Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-06-07

Are Discussed

There is loss from business fail
ures in the United States every year
of a sum of which ranges between
two and three hundred million dol
lars.
And, according to financial au-
thority, the cause in almost every in
stance can be set down to ineffici-
ency. Bradstreets figure that S0.3
per cent of all failures are due to
the personal shortcomings of those
who failed, and place at the head
of the list-far ahead of such faults
as outside speculation, doubtful hab-
its, personal extravaganza or dis
honesty-simply Incompetence.
In other words. a large number
of men and women who are honest,
sober, industrious and economical
go to the wall every year because
they either don't or won't learn how.
They are not on their jobs.
Those two or three hundred mil
lions on the wrong side of the ledger
form a pretty heavy indictment
against our boasted national char
acteristics of shrewdness and adapt
ability. In England and on the con-
tinent they have far fewer failures
than we do in this country. And
has pointed out, is because in those
older countries business enterprises
are seldom started without a fair
degree of ability or preparations; Of
ten, indeed, they are handed down
from father to son, staying in the
same family for generations. Over
here, we make it more sporting
proposition. a
At the present time, too, when we
are being advised from every bill
board that Dollars will win the
war;" those staggering figures of loss
mean more than a mere exposition
of recklessness and slipshod meth
DDS. They represent the waste of
an appalling amount of energy and
effort which should be Hooverized
and conserved by proper direction
and application, and so made a ma
tional asset instead of a national
menace.
Before seeking a remedy for any
condition you have got to diagnose
the trouble. Does the brand of in
competence laid upon these men and
women who fail mean that they are
lacking in brains or ability? Not at
all. Does it mean that they are lazy
or shiftless?. Not necessarily; they
may and often do work harder and
for longer hours than their competi-
tor who succeeds. Does it mean that
they are negligent, eXtravagant, Wis
ionary or crooked? Again. no.
! There was never in the world
such a chance for the person start
ing out in business for himself as
there is to-day; but equally there
was never before such heavy de-
mand as business makes to-day upon
the person who elects to follow it.
When Charles M. Schwab was re-
Gently called upon to take charge of
the governments shipbuilding pro-
gram he was asked upon what he
would chiefly rely for the success of
his campaign, and he said upon the
infusion of a spirit of enthusiasm
and rivalry into the work.
That's it! Mr.. Schwab knows
what he's talking about; he stands
in the public mind as the repre-
sentative type of modern American
businessman. And the spirit of
rivalry and enthusiasm is what every
business needs.
Let it be made a sporting propo-
sition," not in the sense of a gamble,
a blind taking of chances, but in the
sense of a contest for which one
trains and fits himself. constantly
studying every point of the game,
and into which one throws his whole
heart and soul. No man who does
that will long remain incompetent
or inefficient.
matters, not what mans handi-