Up To Date Business | Page 2

A Shipping Receipt ("Original") 60
A Steamship Bill of Lading 61
A Local Waybill 62
II
BUSINESS GEOGRAPHY
London the Natural Centre of the World's Trade 72
British Mercantile Marine 74
London Bridge 76
The Coal-fields of England 80
The Manchester Ship Canal 84
The Great Manufacturing Districts of England 88
France Compared in Size with the States of Illinois and Texas 95

Street Scene in Paris, Showing the Bourse 97
Approximate Size of the German Empire 104
North Central Germany, Showing the Ship Canal and the Leading
Commercial Centres 109
Spain Compared in Size with California 113
Italy and its Chief Commercial Centres 117
Russia, the British Empire, and the United States Compared 121
Moscow 127
Comparative Sizes of India and the United States 133
China and its Chief Trade Centres 145
Japan's Relation to Eastern Asia 155
The Partition of Africa 159
Australia 171
The Most Prosperous Part of South America 183
Trade Centres of Canada and Trunk Railway Lines 192
Export Trade of United States and Great Britain Compared 198
United States Manufactures and Internal Trade Compared with the
Manufactures and Internal Trade of all Other Countries 199
Principal Articles of Domestic Exports of the United States 205
III
FINANCE, TRADE, AND TRANSPORTATION

The Bank of England 216
Showing Cheque Raised from $7.50 to $70.50 241
A Certified Cheque 244
A Bank Draft 245
A Bill of Exchange 246
Illustrating Cheque Collections 252
A Mercantile Agency Inquiry Form 259
Specimens of Interest Coupons 266
Judge Thomas M. Cooley, First Chairman of the Interstate Commerce
Commission 287
The Paris Bourse 289
Interior View of New York Stock Exchange 290
V
PREPARING COPY FOR THE PRESS AND PROOF-READING
A Printer's Proof 390
A Printer's Corrected Proof 391

GENERAL BUSINESS INFORMATION
I. COMMERCIAL TERMS AND USAGES
[Illustration]
There is a distinction between the usage of the names COMMERCE

and BUSINESS. The interchange of products and manufactured articles
between countries, or even between different sections of the same
country, is usually referred to as commerce. The term business refers
more particularly to our dealings at home--that is, in our own town or
city. Sometimes this name is used in connection with a particular
product, as the coal business or the lumber business, or in connection
with a particular class, as the dry-goods business or the grocery
business. The name commerce, however, seldom admits of a limited
application. In the United States TRADE is synonymous with business.
The word TRAFFIC applies more especially to the conveyance than to
the exchange of products; thus we refer to railroad traffic or lake traffic.
PRODUCTS, when considered articles of trade, are called merchandise,
goods, wares. The term MERCHANDISE has the widest meaning, and
includes all kinds of movable articles bought or sold. GOODS is
applied more particularly to the supplies of a merchant. WARES is
commonly applied to utensils, as glassware, hardware, etc.
GROSS commonly means coarse or bulky. In trade it is used with
reference to both money and goods. The gross weight of a package
includes the weight of the case or wrappings. The larger sum in an
account or bill--that is, the sum of money before any allowance or
deductions are made--is the gross amount of the bill. The word NET is
derived from a Latin word meaning neat, clean, unadulterated, and
indicates the amount of goods or money after all the deductions have
been made. To say that a price is net is to indicate that no further
discount will be made.
The word FIRM relates to solidity, establishment, strength, and in a
business sense signifies two or more persons united in partnership for
the purpose of trading. The word HOUSE is very frequently used in the
same sense. In mercantile usage house does not mean the building in
which the business is conducted, but the men who own the business,
including, perhaps, the building, stock, plant, and business reputation.
The name CONCERN is often used in a very similar way.
The name MARKET expresses a locality for the sale of goods, and in
commerce is often used to denote cities or even countries. We say that

Boston is a leather market, meaning that a large number of Boston
merchants buy and sell leather. In the same sense we call Chicago a
grain market, or New Orleans a cotton market. In its more restricted
sense the name market signifies a building or place where meat or
produce is bought and sold. We say that the market is flooded with a
particular article when dealers are carrying more of that article than
they can find sale for. There is no market for any product when there is
no demand. The money market is tight or close when it is difficult to
borrow money from banks and money-lenders.
II. COMMERCIAL TERMS AND USAGES (Continued)
THE NATURAL