Waterbury Democrat., 1901-03-12
WAGES.

nol pfODaDle that one will beat the other by more than q quarter, of cord day, unless, indeed, they are paid by the cord. and then it is rare that one aNeman can earn twice as much as the other. If they are doing work where peculiar aptitude and del lcacy are requisite as, for instance
 line pattern making or fitting, one man may earn four times as much as an other- Ii they are dong work demand ing intellectual or artistic ability the difference may be much greater A skillful lawyer or writer can earn ten times as much as his less gifted rival
 The reason for this is threefold: First. men vary much less in physical power than they do in intellectual power. One man may be possibly twice as strong as another, but one man may be ten times as able as another in fact, in the higher realms of imagina- tive work the difference of effective productive power is so great that we say some men do not possess any at all; of others We say indefinitely that they possess genius. Secondly. the physical powers receive their training in the natural course of youthful life. whereas the intellectual powers re- Quire, as a'rule, the expensive method of development known as special or technical education. though they sometimes develop themselves by their own inherent Vigor. without much out side instruction. But. thirdly. and this is the controlling reason. excep- tional intellectual or artistic powers are very rarc and their exercise is very eyEausting. The demand for them is far greater than the supply. l Everybody wishes to employ the best | lawyer or doctor or to hear the best | speaker or musician. and the best are | five in q thousand. It is evident that 1 wages or the reward for personal ser vices must vary immensely. starting from that paid for the exercise OF physical strength and endurance. and ending at that paid for the exercise of | exceptional intellectual powers. No scheme which does not make the product of all men equal can make their rewards the same. unjust as the inequality seems in many cases.
 In promoting the consolidation of a number of companies engaged in mln- ing iron and manufacturing its prod | ucts Pierpont Morgan is said to have been paid-or eventually 10 be paid at the rate of S1S5,UOO per diem. Whatever the exact amount the sum was undoubtedly very large. but it must be remembered that he is the only man in the United States that could do the work. Whether the work done will result in q large saving to the constituent companies by the cut ting of cutthroat competition, the great bane of our modern system. or not. the great majority of the individ- | ual owners were dosirOuS of having it accomplished. Whether or not it was wise to bring the major part of a great ! industry into one giant organization to be the sole object of legislative or communistic attacks is beside the question. Nero said that he wished that all the people of Rome had but one neck that he might cut it off at one stroke. and if the ownership Of | all property should be centered in one | corporation the imagination of social ists might be intiamed to the danger point but evidently the owners of iron properties are willing to incur the odium that attaches to large combined ownership. This being so. there was but one man to whom the work could De entrusted. Naturally. he was in a position to demand large wages.
 MT Morgan is in this position, be- cause he possesses exceptional char acteristcs: his financial judgment is of the highest order. He can grasp quickly and accurately the relations of | different interests and can compre- | hend the equities arising from q conn plicated situation. His sense of honor | and fairness enables him to adjust conflicting rights by the only compro- | mise satisfactory to the great ma jori- ty of individual owners. But there Is another point in which Mir Morgan is exceptional. He is by no means the only able and honest fnancier pos sessed of great wealth in New YorK, but he is the best known one. He has reputation, or it might even be called notoriety. There are moro people who | know that he is an ''hon&St broker and a financier of judgment fhan there are who know other men whO>deserve the reputation possibly as well as he l does. To us this seems largely an in heritance of the Morgan name. Ills l grandfather who lived here. and his father, Junius Morgan, were men iu whom the community felt an absolute | trust-a trust always found to be jnsti l fed When q man builds up a reputa ton founded on character. his children
 inherit it as long as they are fonnd | worthy. It is the best asset a mar can inherit and amplify. Mir Morgan is unique. not simply because he I. able and honest. but because every
 body knows he is. and the reason they know it is partly because his reputa
 tion has been transmitted from { father and grandfather as honest ant able as he. For, this reason le car earn more money than any man in thu
 world to-day. Ought anybody to b. envious or dissatisfied.- Hartfort 4 Times.