The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1918-06-06
INDUSTRIES NEW SPIRIT
Places Patriotism Above Profits, and
Public Service Above the Almighty
Dollar and It Is All the Result
Of the War.

"Industry must be unhampered if
the United States is to win the war. =
This is the timely warning which James
O. Pagan of Waverly, Mass, traveller
and author, will sound in his address
before the members of the Manufactu-
rers Association of Kenosha, June 10.
Mr.. Pagan s attraction as a speaker
is accumulated by a rare personality
a personality developed by a rugged,
picturesque career. Beginning prac-
tical life as a telegraph operator, he,
at the age of sixteen, left his home in
Scotland, to take his first job in Brazil.
There he fell i'll with yellow fever, but
came out a victor in his closely con-
tested bout with death. Next he bob
bed up in South Africa, in one Of the
diamond rushes and managed to scrape
a reluctant existence from nature at its
widest, and civilization at its crudest.
On his arrival in this country some
years ago, he obtained employment
with an eastern railroad, and began
gathering the material which he later
embodied in his widely read articles on
the labor situation He worked thirty
three years for the railroad, during
which time he acquired deep sympa-
thy for the working man, balanced by
an unprejudiced regard for the rights
of the employer.
GA new spirit has manifested itself
in industry in this country as a result
Of the war; says Mr.. Pagan, q spirit
that has placed patriotism above pro-
fits, and public service above the al
mighty dollar. Industry in America
realizes that it is to be the deciding
factor in the war, and the financial
salvation of the country after the war;
but if it is to meet the gigantic task
that confronts it, it must be strength
ened from without as well as from
within. In other words, both the wage
Garner and the consumer must be made
to feel their responsibility as partners
in American industry, and must be
taught the need of encouraging rather
than harassing it.
"The American consumer must be
conscripted into the army of industrial
protection, end must be taught that
every bit of labor trouble or unwise
| legislation reacts disastrously, not
alone upon the nation, but upon him
self, affecting him in one hundred diff
| ferent ways, the most obvious Of
which is the imitation of the cost Of
living, due to the increase in the
cost of production.
"The American merchant, who is
one of the first to feel the benefits of
industrial prosperity, should aid in the
scheme of public education by showing
his customers how their well-being is
linked up with the prosperity of the
manufacturers in their district.
The employer and the employees
have been brought closer together as
result of the war, and the vision of
partnership between them, which be-
fore the war was rapidly crystalizing
into perfect cooperation, has been
quickened into reality by the magic
touch of patriotism. This partnership,
however, can only be cemented by a
friendly attitude on the part Of the
public. y
On his speaking tour in behalf of
the National Industrial Conservation
Movement, Mr.. Pagan has created a
| deep impression with his theories re-
garding the industrial situation. 1t is
through speakers of Mr.. Pagan IS type
that the National Industrial Conserva-
ton Movement has been carrying on
its campaign to prepare American in
dustry for the needs of peace and war,
and to eliminate the industrial harass-
ments such as labor strife, unwise
business laws and public antagonism
| to business which stand in the way of
industrial efficiency.
Altogether the movement has held
approximately three hundred and eighty
meetings in various states under the
auspices of chambers Of commerce,
boards of trade and similar trade
bodies. In the past a great part of
this work has been done in the east,
but its efforts are spreading out fan
like over the entire country.
The paramount idea behind the
/ National industrial Conservation Move
ment is co-operation-co-op be-
tween government and business, be
tween employer and employee and be-
tween business and the public. It is