, 1888-09-09
RICH MEMS SONS.
REMARKABLE FACTS AS TO THE
PROBABILITIES OF SUCCESS.
Statistics of n Manufacturing Town-The
Circuit of Fortune-Dry Rot in Our sys-
tenn of Things-Lack of Correct Train

Hon. ]. 81. Walker, of Worcester, has
published some remarkable facts as to
the probabilities of success in a New
England manufacturing town He states
that in 1910 there were thirty persons
engaged in the eight leading m~anufactur-
ing industries in that city, of whom
twenty-eight began as journyemen; that
fourteen failed, INT 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-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 107 persons engaged
in these industries, of whom 101 were
journeymen- OF these forty-three failed,
and out of the 107 only eight now have
property or died leaving any. In 1878
there were 176 engaged in the ten leading
manufacturing interests, of whom 162
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
h fruit of Mr.. Walkers personal knowl-
edge of individuals and their history. They
indicate what is probably true of other
~ "hOIO AolA1b buLhO III
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
a famous man are still carrying on the
business or industry which he established.
1t keeps the firm name in honor, and is a
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 nave a good family
standing in the ca:qmunity. Half the
comfort of living y ia many people is the
fact that some IL heir 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 a 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 are obliged to take, where so much
depends as depends here upon the amount
of personal will each one is able to put
into a 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 WI in
life is due to idle habits and fast living.
There Is something fundamentally
rotten in American society when such a
story as is here outlined can be told of a
community as respectable, Industrious
n 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 SOM 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
ton of manufacturers sons turning out
so badly that there is nothing good to be
said for them2 1t is contrary to the law
of succession to sanction this state of
things. 1t is a familiar principle that the
exactions of the city grind human energy
out of men and use up their vital force,
so that the country constantly replenishes
the town, but what are we coming to as an
Industrial commonwealth if there is to be
nc 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 q position where his grand
son is almost sure to turn put a poor
devil? This is a plain question, and if
there is such dry rot in u system of
things that the bottom is constantly fall
ing out of what we call good society, what
nre We coming to as a democratic people2
If 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
of rich families in Boston coming TOT
To be serious, there is something fun
~damentally wrong in the education which
successful manufacturers give their sons.
1t is too often the case that the son be-
gins, not where his father began, in the
simple and honest training of a country
home, but in a 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; he has
few or none of the plain virtues which are
the precious possession of poor boys who
drive cows to pasture, or sell newspapers,
or dn rhOrac for eIlrh lOnGa channa nc tbau
can earn in this way. The virtue is taken
out of such a youth at the start. His
father thinks that he will not have him
climb the ladder as he did, and does not
require him to dc anything that is hard.
The discipline over his morals is apt to
be as lenient as that which is exercised
over his studies or his habits of useful