The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-06-27
THE sPIRIT OF THE HAMMER.

  n-~HE BURYINCfof {. 30 foot hammer at Pat
 erson, N. J., a few days ago. as a pre- liminary to booster campaign, will be dis missed by many people As simply an outhurst 8f American. picturesque humQr. But the spir- it of the hammer is such cross grained streak in our national temp erament that this inpident i worthy of thoughtful attention.
 People who are not accomplishing much in life find a cynical consolation in finding flaws in their associates and envilsp nnlent. If man is drifting fritterine his tinae away it is a sat isfaction to find folly and incompetence in the acts of his neighbors
 The critical person imaeines that he dem pnstrates the superiority of his brains by com ienninsxs the circunstances of his environment. Bui few people eat lemons as regular diet, sour conversation and mental bilionsness are eenerallv accepfed, not aB a sign of mental acuteness, but the bitter optgrowth of some kind of failure.
 "A few years ago town arransed reun- ion Of former residents Every feature of the program had a notable touch of originality. A triIing mistake seemed Go have been made in choosing a nearby summer resort as the place for the final meeting. As a result of thiss the great naaiority of the towns people damned the whole celebration. This is an Illustration from real life Of how people pick out one flaw in q public enterprise, and play the hammers on tkat, and forget to say anything about the many admirable features t posses
 THE CAUSE lflHE cBAFLIrS FORTUNE
 affs N INITIATION, PYR and watering are
 not less disastrous in retail anerchandis- ing than in raiIroading. Tor many years Il. B Clafiin had the reputation. Of being a great merchant, and was worthy of his reputation.
 The lAte Js Morgan applied to the C1afIIn business and reputation the same 9tal- ents which he gave to the New Haven system The result was crudely organized trading company somewhat engaged in jobbing dry goods. but more engaged in absorbing retail stores thrpu ghout the United States and in selling to banks Of the country paper of the clailin subsidiaries, bearing the endorsement of the parent concern
 This paper was sold through note brokers and is distributed throughout some 5,O0o banks The shares of the claflin dry goods trust were s4n0fgd fn Wall Street, and bought and sold like other speculative securities.
 is said that there are S34 ,000,Oe0 Of these notes extant which are backed bY ostensih1e assets of s44 ,0o0000. The actual value of th ssE assets Is entirely conjechiral. until an inyesti- gation is conpleted.
 II has always been possible to take con cerns of good name and reputation, and to cap itaIize both. selling the securities to ascoTlffd- ing public. But not before, in the recorded history of the world, has this practice beer conducted on such a large scale, or SO unscrl1. pulously carried on as in these United State! during the last decade
 oOund puslness rests upon real N4lIes. Elv- Cry enterprise which trie with one hand to cor ner all it's own line of business while with tht other 1t issues paper based on hope is cer. tain to meet disaster, for there must come time when those pieces of paper arc compared with the values behind them.
 The failure of the ClaHin interests vii cause great suffering in many directions The course of manufacture will be disturbed sMans concerns relied upon the C1aflin orders an6 these concerns must necessarily go upon period sM waiting while the readjnstment i, made.
 When country reaches the apex of q pc riod of financial debauch and dishpnor, the bes that can come is the knife of the surgeon The more delay there is the greater suffering there will be when the knife is finally applied.
 ss FDIr0RIAI NOTES