A reputation for "cuteness" and sharp dealing is
fatal in great affairs. Not the letter of the law, but the spirit,
must be the rule. The standard of commercial morality is now very
high. A mistake made by any one in favor of the firm is corrected as
promptly as if the error were in favor of the other party. It is
essential to permanent success that a house should obtain a reputation
for being governed by what is fair rather than what is merely legal. A
rule which we adopted and adhered to has given greater returns than
one would believe possible, namely: always give the other party the
benefit of the doubt. This, of course, does not apply to the
speculative class. An entirely different atmosphere pervades that
world. Men are only gamblers there. Stock gambling and honorable
business are incompatible. In recent years it must be admitted that
the old-fashioned "banker," like Junius S. Morgan of London, has
become rare.
Soon after being deposed as president of the Union Pacific, Mr.
Scott[31] resolved upon the construction of the Texas Pacific
Railway. He telegraphed me one day in New York to meet him at
Philadelphia without fail. I met him there with several other friends,
among them Mr. J.N. McCullough, vice-president of the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company at Pittsburgh.
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