The latter sends the draft
to its correspondent in Columbus, which presents the draft to Horace
Prang. If he is willing to pay the note when it falls due, he writes
across the face of it, "_Accepted_" adds the date, and signs his name.
It is now returned to the Bank of Buffalo. The Bank of Buffalo will then
discount the draft for Loetzer & Co.
_Sight Draft._--A sight draft is much like a time draft, except that the
amount is paid by the person on whom it is drawn as soon as it is
presented, instead of after a stipulated length of time.
[Illustration: SIGHT DRAFT]
Suppose the Empire Elevator Co. of Buffalo has sold $420 worth of grain
to the Smith Milling Co. of Springfield, Mass. When the grain is loaded
on the cars, the railroad company gives the Empire Elevator Co. a bill
of lading. Now, the Smith Milling Co. must possess this bill of lading
before it can take the grain from the cars at Springfield. The Empire
Elevator Co. deposits the bill of lading with the above draft in the
Marine National Bank of Buffalo. This bank sends both to its
correspondent in Springfield. The Springfield bank presents the draft to
the Smith Milling Co., who may take the grain from the cars on payment
of the draft. In case of non-payment, both draft and bill of lading are
returned to the Marine National Bank of Buffalo, and the Empire Elevator
Co. must make arrangements for the return or the disposal of the grain.
=Exercise 301=
1. F. R. Thompson, sales manager of the New York Trust
and Savings Bank, sends a circular letter to a number
of banks, saying that he is enclosing a booklet that
describes a number of bonds suitable for the security
of postal savings deposits, the legality of which has
been carefully investigated. In his letter he mentions
especially Omaha, Nebraska, School 4½% bonds, price to
net 4.40%; Seattle, Washington, Harbor 5% bonds, price
to net 4½%; and Hoquiam, Washington, Bridge 5½% bonds,
price to net 5%. Reproduce the letter, addressing it
to W. W. Fallows, Cashier of the Mercantile National
Bank of Pueblo, Colorado.
2. Mr. Fallows answers, saying that his knowledge of
the postal savings law is vague and that he would be
glad if Mr. Thompson would give him definite
information on the subject.
3. Mr. Thompson replies that he is enclosing a copy of
the postal savings law. He assures Mr. Fallows that he
can serve the latter both in buying the proper
securities and in depositing them with the Treasurer
of the United States. Application for such deposits
must be made by the bank itself. Mr. Thompson will
gladly inform him if Mr. Fallows does not know the
steps to be taken or the report to be submitted.
4. Punctuate, using a letterhead:
Mercantile Trust Company New York City Dec 2 19--
manager the bank of Scotland 3c bishop E C London
England dear sir we are sending you herewith advice of
the issuance of our circular letter of credit No. 262
in favor of Miss Helen Jackson for 300 pounds sterling
Miss Jackson is at present in Paris France and the
letter of credit has been forwarded to Messrs Thomas
Cooke and Son 1 Place de l'Opera Paris we have
requested Messrs Thomas Cooke and Son to forward to
you two specimens of Miss Jacksons signature which we
have signed and forwarded to Messrs Thomas Cooke and
Son for that purpose so that you may have these
signatures before any drafts against the letter of
credit are presented to you yours very truly James R
Hudson treasurer.
What is a letter of credit? How did Miss Jackson get
it?
The Bank of Scotland is the correspondent of the
Mercantile Trust Company. Explain.
Why should the New York bank forward Miss Jackson's
signature?
5. Write the letter that the Mercantile Trust Company
sends to Messrs. Thomas Cooke and Son.
6. Write the letter that Messrs. Thomas Cooke and Son
send to the Bank of Scotland.
7. W. T. Randall, cashier of the Milwaukee Trust and
Savings Bank, Milwaukee, Wis., writes a letter, the
purpose of which is to secure savings accounts. A club
of 500 members is to be formed. Each member is to buy
a share by paying one dollar and to pay one dollar per
week per share, the amount to draw interest at 3%.
After forty-eight weeks he gets credit for fifty
dollars per share, thus securing over 5% interest on
his money. Make the offer attractive.
8. Some time ago a bank in your city discounted a note
held by George Carpenter, signed by Martin Kugerman.
The note falls due in ten days. As cashier write to
Mr. Kugerman, telling him that you hold the note and
that you hope he will be able to remit on the day of
maturity.
9. Your bank loaned Clarence Wentworth $500 for ninety
days, taking as security $700 worth of collateral. The
note falls due in a week. Write to Mr. Wentworth,
reminding him that the note falls due and asking him
whether he wishes to pay it off or whether he wishes
it extended.
10. John Elsworth, who has an account with you,
writes, saying that by registered mail he is sending
you certificates of 20 shares Union Pacific common
stock, 50 shares National Biscuit Co. preferred stock,
5 (bonds) American Telephone and Telegraph convertible
4½'s, 3 (bonds) New York and East River Gas Co. first
mortgage 5's. He asks you to take care of them and
collect dividends and interest when they are due,
crediting them to his account.
11. Your correspondent, the First National Bank of
Janesville, Wis., writes, asking you to forward by
registered mail $5,000 in currency.
=Exercise 302=
1. Mr. Henry Carroll of Wausau, Wis., writes to Mr.
Randall (Exercise 301, 7), asking him to buy 10 shares
of C. & N. W. R. R. preferred stock at 134 or better.
When they are bought, he adds, they can be sent through
any bank in Wausau.
2. Mr. Randall replies by sending the 10 shares of
stock to the bank's correspondent in Wausau, the First
National Bank, telling the latter to deliver them to
Mr. Henry Carroll on payment of the enclosed draft for
$1340 with exchange. Write the letter.
3. A dressmaker in South Bend, Ind., has applied to
Marshall Field & Co., Retail, State and Washington
Streets, Chicago, for a charge account. The department
store makes inquiries concerning her at her bank, the
Commercial and Savings Bank of South Bend. Write the
letter.
4. The bank replies that she has maintained a small
but steady balance, that she has never overdrawn her
account, and that in their opinion her credit would be
good up to $100 monthly. Write the letter.
5. Theodore Buchanan of St. Louis sends Philip Newborg
of your city a check for $100 with which he pays a
debt to Charles Springer of Minneapolis. Springer
endorses it and deposits it in the Security National
Bank. The check is returned marked N.S.F., and the
Security National Bank notifies Springer of the
situation and of the fact that his account has been
charged with $104, the amount of the draft plus
expenses.
6. One of the depositors of the Milwaukee Trust and
Savings Bank brings to the Cashier a note which is
about due, and asks the bank to collect it. The maker
of the note is William T. Adams of Seattle. The
Cashier writes to the bank's correspondent in Seattle,
the Scandinavian American Bank, asking the latter to
collect. Write the letter. (See Exercise 301, 7.)
7. The Scandinavian American bank writes to William T.
Adams, telling him that it holds a note signed by him,
due ----, and asking him to make prompt payment. Write
the letter.
8. Mr. Adams pays the note. The Seattle Bank notifies
the Milwaukee Bank, enclosing a draft for the amount.
Write the letter.
9. See Exercise 301, 10. As John Elsworth's banker
send the coupons for the American Telephone and
Telegraph bonds to your correspondent in New York, the
National City Bank, because the interest is payable in
New York. Ask the bank to make the collection. Write
the letter.
10. The National City Bank makes the collection and
informs you by means of a printed form that it has
credited you with the amount, $112.50. The form is
just like a letter except that it is already printed
with blanks left for the name and the address and for
itemizing the coupons collected. Write such a form.
11. One of your depositors has overdrawn his account.
Notify him of the fact. Do this courteously so that
the depositor may have no reason to withdraw his
account.
12. In your city there is a real estate dealer who
often has large sums of money idle for a short time
because, when he sells one piece of property, he does
not always have another immediately in view. He is not
a depositor in your bank. Write to him, inducing him
to take out a Certificate of Deposit at such times and
telling him that the advantages of such a certificate
are that he will get 3% interest on the money
deposited and that he may draw out the money at any
time.
13. One of your depositors has written to you, asking
for a loan of $5,000 for nine months. Write to him,
saying that it is not your practice to make time loans
for definite periods longer than six months, as it is
not a good plan thus to tie up your deposits. Explain
that as most of a bank's deposits are payable on
demand, you would suggest his taking out a demand loan
for $5,000, payable on the demand of the bank. Under
ordinary business conditions such a loan might easily
run for nine months.
14. R. F. Marsden, President of the Truesdale Cotton
Mill, Birmingham, Ala., has written to you, asking
whether he can secure a loan next fall on the cotton
in the mill as collateral. Reply that you feel certain
that satisfactory arrangements could be made if the
cotton were stored in an accredited warehouse, so that
you could accept the warehouse receipt as collateral.
=Exercise 303=
Punctuate and paragraph the following letter, which explains one
function of a trust company:
Dear sir as you are one of our clients you are
familiar with the reputation of this bank for sound
banking and conservative investments you may not
however be aware that we have a fully equipped trust
department prepared to act in any of the numerous
capacities in which the services of trust companies
have proved of special value at this time we wish to
call your particular attention to the service which
this department is prepared to render as trustee under
agreement it is natural that one who has accumulated
property should desire to superintend or direct its
disposition formerly this was done by will now however
as the complex laws of the various states frequently
necessitate the payment of double or triple
inheritance taxes it is becoming a more and more
common practice for a man during his lifetime to
administer his own estate so to speak this may be
accomplished through the establishment of a trust with
respect to either a part or all of one's property it
can be accomplished not only with absolute safety to
the donor but with entire secrecy as well the terms of
the trust being regarded as absolutely confidential
furthermore the donor has the satisfaction of
disposing of his property during his lifetime in
accordance with his desires the life of a trust
company unlike that of any individual is of perpetual
duration death does not interfere with its management
of the trust estate its financial responsibility and
the safeguards thrown around trust estates by the
state laws insure the safety of a trust fund if you
are interested in this subject let us discuss it with
you either in person or by correspondence when this
bank is named in a trust capacity no charge is made
for service or advice in connection with the drafting
of the trust instruments yours truly
Before writing the following, re-read The Richards' Baby Stocking Fund,
page 337.
