The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1907-01-25
SHAW ON BUSINESS,
Trade Tactics Here and In Emo
land Criticised.
CAUsTIc RAP FOR AMERICANS
British Critic Declares We Are "Per-
feet Children In Business"-Claims
Our Stratum of Romanticism Pro-
vents Us From Knowing Real Thing.

vents Us from knowing HeaI Ihing.
! George Bernard Shaw, the British
critic and playwright, Is never afraid
to express an opinion on any subject,
and apparently he is never at loss
for the opinion, says the Scrap Book.
The other day he expressed his views
on business, saying:
''The most striking peculiarity about
business men is that have never met
one who understands the slightest
| thing about business.
Business men have certain set, con-
ventional methods. Propose to them
a way of doing business that departs
from their usual method, and, although
the new way may mean more profit,
they will not accept 1t unless forced to,
and even then they believe they are be-
Ing swindled.
"My own way of doing business Is
perhaps novel, but 1t Is neither harsh
nor unfair. But 1t Is novel, and there
fore the men I deal with object to 1t,
although they themselves are the gain
ers by doing things my way and not
the way In which they are used. Yet
they regard me with suspicion. 1t is
very much as If you offered a man $5
for doing something for which he had
previously been In the habit Of receiv-
ing a dollar and having him denounce
you as a swindler."
Not content with genernlities, Mr..
Shaw went on to discuss Englishmen
and Americans as business men:
'In making an agreement with an
Englishman you may be sure Of one
thing, If it is not entirely to his advan-
tage he will not keep 1t. An English
men when he wants house or money
or anything else knows that In order to
get what he wants he has to sign
something. He does not care what he
signs as long as he gets what he
wants. After he obtains the money or
the house or whatever else he stood In
need of, If he finds the agreement he
signed disagreeable he will denounce
the man who holds it as knave or a
scoundrel and as one who is trying to
take unfair advantage Of him.
''In my own experience with English
men, the terms Of my agreements, sat
isfactory at the time Of signing, have
afterward proved irksome. They would
then come to me and say, Surely, Mr..
Shaw, you cannot expect to hold us to
such outrageous terms,' and when /
would point to the agreements bearing
their signatures they would retort
Surely, Mr.. Shaw, you are gentle
man!'
after all, the Jew is the only man
who knows what he Is signing and
will keep absolutely to his agreement
Americans are perfect children In
business. They have stratum Of ro-
manticism that prevents them from
knowing what business really is. This
childish, romantic spirit impels them to
be doing things, to cut somebody out,
to do something that nobody else has
done or to do a greater thing than any
body else has ever done. Accidents Of
course will happen, ana sometimes
they make money. But the percentage
Of failures In America Is something
terrible. We never hear Of these. Ev-
cry attention is centered on the con-
spicuous few who have made success"
Shall we apply to Mr.. Shaw the
words Of Horace,
Aliena negotia euro
Excussus propriis,
which, being interpreted, Is, ~ attend
to the business of other people, having
lost my ownT' 1t were fairer perhaps
to say that in his role Of witty play
wright everybody's business Is Mr..
Shaw's.
Ctty Lors
tor resids snce pu poses tor sale, s1b to
200 = E. Sheridan