The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1900-02-20
66THE expression Business is bust
= ness,' which, the North Amer

= ness which, the North Amer
lean says, is the shibboleth Of
the trusts, is one of the most frequent
in our daily life," said a man who is
given to moraliztng. Did you ever
stop 90 consider exactly what it meaDs7
Positive a it is, dominating the world
as is does, this phrase almost defies
analysis. always accepted it as self
evident, as most men do. until it was
used by the late Mr.. Pullman when
he refused an apparently reasonable
and just proposition intended to bene
fk his thousands of workmen. This
is simply a matter of business, he SAID,
and business is business
This phrase is always given with an
air Of dnality, or unanswerableness 1t
is proposed and accepted as a clincher,
the last decisive word in reply TO an
appeal of some SORT. Hardly any other
form of speecn is uttered with such
emphasis. Clearly, it means TO take
the question out Of the field of discus
sion and Of feeling. It does it, toe.
1T implies that business. benz bust
nesg, rs not something Oh anything
else, but that it is, and of right ought
TO be, a thing apart, beyond or
every other thing in the world. Per
hRpP, il one could show that the par
ticulsr matter in hand is not eXclu
siveiy business, he might be allowed
to discuss it; but if il is business Of
the kind that ia business, il becomes
subj CT only to the unique laws of
busint ss-ot the business Unat has ite
own co5e of morals, il any, and Ia
dead to all the finer sensioilities and
humabities.
Isn't it obvious that what every
man mesLs when he afhrms that bust
ness is business ia that 10 IL not philRu
thropy. not human kindness, not
brotherline, s, not morals2 Whas other
meaning ls possibiel Fer no man ever
says is except TO except to excuse q
course Of conduct that cannot be de-
Tended by any OF the arguments to
which a man must pay respect when
he does not represent this strange
thing known as business Com.
monty be uses it in rejecting an appeal
that he could Cfer no reason for deny
ing-Rn appeal which kindness, love
Of his fellow men, Christianity, and
perhaps ven justice, would compel
him TO grant. In short il all implies
that when a thing is business it knows
no soul, no bonds of compassion, Moth
ing that is admirable in morris.
when a desc atIDg Storm swept
over the city Of ST. Louis, hundreds Of
homes, the bones of thousands Of
working people mostly, were ut rly
wrecked. In many heart breaking
instances some member Of a bouse-
hold ives buried in theTuips. IL
created a sudden imperative de.
mend for acens houses, OF which
there are always q good mary in every
large community. This was Ehe op
portunity of landlords whose exorbi-
tent rents or whose i~ndisposiGion to
make repairs had kept their property
uniet for months. 1t was said that
hey took The fullest advRU tage of the
accidental needs, and refused to lease
houses at the rates they established
before the cyclone. Like all other
winds, it blew good for somebody, but
to somebody who needed the benefit
less then others. They increased the
rents beyond ell precedent.
IN reply TO the charge Of inhuman
ity end exeortIon, the landlords re-
peated the common phrase, Business
is business They reminded their
critics that throughout the world of
business the law of supply Rrd demaUd
invariably regulates prices; that maE-
kind hes long conceded the Tigh; OF
business TO lis o IN peculiar laws. Ger
taipiy their action was in harmony
WITH the rule that enc mans need l.
another's opportunity. They c0u,o
show that self interest has been the
spur to ell toe achievements thai have
promoted the advancement Of the
world In material things
1T would be il teresting-indeed, it
is mighty important-to know why