1. Suppose that you were a newspaper correspondent in
Alaska at the time Richards was killed. For your home
paper write an account of the finding of the baby
stocking. In what ways would this account differ from
a magazine article on the same subject?
2. As if you were the United States Commissioner of
the Territory of Alaska, write to a Portland bank
saying that you are sending the $2,500 to them, and
asking them to put the funds in the care of a reliable
trust company.
3. The Portland bank writes to the Kansas City Trust
Company, asking if the latter will accept the trust.
Write the letter.
4. The Kansas City Trust Company replies that it will
accept the trust without remuneration. Write the
letter.
5. The Portland bank informs the United States
Commissioner of the Territory of Alaska of the
disposition of the funds. Write the letter.
=Exercise 304=
=Topics for Investigation and Discussion=
1. The panic of 1907 and some of its lessons.
2. Future banking reform.
3. Government supervision of banks.
4. Unscrupulous banking companies.
5. Clearing house certificates.
6. Postal savings banks.
7. The work of the clearing house.
8. The need of banks in a community.
9. The development of real estate firms into banks.
10. The Owen Glass Currency Bill.
=Exercise 305=
Books that will Suggest Topics for Talks
CROCKER, U. H., The Cause of Hard Times.
FONDA, ARTHUR J., Honest Money.
GIBBS, H. C., A Bimetallic Primer.
MCADAMS, GRAHAM, An Alphabet in Finance.
NEWCOMB, SIMON, The A B C of Finance.
NORTON, S. F., Ten Men of Money Island, or The Primer of Finance.
REEVES, JOHN, The Rothschilds: The Financial Rulers of Nations.
WHITE, HORACE, Money and Banking.
=Exercise 306=
Write the following from dictation:
1
THE DAILY ROUTINE OF THE CLEARING HOUSE
Each bank sends two clerks to the Clearing House: a
delivering clerk and a settling clerk. There are three
rows of seats running through the clearing room
lengthwise, one in the center and one on each side
parallel with it. The settling clerks occupy these
seats and each one has a sufficient amount of desk
room in front of him to do his work on, his space
being separated from his neighbors' by a wire screen.
The delivery clerks, with their packages of checks in
separate envelopes, stand in the open space in front
of the settling clerks. At two minutes before 10
o'clock the manager, whose station is an elevated open
space at the extreme end of the room, strikes a bell.
The movement has all the precision of a military
drill. When the second bell sounds, at exactly 10
o'clock, each delivery clerk takes one step forward,
hands the proper package to the settling clerk of the
bank next to him, drops the accompanying ticket
showing the amount into an aperture like a letter box,
and places before the settling clerk his schedule, on
which the latter places his initials. Thus the
procession moves uninterruptedly until each delivery
clerk has presented to each settling clerk the proper
package and ticket. Usually this part of the operation
is completed in ten minutes. Meanwhile the proof
clerk, who occupies a desk near the manager, has
entered the claims of each bank under the head "Bank
Cr." on a broad sheet of paper.
Inasmuch as the amount of each bank's claim against
the Clearing House (entered under the head "Banks
Cr.") is the sum of all the tickets which its delivery
clerk has pushed into the letter boxes of the other
banks, it follows that all the tickets of all the
banks should equal all the entries under that head.
The next step in the operation is for each settling
clerk to arrange the amounts of all the tickets in his
letter box in a column, add it up, and send the amount
to the proof clerk, who transcribes and arranges it
according to the bank's number under the head "Banks
Dr.," so that the debit of Bank A shall be on the same
line with its credit.
Then the difference between the two will show how much
the bank owes the Clearing House or how much the
Clearing House owes the bank. The time occupied by the
settling clerks in arranging their tickets and adding
up the columns is about half an hour. As fast as these
footings are completed, they are sent to the proof
clerk, who puts them in the debit column opposite the
credits of the banks, respectively. When all are
completed, if no error has been made, the footings of
the credit and debit columns must be exactly equal and
the footings of the two other columns, which show the
differences, must be exactly equal. Then these
differences are read off slowly and in a distinct tone
by the manager, so that each settling clerk can write
down the sum that his bank has to pay or to receive.
As time is money at the Clearing House, a fine is
exacted for every error and every delay in making
footings, for every disobedience of the orders of the
manager, or for every instance of disorderly
conduct.--Horace White: _Money and Banking_.
2
The Treasury, in connection with its money washing,
has asked national banks to exercise more care in
sending in money for redemption. Banks frequently put
into the same bundle, good notes, bad notes, and notes
of different denominations. When they are mixed in
this way, it requires a good deal of work to separate
the money. The Treasury thinks that the banks could do
this work, so that, when the money reaches Washington,
it could easily be separated by packages instead of
each package having to be separated first. The
Assistant Secretary says he believes that, when he
gets the subject worked out in detail, new washed
money will be returned to the bank in any denomination
desired on the same day that it is received; that
money unfit for laundering will be destroyed and new
money issued. This expeditious handling of money sent
in for redemption cannot, however, be attained, he
admits, without the co-operation of the banks. In a
short time, he believes, all banks will see that it is
to their benefit to do this.
CHAPTER XXI
THE CORPORATION
THE study that we have thus far made of the various kinds of businesses
would be incomplete did we not briefly outline the different types of
organization by which modern business is conducted. This will naturally
lead us to a discussion of stocks and bonds, which are of great
importance in every big business and of interest to individuals as means
of investment. However, as the subjects are probably outside the
experience of most students, we shall treat them as simply as possible,
letting the chapter stand rather for the information it contains than
for its application to the study of English expression.
Business to-day is carried on in three different ways; viz., by
individuals, by partnerships, and by corporations. The grocer, the
butcher, the baker, or any one man who carries on a business is an
example of the first. If, however, the grocer and the butcher, or the
grocer and the baker, combine their businesses for the good of both,
they form a partnership. When the amount of capital necessary for
carrying on the business becomes so large that the money of many people
is needed, a _corporation_ is formed. The amount of money which any one
individual invests in the company is represented by a certain number of
shares of the _capital stock_ of the company, entitling him to his
portion of the dividends, or interest on the money he has invested.
These shares of the capital stock are transferable and can be bought and
sold like an automobile or a house. Since there is no time limit as to
how long a corporation may do business, a change in the ownership of
part of the stock, or the death of a stockholder, is not accompanied by
the same result as in a partnership, where the death of one of the
partners sometimes breaks up the business. Furthermore, in a partnership
each one of the partners is personally liable for any debts made by any
of the partners in behalf of the business, whereas the personal
possessions of a stockholder in a corporation cannot be held as security
for any debts incurred by the corporation. These are two of the more
important advantages of corporate organization over partnership.
The Finances of a Corporation
It has been estimated that if one were to count money, dollar by dollar,
one dollar every second for eight hours six days a week, it would take
him six weeks to count one million dollars, and over one hundred years
to count a billion dollars. This may help us to appreciate the sums of
money spoken of in the following: In 1914 the market value of the
Commonwealth Edison Company of Chicago was over $83,000,000. The
valuation placed on the properties of the Chicago Railways Company in
1914 exceeded $79,000,000. The Union Pacific Railroad Company had
invested in its properties in 1914 approximately $500,000,000. The
capital obligations of the United States Steel Corporation in 1914 were
over $1,500,000,000. There are hundreds of such organizations in our
country, the investments in which run to and beyond $50,000,000 each. It
must be plain that, except in a very few cases, these vast amounts of
money do not represent the investment of one, or of a few, but of many
persons. In uniting their capital, these persons decrease the cost of
making or distributing the product and so increase their profits.
Stocks
When a large company of this kind is organized, a certain amount of
money is agreed upon to be the capital of the company, and it is
divided into small portions, ordinarily $100 each, called _shares_. The
total of the shares is called the _authorized capital stock_. These
shares are sold, the purchasers of the shares being called
_shareholders_, or _stockholders,_ of the company. The number of shares
a person holds determines what part of the profits he is entitled to.
For example, if a company is organized for 1000 shares of $100 each, or
a capital stock of $100,000, and you owned 100 shares, you would be
entitled to one-tenth of the divided profits of the company. Such
profits of the company, divided proportionately among the stockholders,
constitute the _dividends_.
Often the capital stock is of two kinds, _preferred_ and _common_, as in
the case of the Union Pacific R. R., which has $200,000,000 of
authorized preferred stock and $296,178,700 of authorized common stock.
As the names signify, preferred stock is ordinarily better than common
stock, the dividends on preferred stock being paid before any dividends
are paid on common stock and usually at a stated rate of interest; as,
4, 5, or 6 per cent. In the case of the Union Pacific, this rate is 4
per cent. If the company earns only enough profits to pay the dividends
on the preferred stock, the common gets no dividends. On the other hand,
if the profits are enormous, the common occasionally gets more than the
preferred.
Par and Market Value
The _par value_ of a stock is the face value of one share of stock,
indicated on the face of the certificate. This may be $10 or $50 or
$100, whatever the amount agreed upon for one share when the company is
organized. The amount most commonly used as par is $100. The _market
value_ of the stock, however, need not be this amount, but may be
greater or less, dependent on how successful the company is and what
rate of dividends it pays. If a company's standing is very good and the
dividends are high (over 6 per cent), the stock will probably sell on
the market above par. If the company's finances are in a doubtful
condition and there are evidences that the company will pay small
dividends, if any at all, the market price of the stock will fall below
par. For example, in January, 1914, Union Pacific R. R. common stock
sold for about $158 per share, because the finances of the company were
in good condition and the company had paid 10 per cent dividends
steadily each year since July 1, 1907. If, however, any occasion should
arise to make the public doubt the payment of future dividends at the
same rate, the stock would probably decline. To go to the other extreme,
in the same month Wabash R. R. common stock sold as low as $8½ per
share, although the par is $100. This was because for some years the
company had paid no dividends and was then in the hands of receivers. To
take a middle case in the same month and year, Erie R. R. first
preferred stock sold at about $45 per share, notwithstanding the fact
that since 1907 no dividends had been paid. The reason for this
seemingly high price was that the company had for some time been
reconstructing its property, had gradually increased its business, had
earned a $9,000,000 surplus in 1913, and had a good outlook to a
dividend in the near future.
