DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4752#0262
252 THE GREEKS IN ASIATIC TURKEY
never found the slightest difficulty in dealing with
his Greek correspondents, that he had not been
cheated nor deceived by them, that he never found
it necessary to enter into formal written contracts
with them as was the practice with English firms,
but a word spoken on each side was accepted and
loyally carried out by both.
The opinion of a stranger about the Greeks of
western Asia Minor would be strongly affected
according as he came in contact with one or the
other of these two excellent authorities. Which
are we to believe ?
For my own part, I think the second is nearer
the truth, provided you remember that much de-
pends on the tone and spirit in which you deal
with the Greeks. In the East, business has rapidly
changed from the native system, in which every
small bargain was a contest of skill between two
single adversaries, each of whom tried to out-
manoeuvre the other, to the European system.
The morality of business in England is said
not to be so very high, at least in some depart-
ments ; and it is believed that one cannot safely
accept every representation, made even by respon-
sible and respectable boards of directors, as to the
state of the enterprises in which they ask the
public to invest money. Naturally, the traders
of the East are influenced a great deal by the
never found the slightest difficulty in dealing with
his Greek correspondents, that he had not been
cheated nor deceived by them, that he never found
it necessary to enter into formal written contracts
with them as was the practice with English firms,
but a word spoken on each side was accepted and
loyally carried out by both.
The opinion of a stranger about the Greeks of
western Asia Minor would be strongly affected
according as he came in contact with one or the
other of these two excellent authorities. Which
are we to believe ?
For my own part, I think the second is nearer
the truth, provided you remember that much de-
pends on the tone and spirit in which you deal
with the Greeks. In the East, business has rapidly
changed from the native system, in which every
small bargain was a contest of skill between two
single adversaries, each of whom tried to out-
manoeuvre the other, to the European system.
The morality of business in England is said
not to be so very high, at least in some depart-
ments ; and it is believed that one cannot safely
accept every representation, made even by respon-
sible and respectable boards of directors, as to the
state of the enterprises in which they ask the
public to invest money. Naturally, the traders
of the East are influenced a great deal by the