The San Francisco call., 1906-06-17
CULTURE AND TRADE.

Rev Rufus A. White, in address before the
graduating class of the Armour Institute of Tech
nology at Chicago Friday night spoke the rela-
tion of culture 10 business and industry. Where
culture begins he said, there is the life of IN
dustrv and commerce. Culture and the pursuit Of
the ethical the stimulus and foundation of COM
merce and industry
The average hard-headed dealer in hams will be
apt to lift his eyebrows at that. and to conclude
that next year some other than the Rev Rufus
A White had better deliver the address before the
Armour Institute. The ham man could scarcely be
trapped into admitting that he himself is possessed
Of an ina gination of high order, but without
imagination he would never have been heard of in
the business world
The trouble with the ham man is that he admits
no standard Of success other than his But he is
not alone in this respect; the is true Of ALL be
they sellers of ham writers Of philosophy.
Schopenhauer put the manuscript of his first work
into the hands of the printer and then crossed the
Alps that he might not be at home when the tre-
mendOus. woodworking explosion that would fol-
low the book 5 publication shaking his native
state This was very thoughtful of Schopenhauer
but he waited long for the explosion In five years
something like three of the books had been sold.
Somewhat surprised at the slowness of presum-
ably intelligent world. but confident of the place
that he had made for himself in the ranks of phil
But the ham man would not call such fiat financial
failure success at all Neither would have Schopen-
hauer admitted a ham-built fortune to be mark of
successful career But the imagination that the
foundation of Sch0penhauerS culture is not unlike
the imagination that prompts the ham man S ven
lures Each IN his way Is a poet, but poets of diff
ferent standards, purposes ideals and products.
Each ranks high above his unimaginative fellows
who cannot the relation of conditions to events,
who neither write philosophy nor gain success from
trade.
San Francisco has had halfcentury's S object les
son in this We marvel that the pioneers failed to
grasp the fact that San Francisco was to be a
world city. that San Francisco real property was
day to be fabulously valuable But where the
few did this and profted by it the thousands
did not. Even Of those who did Market
street property many did so by accident; took it
grumblingly for bad debts and the like
After the Spanish war a marked advance in San
Francisco property values was to be looked for.
But again comparatively few profited except from
accident. The fire drove the city out to Fillmore
street. The quick to see the Imaginative, if you
like secured Fillmore-street leases: the unimagina-
tive entered the bread line Within few months
where 10000 men engaged in the work of
restoring the city fully three times that number will
be employed. They viii be paid off weekly and
literally millions of dollars viii be put into circula-
tion each Saturday night What this means to
property-oWners and merchants does not require
the Imagination of Schopenhauer or of a success
ful ham dealer TO picture But comparatively few
are grasping the opportunity thus offered. These
viii profit enormously. The rest of the community
will marvel at and envy their good luck
To DR.. Whites statement that culture and the
pursuit of the ethical the stimulus and founda-
ton Of commerce and industry, would add for
they develop the imaginative in man which is back
Of all intelligent success be it success in the writing
Of philosophy and poetry or success in the selling
of hams
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