These are not the only influences that affect the price of stocks. The
old factor of supply and demand has a great influence on price. If, for
example, a financier decides to buy a large "block" of some stock, the
market will almost immediately be affected, and that stock will go up.
One example will suffice. In 1901 E. H. Harriman set out to buy
$155,000,000 worth of Northern Pacific stock in the open market to gain
control of the Northern Pacific railroad. Of course, the market felt the
demand, and the price of the stock rose from a little above par until it
touched $1,000 a share before it started back to normal. When Mr.
Harriman unloaded that same stock in 1906, because he failed to gain
control, the market went down so considerably that he lost $10,000,000
and almost caused a panic.
Often the stocks of a company sell below par because the stock is
watered; that is, the company has issued more stock than there is value
invested in the property. Many of our railroads, for example, were built
on borrowed money--that is, from the proceeds of the sale of bonds--and,
to make the bonds sell more readily, stocks were given away with them.
This, of course, increased the capitalization greatly without increasing
the value. The temptation in forming new companies, especially in mining
schemes and wildcat ventures, is to water the stock heavily by voting a
large block of stock gratis to the organizers. Before one invests in any
of these companies, he should thoroughly investigate them. Sometimes
companies water their stocks when their dividends have become very large
and they wish to bring the rate down to that commonly paid. The Wells
Fargo Express Company did this in 1910, presenting their stockholders
with $16,000,000 worth of new stock without any new investment in the
property.
Bonds
Suppose that A owns a house with a store in it, and in the store he
carries on a grocery business. Suppose that by enlarging his store and
putting in a bigger stock of goods he can make more money. The
improvements will cost $1,000, but he hasn't the money. He goes to B to
ask B to lend him $1,000 for five years, offering B the house as
security. B gives A the $1,000 and in return gets a certain amount of
interest each year and A's mortgage note against the property. This
means that, if at the end of five years A cannot pay the $1,000, B has
the right to sell A's house and collect the money due him.
When a corporation borrows money to extend its properties, plants, or
rights, the transaction is really the same, although the form is
somewhat different. Just as all the capital stock of a corporation is
divided into shares owned by a number of people, so, when the
corporation borrows money, the amount borrowed is divided into smaller
parts of $500 or $1,000 each, called _bonds_, which the corporation
sells through its bankers to people who have idle money to invest. Twice
each year, as stated in the bond, the corporation pays interest on the
borrowed money at the rate, probably, of 4, 4½, 5, or 6 per cent. After
a definite number of years, as stated in the bond, the corporation is
obliged to pay back the amount of money that it borrowed. This is called
_redeeming_ the bonds. To show that it intends to pay back the amount
borrowed at the end of the time stated, or redeem the bonds when they
become due, the corporation puts a mortgage on its real estate,
buildings, machinery, and equipment. When the bonds become due--or
_mature_, as it is called--if the corporation does not pay back the
amount borrowed, the holders of the bonds may take possession of the
company's real estate, buildings, machinery, and equipment on which the
company has placed the mortgage and may sell them to recover the money
they have loaned. Thus, while the stockholders of a corporation have no
assurance that they will ever get their money back or will ever get any
interest on it, the holders of carefully selected bonds are reasonably
sure of getting a certain amount of interest each year and of getting
their money back when the bonds mature. Shares of stock represent the
investment made by the stockholders who own the company, whereas bonds
represent the investment of those who loan money to the company. We can
readily see, then, that the stockholders take the greater risk. For this
reason it is expected that stocks should yield a higher profit than
bonds, and this is usually the case.
The greater portion of the bonds that are issued by corporations run for
long periods--twenty, forty, fifty, and even one hundred years. At
times when money rates are high, corporations that need funds are
reluctant to pay a high rate for so many years, and so they issue _short
time bonds_ to run from two to five years, in the hope that at the end
of the time money rates will be lower and more favorable to their
issuing long time bonds. Many companies, especially industrial
corporations and railroads, have issued obligations to pay, _notes_
running from six months to five years. They are not usually secured by a
mortgage on the property but are merely the company's promise to pay,
the interest and the principal taking precedence over the dividends on
the preferred and the common stocks.
Corporate Organization
Before a corporation can carry on its business, it must obtain a charter
from one of the states of the United States, whose laws it must obey.
The laws of some states are more lenient than those of others, allowing
the corporations more privileges. New Jersey is thus lenient;
consequently we find many large corporations--such as the United States
Steel Corporation, the American Sugar Refining Company, and
others--organized under the laws of New Jersey. After the charter is
granted and the stock bought by the stockholders, the latter have a
meeting, at which they elect a small number of men to be _directors_,
who, as the name signifies, conduct the business of the company for the
stockholders. They choose a president, one or more vice-presidents, a
treasurer, a secretary, and any other officers necessary to carry on the
business under the control of the directors. The term of office of the
directors is usually so fixed that the term of a part of them expires
each year, so that each year the stockholders have an annual meeting at
which they elect new directors or re-elect the old ones whose term has
expired.
The Railroad
Corporations divide themselves into three large groups; viz., railroad
companies, public utility corporations, and industrial corporations. Of
these, the group composed of the largest and most powerful corporations
is the railroad group.
Railroads have two general sources of income, the larger being the
revenue received from operating trains, both freight and passenger; and
the smaller being the return from investments in other companies, from
real estate, and from the rental of lines, terminals, stations, and cars
to other railroads. To carry on the second or smaller part of its
business, the company needs an organization much like any other
business, but to conduct the first part it requires a special
organization. This divides itself into four departments, usually with a
vice-president at the head of each: (1) the traffic department, (2) the
operating department, (3) the finance and accounting department, and (4)
the legal department.
It is the duty of the traffic department to get the business for the
company and adjust all traffic claims. In short, it does everything to
increase the business and the earnings. This department naturally
divides into the freight traffic and passenger traffic departments, with
a superintendent or manager at the head of each.
After the traffic department has solicited the business for the company,
it is the duty of the operating department to render the services
required by the traffic department. The work is done by four large
divisions: (1) the engineering or construction department, whose duty it
is to build the roads over which the company may operate; (2) the
maintenance-of-way department, whose duty it is to see that the roadbed
and rails are kept in good order and repair; (3) the equipment
department, whose duty it is to see that the company is supplied with
proper locomotives and cars and to see that such equipment is kept in
repair; and (4) the transportation department, which has to do with the
operating of the trains.
The financial policy of a railroad is usually in charge of one of the
vice-presidents, who must be a man of experience in financial matters
and who acts with the approval of the directors. The accounting
department is more important than may appear at first sight. Railroads
are now under the supervision and regulation of the government, and one
of the rights that the government has is to examine the books of the
company at any time and to require all companies to submit a monthly
report to the government.
The legal department of a railroad is especially important for two
reasons: (1) In performing its services, the company has business
dealings with a large number of persons, and in the adjustment of claims
against the railroad, expert legal advice is constantly necessary. (2)
The railroad, as stated above, is under the regulation and control of
the state and the national governments, and the enforcement of this
regulation makes the railroad a party to numerous proceedings in the
courts and before the Interstate Commerce Commission. The large
railroads operate in from ten to twenty states. It can thus easily be
seen that the legal department has a great deal more to do than if the
railroad operated under but one political power.
Public Utility Corporations
Public utility corporations supply services without which the people of
to-day could not very well live. They are those supplying water, light,
heat, power, telephones, local transportation, gas, etc. They may
properly be called public necessity corporations. The nature of these
businesses practically gives them a monopoly in their locality; this is
the reason that they have grown so enormously during the last thirty
years. The Commonwealth Edison Company, which supplies a large part of
Chicago with light and power, began in 1887 with a capital of $500,000
and in 1914 its capital obligations had a market value of over
$83,000,000. The American Telephone and Telegraph Company began in 1885
with $12,000,000 of capital stock and in 1914 had practically
$340,000,000. The other public service corporations have kept pace,
according to the growth of the locality they serve. In the depression of
1907 this class of corporation kept steadily increasing the volume of
its business when all others went back a step. Since these corporations
are dependent on the local community for their business, if the
community grows the company must grow, and usually faster than the
community. For this reason the stocks and bonds of these companies are
usually a good investment.
It is a common practice for municipalities to demand a share of the
profits of the company, by way of a fixed sum, a certain percentage of
the gross profits, or a share of the net profits. For example the city
of Chicago receives, from the Commonwealth Edison Company each year 3
per cent of its gross receipts from the sale of current and 10 per cent
of its gross receipts from the rental of conduit space, amounting in
1913 to more than $300,000, quite a considerable sum. The Chicago
Railways Company and the Chicago City Railway Company, the two large
street car companies of Chicago, after deductions for expenses and
charges and 5 per cent on the amount invested are made from the gross
income, pay to the city 55 per cent of the surplus earnings, keeping for
themselves 45 per cent. Whenever these companies pay part of their
earnings to the municipality, they are really under municipal
supervision, and their books and accounts are open to examination by
the city at any time. These companies are called quasi-municipal
corporations.
Industrial Corporations
As the name indicates, industrial corporations are those that carry on
our industries. They are by far the largest class of corporations and
have among their number some very powerful companies, whose assets run
up toward the billions. This class of corporations has not had the
gradual, steady growth of the public utility corporations, but in the
case of the most successful, the growth has been amazing. The Standard
Oil Company for many years prior to its dissolution had paid dividends
on its capital stock of about $100,000,000 at the rate of 40 per cent a
year. The Steel Corporation is said to have produced a thousand
millionaires and is still producing them. This class of corporations has
not been so closely under the supervision of the federal and municipal
authorities as the railroads and public utility corporations, and their
financing has been carried on in a looser fashion than that of the other
two classes. For this reason the securities of these corporations are
not generally regarded as highly as those of the other two. However, the
federal government has taken and is taking steps to regulate these
corporations, and this will tend to bring them eventually to the
standards of the railroad and public utility corporations.
=Exercise 307=
_Oral_
Explain carefully:
1. What is a corporation?
2. What is a share of stock?
3. What is a bond? a security?
4. Explain the difference between par and market
values.
5. Why do stocks and bonds vary in value?
6. What is the difference between preferred and common
stock?
