The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-08-17
RICH MEMS SONS.
REMARKABLE FACTS AS TO- The
PROBABILITIES OF SUCCESS.


tenn OF Things-Lack of Correct Train
ing.
/ Hon. J H. Walker. of Worcester has
published some remarkable facts as 10
I the probabilities of success III New
England manufacturing town He states
that in 1910 there were thirty persons
engaged in the eight leading manufactur-
/ ing industries in that city. of whom
! twenty eight began as 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 seventy-tve 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 seventyti now
have any property or died leaving any.
In 1860 there were l07 persons engaged
in these industries, Of whom 10l were
iourneymen. OF these forty-three failed,
and out of the l03 only eight now have
property OF died leaving any. In 1873
there were 17G engaged in the ten leading
manufacturing interests, OF whom lo@
began Is jOumCymcn. Out OF these only
fifteen were the sons of manufacturers.
| Ii is vet too early to know what their
sons will amount 10. These statistics are
1 the fruit of MIR 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 generaiize upon. or ut least 20
demand an explanation. Men look 20
their sons to succeed them III business
| There IS no sign more common today than
| the one which indicates that the sons Of
a famous man arc still carrying on the
| business or industry which he established.
II keeps the firm name in honor, and is u
source OF family pride. There is in the
! mind of every self made man a certain
consciousness Of family that is not 10 be
put aside. ii he does not belong TO an
aristocracy by birth he likes to feel that
by his own industry and oxertion he has
raised his name above che mass Of names,
and that he is sure in the next two or
three generations to have good family
standing in the community Half the
comfort of living with many people is the
fact that some Of their ancestors were
distinguished people. But, ii 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 90 preserving their
integrity beyond one generation. lie
! presents the sons of our wealthiest manu-
farturers in II very humiliating light.
There IS a saving ia the United States
| that it takes three generations To make
| the circuit of the fortunes OF life. IL IS
| first industrious and successful father,
then rich son. then poor devil Mr.
Walkers facts bear ont this statement.
| Where property is not entailed, where
| the risks ale taken which all cuisines
men are obliged to take, where 50 much
depends as depends here upon the amoun,
Of personal will each one Is able TO put
| INTO business whose conditions are con
SANITY changing, there is no certainty
that a manufacturing industry can be
transferred from father 10 son, or that
| any mercantile house can maintain itself
under its founders sous. 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 i'm the race Of lif3. The difficulty
is easily explained by the usual proyerb
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
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 son? Where Is
your principle Of heredityy You look
| into the home conditions Of orr great men
| to find how far the parents were respon
| sible for communicating the spark OF
| genius, and why must we find the genera
| ton of manufacturers sons turning out
| so badly that there is nothing good to be
| said for them? Il is contrary to the law
| Of succession 10 sanction this state OF
| things. 1t is familiar principle that the
| cxactions of the city grind human energy
! out of men and Use up their vital force
| so that the country constantly replenlshes
| the town. but what are we coming TO as all
| industrial commonwealth if there is to be
no succession of property in leading fam
lilies, if the only outcome of our civiliza
| ton is to elevate one Of the honest poor
men of today to a position where his grand
| son is almost sure to turn out poor
| deyiR This is plain question, and II
there is such dry rot in our system OF
| things that the bottom is constantly fall
ing out of what we call good society, what
are VIC coming to as a democratic peopleI
Ii it il but three generations from poor
man to poor devil ia 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 tor
To be serious, there is something fun
damentally wrong in the education which
successful manufacturers give their sons.
II is too often the case that tho son bo-
| gins, not where his father began, in the
simple and honest training of a country
home, but in luxury which his success
| full father is fond of haunting in the eyes
of his fellow men. The son does not earn
the dollar that he spends; he does not
know how to work, because he is not
| compelled to earn his own living; be has
few or none of the plain virtues which are
| the precious possession of poor boys who
/ jr;.-a cnvvc ~ ,,octrrro ar soil up,vsD0 OprS