Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-06-24
statesmen ARE
BORN, NOT MADE
The Man Who Can Take $5,OOO,OOO
Order for Locomotives Had 1t in
Him at the Beginning and Only
Needed Opportunity.
By GEORGE W. DOUGLAS

Chicago and take an order for $5,ooo,OoO
worth of locomotives. The opportunity Is
awaiting him, if he can grasp 1t. Indeed, II
he could do It today he could get the chance
without tho shadow Of doubt. It would
not be enough for him to think he could do
! It. He would have to prove in some way
that he was able to deliver the goods
1t would be necessary, however. to COM
pete with largo number Of men for the
chance, because every alert and ambitious
employe Of the Baldwin Locomotive Works
hopes that some day he may have an oppor-
tunity to show what n big order he can get.
There was O time when the ambitious man
in the works looked forward to admission
to the partnership, where his years of effort
and his skill and experience could be capi-
talized in such way as to give him share
in the profits of the business which he had
assisted in creating. But this reward is no
longer in sight. 1t disappeared in 1908 when
the partnership system was abandoned and
the business was reorganized as a corpora
tlon Promotion to the sales department Is
what the men are now looking for 1t is tho.
spectacular part of the business, as well as
the source of all It's prosperity.
President Alba B. johnson, of the COM
pany, says that he and his associates are
continually looking for men with the ability
to sell locomotives
Tho company somo time ago was in the
habit of taking on every year large num-
Der of men from the colleges and techn-
cal schools as indentured apprentices. At
the expiration of their period of service such
of them as had proved their ability and as
many as there was room for were employed
on the regular force. This system of de-
veloping the higher grade of men was aban'
doned about five years ago because 1t com
plcated the relations Of the company with
the men who already knew their trade. Now
only such men as are needed are trained in
the business and the old law of the
vivua of the fittest Is allowed to work out
in the way of promotions. The man who
manifests executive ability is reasonably
sure to be advanced, for, as Mr.. Johnson
says the company is more anxious to push
capable workers ahead than the men are to
be pushed.
Statesmen Must Be Expert Engineers
Selling a locomotive today is not so easy
as it used to be. In the old days when a
railroad company wanted more engines the
president would come to the Baldwin works
in Philadelphia. or go to the Rogers works
in Paterson or the Mcqueen works in Schen-
ectady and buy what was for sale there. He
was content with what the engine would do
But today the railroads are not content with
what the locomotive makers choose to build
They want to move a certain number Of
loaded cars over given grade at so many
miles an hour. They may have low-grade
coal available on that part Of their line, and
the engine must be constructed to make
steam economically from fuel of that class.
The salesman must understand the princl-
pies of locomotive construction so thoroughly
and the steaming qualities OF all grades of
coal so we'll that he can tell after a brief
calculation on the spot approximately what
the engines will cost and how he will solve
the problem. More than this. his solution
must be able to stand the test of examination
by railroad experts When it is submitted
by the railroad president to his board of
directors the railroad experts of his financial
advisers will either approve or disapprove.
and IL they dsapprove they will point out
the error in the salesman's calculations.
So, as Mr.. Johnson explained 1t is impera-
tive that the salesman know his business. He
must have a thorough technical training. If
he has not secured 1t in the technical
schools he must get 1t somewhere else. The
Baldwin works, themselves, constitute one of
the best technical locomotive schools in the
WOflu. Inc SHBlHStIs lileIS lltAFe solNou lllo
problems as they have arisen. and what they
have learned the technical schools them
selves are now teaching to students. The
principles of locomotive construction have
been worked out in practice in the Broad
street works more thoroughly and more COM
pleteIy than In any other machine plant in
the country.
Under present conditions, therefore, some
of the best statesmen are developed from men
promoted from the engineering department.
They know both the theory and the practice
OF design. But the sales force is recruited
from every department, wherever a man
with the necessary knowledge can be found,
Plenty of Room at the Top
But the man who can get an order for
SO, ,OOO 900 worth of locomotives such as that
which Russia has recently given to the Bald
wins must be more than an engineer and
more than a designer and more than a stu
dent OF finance. He must combine all three,
and in addition he must be familiar with the
business conditions prevailing throughout
the world, including the state OF credit and
the principles OF international banking. He
must be able 10 convince his customers that
his locomotives are best fitted for the service
for which they are intended. and he must
understand how they can be paid for by the
railroad or the government which buys them.
The international salesman must be a man