The Lexington intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1901-1949, 1917-10-05

He only is exempt from failure who
makes no effort.
In the lexicon OF youth, which fate
reserves for a bright manhood, there
is no such word as fail-it comes later
in life.
There are so many reasons which
can logically and truthfully be adj
vanced as causes contributing to the
numerous failures that | will endeavor
to analyze only the principal ones-the
business failures.
Every failure is a step to success;
every detection of what is false d.
reefs us to what is true; every trial ex-
hausts some tempting form of error.
Not only so, but scarcely any attempt
is entirely q failure; scarcely any the
DRY, the result of steady thought, is
altogether false. No tempting form OF
error is without some latent charm
derived from truth.
Failure is, in a sense, the highway
to accomplishment, inasmuch as every
discovery of what is false leads us to
seek earnestly after what is true, and
every fresh experience points out some
form of error which we shall afterward
carefully avoid.
In this article we have not the space
to treat OF Individual cases or their
many causes, but will deal altogether
with the commercial side Of the ques-
tion-the business failures.
Perhaps the most general and com
mon is lack Of capital. Many
men venture into business with just
enough money to swing the enter
prise for u month, at the end of which
time they expect the new business to
be self supporting. 1t seldom is, and
as the concern becomes a financial
cripple the inevitable is sure to happen
failure.
Business instinct Required.
1t may be said in passing that com
bined with the first form Of failure
there are two others, lack of business
instinct and business experience. And
these three are frequently augment
ed by another equally dangerous in
business, and that is engaging in a
business Of which you have no knowl-
ege OF experience in. No man car hope
to succeed in any line Of business
where his principal qualifications are
assets and ignorance.
But without question the most pro-
nounced cause of business failure in
any line or in any community is that
Of lack Of patronage. No business con
Germ. professional man, church or
school can long endure without patron
age. Heavens eternal wisdom has de
creed that man should ever stand in
need OF man.
The beautiful must ever rest in the
arms of the sublime. The gentle need
the strong to sustain them, as much as
rock flowers need rocks to grow on or
the ivy the rugged wall which it m
braces. Patronage is the %sustenance Of
business, and without 1t failure follows
just as surely as death follows the rock
flower and the ivy when their support
is withdrawn.
Farmers Frequently Fail.
Listed among the business men who
frequently fail is the farmer, me
greatest producer Of us all. He fails
for the same reason as do some Of
our other business men-because Of
ignorance. Many Of these men have
been born and reared as farmers and
imagine that is all the qualification
necessary to follow that vocation. Il
Is not. Techniea! education, constant
study Of conditions elsewhere and O
full realization of the necessity Of
fertilization Of his farm constitute
the first principles of the successful
farmer.
Few farmers have not been Obliged
to avail themselves Of the local mer
chants willingness to extend credit
and now that the local merchant Is
facing a graver calamity and Il greater
pest than ever a farmer was Obliged
to meet in the retail catalogue houses
methods OF doing business would II
not be right and fair for the farmer
and every resident Of the community
to rally to the aid OF the man whC
rallied TO their aid In days gone by
With a willingness only eQualed by
his confidence IN his customer and BIZ
loyalty to his community?
When a farmer fails the whole com
munity suffers. and the man who mus
bear the brunt Of the burden is thu
local merchant His capital is invest
ed and his hope OF return rests will
the farmers ability to produce. II
blight. n drought. n cyclone or pes
bugs destroy the crops the merchan
must make the best Of d ald carry
the farmer for another season or unit
he has a good crop.
Loyalty is the greatest virtue tina
man is endowed with, and the prac
tice Of It now by residents Of small
cities and towns In favor Of the loca
merchant whose business is endanger
ed by the retail catalogue trusts woull
be a display Of generosity manifesto
only by men and communities wher
the practice Of the Golden Rule obtains