Fundamentals of Prosperity

Fundamentals of Prosperity, by
Roger W. Babson

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Title: Fundamentals of Prosperity What They Are and Whence They
Come
Author: Roger W. Babson
Release Date: May 16, 2007 [EBook #21502]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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Fundamentals of Prosperity
What They Are and Whence They Come

By
ROGER W. BABSON
President Babson Statistical Organization

NEW YORK CHICAGO
Fleming H. Revell Company
LONDON AND EDINBURGH

Copyright, 1920, by FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY
New York: 158 Fifth Avenue Chicago: 17 North Wabash Ave. London:
21 Paternoster Square Edinburgh: 75 Princes Street

Contents
FOREWORD I. HONESTY OR STEEL DOORS? II. FAITH THE
SEARCHLIGHT OF BUSINESS III. INDUSTRY VS.
OPPORTUNITY IV. COÖPERATION--SUCCESS BY HELPING
THE OTHER FELLOW V. OUR REAL RESOURCES VI. STUDY
THE HUMAN SOUL VII. BOOST THE OTHER FELLOW VIII.
WHAT TRULY COUNTS IX. WHAT FIGURES SHOW X. WHERE
THE CHURCH FALLS DOWN XI. THE FUTURE CHURCH

Foreword
Some two thousand years ago the greatest teacher who ever walked the
earth advised the people of Judea not to build their houses on the sand.
What he had in mind was that they were looking too much to the
structure above ground, and too little to the spiritual forces which must

be the foundation of any structure which is to stand. Following the war
we enjoyed the greatest prosperity this country has ever witnessed;--the
greatest activity, the greatest bank clearings, the greatest foreign trade,
the greatest railroad gross earnings, the highest commodity prices.
We then constructed a ten-story building on a foundation meant for
only a two or three story building. Hence the problem confronting us
business men is to strengthen the foundation or else see the structure
fall. I am especially glad of the opportunity to write for business men.
There are two reasons:--first, because I feel that the business men are
largely responsible for having this ten-story structure on a foundation
made for one of only two or three stories; secondly, because I believe
such men alone have the vision, the imagination and the ability to
strengthen the foundation and prevent the structure from falling.
The fact is, we have become crazy over material things. We are looking
only at the structure above ground. We are trying to get more smoke
from the chimney. We are looking at space instead of service, at profits
instead of volume. With our eyes focused on the structure above
ground, we have lost sight of those human resources, thrift, imagination,
integrity, vision and faith which make the structure possible. I feel that
only by the business men can this foundation be strengthened before
the inevitable fall comes.
When steel rails were selling at $55 a ton, compared with only $25 a
ton a few years previous, our steel plants increased their capacity
twenty-five per cent. Increased demand, you say? No, the figures don't
show it. Only thirty-one million tons were produced in 1919, compared
with thirty-nine million tons in 1916. People have forgotten the gospel
of service. The producing power per man has fallen off from fifteen to
twenty per cent. We have all been keen on developing consumption.
We have devoted nine-tenths of our thought, energy and effort to
developing consumption. This message is to beg of every reader to give
more thought to developing production, to the reviving of a desire to
produce and the realization of joy in production.
We are spending millions and millions in every city to develop the
good-will of customers, to develop in customers a desire to buy. This is

all well and good, but we can't continue to go in one direction
indefinitely. We cannot always get steam out of the boiler without
feeding the furnace. The time has come when in our own interests, in
the interests of our communities, our industry, and of the nation itself,
for a while we must stop adding more stories to this structure. Instead,
we must strengthen the foundations upon which the entire structure
rests.
R. W. B.

I
HONESTY OR STEEL DOORS?
While fifty-one per cent of the people have their eyes on the goal of
integrity, our investments are secure; but with fifty-one per cent of
them headed in the wrong direction, our investments are valueless. The
first fundamental of prosperity is Integrity.
While on a recent visit to Chicago, I was taken