Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1912-06-04
PRACTICE
NECESSITY now?
Career of the Late M. C. D.
Borden Furnishes a Con-
vinCing Answer.
BY 3. c. FORBES.

=
NEW YORK, June Are sharn prac-
tees necessary 10 success in these days of
catch-as catch-c business Must trick
cry be resorted to at least once in a While?
Does the employer have to forget what
he was taught in Sunday school when
i comes to dealing with his employees
Is a large, human heart an obstacle 10
great prosperity? Beset by Romans. is it
compulsory to do as they dor so them
one better? Can man in a large way
of business afford to listen to his con
science? Or is he the victim Of circum-
stances. driven hither and thither by
forces beyond his control?
The records, Just closed. of NJ c. d
Borden. the king of cotton manufacture
ers, supplies as good an answer to these
questions as anything ! know-you no
doubt, have read something about him
in the Obituaries
Few men have had to encounter more
troublesome problems in conducting their
business. To run cotton min smoothly
and successfully is never easy: sometimes
it is well nigh impossible The textile
trade is exposed to violent fluctuations
due in part TO the drastic swings in the
price of raw material, occasionally to a
chsndise, at other times to widespread la
Dor troubles and. al long intervals. to po-
litical uncertainties. Moreover in this
peculiar industry no monopoly or monop-
olistic amalgamation has arisen Compe-
tition of the old fashioned kind still rules
The tactics Of rivals often prove trouble
some Costs have to he rigidly kept
down Yet strikes must he averted
whenever possible.
Mr. Borden"M. c. D.. as he was called
in the trade proved equal to all emer-
gencies. More, he triumphed over them
by methods at once brilliant and lauda-
BILE. by methods that won for him the
admiration Of the workers and the re-
spect Of other manufacturers Did a glpt
of goods threaten to choke the market and
infict upon the mills a period of idleness.
Mr.. Borden would by one bold stroke re-
move the danger on one memorable oe-
casion he bought a million and a half
pieces of cloth to avert what would have
been catastr phe to thousands of en-
ployees in other mills Az another critf-
cal time, when distress appeared inevita-
BILE, when wages were about to be cut
he stepped forward and did a daring
thng-instead of reducing the paw ~
his large army Of workers he announced
a substantial advance Others had to fol-
low his example. And bankruptcy did
not result
The modesty Of the great the deter
mination Of the strong the confidence
of the lust were all embodied in this
fine type of New England merchant-man-
ufacturer
In these DAYS Of announcement of com
Net5 ION 4 IL "a
is worth noting that the greatest cotton
mill owner America has produced did not
sympathize with the brand of CO operation
generally advocated He would not unite
with other manufacturers to act in con
cert against employees or consumers
He had his own standards of fair dealing
and would not be bound by the flats OF
any associa ton He was of broader gauge
than most of his competitors. He never
descended TO the petty He took a large
wide, wholesome view of his responsible
tiles toward his fellow men His action
not infrequently showed that his heart
was more with the thousand of toilers de-
pendent upon him than with those Of his
own station in life
And vet his agnanimity paid Cen
erosity proved q profitable policy
Which suggests that the real leaders
in other branches of the textile and dry
goods business tnot to look farther afieldl
have been men of conspicuous probity, Of
unquestioned fairness, of more than aver
age generosity in their dealings not only
with men of affairs. but with their own
employees. The names OF several still
living will a once come 10 your mind of
them | will not speak But what of the
founders Of the two largest dry goods
concerns in the United States? H. g.
Clafin was essentially a man Of the type
just described more SO than the public
knows, for like Mr. Borden, his philan-
thropies We're accomplished with mini
mum of noise, even with stealth Long
before old age pensions were discussed
as a national question the house Of Olaf
lin instituted its own system a system to
which the beneficiary contributes not one
dollar The worthy son of this worthy
sire. John Clafin-the present holder of
the blue ribbon Of American commerce.
the presidency of the Chamber of Com
merce continues the benevolent policy
And then, not Marshall Field distin-
guished as much for his honesty and jus
tice as for his great wealth?
OF course. it is not quite the thing now
adays to bother much about people when
they die there is so much to be done in
holding ones own against the living
Still, it may do no harm to steal few
moments to weave little wreath for a
man of sterling worth. whose life and
work are a refutaion Of some of the cVnf-
cal mischievous. counterfeit theories that
too often are circulated today as 2l-earat
truths