Trader’s honor

Chapter VI T rader’ s honor W e will commence the discussion of this matter with the following statement: as a highly respected, well- known and important member of any society, a trader must be honorable. If honor is not one of his virtues, a man is nothing but a frivolous and volatile rotter. A trader must be consistent, honor his word and thus never break his promise. He must always be committed to keeping his promise at any cost. Such was the reputation of Cosimo de’ Medici, a prominent and highly respected trader. A seemingly reputable and trustworthy foreign trader unrightfully claimed 300 gold coins, which he, allegedly, deposited for safekeeping in Medici’s bank. Even though the record of this was not made in his books, and thus it was not the truth, Medici did not want to jeopardize his good reputation and go against his principles. So he arranged that this sum be paid to the man. This way he showed that a trader should prioritize honor and trust over money. Honor cannot be acknowledged unless it has been tested. In my belief, honorable are only those traders who were given pledges for safekeeping and returned them with no hesitation to the owner rather than to deny the possession of these even if they had the chance. If a man’s honor underwent such a test, it can be relied upon, because a substantial sum of money is often a motivation for committing an evil deed, unlike a smaller sum. And mind you, the trader must be honorable not only in his deeds but in his thoughts as well. He must be unbreakable

in spirit and one who would never consider any sort of fraud. T raders who went bankrupt should never again have the privilege of anyone’s trust and faith, especially not those who went bankrupt on purpose. Someone who once demonstrated a capacity for evil deeds will presumably be capable of doing it again. Such a man is without a doubt a person with no honor who degrades trade as a profession.