7. What are dividends?
8. What is meant by watered stock?
9. What are the advantages of a corporation over a
partnership?
10. The following was copied from a morning paper.
Explain it.
"The Canadian Westinghouse Company, Ltd., declared its
regular quarterly dividend of 1½% and an extra
dividend of 1% on its stock, both payable Jan. 10."
11. Explain the following bond quotations:
MUNICIPAL BONDS
_Security_ _Maturity_ _Yield per cent about_
Albany, Ga., 5's Nov. 1, 1941 4.75
King Co., Wash., 4½'s Nov. 1, 1931 4.50
RAILROAD BONDS
Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fé, general Oct. 1, 1995 4.20
mortgage, 4's
Louisville and Nashville, unified Feb. 1, 1946 4.35
mortgage, 4's
PUBLIC SERVICE CORPORATION BONDS
New York Telephone Co., 4's Nov. 1, 1939 4.75
Chicago Railways, first
mortgage, 5's Feb. 1, 1927 4.99
12. Why are the bonds of successful public utility
corporations a good investment?
13. Which company do you think would grow faster, a
light and power company or a gas company? What effect
would the growth or the failure to grow have on the
price of the stocks of each?
14. Should a street car company pay part of its
earnings to the city?
15. If the population of a city doubled, what effect
would there be on the price of public utility stocks?
=Exercise 308=
Topics for Investigation and Discussion
1. Harnessing our streams to secure electric power.
2. The growth of the Interurban.
3. In your own town:
_a._ Have gas rates increased or decreased? Can you
explain the change?
_b._ Have electric light rates increased or decreased?
Can you explain the change?
4. Street railway, electric light, and gas company franchises.
5. The earnings of the street car company in your city.
6. Municipal ownership of public utility corporations.
7. The effect of mergers and consolidations of big corporations.
8. The effect of a trust on competition.
9. Trusts and prices.
10. Government suits against trusts.
11. The tariff and the steel industry, the wool industry, and the sugar
industry.
12. Railroad rate increases.
=Exercise 309=
Write the following from dictation:
1
In New London, Connecticut, stands the oldest grist
mill in the country. It is a picturesque building,
having a water wheel like the one that it originally
used when New London was first settled. The town was
in the center of an agricultural community, and a mill
to grind corn was a need that soon manifested itself
to the settlers. Accordingly, in 1650 at a town
meeting, six men were chosen to build a mill. John
Winthrop and his heirs were granted the right to carry
on the grist mill as long as they maintained the
building placed in their charge. This is one of the
first monopolies recorded in New England history.
2
The same standards by which a farming or a
manufacturing investment may be judged are not
applicable to a mining investment. A farmer may earn
eight per cent on his capital, and with care his
investment may increase in value. A manufacturer may
earn eight per cent on his investment, and, if he
keeps up his machinery, his business may be as
valuable ten years, or even twenty years, hence; but a
mine, after each dividend is paid, is that much nearer
its end. Now, it is well known among mining men that
the average life of a gold or silver mine is under,
rather than over, ten years. There are exceptions to
this rule, of course, but, granting that the life of a
certain gold or silver mine is to be ten years, then,
in order to pay back both principal and interest,
dividends of at least sixteen per cent should be
distributed. Copper mining, of which the statistics
have been most accurately kept in New York and Boston,
offers many inducements to the investor; but too much
care cannot be taken in the matter of selection, for
copper stocks, in not a few instances, have been
boosted out of all reason. As with gold and silver
mines, so it is with copper mines. They have so much
ore to begin with, and after each dividend are that
much nearer to the day when they will close down. For
such mines, provided they have a good lease of life,
eight per cent or even ten per cent may be regarded as
only moderate returns. These are merely samples of
some general principles to be followed.--_Roger W.
Babson._
3
Dear Sir:
At the close of a year which has presented many
perplexing problems, not only to investors and dealers
in bonds, but also to borrowing municipalities and
corporations, there are several factors in the
situation which in our opinion offer strong
encouragement to every one in any way interested in
bond investments.
Of special significance is the marked change in
sentiment which has recently taken place. There is
every indication that this country enters the new year
with an unusually substantial feeling of confidence.
While a notable increase in the demand for bonds would
undoubtedly bring out a large amount of new financing,
on the other hand, there has been an accumulation of
funds during the period of depressed markets, and it
is generally understood that investment dealers are
carrying comparatively small amounts of bonds.
January has an almost unbroken record of higher
average bond prices than the average prices in
December. It is not our intention to predict an
advance this January, although there are
unquestionably many reasons for anticipating at least
a moderate improvement; but, viewing the question in
its broader aspects, we find many convincing arguments
in favor of the purchase of bonds at this time. It is
recognized that the decline in prices has been due to
a variety of causes, which, except in a few individual
cases, are not the result of any depreciation in real
values. Basic conditions are admittedly sound. We,
accordingly, not only recommend the judicious purchase
of bonds for the investment of surplus funds, but also
suggest consideration of the advisability in some
cases of converting short time securities into long
time bonds.
What conditions could be more favorable from the
standpoint of the purchaser of bonds than an extremely
low level of prices; a wide-spread belief that
fundamental conditions are sound; a general feeling of
confidence that the problems which have tended to
disturb business during the past year have been, or
are being, solved; and a conviction that we are
entering upon a period of probable ease in money
rates?
Very truly yours,
INDEX
NUMBERS REFER TO PAGES
_A_, Italian, 9.
Abbreviation, objectionable, of the introduction of a letter, 242;
of the courteous close, 242.
Abbreviations, of states, 26-27;
of commercial terms, 27-28;
of titles in letters, 235;
objectionable in the body of the letter, 242.
_Able_ and _ible_, 33.
Absolute use of the nominative case, 65.
Abstract noun, defined, 57.
Accent, indication of, 17;
words changing meaning with change of, 17.
_Accept_ and _except_, 102.
Account, opening an, 250;
letters for opening an, 250 ff.
Accounting department of a railroad, work of the, 360-361.
Active voice of verbs, defined, 84;
conjugation of, 88 ff.
_Ad_, prefix, 32.
Adjective, the, defined, 49;
and the adverb, 75 ff.;
following verbs of the senses, 75;
clause, 54;
comparison of, 78.
Adjective endings, peculiar, 33 ff.
Adjective modifiers, 49.
Adjective pronouns, use of, 61.
Adjectives and adverbs, confused, 51;
incorrectly used, 81-82;
_real_ and _very_, 81;
_most_ and _almost_, 81.
Adjectives, punctuation of series of, 171 ff.
Adjectives to be distinguished, 80-81;
_fewer_ and _less_, 80;
_almost_ and _most_, 81.
Adverb modifiers, 49.
Adverb, the, defined, 49;
and the adjective, 75 ff.
Adverbial, clause, 54;
modifier, case of, 66.
Adverbs, conjunctive, 45;
and adjectives confused, 51;
and prepositions confused, 52;
ideas denoted by, 75;
modifying different parts of speech, 75;
correct position of, 77;
absolute use of, 79;
incorrectly used, 81-82.
Advertised articles, classes of, 311.
Advertisements, motives appealed to in, 311;
catch phrases used in, 312;
suggestive names used in, 313;
good and bad headlines for, 313;
of still-life, 314;
without a definite center, 315;
illustrating the principle of balance, 315;
exercises to write, 315 ff.;
paragraph topics dealing with, 317 ff.;
some examples of, 318 ff.
Advertising, 308 ff.;
importance of, 308;
different forms of, 309-310;
fundamentals of, 310-311;
outline for debate on, 141 ff.;
bibliography for, 320.
_Affect_ and _effect_, 102-103.
Affirmative of debate on advertising, 141 ff.
_After_, as preposition and conjunction, 55.
Agent, 134, 299-300;
commission of, 323.
Agreement, grammatical, 71-72, 85 ff.
Amusement, motive appealed to in advertising, 311.
Analysis, word, 29 ff.
_Ance_ and _ence_, 34.
_And_, in compound sentence, 45, 173 ff.;
in series, punctuation with, 171 ff.;
used in joining parallel expressions, 211 ff.;
for _to_, 119;
excessive use of, 127-128.
Anglo-Saxon prefixes and suffixes, 29 ff.
Answering complaints, letters to be used in, 257 ff.
_Ant_ and _ent_, 33.
Antecedents, uncertain, 207 ff.
Apostrophe, the, used to form the possessive case, 67, 69, 159;
used to indicate the omission of letters, 160;
to show plural of letters and figures, 160.
Appeals made in advertisements, 311-312.
Application, letters of, 259 ff.
Appositives, case of, 65, 66;
punctuation with, 179-180.
Article, incorrect omission of in business letters, 242.
_As_, case following, 121;
a conjunction, 124;
followed by an understood verb, 124;
punctuation with, 195.
_As_--_as_, used in expressions stating equality, 125.
_As follows_, punctuation with, 195.
_Atlas_, story of the derivation of, 5.
Authorized capital stock, 355.
Baby blunder, 44.
Balance, principle of, used in advertisements, 315.
Bank draft, 341-343.
Banking:
inconvenience of barter, 332;
kinds of paper money, 332-333;
credit, 333;
discount, 335;
collateral, 335;
promissory note, 336;
forms of remittance, 338 ff.;
letters pertaining to, 345 ff.;
topics for investigation and discussion, 349-350;
bibliography for, 350;
dictation exercises on, 350 ff.
Banks, departments of, 333;
of deposit, 334 ff.;
savings, 334, 336 ff.;
trust companies, 334, 337 ff.
_Be_, conjugation, indicative, 104;
subjunctive, 112;
used to form progressive tenses, 88 ff., 105;
used to form passive voice, 105 ff.
_Before_, used as preposition and conjunction, 55.
_Beg to state_, 243.
Bibliography, on manufacture, 280;
on distribution, 304-305;
on advertising, 320;
on banking, 350.
_Bill of lading_, 285;
_straight_ or _order,_ 285.
Blunder, baby, 44.
Body of the letter, 232.
Bonds, 357 ff.;
redemption of, 358;
maturity of, 358;
long period, 358;
short time, 358.
Breve, 9.
Brevity in business letters, mistaken for conciseness, 199.
