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Fundamentals of Prosperity

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<h2 class="chapter_title">III Industry vs. Opportunity</h2> Industry is the mother of invention. Struggle, sacrifice and burning midnight oil have produced the cotton gin, the sewing machine, the printing press, the steam engine, the electric motor, the telephone, the incandescent lamp and the other great inventions of civilization. Some religious enthusiasts think only of the “lilies of the fields” and forget the parable of the talents. A few years ago I was employed by one of the largest publishing houses in the country to make a study of America’s captains of industry. The real purpose of the study was to discover some industry or some man that could be helped greatly through national advertising. In connection with that study of those captains of industry, I tabulated their ancestry. These were the seventy greatest manufacturers, merchants and railroad builders, the leading men who have made America by developing the fields, the forests, the mines and the industries. What did I find? I found that only five per cent. of these captains of industry are the sons of bankers; only ten per cent. of them are the sons of manufacturers; fifteen per cent. of them are the sons of merchants, while over thirty per cent. of them are the sons of poor preachers and farmers. Why is it that ministers’ sons hold a much more important place in the industrial development of America than the sons of bankers? The ministers’ sons inherit no wealth, they have no more than their share of college education; they are not especially religious as the world measures religion. In fact, there is an old saying about “ministers’ sons and deacons’ daughters.” I would be false to my reputation as a statistician to hold up these captains of industry as saintly examples for young men to follow. But the fact remains nevertheless that these men are creating America to-day. Now, what’s the reason? The reason is that these men have a combination of the two traits already mentioned and a third added thereto;—namely, the habit of work. They have inherited a certain rugged integrity from their mothers and a gift of vision from their fathers which, when combined with the habit of work—forced upon them by their family’s meager income—means power. Integrity is a dry seed until put in the ground of faith and allowed to grow. But faith with works is prosperity. A man may be honest and wonder why he does not get ahead; a man may have vision and still remain only a dreamer; but when integrity and vision are combined with hard work, the man prospers. It is the same with classes and nations. It has been said that genius is the author of invention. Statistics do not support this statement. The facts show that industry is the mother of invention. Struggle, sacrifice and burning midnight oil have produced the cotton gin, the sewing machine, the printing press, the steam engine, the electric motor, the telephone, the incandescent lamp and the other great inventions of civilization. Why is it that most of the able men in our great industries came from the country districts? The reason is that the country boy is trained to work. Statistics indicate that very seldom does a child, brought up in a city apartment house, amount to much; while the children of well-to-do city people are seriously handicapped. The great educator of the previous generation was not the public school, but rather the wood box. Those of us parents who have not a wood box for our children to keep filled, or chores for them to do, are unfortunate. Run through the list of the greatest captains of industry, as they come to your mind. How many of the men who are really directing the country’s business gained their position through inherited wealth? You will find them astonishingly few. There is no “divine right of kings” in business. In fact, statistics show us that the very things which most people think of as advantages, namely, wealth and “not having to work” are really obstacles which are rarely surmounted. Industry and thrift are closely allied. Economic studies show clearly that ninety-five per cent. of the employers are employers because they systematically saved money. Any man who systematically saves money from early youth automatically becomes an employer. He may employ thousands or he may have only two or three clerks in a country store, but he nevertheless is an employer. These same studies show that ninety-five per cent. of the wage workers are wage workers because they have systematically spent their money as fast as they have earned it. They of necessity remain wage workers. These are facts which no labour leader can disprove and which are exceedingly significant. This is especially striking when one considers that the employer often started out at the same wages and in the same community as his wage workers. The employer was naturally industrious and thrifty; while those who remained wage workers were not. The development of this nation through the construction of the transcontinental railways, the financing of the western farms, and the building of our cities is largely due to the old New England doctrine that laziness and extravagance are sins. In some western communities it is popular to laugh at these New England traits; but had it not been for them, these western communities would never have existed. The industry and thrift developed by the old New England religion were the basis of our national growth. I especially desire to emphasize this point because of the position of certain religious enthusiasts who think only of “the lilies of the field” and forget the parable of the talents. It is a fact that the third fundamental of prosperity is Industry. <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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