Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1910-08-11

We frequently hear II said that Il
Is almost impossible for a business
| man nowadays to succeed along
strictly legitimate lines and in the
old-fashioned honest ways. So keen
Is the competition, and so unscrupu-
lous are the methods employed in
many lines, that business man is
almost forced to do things which his
conscience does not approve and
which will not bear the light of pub
licity. This Is a very serious accusa-
ton against the business world of to-
day. and unfortunately there seems
to be some ground for Il. Evidences
are constantly cropping out, and
hardly day passes but something
new turns up to confirm the suspi-
cion. Not only in public life. but
also In private transactions between
men, we find the same thing: char
ges of dishonesty and deceit. of false
representations, of contracts secured
by fraud, of bribery and corruption
all along the Inc. This dishonest
work is, of course, largely done byI
agents and other employees, but back
OF these and responsible for IL all
are the firms or corporations. de-
handing results. They do not cues
ton the means by which the contracts
are secured; what they want is bust
ness, and the agent who can not Sc
cure It must go.
In this connection 1t is refreshing
to read about a man who did not
yield to the temptation to do these
things, yet who succeeded in bust
ness. William Henry Baldwin, Jr.,
was his name, and at the time of his
death, recently, at the age of AZ, he
was president of the Long Island
Railroad Company. After graduating
at Harvard he sought and obtained
a humble job on the Union Pacific
railroad. He did his work well and
was rapidly advanced. In few years
he had become manager of the Mon
tana division. He found it difficult |
position to FILL He found his rivals |
using all sorts OF underhand methods |
to get ahead of him. They distribu-
ted "favors" to those who decided |
over what lines freight should be |
shipped; they bought the drinks;
they showed the town" to influen-
tial visitors; they INDUCED in all |
kinds of petty graft and resorted to
various subterfuges to soften and |
conceal brides: they did about |
everything, short of murder, which
an honest man would not do. At the
outset he set himself squarely against
this kind OF thing, and through 1t all
he was determinedly honest. The
way in which he faced the situation
and fought the battle Is best described
in his own words:
when / came to Butte, / had the
toughest job to tackle on the u. P.-I
as railroad men said, an unenviable
position. l was told that would
have to be a champion liar and be-
come a veritable bum in order to
secure any business. | gave orders
at once, however, that all business
from my office must be done on an
honorable basis, and that any state
ment made must be the truth. / de-
cidede to work the opposite of the
game played by many of my competi-
tors, and have business men feel that
honor and fair treatment were our
motto. We had almost no friends
and the bitterest opposition; and 1t
has been the worst uphill work"
But he stuck to 1t and fought 1t
out along this line. Those under him
square deal" for everybody. They
anu IeSDtCtcu anu Tic L
ard respect grew into
love. They looked upon him as their
champion so long as they were in the
right. In addition to this, he had
ability for getting along
with his associates and sub
ordinates. His superiors fell into the
habit OF leaving all the rows to
When the directors of
fha npu Island Railroad haoan IN
look around for a president their
eyes fell upon him. They offered
him the position. mo- he said, II
am not the man you want am
known to be on the workingman'
side, and that would not do in rail-
road president" "On the contrary"
they replied, that is just the reason
we want you" and they got him.
Later on, when ii became the duty
of a committee of railroad men of
which he was a member to secure
tunnel and terminal rights in New
York City for the Long Island and
Pennsylvania railroads, he thought |
his well known hostility to Tam
many and its methods would impair
his usefulness as member Of the
committee. So he sent in his resig
nation. 1t was not accepted, and his
Tammany hostility did not stand i'm |
the way at all. 1t was so open and |
above-board that 1t commanded the
respect even of Tammany.
It may be that the business world |
isn't quite so bad as We think. And |
perhaps there are more William Hen
ry Baldwins In the world than we
know about.
sAxHxAxAuxx xxx