Business letters, 229 ff.;
essentials of, 230;
the form of, 231;
the arrangement of, 232;
cautions in writing, 235 ff.;
directions for folding, 238;
to order goods, 239;
the tone of, 240;
mistaken ideas in writing, 241 ff.;
to make sales, 244;
to accompany a catalogue, 245 ff.;
to open an account, 250;
to make collections, 253 ff.;
to answer complaints, 257 ff.;
applying for positions, 259 ff.;
form, 264;
circular and follow-up, 264 ff.
Business news, to suggest topics for talks, 155.
Business thinking, importance of, 2.
_c_ and _g_, pronunciation of, 24.
_Can_ and _may_, 102.
Capital stock, explained, 353;
preferred, 355;
common, 355;
par and market values of, 355 ff.
Capitals, use of, 160 ff.
Caret, the, 9.
Carriers, common, 284.
Case, defined, 64;
nominative, 64 ff.;
objective, 64, 66;
possessive, 64, 67;
exercise in, 70 ff.;
following prepositions, 66, 119.
Cause and effect, paragraphs developed by, 223.
Caution, its appeal in advertising, 311-312.
Cautions in writing business letters, 235 ff.
_Cede_, _ceed_, _sede_, 34.
Certificate, the gold, 332;
the silver, 332.
Certified check, the, 339-340.
Check, the, 338 ff.;
personal, 339;
certified, 339-340.
Choosing subjects, suggestions for, 146 ff.
_Cion_, _sion_, _tion_, 34.
_Cious_, _tious_, 33.
Circular letters, 264 ff.
Class paper, suggestions for a, 156.
Classes of advertisements, 311.
Clause, the, defined, 42;
principal, 42;
subordinate, 42;
incorrectly used as a sentence, 45;
introductory words for, 54;
adjective, 54;
adverb, 54;
noun, 54;
modifiers, 54;
introduced by _than_ or _as_, 121;
initial, punctuation of, 176;
restrictive and non-restrictive, 59-60;
punctuation of relative, 185 ff.;
coming at the end of the sentence, punctuation of, 188-189;
incomplete, 205-206;
misplaced, 209 ff.
Clauses, punctuation of series of, 171 ff.
Clear title to property, explained, 322.
Clearing house, daily routine of, 350-351.
Clearness of the sentence, mistakes that prevent:
dangling expressions, 205 ff.;
pronouns with uncertain antecedents, 207 ff.;
misplaced modifiers, 209-210;
omission of necessary words, 210-211;
shift of construction, 211 ff.
Close, courteous, of business letters, 232, 237.
Coherence between sentences, 127-128; 224 ff.;
between paragraphs, 224 ff.
Collateral, 335-336.
Collection letters, 253 ff.
Collective noun, defined, 57.
Colon, use of the, 194.
Colonization, 307.
Combination of short sentences to secure unity, 202 ff.
Comfort, its appeal in advertising, 311-312.
Comma fault, the, 44 ff.
Comma, use of the, in direct quotations, 163 ff.;
in series, 171 ff.;
in compound sentences, 45, 173 ff.;
to set off initial clauses or participial phrases, 175 ff.;
to separate the month from the year, etc., 178;
to indicate the omission of words, 178;
to set off appositives, 179 ff.;
to set off parenthetical expressions, 180 ff.;
to set off independent elements, 182 ff.;
to set off non-restrictive clauses, 185 ff.;
to set off modifiers coming at the end of the sentence, 188 ff.
Command used in good headlines of advertisements, 313.
Commercial department of a bank, 333.
Commercial terms, abbreviations of, 27-28.
Commission, agent's, 323.
Common carriers, 284.
Common noun, defined, 57.
Common stock, 355.
Companies, kinds of, 273.
Company, the steamship, 284;
the railroad, 284 ff.
(See _Corporation_, 353 ff.)
Comparative degree, of adjectives, 78;
of adverbs, 79.
Comparison and contrast, paragraphs developed by, 223.
Comparison, of adjectives, 78;
of adverbs, 79;
negative, 125.
Complaint, letters answering, 257 ff.
Complement, subjective, 65.
Complex sentence, defined, 42.
Composition, oral and written, 127 ff.
Compound nouns, plural of, 20.
Compound relatives, 59.
Compound sentence, defined, 42;
punctuation of, 45, 173 ff.
_Con_, prefix, 32.
Conciseness of expression, 199.
Condensation to secure clearness, 200.
Conjugation, of _write_, active voice, 88 ff.;
of _be_, 104 ff.;
of _follow_, passive voice, 105 ff.
Conjunction, and the preposition, 116 ff.
Conjunctions.
Coördinate, 45;
punctuation with, 45, 173 ff.;
distinguished from conjunctive adverbs, 45.
Subordinate, list of, 54;
_than_ and _as_, 121.
Correlative, 122.
Conjunctive adverbs, 45;
distinguished from coördinate conjunctions, 45;
punctuation with, 45.
Connection, smooth, 127-128, 224 ff.;
methods of securing, 224 ff.
Conservation, 191-192.
Consignee, 285.
Consonant, final, doubling of, 22;
silent, words containing, 11.
Construction, letters dealing with contract for, 263;
shift of, 211.
Contract, letters dealing with, for painting iron-work, 262;
for the delivery of property, 263;
for construction, 263.
Contraction, apostrophe used with, 160.
Coördinate conjunctions, 45;
punctuation with, 45, 173 ff.
Coördinate expressions, 122 ff.
Copulative verbs, defined, 83.
Corporate organization, 359.
Corporation, the, 353 ff.;
finances of, 354;
capital stock of, 354 ff.;
dividends of, 355;
stockholders of, 355;
bonds of, 357 ff.;
organization of, 359;
directors of, 359;
railroad, 360-361;
public utility, 361-362;
industrial, 363;
topics for investigation and discussion on, 365;
dictation exercises on, 365 ff.
Correlatives, defined, 122;
correct position of with coördinate expressions, 122-123;
_either--or_ and _neither--nor_, 123.
Cost of living, paragraph on, 173.
Cotton seed, paragraph on, 176.
Cotton in the Soudan, paragraph, 181.
_Could_ and _might_, 102.
Courteous close, in business letters, 232, 237.
Courtesy in business letters, 231, 240.
Credit, 333.
Credit letters, 250 ff.
Currency, bill, 333;
legislation, 333, 349.
Current events, to suggest subjects for talks, 155.
Dangling expressions, 205 ff.
Dash, use of, 195 ff.;
too free use of in business letters, 243, 247.
Dead letter sale, 190.
Debate, outline for a, 141 ff.;
subjects for, 139 ff., 144;
on manufacture, suggestions for, 275;
on distribution, 290, 302.
Debating, 137 ff.;
proposition for, 137;
six rules for, 137 ff.;
false conclusions in, 138;
irrelevant matter in, 138.
Declarative sentence, defined, 41.
Declension of pronouns, personal, 58;
relative, 59;
interrogative, 60.
Deed, 322.
Degrees of comparison, 78-79.
Demonstrative pronouns, 60.
Departments, of banks, 333;
of railroads, 360.
Deposit, banks of, 334;
slip, 334.
Details, explanatory, necessary to secure interest, 147;
paragraphs developed by, 222.
Development of paragraphs, methods of, 222-223.
_dg_, words containing, 25.
Diacritical marks, 8, 10.
Diaeresis, 9.
Dialogue, paragraphing in, 168 ff.
Dictation exercises, for series, 171;
for compound sentences, 173-174;
for initial clauses or participial phrases, 176;
for parenthetical expressions, 180-181;
for independent elements, 182-183;
for non-restrictive relative clauses, 186;
for the semicolon, 193-194;
on manufacture, 280-281;
on distribution, 305 ff.;
on real estate, 329 ff.;
on banking, 350 ff.;
on corporations, 365 ff.
Direct discourse, 163 ff.;
use of comma in, 170.
Directors of corporations, 359.
Discount, 335.
Discourse, direct, 163 ff.;
indirect, 166 ff.
Discussion and investigation topics, on manufacture, 278-279;
on distribution, 304;
on real estate, 327;
on banking, 349-350;
on the corporation, 365.
Dishwasher, letters to sell a, 265 ff.
Distribution.
Transportation an essential element, 283 ff.;
the steamship company, 284;
the railroad company, 284 ff.;
the retail merchant, 286 ff.;
the wholesale merchant, 291 ff.;
the mail order merchant, 295 ff.;
the salesman, 298 ff.;
suggestions for debates, 302;
subjects for paragraphs, 303 ff.;
topics for investigation and discussion, 304;
bibliography, 304 ff.;
dictation exercises, 305 ff.
Dividends, 355.
Dividing a subject into its natural divisions, 149 ff.
Dot, 9.
Double relative, 59.
Doubling final consonants, rule for, 22.
Draft, bank, 341 ff.;
time, 343-344;
sight, 344-345.
Dropping of final _e_, 22, 25.
Druggist, outline of advertising letters sent by, 268-269.
Durability, its appeal in advertising, 311-312.
_E_, final, retained, 25.
_Each_, _every_, 62, 86 (3)
Economy, its appeal in advertising, 311-312.
_Effect_ and _affect_, 102.
Efficiency, office, 217;
stenographic, 217.
_ei_ or _ie_, 24.
_Either--or_, 123.
Electric washing machine, outline of letters to sell, 269.
Elements, independent, case of, 65;
punctuation of, 182.
Emphatic pronouns, 59.
Emulation, its appeal in advertising, 311-312.
_ence_ and _ance_, 34.
Endings, peculiar adjective, 33;
peculiar noun and verb, 34.
Endorsing a check, methods of, 340.
English, oral, 1, 127 ff.;
written, 1.
(See _Punctuation_, _The Clear Sentence_, _Business Letters_.)
_ent_, 33.
Enthusiasm in business, 230.
_eous_, 33.
Essentials, of a sales letter, 230;
in manufacture, 272-273;
of an advertisement, 310-311.
_Every_, number of, 86.
Examples and illustrations, paragraphs developed by, 222.
Examples of advertisements, 318 ff.
_Except_, a preposition, 124;
incorrectly used as a conjunction, 124.
_Except_ and _accept_, 102.
Exclamation mark, use of, 162.
Exclamatory sentence, defined, 41.
