advantage
of his adversary. If he wins, the stakes are appreciated, but it is
upon the conquest he plumes himself. If he loses, he honors the man
that withstood him.
Another
reason for the success of the Jew in this as in other trades, is his
quick recognition of merit in those who serve him, and willingness,
when the demand is enforced, to share the profits of the business with
those who assist him in making them. Liberal in expenditures, he will
allow his subordinates to spend any amount necessary to get business
which eventually shows a profit, and though he will drive as hard a
bargain with them as with others, he will pay a profit-winner who
insists, more than a man of any other class will, to hold his services.
Practically the Jews are the most democratic of all people. They gauge
a man by what he can do. Name, birth, breeding, learning even, count
but little, in their estimation, for the man who cannot himself do
things; they count nothing against him if he can. The office boy who
demonstrates that he can sell goods is immediately treated with the
consideration due to a salesman; his former insignificance is at once
forgotten.
In
this way the senior members of their firms gradually withdraw to the
rear where they hold the reins of finance, while the van of active
business is held by a young working force in touch with present
conditions and who have learned how to do business, not by school and
luxury, but by work and experience. A Jewish firm may last many years,
but it seldom grows old or infirm. Add to these qualifications, an
unbounded capacity for work, and an almost instinctive understanding
of the principles of finance, and the fact that the im-
