Fundamentals of Prosperity | Page 5

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.

IV
COÖPERATION--SUCCESS BY HELPING THE OTHER FELLOW
Our industrial system has resulted in making many men economic
eunuchs. The salvation of our cities, the salvation of our industries and
the salvation of our nation depend on discovering something which will
revive in man that desire to produce and joy in production which he
had instinctively when he was a small boy.
A few days ago I was present at a dinner of business men in Boston
who were called together in order to secure some preferential freight
rates for Massachusetts. The principal theme of that gathering was to
boom Massachusetts at the expense of the rest of the country. At the
close of the dinner I was asked to give my opinion and said: "Let us see
how many things there are in this room that we could have were we

dependent solely on Massachusetts. The chairs and furniture are from
Michigan; the cotton is from Georgia; the linen from Ireland; the silver
from Mexico; the glassware from Pennsylvania; the paper from Maine;
the paint from Missouri; the clock from Connecticut--and so on."
Finally I got the courage to ask if there was a single thing in the room
that did not originate from some state other than Massachusetts. Those
men were absolutely helpless in finding a single thing.
The same fact applies in a general way to every state and every home.
Look about, where you are sitting now. How many things are there in
the room just where you are,--there is a table, a chair, a shoe, a coat, a
necktie, a cigar, a lampshade, a piano, a basket--for all of these you are
dependent upon others.
The same fact is true when we analyze one staple like shoes which,
primarily, are made of leather. Where