The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1913-04-13

isn't an institution for helping any one,
and that the employees of the firm have
good jobs and good pay and that's all.
Furthermore. he declared no one really
wants to be helped, not reporters nor edi-
tors nor ambassadors, and certainly not
the employees of publishing houses. who.
he said, prefer to help themselves and are
able to do so very well, too.
Not n PhiIanthropist.
The interviewer tried to discover a lit
tie philanthrophy in the Page scheme of
things and demanded to be told why the
workshop was surrounded by such beau
tiful gardens and lawns.
Mr.. Page, however refused to be CO.
creed into admitting that the making OF
a manufacturing plant into a thing of
beauty had anything Of philanthropy
about 1t.
| He declared that the land surrounding
the building was used for growing flowers
and vegetables to add to the pleasure and
well being CT all concerned, but that the
employees were no more benefited by the
efforts which had converted what was a
mudhole three years ago into very beau
tiful place today than the editors and
owners of the plant.
He said that II was always worth while
making the surroundings of a working
place as attractive as possible, since so
much of life Is spent in Offices and fac
tories.
What do you work for IL You aren' [
going to have a little fun by the way"
was one Of the epigrams with which Mr..
Page explained the superior beauty of the
publishing plant to most places OF en-
ployment. But before leaving the SUBJ
ject he again cautioned the reporter to be
sure not to say anything was done for the
1, a. - 81 -,
Having thus proved that not the slight
est element of anything but supreme sell
fshness had entered into the creation of
the beautiful Garden City workshop. Mr..
Page leaned back in his chair and re-
garded the reporter with a triumphant
twinkle.
Back to Land Advocate.
Getting folk back to the land is one of
the movements In which Mr.. Page has
been interested for many years, and he
said that it is normal to go to the coun-
try and not normal to live in the CITY, AS
space on Manhattan Island is very costly
and the publishing business is concerned
with a bulky product which requires a
great deal of space, the moving OF Mr..
Pages business out to Garden City was
a purely unitarian one. the expense of
production being lessened not alone by
the less cost of space, but by the fact
that the low building made the lifting of
heavy weights unnecessary. Unnecessary
hauling as well as unnecessary lifting was
saved and the blank paper which enters
the building at one end goes out at the
other as books or magazines without hav-
ing to be taken up stairs
Mr.. Pages interest in the movement to
the country is, however, much broader
than in his own business concerns, He said
that il is very difficult to start most per-
sons away from the city to the country.
but he has devoted a great deal of his
editorial life to forwarding the movement
for all kinds Of men and women. Mr..
Page himself was Just about to start as q
practical farmer when the appointment to
the ambassadorship caught him and made
it necessary to postpone his agricultural
career. He has recently acquired a farm
of about one thousand acres In North
Carolina which he had intended 10 Guilt