The Washington herald., 1913-06-15

Y
Students Of University ol
Kentucky:
Good fortune. claims w. w. Finley
president of the Southern Railway. ID
but a small percentage OF business sue.
cess compared with the gains that have
been made by those who use their own
initiative. Mr.. Finley last week deiiv-
cred an address on Success in Bust.
ness before the students Of the Univer-
! sity offKentucky.
He called upon his >hearers to com.
bine what personal character they have
| to inspire confidence and combine 1,
with industry that they may assure
themselves of success. He held that all
business failures could not be traced to
extravaganza, incompetency, and waste.
and that In many cases the lack of in
lteiligence-the main requisite-was the
underlying cause.
Trickery and sharp practice. he said.
rarely got a man anywhere. and as busi-
ness ethics progress success from this
will be harder to attain.
Mr.. Finley said:
"The subject which have chosen for
my address to you this morning-'Suc-
cess In Business'-is. / believe. of uni
versal interest to young men. In our
youth we all look forward to successful
careers. and 1t will be of advantage to a
young man to understand at the begin
ming of his business life what are the
factors contributing to success.
ITO some extent the success of every
individual Is dependent upon factors that
may be classed under the general head
Of opportunity-using this word as indi-
eating such a favorable combination of
easy the road to successful achievement.
Excnscs for Failure.
There is. / believe, a tendency to ex-
aggerate the Importance OF these factors
especially among men who have not been
successful. 1t is less humillating to the
unsuccessful man to ascribe his failure
to lack Of opportunity than to any per-
sonal shortcoming. In some cases ad-
verse conditions. especially IL one of
them be poor health. may be a valid ex-
cuse for failure. We have only to review
the history OF the successful business
men OF America, however. to find that
opportunity. instead of being a matter of
accident, is often made by the man him
self.
"A position as helper in a store, as Of
flee boy. or a subordinate employe in an
industrial establishment or a railway
may not seem to offer exceptional op-
portunities for advancement. Yet, many
OF the men who have risen to the own
ership or control of great enterprises
have started in just such employments.
For every man who has SO succeeded
many have been left behind. often in
cluding some who have had exceptional
of education and social
standing in their communities
whether a man shall be successful or
not depends largely upon himself, and
more important to him than money or
favorable surroundings at the beginning
of his career are the personal qualities
of character. industry. and preparedness
for opportunity. i place character first.
because II is the most important, and. in
its broader sense. includes all the at
tributes that the business man should
have There may have been Instances In
the past when men have won what the
world has esteemed success by trickery
and sharp practice. / believe, however,
that such instances have been relatively
few. and that, with the elevation Of the
standard of business ethics. which has
been brought about in our time, they will
be still less numerous In the future, and
that character will be even more essential
to sccessful achievement.
Leader Among Men.
There died recently in the city Of
Rome an American citizen who had
achieved almost unparalleled success in |
business. John Pierpont Morgan was a |
leader among men. That he was able, |
time and again, to exercise a power and |
influence beyond the resources of his own |
banking house and by his leadership to |
uphold public credit and stay the prog |
ress of financial panics was due to the |
confidence inspired by his individual |
character founded on that
simple Christian faith which those who |
guiding principle, but which was first |
made known to many by the opening |
sentences of his will. No business man |
AN have a more valuable asset than a 1
reputation such as Mr.. Morgan sustained
throughout his business career that II !
vas not necessary to put any promise or
statement of his in writing.
''Bulwer. In one of his essays. recog-
lized the Importance OF a reputation
Iuch as this when he said:
Every man to whom you make
,romise that you will do such and such
york in a certain time should rest as
ured that your word is as firm as the
sock of Gibraltar. Confidence is the first
,rincipIe of all business
Among the great constructive works
erformed by Mr.. Morgan was the found
1g OF the Southern Railway Company,
task which the confidence which he in
pired enabled him to carry through sue
essfully after others had failed. Thei
esult was the building up. under his
ostering care, of a most important in
of commerce which has
ontribpted to the development of the
outhejh country and afforded means of
velihood for large number Of Southern
eople.
I'm sketch Of Mr. Morgan's life pub
shed in the May Review OF Reviews,
[r. Serene s. Pratt said:
I'm the last twenty years of his life.
[r. Morgan welded a power that no
ther private citizen and few statesmen
the world exercised. His power was
ercely assailed on the ground that no
rivate individual ought to possess such
over the lives and fortunes of
lillions of other persons.
Analyse the Power.
But analyze that power. and II win
. discovered that II was a delegated
over ssss He did not obtain his power
Y conquest. He did not arrogate II to
mself by any assertion of brute strength.
came to him by what may truly be
llled the suffrages Of the people. 'sss
organ was the trustee of their deposits,
eir Investments. and their property. He
,uld not compel their confidence. He