Ideals of Western Business

BY SYLVESTER L. WEAVER President of Weaver-Henry Manufacturing Co. Past Prcsident of thc Los Angclcs CharDbF of Coroncrce Delivercd at the Annual Convention of the Weetern Retail "trl"ffi$'"snfrar"

Febrnary 25,1927

I am happy at the invitation of this Association to be in the Northwest -a!;ain. I spent several years of my boyhood- in Seattle and learned Io love the woods and the waters and the beauties of the Pacific Northwest. Even today, when I pass a lumber--merchant's place of business, the sweet smell of Oregon and Washington lumber makes me homesick for the sights and scenes of Seattle.

Moreover, your secretary made a record with me in iqviting me an entire yeai ahead of time, which is the longest-notice I have -yet had of an assignment on a speaking program' It makes me feel somewhat like the German tumbler who ran three miles to jump over a mountain and was so tired on reaching the base of the peak that he lay down and went to sleeP.

I shall be brief in my discussion of "Ideals of Western Business," Somewhere in my early experiences, I learned of an old Indian custom (it may have beeh from the Siwash Tribe hereabout)- of permitting the-Indian orator to speak onlv as long as he gould stand on ond leg. This was and should be continued as an effective way of preventing tedious discussion.

1\{oieover,-I do not want to give you too involved a discussion so as to parallel the case of the young lawyer before the learned judge, whb, after a very lengthy and verbose statement of his case, wttiitt tirea the judge immenseiy, stopped and inquired, "Judge,-.do you follow me?"- And the answer was, "If..I thought I could find my way back alone, I would leave you here."

Bdt. io mv task. Confucius said, three thousand years ago' "Every truth has f6ur corners." I give you one, and it is for you to find the other three. I can but refresh your minds on what you already know and perhaps induce thought, which is one of the benefits of our conventions' I have been in business thirty years and have been a student of that profession. While in my-youth, I-was fond of history, the world and its peoples. Being thiown with business men constantly, *ith dis*av I- seirched in viin for any record of those who served in the past-years, such as business men, artisans, husbandmen. All history seemed a record of political changes, with wars and kings and rirlers, their failings and their vices.- It was as if the history "ih".o*i were written around the election and tenure of office of vour Chief of Police. " -Slt.

.u.tt "t the dawn of history, following traditionary dayg'' I *"r "ble to read inio my study that the Phoenicians, abo-ut- the tim€ of the birth of Christ, were the foremost business men of the world' oossessins courage and initiative. They sailed their ships over the Midit"tri'n."n, o-ut through the Pillars of Hercules, into. the un["o*" Ait""tic to the lsles of Britain, and carried the civilization of Enrvpt wherever theY went' - IaT;'to the Phoeniciahs that the world is indebted for perhaps the-ereatest prft to civilization, in that: finding a little known tribe in uiper Egypt, known as-the Hyksos. using an alphabet, they carriid this, lhe first germ of learning and expression by the- r 'ritten word, through all their travels, making the world as we know it todav possible. --io tii-tro- gaining credit or honor for its service to the wo-dd, lu!l".rs in thoJe day-s was a name coined in derision by. a sotdier' ;;i"s' from "busy-ness," in other wotds, being always busy' To such a-n extent was the belief of inferiority present that, in mythology ii;; held by the ancients that, from the pagan- gods -the 'rulers "ttd' F;ttgt spiang from the head, the warriors, from the thighs' ""J tteiusii'tess-rnen, those who served, from the feet'

After the Phoenicians in their supremacy of the then known world, Greece, the Roman Empire and then the Republic of Venice, were the .commercial centers of the known world. In fact, Venice, the Mistress of the Adriatic, continued its business leadership for several centuries. The same decade that heard the thunder of the battalions of the great Napoleon saw the last of the Doges whose reful had gathored the commerce, the art and the culture of the world.

Following that, Spain and Portugal, then the British Empire, and now America has received the torch of world leadership in commerce and industry. In fact, to commerce the world is indebted {or the discoveries that were made, beginning with Vasco de Gama's finding the route around Africa to the Indies, Columbus discovering America, Sir Walter Raleigh, Henry Hudson, Sir Francis Drake, all were intent upon finding new trade lanes that commerce might move more easily, all in the service of those who might benefit by shorter routes.

There must be an underlying reason for the lack of respect due to the great business men of other days. I have always felt that the great builders deserved honor and immortality; those little known men who built the cities of Greece and Rome, who paved the roads of Imperial Rome, who built the great cathedrals and arches and the splendid structures of old Europe, and the modern cities of London, New York, San Francisco, of Tacoma and Honolulu.

