PE;:FABATION OF THE SALESMAN

ritory, in which I was a stranger, so I depended on him to post me on the conditions surrounding the prospect. The first party I talked to was a farmer. The salesman told me this farmer was married, had one small child, owned 200 acres of land and owed $10,000 on the place, so I made my talk along this line : "Mr. Smith, about 90 per cent of business men make use of credit, so if you are using borrowed money in connection with your work, you are doing what the majority of business men are doing. Now, if I came to you as a banker and said, 'Mr. Smith, you are now paying 6 per cent interest but if you will pay 9 per cent interest instead of 6 per cent, I'll guarantee to cancel the debt in case of your death, and if in 20 years from now, when you are ready to retire, you pay off your debt, I'll refund you 21 per cent of the interest so you will be out only 61 per cent interest instead of 6 per cent interest, would you be interested?"—"I might." "All right, sir, then look here;" and I made my explanation of a contract and how it would cover him and his condition and it netted a $10,000 application.

Leaving this man we went to his neighbor, the salesman saying that conditions were about the same. I made my introductory talk the same as in the first case, but this man said he would not be interested. I then dwelt at length on the advantage of having the debt paid immediately after the death of the bread-earner, without placing the burden on the shoulders of dependent and helpless survivors. I showed examples of property lost by the bread-earner's premature death with indebtedness against the place that the survivors could not take care of and I made no impression, so, after an hour of fruitless work, I finally gave up and after leaving I expressed my disgust with the man for being willing to take a chance on putting such a burden on the shoulders of a helpless wife and babe. The salesman said, "Well, I guess it's my fault for saying conditions were about the same; I meant he was a farmer and had a wife and child like Smith, but this man is not in debt, so your talk did not apply to him. In fact, he has just sold some land for $20,000 and is now figuring on how to invest it." Ye Gods! What a fool talk I made under those conditions.

Specialize. By John G. Morey.

All the big life business in this city is being written by men 21