In 1840 Worcester had thirty leading manufacturers of whom twenty-eight began as journeymen and two as sons of manufacturers. Of seventy-five manufacturers in 1850, six only were sons of manufacturers, only six of the one hundred and seven in 1860, and of one hundred and seventy-six manufacturers in 1878, only fifteen. The chance that the head of a manufacturing business will be reached by the son of an owner in Worcester for forty years has been pretty steadily about one in ten of the total chances of going to the head. As the sons of manufacturers in Worcester in 1840 could not have been, taking thirty manufacturers as the number, one per cent of the population, the chances of success for them was above the average, but not so far above as to discourage young men without this good fortune. The chance that property will stay two generations in one family seems also to be about one in ten in Worcester. Of the thirty manufacturers in 1840, fourteen of whom died or retired with property, only three in 1888 had left sons with money; of the seventy-five in 1850, the sons of only six survive now; and of one hundred and seven in 1860, eight only were represented by sons in the business world of Worcester twenty-eight years later. The business field at any given year is apt to look to young men as if all the leading places were filled by men whose sons were certain to enjoy the advantages of wealth and likely to take the places of their fathers. But there is not over one chance in ten that this will take place, and scarcely this that wealth will be left by those who inherit it. While of those in business on any date, one-fourth drop out in five years, one-half in ten, and two-thirds in fifteen years.
Nine places out of ten thirty years hence are therefore open to those who to-day have nothing.—Philadelphia Press.
(298)
BUSINESS CHEATING
Your prize-fighter has some honor in him
yet; and so have the men in the ring round
him: they will judge him to lose the match
by foul hitting. But your prize-merchant
gains his match by foul selling, and no one
cries out against that. You drive a gambler
out of the gambling-room who loads dice,
but you leave a tradesman in flourishing
business who loads scales! For observe, all
dishonest dealing is loading scales. What
difference does it make whether I get short
weight, adulterate substance, or dishonest
fabric?—unless that flaw in the substance or
fabric is the worse evil of the two. Give me
short measure of food, and I only lose by
you; but give me adulterate food and I die
by you.—John Ruskin.
(299)
BUSINESS MEN IN CHURCH
Dr. Crafts asked a prominent business man
of Chicago, who has been active in the very
heart of its commercial life for sixteen years,
to make a careful list of its one hundred
richest men, and then tell him how many of
them were church-members. His report was,
"Seventy church-members, twenty-four attend
church, and I think are not members;
three I consider dissipated, and three are
Jews, who are good citizens."
(300)
BUSINESS, RELIGION IN
Altho Mrs. J. Alden Gaylord conducts a bond-investment business in Wall Street, she firmly believes that financial success can be gained in that "frenzied" business center by godly spiritual guidance. Mrs. Gaylord has achieved the distinction of taking over the management of the affairs of her late husband and running them on original lines. Says the New York Herald:
Seated in a spacious office, this plucky little
woman spends her time discussing with her
clients the flotation of security issues and the
financing of railway lines. Religious mottoes
are posted on the walls, and a Testament and
prayer-books occupy a conspicuous place on
the desk.
"Yes, every morning after I arrive in this city," said Mrs. Gaylord, "I spend a few minutes in Old Trinity to pray. That was a custom of my husband's, who was one of the most godly men that lived. Before we begin business here we have a prayer-meeting in the office. I have a good many young men here to whom I am teaching the business. I conduct the services, assisted by my partner, Mr. Fletcher.
"We carry on our work here according to the teaching of the Scriptures. Even if I make only one-quarter of one per cent, that is enough. And business is coming in from every part of the country. It is perfectly wonderful. Only yesterday two loans came in—one for $3,000,000 and another for $2,000,000.