Explanatory details, paragraphs developed by, 222.
Explanatory expressions, punctuation of, 179 ff.
Appositives, 179;
parenthetical expressions, 180;
independent elements, 182;
explanatory relative clauses, punctuation of, 185;
subordinate elements coming at the end of the sentence, 188.
Exports in cattle, paragraph on, 76.
Express money order, 340-341.
Expression, conciseness of, 199;
variety of, 111.
_f_, and _fe_, plurals of nouns ending in, 19.
False conclusions in debating, 137-138.
Farm lands, 325 ff.;
outline of letters to sell, 267-268;
letters pertaining to, 325 ff.;
topics for investigation and discussion on, 327;
dictation exercises on, 329 ff.
Farm reform, 329.
Farming specials, 330.
_Favor, your esteemed_, and similar expressions, to avoid, 243.
Fee simple, 322.
_Fewer_ and _less_, 80.
Figures, plural of, 20, 160.
Final consonant, rule for doubling, 22.
Final _e_, dropped, 22, 25;
retained, 25-26.
Finance department of a railroad, 360-361.
Finances of a corporation, 354.
_Fly_, _flow_, _flee_, 101.
Folding a letter, directions for, 238.
_Follow_, conjugation of in the passive voice, 105 ff.;
synopsis of, passive, 106.
_Following, the_, punctuation after, 195.
Follow-up letter, the, 264 ff.
_For_, as preposition and conjunction, 55.
Foreclosing a mortgage, 322.
Foreign plurals, 21.
Foreign news, to suggest subjects for talks, 155.
_For example_, punctuation with, 195.
_For instance_, punctuation with, 195.
Form letter, the, 264.
Form of the business letter, 231.
Formation, of participles, 21 ff.;
of possessive case, 67;
of infinitives, 110.
Freight bill, 286.
Freight, receipt for, 285.
Furniture, outline of letters to sell, 269.
Future tense, 88 ff.;
progressive, 89;
perfect, 90.
_G_, pronunciation of, 24.
Gas mantles, paragraph on, 280-281.
Gold certificates, 332.
Good and bad headlines in advertisements, 313-314.
Government's Laundry, the, 173-174.
Greek roots, 30.
_Had ought_, 103.
"Hammock" paragraph, 216.
_Have_ and _of_, 119.
Heading of the business letter, 232, 235.
Headlines of advertisements, good and bad, 313-314.
Health, its appeal in advertising, 311-312.
_Herculean_, 5.
Homonyms, 14-15.
How to advance, paragraph on, 177.
_Hoping_ and similar expressions, to avoid, 242-243.
Hyphen, use of, 196.
_Ible_, 33.
Ideas, mistaken, in letter writing, 241 ff.
_ie_ or _ei_, 24.
Illustrations and examples, paragraphs developed by, 222.
Imperative sentence, defined, 41.
_In_, prefix, 33.
Income of railroads, 360.
Incorrectly used, nouns and pronouns, 73-74;
adjectives and adverbs, 81-82;
verbs, 114-115;
prepositions, 118-119.
Indefinite _it_ or _they_, 207 ff.
Indefinite pronouns, 61;
used as adjectives, 61.
Independent elements, case of, 65;
punctuation of, 182.
Indicative mode, defined, 112;
of _be,_ 112.
Indirect discourse, 166 ff.
Indirect object, 66.
Industrial corporations, 363.
Industry, 273.
Infinitive, defined, 109;
tenses and voices of, 110;
split, 77, 209.
Initial clause or participial phrase, punctuation of, 176.
Insurance, 327 ff.;
letters pertaining to, 328 ff.
Insurance and real estate, 321 ff.
Interesting words, 1 ff.
Interjection, 49;
_O_, 161.
Interrogation mark, use of, 162;
position of with quotation marks, 163 ff.
Interrogative pronouns, declined, 60.
Interrogative sentence, 41.
Intransitive verb, 83.
Introduction of the letter, 232, 235-236.
Investigation and discussion, topics for, on manufacture, 278-279;
on distribution, 304;
on real estate, 327;
on banking, 349-350;
on the corporation, 365.
Investments, mining, 365-366.
Investors, 184, 185.
_ious_, 33.
Irregular plurals of nouns, 19.
Irregular verbs, principal parts of, 95 ff.
_ise_, _ize_, _yze_, 34.
_It_ used indefinitely, 207 ff.
_Italic_, derivation of, 3.
Italian _a_, 9.
_Its_ and _it's_, 160 ff.
_k_, insertion of, 25.
_Kindly_, abuse of, 243.
Labor, 274.
Local news, to suggest subjects for talks, 155.
Land business, the, 325 ff.
Latin-American trade, the, 306.
Latin prefixes and suffixes, 31.
_Lay_ and _lie_, 100-101.
_Learn_ and _teach_, 101.
Lease, 321.
_Least_, used in the superlative degree, 78.
Legal department of a railroad, 360-361.
Length of good headlines in advertisements, 313.
_Less_ and _fewer_, 80.
Letter beginnings, 240, 247, 248-249.
Letter, to investors, 47;
to accompany a style book, 172;
to sell a trip on the water, 183-184;
to sell a house coat, 221-222;
ordering goods, 239;
from A. Lincoln to Mrs. Bixby, 240-241;
to accompany a catalogue, 245 ff.;
to sell cheese, 246;
to sell hinged paper, 247-248;
to open an account, 250-251;
credit, 251-252;
requesting payment, 254 ff.;
answering a complaint, 257-258;
of application, 260-261;
follow-up, 265 ff.;
from a bank, soliciting a trust (to be punctuated), 348-349;
market, 366.
Letters, plurals of, 20.
Letters, business, in the manufacturing business, 276 ff.;
in the retail business, 287 ff.;
in the wholesale business, 292 ff.;
in the mail order business, 295 ff.;
to help the salesman, 301;
pertaining to banking, 345 ff.
(See _Business letters_, _Letter_.)
_Lie_ and _lay_, 100-101.
_Like_, followed by the objective case, 124.
_Loose_ and _lose_, 103.
_Lose_ and _loose_, 103.
Luck and labor, paragraph on, 174.
Macron, the, 9.
Magazine advertising, 311 ff.
Mail order business, the, 295 ff..
Manufacture, 270 ff.;
essentials in, 272-273;
subjects for themes on, 275;
suggestions for debates on, 275;
letters in, 276 ff.;
topics for investigation and discussions on, 278 ff.;
bibliography for, 280;
dictation exercises in, 280 ff.
Market letter, 366.
Market value, 355 ff.
Marks, diacritical, 7;
question, 162;
quotation, 163 ff.
Materials, raw, 274.
Maturity of bonds, 358, 364.
_May_ and _can_, 102.
Merchant, the retail, 286 ff.;
the wholesale, 291 ff.;
the mail order, 295 ff.
Methods of endorsing a check, 340.
_Might_ and _could_, 102.
Mining investment, principles of, 365.
Misplaced modifiers, 209-210.
Mispronounced, words commonly, 13, 17.
Mistaken ideas in letter writing, 241 ff.
Mode, defined, 112;
indicative and subjunctive of _be_, 112;
subjunctive denoting possibility, 113.
Model letters. (See _Letter_.)
Modern business done by letter, 229 ff.
Modifiers, adjective and adverb, word, 49;
phrase, 52 ff.;
clause, 54-55;
used to secure unity, 202;
misplaced, 209-210.
Money, 332;
kinds of paper, 332 ff.;
its appeal in advertising, 311-312.
Money order, express, 340-341;
postal, 341.
Monosyllables ending in silent _e_, 9.
Month from year, comma used to separate, 178.
_More_ or _less_, used in the comparative degree, 78.
Mortgage, 322, 357 ff.;
foreclosing a, 322.
_Most_ or _least_, used in the superlative degree, 78.
Motives to which advertisements appeal, 311.
_Namely_, punctuation with, 195.
Names, suggestive, in advertising, 313.
National bank notes, 333.
National news, to suggest subjects for talks, 155.
Necessary words, omission of, 210-211.
Need, its appeal in advertising, 311-312.
Negative comparison, 125.
Negative, outline for a debate on advertising, 143 ff.
_Neither--nor_, 123.
News, to suggest topics for talks, 155.
Nominative absolute, 65.
Nominative case, 64 ff.;
as subject, 64;
as subjective complement (predicate nominative), 65;
as appositive, 65;
independent, 65;
absolute, 65.
_Nor_, 123.
Notes, 359;
promissory, 336.
Noun, defined, 49;
clause, 54;
and the pronoun, 57 ff.;
common, 57;
proper, 57;
collective, 57;
abstract, 57;
verbal, 57;
modified by _every_ and similar words, 86;
collective, number of, 86.
Nouns, rules for plurals of, regular, 18;
ending in _y_, 19;
ending in _o_, 19;
ending in _f_ and _fe_, 19;
irregular, 19-20;
compound, 20;
foreign, 21;
possessive case of, 67;
incorrectly used, 73-74;
joined by _or_, 86;
punctuation of series of, 171 ff.
Number of verb, 86.
_O_, capitalization of, 161.
_o_, plural of nouns ending in, 19.
Object, of a preposition, 55, 66;
of a transitive verb, 66;
indirect, 66;
second, 66.
Objective case, 64, 66;
as direct object of a transitive verb, 66;
as object of a preposition, 66, 119;
as indirect object, 66;
as second object, 66;
as appositive, 66;
as adverbial modifier, 66;
following _like_, 124.
Observation, subjects taken from, 146 ff.
Obsolete words, 3.
_Of_ and _have_, 119.
_Of_ phrase substituted for the possessive case, 67.
_Oh_, 161.
Omission, of letters, 160;
of necessary words, 210 ff.;
of subject in business letters, 242.
Opening an account, letters for, 240 ff.
Operating department of a railroad, 360.
Oral English, exercises in, 127 ff.
Oral expression, 127 ff.;
variety of, 111.
Oral reproduction, from magazines, 147;
from newspapers, 154 ff.
Oral exercises, in general, 127 ff.;
on manufacture, 273 ff.;
in the retail trade, 286;
in the wholesale trade, 290 ff.;
in the mail order business, 295;
in connection with the salesman, 299 ff.