To my mind, the main reason for this disrespect to those,in business-was the known fact that business was dishonest, cheating was rampant. It was customary to sell one thing and de,liver another; to sell all at different prices, depending on the shrewdness of the buyer; to take advantage of the young and inexperienced to such an extent that there arose in English jurisprudence the doctrine under the common larq, known as "caveat emptor"-"let the buyer beware."

Business was done in great fairs or bazaars established yearly, where products were sold and exchanged, and which were the various temples dedicated to dishonesty and disreputable dealings. I know no more charming example of earlier days than that extract from the classic stoiy of Oliver Goldsmith, "The Vicar of Wakefield": the family becoming so poor as to require the selling of their favorite horse, the son Jacob was sent to the neighboring fair where it was thought that the animal would bring thirty or forty pounds. Much.to the dismay of the good Vicar and his family, Jacob returned jubilant from the fair, and instead.of money he had brought back with him a gross of green spectacles.

In a modern sense. it was like the coon who sold the blind mule to a white man and, upon the animal being brought home by the purchaser, he stumbled greatly, knocked his hoofs against the curb, and finally entering the stable hit his shoulder on a post and ran into the manger stiiking his head, when he came to a stop. Wb.tt the white min charged the coon with having sold him-a blild mule, he replied, "You're mistaken, boss, that mule ain't blind. He just don't give a damn."

All this has changed, and it has changed in what we have come to know as the Industrial Age, the Industrial Era, and that change has been of tremendous benefit to the world.

Adam Smith, in'his remarkable work, "The Wealth of Natioris,?' published about the year of our independence, computed the value -of the dotlars of the whole world at about one hundred billions. Contrast this with the Government estimate of the year 1926, that the United States of America alone has a value of four hundred billions and that the annual income of our country is sixty-five billion dollars.

In passing, you wilt be interested to know that it is estimated .that one-eighth of this annual income is invested yearly in new buildinss. and this does not include maintenance and repairs.

Howiver, to get back to the advance of the Industrial Era, particularlv to'the last fifty years. Much was due to the invention of machinirv, steam, electiicity and mass production, but to my mind the world is much indebted to American business. The world has tearned that all intelligent, useful efiort is sacred, and that man is best educated who is most useful.

This theory has been expressed and practiced throug! the one orice svstem ?or the weak and for the strong, through the increasing ionsci6usness of business that its own house must be in order. and throush the codes and ethics emanating first in the heart and then expr'eiserl by the mind in the various .seivice clubs, trade associations and finally -the United States Chamber of Commerce representing millions of business men.

This will to do right, to serve well, to be honest, to be fiithful to a trust, to deserv6 the respect of the world, is due to the belief that we must do right because it is right and not because it is expedient.

An otd Oriental philosopher. years ago. when asked to express in one word what would make mankind most happy. replied after a Dause. "Eouanimity." It is not possible to have equanimity unless w6 ir. considerate of others, just to those who serve us and whom we serve and, eoually important, just to our competitors.

One of the chief manners in which our ideals are exoressed is throueh- the Trade Associations, and I want to compliment the Westirn Retaii Lumbermen's Association on their work and en-

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(Continued from Page 38) courage the organization's future progress. With that in view, I refresh your memories with the fact that Colonel Willey and Mr. Locock, who were sent to ,the United States in the interest of the Federation of British Industries for the purpose of learning why our country progressed so rapidly in this field, reported on their return to Great Britain. "that one cause of American industrial success was the Trade Association," adding, "The habit of meeting together frequently and exchanging experiences has proven to be of the greatest value to American industry."

Another such has perhaps not met your attention, unless you have read Fitzpatrick's study of business men's association, reading as follows:

"The growth during the past fifty years of business men's associations, particularly trade associations, indicates clearly a further gradual shifting of the basic directing forces in our industrial and commercial life from the individual or individual establishment to the organized group, and that in the gradual change there is evidence of a new structuralization of our economic life, implying social and political consequences as yet but imperfectly perceived."

But perhaps the greatest tribute, and the one which will ring the bell with each one of you present this morning, as it did with rne, is the significant statement by O. H. Cheney, President of the American Exchange-Pacific National Bank of New York, that "The time is near when a business man's membership in a trade association will be an important factor in his banker's judgment of his credit rating," for, it is explained, "That membership was a test of character since it showed ability to get along with one's fellow men."

