Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1876-06-01

IL is said OF the late Mr.. Stewart that he
~as strs6f dlsc5piinariAn In administer
ing The affairs 81 his establishments; but
few know, PERHAPS, how rigid his rules
were Ii il obvious that his extensive
business cozId not hare been successfully
conducted without thorough nsezhOd and
discipline: but rules msy be verstioas
and eFen cspficisas: tney may arbitrarily
interfere with the necessary freedom Of the
individual: they rnsy be the means ri
substituting mechanism for zeal. snd by
their excess defeat their proposed ends.
II we are not mlsinforneo, Mr.. Stewart
erred I'm this wsy. His regulations. a.
described 20 Ca, were severe. Lumiliating,
and calculated 10 make every man Of
spirit chste under them.
An anecdoie i gfyen that upon one oc-
cssion Mr. SteEan pointed 70 his long ar
ray or counters With their many clerks,
art said: " All these men age only 80
many machines: they are permitted 30
discretion they simply obey orders"
The sagscious Mr. Stewart was wrong.
II was quite necessary for orders 70 he
Issued tbA; would govern the general
policy Of the business: sui the notion
tBst Individual talent or discretion
had no scope for action could only have
arisen with one who WAS too willing 10
subordinate his employees, too prone TO as
sumo that all the trains and all the direc-
ton rested solely ia his own hands, thus
f4ifering bis arbitrary instincts with
seIfapplauding theory. The fact that
/ salesInan has 10 discretion as 10 price-is
/ forbidden tosell Al any other sum than the
one given niu--does Do;eztinguish all exer-
else Of judgment There IL such thing
a. willing compliance az well as surly
compliance: salesman whose heart IL in
| his work j. assuredly more successful
lban he who acts with the coldness and
/ indifference Of a machine. And then an
/ instructed salesman bias information 10
! give. IL IL IN his power 10 suggest, to
| hint. 10 show taste and discrimination, 10
| aid the uncertain judgment. He may es-
| tabllsh cordial relations with customers,
or. ON the other hand. he may disgust and
drive them 10 other shops. Mr. Stewart
T, could not have been ignorant III these
| facts. and hence We can only zee in his dis
| position " depreciate his gubordinates an
| unjust impulse 10 exalt his own achieve
/ n1enfs al the expense Of those who were
| serving him.
There are reasons why we are moved 10
combat the notion that men ought TO be
mere machines, or can be mere machines,
under any circumstances outside Of the
| army. Order. method and subOrdination
| are Indispensable in all affairs Of life; but
| intelligence and real are also great forces
| in all affairs Of life: and Il would seem as
ifa bigh wisdom would make use If
| them. We admire the rider who appeals
10 the aifectionaie zeal Of his horse rather
than him who trusts solely 30 the whip;
and sssurcdly we should be not less con-
piderate with cur human servants. IL Is
often found that the best instincts Of men
are stimulated by trusting them, by Civ
ing them responsibilities, by acting as II
they were men and not machines. The
head Of an extensive house painting es-
Enlistment in PaTis-as related by John
Stuart Mill--gained In profit and in the
| efficiency Of his work by making his men
co, workers with himself, by acting upon
| their zeal, awakening their pride, and
sharing with them the results OF their
| labors.
The theory that men are no more than
| machines whose sole mission H. " obey, is
| a feudal notion, and comes 10 ug from the
arbitrar, governments Of Europe. 1t can
only be true ci people 80 long trained in
this rule tina, they have lost the power TO
act with independent judgment; II may
suit these born with an inherited idea Of
their own inferiority, but IL opposed 10
the genius Of a people like ours, possessed
with a spirit Of independence, capable Of
acting for themselves, required even by
the nature Of our institutions TO exercise
discretionary judgment--men whose
whole training teaches them 10 have will,
opinion, discrimination, not after those OF
other men, but ia accordance with their
own preferences. Capable men Of this ma
ture cannot be made machines and hence
Mr.. Stewart policy simply by inevitable
Law threw out d his employment the bet
ter class Of men, and compelled him TO use
inferior material II is probably quite
true, as We often hear IL said that our
young people are not well trained-they
need lessons in subordination. But we
are considering only that absolute surren-
der Of personal freedom the practical effect
| Of which must be to extinguish self-re-
| speci, personal dignity aud manhood. We
submit 1t would be better that the Ameri-
can people should maintain their spirit Of
| indepenencc--their ancient habi, Of not
/ being macbines--eycn ifas result Of This
national characteristic il should prove inn
| practicable 10 conduct colossal baZars or
kindred NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Jour-
nal.