The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1919-10-15

States Bonds down to the exploitation
! of new invention The greater the
| risk the greater must be the prospec-
tive profit; otherwise capital will not
be obtained. The losses experienced
| by capital invested in the more risky
enterprises probably equal the profit
experienced by those who succeed.
We forget those who fail and regard
only the profits of the successful. Yet,
from an economic standpoint with re-
spect to the welfare of all the people
it is probably true that the money so
risked is more beneficial than the
money invested in safer channels.
The fourth factor affecting econo-
mic questions in any country is ma
tural resources. This is quite as i'm.
portant from the standpoint of the
working man or the industrial captain
as is either capital or labor Abund
ance OF food and abundance of miner
ais, such as coal, iron and Upper.
have meant as much TO the American
laboring man, as has also the willing
ness of American capital to invest in
industry and transportation enter
prises. But the one indispensable
factor, which countries like Russia,
India and China, who possess the
other three factors, need, is capable
and enterprising entrepreneurs. Eng
land and America have in the past en-
joyed the services of this class of
men. Many of such men have built
up great industries with practically
no capital No amount of capital and
labor can accomplish anything unless
directed by the capable entrepreneur,
of whom there never has been and
never will be enough in any country.
Neither the entrepreneur nor the
capital, for risky enterprises, will be
Forthcoming if we continue to talk
along the line that labor is entitled to
participation in the profits of thes sue
cessful, The very prevalent talk of
that kind and the discussion of voice
in management in the sense that 1t
Is understood in America and in
France, will tend to discourage indus
try and react to the disadvantage of
labor The same term as understood
in England is not harmful. Certainly
capital will not invest and capable
men will not give their lives to the
development of business if after they
have made 1t a success, they must
divide the prize with other men who
have taken no such risk and given to
1t no corresponding intensive effort
and exercise of genius. In the case of
a concern which took twenty years
without profit TO build up and then in
the harvest time is realizing a profit
of one hundred or one thousand per
Icent on the capital invested; it would
naa INN sell f,Nan -.,.l-,.
having a voice in management that
they were not entitled to fancy com.
pensation Yet if that one thousand
per cent, which can be realized only
for short time. were spread over all
the Improbable years of effort and
risk, it would not in many cases be a
fair return for the time of the entire
preneur and the money invested. AS
a matter of fact the capable entire
preneur must be unhampered in the
conduct of his business either by
stockholders or workmen | am IA
miliar with case where, after seven.
teen years of inability to make any
money, a business was split into two
parts, one practically without capital
and the other with over million dol
lars. One partner took the part with
out capital and while his associate, a
man who had been Very successful in
building up a large business along
conventional lines, was losing one
million two hundred and twenty
thousand dollars, the man who took
over the business with practically no
capital, nnsie a million dollars; which
came in very handy in helping the
losing business to close up without
going through bankruptcy. 1t was a
big price to pay to be set free from
voice in management" but 1t was
worth 1t. Ii it comes to a case of
choosing between quitting or giving
labor voice in the management OF
that business, in the sense that ex-
preston is usually understood in
America, it is obvious what choice
that manager will make.
AS for voice in management" in
the sense they understand 1t in Eng
land, the workmen in my own bust
ness have always had a voice in man
agement; that is. the opportunity to
express their desires and voice their
complaints, and even more, they have
always had the privilege of fixing the
number of hours they should work |
and what hours out of the twenty-four |
the War and the failure Of workmen
The working hours should consist Of |
Due to the excitment occasioned by |
to realize that the high wages they |
received under government control |
involved the mortgaging of the future
Of peoples for a generation or more,
there will be very considerable |
amount of social unrest for some
years. 1t cannot be avoided; how
ever, there is no danger whatever
that the social structure OF America
will be overturned by anything like
the Bolshevik.
| do not believe there is any danger
of revolution in any of the countries
Of Western Europe. There will be
some bloodshed, that is the price that