If your work, if your association, if your ideals are important in the present state of our West Coast civilization, how much more sacred must this trust be when you consider that the vast empire which this association represents has but begun to grow. We have a sparse population and all the underlying fundamentals requisite to support a tremendous one, so that as we go about our affairs, whether business or association, let us realize that we must build for our future greatness and not just for our present importance.

To give you some idea of the possibilities in the ten Western States, I have time to touch on one point only, namely population, although in my talk tomorrow night at the banquet I may discuss this subject more at length.

The following startling figures are taken from the United States Census Bureau report and are, therefore, authentic, and on account of the figures running into the millions you may perhaps think I an talking about the population of Los Angeles. Here are the figures and the deductions I draw from the advance in population in the States covered bv vour

At the same rate of growth, with four six-year perio-ds between now and 1950, the population will be, as estimated by Herbert Hoover, 150,000,000 in the U. S, A., and with the same rate of growth as discussed above, this will mean an increase in the sarqe proportion in the ten West'ern States of 10,000,000 additional.people' -or more than twice the number already living here, during the next generation.

In -view, then, of these great facts showing the importanc-e of ideals in the progress of mankind, you should endeavor to have every dealer in all the-ten States, who is eligible- to -become a meniber of your association, to maintain intact its.ethical p-ractices, to be loyal ind enthusiastic members. But, even though this is not accomplished at once, be not discouraged, for it has ever been small groupj of enthusiastic men who have moved along a world-reluctant to chattge. And, if some balk at the expense involved in becoming memberi, tell tliem for me that there are many persons wlro are in favor'of a movement but do not always want to pay for its benefits, and illustr-ate it with the story of the man who received the letter from a Slack hand society, asking him to deposit five thousand dottars under the old appie tree by midnight.or- they would steal his wife. In a short time his reply was received, and it read: "I haven't the money, but I am in favor of the movement."

'

So, atl those in the great Western States,you r€present he-r-e,todav.'from Canada to the Mexitan border, from the Rocky Mountains in their majestic beauty to the golden shores of- the smiling Pacific, should join you in expressing the Ideals of Western Business, si\outd keip frish and untarniJhed the ideals of those heroic men'and women who first came over the plains and mountains to people our West with their courageous progeny.

And, if you serve the Association in the duties of its work as officeri or 'on the committees, in any of its tasks for all, reme-mber that "It is easy to be served, but -to serve others tates patience, tact, diligence ind industry," and when you do this, giving of your time,. of-your life, of your resources perhaps for others in your r"-" bo.itraas, remember the saying of one of our most famous A*"ri""ttt' "'ihe dead carry with-thJm in their clenched hands only that which they have given away."

NEIV\/ LUMBER YARD PROPOSED FOR HYNES DISTRICT

Announcement has been made that a new lumber and manufacturing plant is to be erected in the Hynes-Clearwater DistricT. - The promoter of the enterprise is W. E. Scamerhorn of Stube;ville, Ohio. Mr. Scamerhorn, who was formerly a prominent lumberman in Ohio, has been on the Pacific Coast for some time and recently closed a deal for the purchase of the site of his new plant.

S. E. SLADE LUMBER CO. MOVE OFFICES

The S. E. Slade Lumber Co., who were formerly located in the Van Nuys Building, are now in their new omces in the Petroleum Securities- Building. Art Penberthy, the well known Los Angeles lumberman, is the manager of the Los Angeles omce o-f the S. E. Slade Lumber Co.

Total increasee, U. S. A., in six years, 1920 to 1927-from 105,000,000 to 118,000;000. being increase of 13,000,000, of which increase over two and one-half mitlions were in the ten western states with a population of only 8 400,000 as opposed to an increase of ten and one-half millions in the other thirty-eight states with a population of 97.000.000.

This shows an increase ol 25 per cent in the Westertr States in six years which is four times the normal growth of the rest of the u. s. A.

GRITZMACHER & GUNTON

Wholcnlcrr

112 Markct SL - San Francirco

Tclcphonc Suttcr 7090

Dou3hr Fir - Sprucc - Rcdwood

Rcdwood ead Ccder Shin3lcr

Fir Pilin3 - CGder Portr

Split Rodwood Productr

Ajoatr: A. F. Cab Lurbor f.o. Tllhnoolq Orrgo

Remarks

The logging sup€rintendent of a big 'Western corporation receilt-ly -received the following note from one of his IOremen:

"I'm sending the accident report of Kelly's foot when the log rolled over it. Now, under 'remarks,'- do you want mine or do you want Kelly's?-Timely Topics.

HOBBS,TALL & GO.

of Conrnorco Bld3. Fifc Buildin3