The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-03-06

AS the young men or today In every l large city or town, leave school, en- | ter college or become a part of some great manufacturing concern or busi- ness house, either in their own city
 or in the neighboring metropolis, all,
 perhaps without exception look for
 comes, and social enjoyment and with this in mi ind pitch into their work
 with enthusiasm and interest so to hasten promotion to the ''place ahead, but; while some of them are more fortunate than others in attain ing their desire, through influence or
 family prestige and a few by actual personal ability, it unfortunately is the opposite with the great majority of them after ten 'or twenty years of faithful work to experience the sen l sation that they have given the best years of their life to daily confining grind and are only a cog or bolt in 1 the one great machine, with no pos sible increase in their wages or sal- aries and even a feeling of doubt as in the face of new men, constantly coming in, who through necessity of fer their services for less money and take up the grind and actually do more work than the older men who have been plugging along consistent Fly at their desks or benches for so many years
 Sentiment and business. like oil and water, do not mix, and so the corporation of today is becoming mor
 grasping, soulless, and powerful each
 year in regard to the handling. of it's mediately after each annual stock holders meeting, at which the cry .s always higher dividends'-for, to i the average stock-holder. the in greater cost of materials, the close competition, means nothing to them and is entirely overlooked. Higher dividendS' must be obtained by hook or by crook and the general superin- l tendent or manager has but one loop hole of escape in order to escape their displeasure and satisfy their greed for
 more dividends" and that is to less en the cost of operating every possi-
 ble way-cut the salaries of the least important and miQo office, employees. ! cheapen the standard of labor and lessen the number on the payroll, 1 cooperate with the cost department and shave the cost of materials and operations in all departments, de- crease the overhead expenses and a per cent saved will increase his showing in twelve month. He cuts and slashes ali along the line every expense in the running of the busi- ness suffers personal merit, worth or long service counts for nothing in this  dividends.
 He will cut the wages of the old guard who must accept these deserts
 of. long service and old age; or quit,
 he must cut the sa aries and wages
 of others along the line who, too, can
 but accept the new terms or see a young man fresh from college or busi- ness school take his place. In firms where piece work is employed; and
 even per cent. can always be gain
 operators (which in most cases are
 women and girls) aided by carefully prepared rate-cards so innocently ar
 ranged with tempting bonuses that frantic efforts are made by the work
 CTS to gain them, which rarely how ever are realized, but is the principal reason for the sad mutilation of fin- gers and hands among this class of labor
 This is the situation in general to-
 day which dawns on the great ma- jority of men and forces them to seek
 either newer fields of industry; to en-
 ter into business for themselves on a small scale where they may at least
 enjoy their self respect and freedom,
 or else continue their daily grind more dependent. more narrow and daily more miserly so that with every sacrifice they must at least have a few dollars to fall back on when their turn TOT dismissal comes.
 How many young men stop to fig ure out their financial side of life
 when they first start in on their busi- ness careers? Did you ever figure out at twenty-one the possible results of l your working life during the next twenty years? Then for instance let
 us figure that a young man of twep :. i ty-one earns s20 per week and dur 1 ing the next twenty years is steadily i employed and always enjoys a 1OGn increase in salary yearly. Figure that
 for the first five years of this period which when he marries at the age of twenty-six he uses to fit Glp a home. 1 For the next five year period let us figure that he is only able to save an- 1 nualy 1kM which returns him 6eo | interest. We will figure that during
 has had two children. Now for the
 last ten years on account of higher
 cost of living one more child, the cost of maintaining a large home;
 school and vacation expenses and
 doctors bills, he is only able to save
 g s%. consistent n0T' which also nets him [ During this same period he has also
 taken out and paid the premiums on
 a $5,00O life insurance policy for the
 only able to do this by continual sac
 rifice of his very natural desires for club life and other pleasures.
 Altogether we have figured rough l ly and have not allowed for a possi-
 ble serious sickness or two, or an ex-
 penslve operation, or any possible
 lapse in employment and no losses of
 savings through the many channels
 so tempting to small investors. What
 then has this man to show for these
 best years aof his life in the form of a , fund that might provide for himself and family in case a loss of health or
 employment or if he should desire to
 retire and take things easy ?-accord-
 ing to our way of figuring, not $15,- 900 without the face of his insurance 1 policy.
 How far then could this sum either
 in principal or in the form of highest
 legitimate dividends provide for his
 family or himself. It of course would
 help but it would mean that the edu- i cation of his youngest child must be
 curtafed and the others to become | paying guests at the board of their father, something that every natural father so, far as he can help, hates
 to occur.
 A short time ago one case in parti-
 cular came to my notice of a young
 man who foresaw the possible result
 ing conditions to be expected in the
 business career he had started in on
 and so left the beaten track feeling sure that he could make good and not
 only see more of life, but also enjoy all the sooner an income not to be
 earned in the business he was in even by fifty years of service.
 This young man after leaving High
 School entered the service of a Ma i tlOnals Bank where after spending
 seven years he realized the narrow
 ness of his life and the poor returns