Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1912-08-09
FACT AND GOSSIP
IN MONEY MARTS
United States Suffering From
Dearth of Fifty Thousand
a-Year Men.
BY 3. c. FORBES,

deed the United States, is suffering from
dearth of $4,000 a year men,
The statement was made to me some
time ago by fnancier who was looking
for the right man to take charge of a
very powerful trust company This finan-
cier has made not less than million dol
lars annually for the last dozen years and
probably twice that amount. He was be-
wailing the scarcity of really big, brainy
men available for hire. 1.-THE man who
can earn salary of $4,000, $4,000 or
100000 for some one else" he explained,
is almost certain to enter business upon
his own account If he is conspicuously
brilliant he does not care to spend his
life in the service of others who reap the
reward of his skill and industry. That
Is the principal reason $4,000 and $780,
600 men are difficult to engage"
In this instance the vacant post was
one of honor and influence.
Corporations that may want $4,000 men
to be responsible for questionable prac-
tees will have a much harder task to Sc
cure them in future than they have had
in the past Financial and business i'm
morality and illegality have gone up in
price
An employer wanted to engage an APP
plicant for position. The youth looked
likely His replies to questions concerning
himself and his experience were satisfac-
tory.
You will, of course, do what you are
told?" he was asked.
Certainly" he replied.
"a win have to depend upon you a good
deal. For example, if I'm busy and do
not want to be disturbed you will tell
callers that I'm out?"
The youth seemed surprised and disap-
pointed.
If" continued the employer, 'ft IS
necessary, in the course of business, to
present things in a certain light you will
do it?'
You mean will tell lies for your"
"Wel, if you put it that way, yes"
"An right, I'll lie for you said the
young man decisively.
Good. Now, how much salary do you
want?"
Ten thousand dollars a day"
Ten thousand dollars day--are you
mad?" exclaimed the employer.
mo, but l would be if l accepted>your
proposal When 1 say ten thousand dol
lars a day mean that you could not pay
me enough money to become a liar. If
you want me to do honest work I'll be
glad to start at a dollar a day"
And-so the story goes-he was en-
gagged,
l happen to know of case in real life
very different from the incident just re-
lated The father of young family was
thrown out of employment. He had been
imprudent to the extent that. although
earning between $40 and $50 weekly, he
had made no systematic attempt to save
anything. Starvation stared him and his
family at close range. He could not af-
ford to pick and choose as to what he
would turn his hand to. In desperation
he accepted a S15-a-week job. Very
quickly. he learned that it was part of his
duty to cook accounts in order to de-
fraud certain parties. He succumbed-
temporarily, as he told his conscience.
The cheating called for subtle skill, as
one blunder might easily have landed
more than one person in jail. Time passed
and still he remained at his post The
dishonesty CALLED him-but there was a
wife and children to feed, clothe and shell
ter His whole life became poisoned.
Yet. when last l heard, he was still wal
slave
How many unfortunates are occupying
a similar hell?
A dispatch from Washington says the
government has decided to abandon the
criminal prosecution Of individuals re-
sponsble for the actions of Illegal trusts
1t is a thousand pities that such defeat
g., l.
Sherman law is defective in this particu-
lar, then let 1t be repealed. A corpora
ton is merely an aggregation of individ-
uals Some one must order the perpetra-
ton of each act. The one who instigates
acts adjudged illegal is palpably a law
breaker. That is the party to punish, not
the corporation. a corporation can not
be thrown into prison, but individuals
can. Fines simply fall upon stockholders
in no way guilty Of wrongdong,
No honest man could object to a law
providing for the imprisonment of trust
managers or directors found guilty of
gross turptude.
The price of financial and business inn
morality, as / have already said, has
gone up Laws can not instil honesty into
mems souls, but they can instil fear into
their hearts by opening prison doors
Much has already been accomplished to-
ward the restitution of business ethics,
and more viii be achieved by-and- by. The
country is learning that pelf can be
amassed at too ruinous a price. Even
this sorry spectacle of graft and worse in
the New York police force will do some
good is other directions.
Honesty is, in the end. the most profit
able policy.