New Britain herald., 1918-01-08
COMMUNICATED.
BUSINESS AS USUAL
Joseph G. Mann Strikes Out Boldly
At the Selfish and Profteers.

President Wilson, the official
mouth piece of the government for
the Nation, has said, in substance, that
the first business Of our nation is to
win the war,-to achieve an uncom-
promising victory for democracy for
the good of all mankind, including our
enemies. This patent desideratum
pertaining to our nation as a whole.
should hint to every individual Of the
nation his chief duty so long as a.
hand is needed to vanquish the last
vestige of Prussian militarism.
What is more. contemplate than the
rapaciOus instinct Of selfish mortals
who live in comfort, and even luxury.
whose business is to gamble for gain,
or sordidly to take advantage of the
blood-sweating vicissitudes of war
times?
10 the business world, the slogan,
business as USUAL does not mean to
be about the Fathers Business
that is, to do business on the basis
of and with the strict reliability of
principle, but it has no higher mean
ing than selfishness as usual in spite
of the death hour conviction that
only self sacrifice can win for princi-
pie; and the rule of principle, in
democracy, can defeat autocracy's per-
sonal reign Of terror, only as we sacri-
flee voluntarily, or as willingly, as
our exemplar Christ Jesus, gave him
self, his all, for the world.
A selfish nation sits at home re-
yelling in prosperity,-a prosperity of
dollars and cents,-while our govern
ment goes out to fight to the death q
relentless enemy. A people too self
ish to cooperate voluntarily in the
interest of themselves or of their gov
ernment is Mortified by the unspeak-
able barbarity of their enemy; and
words fail to convey adequately civil
ization's horror of our enemys I'M
civilized or kultur methods of cruelty
and crime in warfare; yet a conscript-
ed loyalty fails to see it's own worst
edness,-namely, the faithfulness
only of an hireIing; and when I use
the phrase, conscripted loyalty, 1 do
not mean to include only the drafted
soldier who is called to go to the
front; 1 mean all, who, in nation
should live, move, and have their be-
ing, with eye single to only that which
makes for the speediest victory over
the enemy.
The business as usual prof1t-mon-
gers are living to collect usury out Of
their governments best blood-invest-
ments, and while safely entrenched
behind a fair-seeming exterior they
decry solemnly the wanton outrages
of the enemy, but refuse to see that
their own avarice feeds and so pro-
longs the vile life of the enemy.
Principle demands cooperation
but the world today is cursed by the
nightmare of every possible kind Of
personal independent agitation and
revolution.
Did capital and labor cooperate
as Christians should, the present
chaotic worlds problem would be
easily solved, and without further
needless shedding of blood. The see
saw of capital and labor is the fluc-
tuatiOn Of personal control: the DEM |
OnstratiOn, in business, of principle, |
maintains the equilibrium of justice
to all and emu1ates the Master, whose
life proved what he said, II came |
not to do mine own will, but to do
the will of Him who sent me"
The present world-hour proves that
there is no Just human or material
basis of values. The seIfishness of
labor, whose dominating claim is for
high and ever higher wages does not |
listen to the demand of patriotism, |
and is no more VirtuOus than is the |
dOmineering and avariciOus capital |
which it justly condemns and mercl-
lessly taxes; but in turn, labor ana
capital selfshness is self-taxed by the !
equivalently high and ever climbing