It may be said that many professional men, physicians, teachers, literary persons, artists and musicians are careless with money and yet seem to be happy and contented. I am sure they are not so contented or so happy as they would be if they were prudent and careful. But it is true that such persons may succeed in their own work even if they do incur debts and live beyond their incomes.

But the business man, and by far the vast majority of all working men and women are engaged in "business," can not be extravagant or imprudent. It means certain failure. The very core and heart of business is sensible economy. Moreover it is not so much actual cash that counts in business as credit. But credit never comes unless there is cash to begin with, and assuredly it never is extended to the reckless and improvident.

It is a much disputed question whether in this day of big corporations there are as many opportunities for the individual business man as formerly. On the one hand there is a tendency for big corporations to swallow up little ones and for most men to work for salaries and wages rather than for profits. But then there are new industries constantly springing up, like the automobile and motion pictures, which furnish openings for the small capitalist. At any rate the man who works for a salary or wages has great opportunities no less than the owner of a business.

What a man saves from his earnings is capital just as much as what another man puts into a business of his own. It is a sinking fund, a reserve, a surplus, all to be used at the right moment for seizing investment opportunities. Even if this is not the day of business openings, which I do not grant, it is the day of big salaries and that means many an investment opportunity.

It is just as possible to earn a great salary to-day as it was to build up a great business two generations ago. For more than a year McClure's Magazine ran a series of articles descriptive of men who drew one hundred thousand dollars a year salaries, many of them men whom the public had never heard of. And the writer knows of scores of others that were not mentioned in those articles.

A great advantage of having saved a little money is that it gives one a much greater freedom of movement, a wider sphere of action. Without a nest-egg one is not in a good position to bargain for higher wages or salary, or for a better position. It is a commonplace remark of business life that employers always seem to know when a worker is not in a position to refuse their offer. This is true of every sphere. The college professor who has several offers, or who has several thousand dollars saved, can come much nearer to dictating his own terms than the teacher with nothing but his brains and ability.

Without any money a man must take the first job offered. He can not go from place to place. He can not travel. As a result the job and the man do not come together. The number of "square pegs in round holes" is greatly increased. Often there is such a thing as financing one's self through a lean period to one which is much fatter. A month's idleness in which to look the world over from the outside often results in a far better position. Many men have started toward real success in life by resigning their positions and taking another at one half the salary.

I believe one reason so many rich men's sons get ahead is because they can afford to take time to find just the right opening. The poor boy has no rich father to maintain him in temporary but productive idleness. He must provide for that object himself.

Every few years a time comes when good sound stocks go far below their real worth because the financial world is upset by panic or war. Even the most conservative bonds sell at times at such low prices that the buyer really receives one or two per cent. more than in normal periods. These waves go over the whole world and may not affect in the least the merit of the particular company in which one invests. In nearly every locality houses and lots are offered for sale now and then at ridiculously low prices because the owners are hard pressed or obliged to move suddenly. In every field of business this is true. Are you one of those who must let these favorable chances slip through your fingers, or have you saved enough to profit by them? Are you ready?

No one has ever put the idea of grasping opportunity by means of saving into clearer words than Marshall Field:

"In the first place it creates determination. This at the start. Then it develops steady pur-pose; then sustained energy. Soon it produces alert discriminating intelligence. These all rapidly grow into an ability that enables him to take the money he has accumulated (even though small in amount) and employ it with profit. Better and better returns follow up his efforts."

Five Rules For Getting Rich

Spend less than you earn.

Never run in debt.

Never anticipate uncertain profits by expending them before received.

Keep a regular account of your earnings and expenses.

Start a savings-bank account.