Order bill of lading, 285.
Ordering goods, letter for, 239.
Order, express money, 340-341;
postal money, 341.
Organization, corporate, 359;
of a railroad, 360.
Outline, for a debate, 141 ff.;
how to make an, 151 ff.
Paper money, kinds of, 332 ff.
Paragraph, the, 215 ff.;
in dialogue, 168 ff.;
proper length of, 215-216;
topic sentence in, 216 ff.;
"hammock," 216;
how developed, 222-223.
Paragraphs on, Sacramento City, 48;
exports in cattle, 76;
cost of living, 173;
the government's laundry, 173-174;
luck and labor, 174;
sawdust, 174-175;
a new kind of wood, 175;
hogs as mortgage lifters, 175;
cotton seed, 176;
making paper, 176-177;
how to advance, 177;
bubonic plague, 177;
politics of a city, 181;
cotton in the Soudan, 181;
the "yellow" invasion, 182;
saving, 182, 184, 193;
investors, 184, 185;
Chicago's milk supply, 186;
the dead letter sale, 190;
industries, controlled, 193;
the secret blotter, 197;
a mummy's doll, 198;
office efficiency, 217;
stenographic efficiency, 217;
business courtesy, 218;
the rural landscape of Norway, 218;
the _Spectator_, 218-219;
income, 225;
gas mantles, 280-281;
production of wool, 281;
casting metals, 281;
transportation, 305;
the Latin-American trade, 306;
the parcel post in Africa, 306;
the remedy for wrecks, 306-307;
colonization, 307;
farm reform, 329;
farming specials, 330;
selection of seed, 330-331;
the clearing house, 350-351;
washed money, 351-352;
an early monopoly, 365;
mining investments, 365-366.
Paragraphs, subjects for. See _Subjects_.
Parenthesis marks, use of, 196;
wrongly used to cancel expressions, 196.
Parenthetical expressions, punctuation of, 180 ff.
Participle, defined, 109;
tenses and voices of, 109;
the dangling, 205-206.
Participles, formation of, 21;
of verbs in _y_, 23.
Participial phrases, punctuation of, 176 ff.;
188 ff.
Parts of speech:
The noun and the pronoun, 49, 57 ff.;
the adjective and the adverb, 49, 75, ff.;
the verb, 49, 83 ff.;
the preposition and the conjunction, 49, 116 ff.;
the interjection, 49.
Parts, principal, of irregular verbs, 95 ff.
Par value, 355.
Passive voice, defined, 84;
conjugation of _follow_, in the, 105 ff.;
synopsis of _follow_ in the, 106.
Past tense, 88;
progressive form of, 89;
emphatic form of, 89;
perfect, 90.
Payment, letters requesting, 253 ff.
Perfect tenses, 89 ff.
Period, use of, 162.
Personal pronouns declined, 58.
Personality essential in a salesman, 298.
Persons of the pronouns, 58.
Phrase modifiers, 52 ff.
Phrases, prepositional, 52 ff.;
adverbial, 52-53;
adjective, 52-53;
classification of, 110;
punctuation of series of, 171 ff.;
initial participial, punctuation of, 176;
incorrectly used as a sentence, 45, 242.
Plurals, of nouns, 18 ff.;
of letters and figures, 20, 160;
of foreign nouns, 21.
Positive degree, 78, 79.
Possessive case, 64, 67;
rules for forming, 67;
separate possession, in the, 67;
with verbal nouns, 67 ff.;
_of_ phrase substituted for, 67;
use of the apostrophe in the, 159.
Possibility, use of the subjunctive mode to show, 113 ff.
Postal money order, 341.
Predicate, of the sentence, 41;
nominative, 65.
Preferred stock, 355.
Prefix, usually constituting a syllable, 16;
Anglo-Saxon, 29;
Latin, 31;
_ad_, _con_, and _in_, 32-33.
Present tense, 88;
progressive, 88;
emphatic, 88;
perfect, 89.
Preposition, defined, 49;
phrase introduced by, 52;
followed by the objective case, 66, 119;
and the conjunction, 116 ff.;
the wrong, 119;
necessary, 119.
Prepositional phrases, 52-53.
Prepositions, and adverbs confused, 52;
list of, 53;
used with certain verbs, 116-117;
incorrectly used, 118-119.
Pride, its appeal in advertising, 311-312.
Principal clauses, 42.
Principal parts of irregular verbs, 95 ff.
Progressive tenses, 88 ff.; 105.
Promissory note, 335.
Pronominal adjectives, 60.
Pronoun, defined, 49;
and the noun, 57 ff.;
incorrect use of _same_ as a pronoun, 72-73.
Pronouns, 58 ff.;
personal, declined, 58;
emphatic, 59;
reflexive, 59;
list of relative, 54;
declension of relative, 59;
compound relative, 59;
double relative, 59;
restrictive relative, 59 ff.;
interrogative declined, 60;
demonstrative, 60;
indefinite, 61;
adjective, 61;
possessive in form, not in use, 59 (note);
incorrectly used, 73 ff.;
joined by _or_, 86.
Pronunciation, 7 ff.;
slurring syllables in, 7;
of _c_ and _g_, 24.
Proper noun, defined, 57;
capitalization of, 57, 161.
Proposition for debate, 137.
Public utility corporations, 361 ff.
Punctuation, 158 ff.;
apostrophe, 159 ff.;
capitals, 160 ff.;
period, 162;
interrogation mark, 162;
exclamation mark, 162;
quotation marks, 163 ff.;
comma, 170 ff.;
semicolon, 192 ff.;
colon, 194 ff.;
dash, 195 ff.;
parenthesis marks, 196;
hyphen, 196 ff.;
of series, 170 ff.;
of compound sentences, 45, 173 ff.;
of initial clause or participial phrase, 175 ff.;
of explanatory expressions, 179 ff.;
after _as follows_, etc., 195;
after _namely_, etc., 195.
Quality, its appeal in advertising, 311-312.
Questions for discussion on, manufacture, 273-274;
the retail merchant, 286-287;
the wholesale merchant, 291-292;
the mail order merchant, 295;
advertising, 309-310;
real estate, 323;
the corporation, 363-364.
Quitclaim deed, 322.
Quotation marks, use of, 163 ff.
Quotations, use of comma in, 170 ff.
Railroad, the, 360;
sources of income of, 360;
organization of, 360;
departments of, 360 ff.
Railroad company, the, 284, 360.
_Raise_ and _rise_, 101.
Raw materials, 274.
Reading, subjects taken from, 147 ff.
_Real_ and _very_, 81.
Real estate and insurance, 321.
Real estate business, 321 ff.
Rent, 321;
lease, 321;
warranty deed, 322;
quitclaim deed, 322;
clear title, 322;
fee simple, 322;
mortgage, 322;
foreclosing a mortgage, 322;
agent and commission, 323;
letters in, 324 ff.;
topics for investigation and discussion, 327.
Receipt for freight, 285.
Redemption of bonds, 358.
Reflexive pronouns, 59.
Reform, farm, 329.
Relative pronouns, list of, 54, 59;
declined, 59;
double, 59;
restrictive, 59 ff.;
compound, 59.
Relative value of different forms of advertising, 310.
Remedy for wrecks, 306-307.
Remittance, forms of, 338 ff.
Check, 339;
certified check, 339 ff.;
endorsement, methods of, 340;
express money order, 340;
postal money order, 341;
bank draft, 341 ff.;
time draft, 343 ff.;
sight draft, 344 ff.
Rent, 321.
Reproduction, oral, from magazines, 147 ff.;
from newspapers, 154 ff.
Requesting payment, letters, 253 ff.
Restricting the subject, 150.
Restrictive relative pronouns, 59 ff.
Retail merchant, the, 286 ff.
Richards' baby stocking fund, 337.
_Rise_ and _raise_, 101.
Roots, Greek, 30.
Rules.
For spelling:
regular plurals in _s_ and _es_, 18;
changing final _y_ to _i_, 19;
nouns in _o_, 19;
nouns in _f_ and _fe_, 19;
plural by change of vowel, 19;
by adding _en_, 19;
no change for the plural, 20;
two plurals, 20;
compound nouns, 20;
plurals of letters and figures, 20;
foreign plurals, 21;
doubling final consonant, 21-22;
retaining _y_ before _ing_, 23;
_ie_ or _ei_, 24;
soft _c_ and _g_, 24;
dropping final silent _e_, 25;
retaining final _e_, 25-26.
For punctuation:
the apostrophe, to show the possessive case of nouns, 159;
to show omission of letters, 160;
to show plurals of letters, figures, and words not
regularly nouns, 160;
capitals, 160 ff.;
the period, 162;
the interrogation mark, 162;
the exclamation mark, 162;
quotation marks, 163 ff.;
comma in direct quotations, 170;
comma in series, 171 ff.;
comma in compound sentence, 173 ff.;
comma after initial clause or participial phrase, 175 ff.;
comma to separate month from year, etc., 178;
comma to show omission of words, 178;
comma to set off appositive, 179 ff.;
comma to set off parenthetical expressions, 180 ff.;
comma to set off independent elements, 182 ff.;
comma to set off non-restrictive relative clause, 185 ff.;
comma to set off subordinate element at the end of the sentence,
188 ff.;
the semicolon, 192 ff.;
the colon, 194 ff.;
the dash, 195 ff.;
parenthesis marks, 196;
the hyphen, 196.
_S 1_, comma fault, 44.
_S 2_, use of phrase or clause as sentence, 45.
Sacramento City, paragraph on, 48.
_Salary_, 3.
Sales letter, the, 244 ff.
Salesman, the, 298 ff.;
letters to help the, 301-302.
Salutation, the, of business letters, 232, 236-237.
_Same_, not a pronoun, 72-73;
distinctly business blunder, 243.
Saving, paragraphs on, 182, 184, 193.
Savings banks, 334, 336; postal, 337.
Savings department of bank, 332.
_Saw_ and _seen_, 99-100.
Sawdust, paragraph on, 174.
Second object, 66.
Secretary's report, the, 115 (note).
_Sede_, _cede_, _ceed_, 34.
Selection of seed, 330-331.
Semicolon, uses of, 45, 174, 192 ff.
