ON COUNTING ONE’S CHICKENS

Northern Advocate, 25 October 1935, Page 2

ON COUNTING ONE’S CHICKENS

A BALLAD OF BUSINESS. Painted in large lettering on the verandah of a shop in the city are the words, “I’m like the British Flag, I’ve come to stay.” The owner could not have anticipated the depression, because on a placard pasted on the window are the words, “To Let.” — “Auckland Star,” 23-10-35. The business man who gambles, in these dark, depressing days, His large or smaller capital in various kinds of ways, Must needs be optimistic if he wishes to survive; But he must not count his chickens till they’re healthy and alive, For, spite of working double time, and maybe Sundays, too, He sometimes comes a cropper with the best that he can do, For there never was a gamble one could guarantee a cert. Business'is like backing horses; you may lose your only shirt.

When you take a chance in business, ' face the future with a grin, But be chary in your boasting till the cash starts rolling in Take each hurdle as you find it, but until you’ve won the race. Save your breath— you’re going to need it, and you’ll thereby save your face, For the ethics of the jungle-the survival of the fit Are the rule in modern commerce, so just face right up to it.

When the man who does your banking greets you gaily, in the street, And you’ve lots of gilt-edged backing, you may say you’re on your Then it’s soon enough to reckon that you’ve dug yourself well in And' will take a lot of shifting when

hostilities begin. * But until the final dawning of the great Millennial day, You can never say for certain that you’ve really come to stay. —J.M. J.