Wichita eagle., 1888-08-30
RICH MEMS SONS.

RICH MEMS SONS.
REMARKABLE FACTS AS TO THE
PROBABILITIES OF SUCCESS.
/ Circuit of Fortune.-Dry Rot in Our sy%-
| tenn Of Thinss-Lack of Correct Train
ing.
Hon. J. q Walker, Of Worcester, has
published some remarkable facts as to
the probabilities Of success in q New
England manufacturing town He states
that in 1910 there were thirty persons
engaged IN the eight leading manufsctur-
| ing industries In that city. of whom
twenty eight began IS journyemen; that
fourteen failed, and that Of the rest four
teen retired or died with property; while
| OF the sons OF the thirty only three now
have any property or died having any. In
1850 there were seveuty-fve persons en-
| gagged in substantially the same industries,
Of whom sixty Eight began as journeymen.
| OF these forty-one failed and thirty re-
tired or died with property. though only
| six Of the sons Of the seventy-five now
| have any property or died leaving any.
In 1860 there were lot persons engaged
| in these industries, Of whom 1Ol were
| journeymen- OF these forty three failed,
and out of the 107 only eight now have
| property or died leaving any. In 1873
there were 176 engaged in the ten leading
| manufacturing interests, Of whom 163
began as journeymen- Out Of these only
| fifteen were the sons of manufacturers
| 1t is yet too early to know what their
sons will amount to. These statistics are
the fruit of Mr. Walkers personal knowl-
| edge OF individuals and their history. They
| indicate what is probably true of other
cities where industrial pursuits take the
lead
The statement is correct enough, per.
haps. to generalize upon. or at least to
demand an explanation. Men look to
their sons to succeed them in business
There is no sign more common today than
the one which indicates that the sons Of
famous man are still carrying on the
business or industry which he established
1t keeps the firm name in honor, and is q
source Of family pride. There is in the
mind of every self made man a certain
consciousness Of family that is not to be
| put aside If he does not belong to an
aristocracy by birth, he likes to feel that
by his own industry and exertion he has
raised his name above the mass of names,
and that he Is sure in the next two or
three generations to have o good family
standing in the community. Half tho
comfort of living with many people is the
fact that some Of their ancestors were
distinguished people. But, if Mr. Walkers
statistics can be depended upon, very few
except the traditional old lines in New
England have any chance of building up
the family name, or Of preserving their
integrity beyond one generation He
presents the sons of our wealthiest manu-
facturers in q very humiliating light.
There is saying in the United States
that it takes three generations to make
the circuit of the fortunes of life. 1t is
first industrious and successful father,
then rich son, then poor devil Mr..
Walkers facts bear out this statement
Where property Is not entailed, where
the risks are taken which all business
men ara obliged to take. where so much
depends as depends here upon the amount
of personal will each one is able to put
into q business whose conditions are con-
stantly changing, there is NO certainty
that a manufacturing industry can be
transferred from father to son, or that
any mercantile house can maintain itself
under its founders sons, unless they are
trained as severely as he was trained to
follow today the same, and yet not the
same, conditions of success which he fol-
lowed in order to gain the advantage Of
Others in the race of life. The difficulty
is easily explained by the usual proverb
about rich mems sons, but one is not will
ing to admit that this almost universal
failure of these sons to hold their own in
life is due to idle habits and fast living.
There is something fundamentally
rotten in American society when such
story as is here outlined can be told of q
community as respectable. Industrious
and high minded as Worcester is known
to be. Why should not the powers of ac
QUESTION which are possessed by the pa
rent be transferred to the sonf Where is
your principle of heredity2 You look
into the home conditions OF our great men
to find how far the parents were respon-
sible for communicating the spark Of
genius, and why must we find the genera
tion Of manufacturers sons turning out
so badly that there is nothing good to be
said for them? It is contrary to the law
of succession to sanction this state Of
things. 1t is familiar principle that tho
exactions of the city grind human energy
out of men and use up their vital force.
so that the country constantly repienishes
the town, but what are we coming to as an
industrial commonwealth If there Is to be
no succession Of property in leading fam
lilies, If the only outcome of our civIiza-
tion is to elevate one Of the honest poor
men of today to position where his grand
son is almost sure to turn out poor
devfH This is a plain question, and IL
there is such dry rot in our system Of
things that the bottom is constantly fall
ing out Of what we cali good society, what
are we coming to as O democratic people,
II 1t is but three generations from poor
man to poor devil in the city OF Worces-
ter. what will it be in Springfield or
Lowell or Fall River, and what are the
scions of rich families In Boston coming toi
To be serious. there is something fun
damentally wrong in the education which
successful manufacturers give their sons
It is too often the case that the son be-
gins, not where his father began. In the
simple and honest training of q country
home, but in a luxury which bis success
Of his fellow men. The son does rot earn
the dollar that he spends: he does not
know how to work, because he is not
compelled to earn his own living; he has
few or none of the plain virtues which arc
the precious possession Of poor boys who
drive COWS to pasture, or sen newspapers.
or do chores for such loose change as they
can earn in this way. The virtue is taken
ont Of such youth at the start. His
father thinks that he viii not have him
climb the ladder as be did, and does not