Sentence, the, and its elements, 41 ff.;
subject of, 41;
simple, 42;
complex, 42;
compound, 42;
compound, punctuation of, 45, 174;
predicate of, 41;
declarative, defined, 41;
interrogative, defined, 41;
imperative, defined, 41;
exclamatory, defined, 41;
simple, defined, 42;
compound, defined, 42;
complex, defined, 42;
errors, 44.
Separation, the keynote of punctuation, 159.
Series, punctuation of, 171 ff.
_Set_, and _sit_, 101.
_Shall_ and _will_, 89, 92.
Shareholders, 355.
Shares, of capital stock, 355.
Shift in construction, 211 ff.
Short sentences, combination of, 202 ff.
_Should_ and _would_, 93-94.
Sight draft, 344-345.
Signature, the, in business letters, 232, 237-238.
Silent consonant, words containing, 11.
Silent vowels, 11.
Silver certificates, 332.
Simple sentence, defined, 42.
_Since_, as preposition and conjunction, 55.
_sion_, _tion_, _cion_, 34.
_Sit_ and _set_, 101.
Slang, 129.
Slurring of syllables, 7.
Smooth connection, 127-128, 224;
methods of securing, 224.
Snappy style, in letter writing, 246.
_So--as_, in negative comparisons, 125.
_So_ habit, to avoid the, 111, 128.
Soudan, cotton in the, 181.
South Africa, parcel post in, 306.
Specials, railroad farming, 330.
_Spectator, The_, paragraph from Macaulay, 218-219.
Speech, parts of, 48 ff.
Speech, plan in making, 131 ff.;
outline for, 151 ff.
Spelling, rules, 18 ff.;
500 words for, 36 ff.
Split infinitive, 77, 209.
States, abbreviation of names of, 26-27.
Steamship company, the, 284.
Steel, trouble in introducing, 191.
Stenographic efficiency, 217.
Still-life advertisements, 314.
Stock, capital, common and preferred, 353, 355;
authorized capital, 355.
Stockholders, 355.
Stocks, of a corporation, 354 ff.
Straight bill of lading, 285.
Style, in letter writing, 244 ff.
Subject, as a whole, 148;
divisions of, 149 ff.;
making outline of, 151 ff.;
restricting the, 150, 153;
of the sentence, 41, 65;
simple, 55;
complete, 55;
of subordinate clause, 55;
compound, number of, 86;
incorrect omission of, in business letters, 242.
Subjective complement, 65.
Subjects, how to choose, 146 ff.;
for debates, 141, 144, 275, 290, 302;
for compositions on manufacture, 274, 275, 278-279;
on distribution, 299, 301, 303, 304;
on advertising, 317, 318;
suggested by personal experience, 147;
suggested by reading, 147, 154.
Subjunctive mode, defined, 112;
of _be_, 112;
used to denote possibility, 113.
Subordinate clauses, adjective, adverb, noun, 54;
subject of, 55.
Subordinate conjunctions, list of, 54.
Subordination, in the sentence, 201 ff.
Subscription, outline of letters to sell, 268.
Success, elements of, 135.
Successful men and women, 136.
Suffix, usually constituting a syllable, 16;
Anglo-Saxon, 29;
adjective, 30;
verb, 31;
noun, 31;
_able_ and _ible_, 33;
_ant_ and _ent_, 33.
Suggestions for debates, 139 ff., 144;
on manufacture, 275;
on distribution, 290, 302.
Suggestive names in advertisements, 313;
headlines, 313-314.
Superlative degree, of adjectives, 78;
of adverbs, 79.
Superlatives, to be avoided, 129.
Syllabication, 15.
Syllables, slurred, 7;
division of words into, 15 ff.
Synopsis of _write_, active voice, 91.
_Teach_ and _learn_, 101.
Technical words, 4.
Tense, defined, 88;
of participle, 109;
of infinitive, 110.
Tenses, distinguished, 88 ff.
(See _Present tense_, _Past tense_, _Perfect tenses_.)
_Than_ and _as_, case following, 121.
_That_, restrictive relative, 59 ff.
_That is_, punctuation with, 195.
_The following_, punctuation with, 195.
Themes, oral, 127 ff.
(See _Oral themes_.)
_There_, _their_, 126.
Thinking, business, 2.
_Thus_, punctuation with, 195.
Tilde, 9.
Time draft, 343-344.
_Tion_, _sion_, _cion_, 34.
_Tious_, troublesome ending, 33.
Title, clear, to property, 322.
Titles, 150;
of officials and of honor, 161;
of books and plays, 162.
_To_, _too_, _two_, distinguished, 125-126.
Tone, of the letter, 240.
Topic sentence, in the paragraph, 216 ff.
Topics for investigation and discussion, on manufacture, 278-279;
on distribution, 304;
on real estate, 327;
on banking, 349-350;
on the corporation, 365.
Trade, Latin-American, 306.
Traffic department of railroad, 359.
Transitive verb, followed by objective case, 66;
defined, 83.
Transportation, 283.
Troublesome verbs, 100 ff.;
_lie_ and _lay_, 100 ff.;
_sit_, _set_, 101;
_fly_, _flow_, _flee_, 101;
_rise_, _raise_, 101;
_teach_, _learn_, 101;
_may_, _can_, 102;
_might_, _could_, 102;
_accept_, _except_, 102;
_affect_, _effect_, 102 ff.;
_lose_, _loose_, 103.
Trust companies, 334, 337.
Trust department of a bank, 332.
Uncertain antecedents, pronouns with, 207 ff.
United States treasury notes, 333.
Unity, in the sentence, 199;
in the paragraph, 216.
Unless, a conjunction, 124.
Until, as preposition and conjunction, 55.
Usefulness, its appeal in advertising, 311.
Utility corporations, public, 36 ff.
Value, par of stock, 355 ff.;
market, 355 ff.
Vanity, its appeal in advertising, 311.
Variety of expression, 111.
Verb, the, 83 ff.;
defined, 49;
transitive, 66, 83;
intransitive, 83;
copulative, 83;
active voice of, 84;
passive voice of, 84;
number of, 85;
person of, 85;
singular with certain words, 85 ff.;
plural with certain subjects, 86;
tense of, 88 ff.;
_shall_ and _will_, 92;
_should_ and _would_, 93;
conjugation of _be_, 104 ff.;
_be_ used to make progressive tenses, 105;
_be_ used to make passive voice, 105 ff.;
the participle, 109;
the infinitive, 110;
mode, 112 ff.;
conjugation of _write_, active voice, 88 ff.;
_follow_, passive voice, 105 ff.;
synopsis of _write_, active voice, 91;
synopsis of _follow_, passive voice, 106.
Verbal noun, defined, 57;
possessive case with, 67 ff.
Verbs, incorrectly used, 114;
participles of verbs in _y_, 23;
taking two objects, 66;
taking indirect and direct objects, 66;
principal parts of irregular, 95 ff.;
troublesome, 100 ff.;
_lie_, _lay_, distinguished, 100;
_sit_ and _set_, distinguished, 101;
_fly_, _flow_, _flee_, distinguished, 101;
_rise_ and _raise_, distinguished, 101;
_teach_ and _learn_, distinguished, 101;
_may_ and _can_, distinguished, 102;
_might_ and _could_, distinguished, 102;
_accept_ and _except_, distinguished, 102;
_affect_ and _effect_, distinguished, 102;
_lose_ and _loose_, distinguished, 103;
_had ought_, incorrectly used, 103;
certain prepositions used with, 116 ff.
_Very_ and _real_, distinguished, 81
Voice, active and passive, defined, 84;
of the participle, 109;
of the infinitive, 110.
Vowels, pronunciation of, 9;
length of, in monosyllables ending in _e_, 9;
words containing silent, 11.
Warranty deed, 322.
Washed money, 351-352.
Washing machine, letters to sell, outline, 269.
Watered stock, 357.
Way-bill, railroad, 286.
_Were_, _where_, distinguished, 126.
_What_, double relative, 59.
_Who_, and _which_, used restrictively, 60.
_Who_ and _whom_, 70 ff.
_Whoever_ and _whomever_, 71.
Wholesale merchant, the, 291 ff.
_Why_, childish use of, 128.
_Will_ and _shall_, 89, 92 ff.
_Will you be so good as to_, 243.
Wish, subjunctive to express, 113.
_Without_, a preposition, 124;
incorrectly used as conjunction, 124.
Word analysis, 29 ff.
Words, interesting, 1 ff.;
obsolete, 3;
technical, 4;
similarly pronounced 14, 15;
frequently mispronounced, 13, 17;
containing _dg_, 25;
ending in silent _e_, retain or drop _e_, 25;
analysis of, 32;
easily confused, list of, 35 ff.;
500 for spelling, 36 ff.;
used as different parts of speech, 51;
omission of, punctuation to show, 178.
Wordiness, 130 ff, 200-201.
_Would_ and _should_, 93 ff.
_Would say_, to be avoided, 243.
_Write_, conjugation of, active voice, 88 ff.;
synopsis of, passive voice, 91.
Writing advertisements, exercises in, 315-316.
Written composition, 1, 127 ff.
Written expression, 1, 127 ff.
_Y_, nouns ending in, plural of, 19.
"Yellow" invasion, paragraph on the, 182.
_You_ attitude, the, in letter writing, 244.
_Yze_, _ize_, _ise_, 34.
* * * * *
Transcriber's note:
Text uses both "to-day" and "today."
Obvious punctuation errors were corrected.
Pages 116-117, entry for "confide" was originally placed after
"correspond." It was relocated to be in the correct alphabetical order.
Pages 171-172, the examples were placed out of order. The section
beginning "reporter, business manager" to the end of the paragraph was
originally located after a space following the Abraham Lincoln
paragraph. The first part of the Abraham Lincoln paragraph originally
ended with "nor a year it". The rest of that paragraph was originally
located at the top of the next page. These paragraphs have been adjusted
to read correctly. Copies of the original pages may be seen in the
trascriber's notes for the HTML version of this text.
Page 245, "foward" changed to "forward" (We shall forward)
Page 337, "committe" changed to "committee" (A committee was appointed)
Page 359, "natually" changed to "naturally" (will naturally lead us)