South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1920-06-27


from the date palm and the plan
tain tree. where the fragrant orange |
grove and the red blOOded vineyard /
law smiling 20 the sun where gentle
climate made clothes and shelter
simple achievements. where scarlet |
birds. and flaming flowers seemed
DO have been dipped in the eVerlast- /
INK molten sunsets-there. sired by
the warm imagination OF the East
out OF the womb OF fancy the spirit
II romance had birth. From among
the thousands OF these brilliant
dreams OF mans picture making
heart. few have been preserved in
the Arabian Nights. and perhaps we
may DE permitted 10 say that in the
story Of Aladdin and the Wonderful
Lamp. which needed only 20 be ca
ressed in order 20 yield uncountable
treasures Of gold and precious jew
els. may be found the first sugges-
ton OF the romance OF big business.
AT the same time another sort OF
dream took origin I'm the cold and
hard climate OF the north. There
where life was a neverending battle
with the implacable forces or ma
ture. There where laborOus men
scourged a meager living from the
OF men took another form. The
world OF their Imagination was peo-
pied with cOntending grants and
dwarfs and dragons and monsters
Conflict and struggle and combat
were the burden Of the tales OF the
ancient Scalds or Bards of the
Mortimer. The imagination Of men,
always touched and 'quiCkened u
the romantic. dreamed OF wild ad-
ventures, OF courage. OF perilous
journeys and battles where prudence
was cast TO the winds and strength
and courage always won the day.
But even in these old fairylands Of
the scandinavian, and the Teutonic
Empires. there was always the story
or the pot of gold at the end OF the
rainbow, the dream Of big business
Greece and Rome.
Midway between these two great
dreams were the old mytholORies Of
Greece and Rome which sang in
epic music OF war and romance. of
the deeds Of Gods and heroes and
demigods, all glorified with the
golden glamOurs of witchery and
miracle and mystery, and IN these
mythOlOgieS we read the story or
King Midas who had received from
4 the gods the gift OF turning every
thing he touched into gold. He fin
ally persisted because the very food
that he put into his mouth was
changed by his touch into gold and
he fell q victim, as many another
man in big business has done since
his time. 10 the treasurers witch
which the gods had endowed him.
There was no gold cure in the days
OF Midas and symbolically at least
his story is the contribution TO the
romance OF big business.
The final act in the romance of
big business, opens with the ending
Of the most brutal and destructive
war within the annals Of mankind.
Kings, Cars. and Kaisers with all
the machinery OF cast and nobility
and special privileges that went
with them have been flung into the
scrap heap OF human history. In
itself this distinction Of the sym
bols or the old regime would mean
nothing. Tyranny In republic
would be as Odious as tyranny in
an empire The heart OF humanity
has taken the downfall Of Cars and
kaisers as a hope and a promise
that "a larger life and brighter day
is In store for the race.
Capital and Labor
we are apt to think of the strug-
gle between capital and labor as a
modern development The truth is
mat such "a thing as labor Unions
while apparently modern are as an
cient as human history. we have
no record of their beginning but we
have documentary evidence 10 show
they existed In Egypt in Greece and
inItaly az least six centuries before
the birth OF Christ. In Egypt, King
Amists formed trades unions as a
means OF numbering and taxing his
subjects. These unions had their of
hcers develop and admir(sttr them
and their lobbyists 10 promote their
interests within the halls Of the gov
eminent.
They had their exemptions and
their privileges and their special OBJ
legations 10 the state We have
Egyptian poems written 500 years be-
fore Christ which read like a mod
ern socialist denunCiatiou of sweat
shop. Tn the old Greek records Wer
read that even professional robbers
had their own trade corporations
which were legally recognized with
representatives az police headquar-
tiers. and whose duty 10 was go dis
cuss the somewhat delicate Ques-
tions 20 which the practice OF their
art gave rise. From this deSCrip-
tion III IS not clear whether these
organized robbers We're COmbina-
tIons of car itaL or labor unions.
] leave that question 20 your indi-
ViduaI Judgment 20 decide
New Era.
To-day the great Studebaker cor
poration begins what promises TO be
a new and dazzling era Years ago
IL gathered To itself a group Of bril-
liant administrators and powerful
nnanciers who have multiplied its
efficiency and its success without
abating one iota OF the honesty of
its founders. Its development since
that time is itself a new fairy tale.
It's "a paCitv has been enormously
enlarged II has flung its prodUc-
lions with prod!Eal abundance into
all the markets OF the world It's
administrative policy has broadened.
its employees greatly increased In
number hut the development which
7 behold with most complacenCy II
the policy of Christian justice and
fair play that has marked its most
recent development
Deep down in its soul has been
horn the conviction which Christian
ethics as well as sound economics
has always taught that the interests