The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1921-07-22

most independent man in the world.
Those facts should be brought be-
fore the public on a bigger scale than
ever MISUNDERSTANDING Telegram.
The Bridge a Success.
About two weeks ago the people of
Jacksonville and many visitors cele-
brated the opening of the bridge across
J the st. Johns river AS a, convenience
! it was manifest success and there was
little or no doubt that it would prove
financial success. If there was any
doubt of it in this respect it has been
removed. Of course, we do not expect
L the earnings of s1.400 day to con-
tinue or the half of it. But If its av-
j erage earnings for year amount to
one-fourth of its earnings for the last
two weeks it will prove paying In
vestment as well as a great convent
ence to the people.
II We do not think it would be wise
to make any changes in the tolls I'M
til much longer period has elapsed.
Aside from the great earnings during
the days of the celebration 1t is prob
able that the daily earnings since then
/ have been far in excess of what they
will average later. The bridge Is now
a new attractions plaything-and 1t
is used much more than 1t will be
when the novelty wears off and 1t be-
/ comes nothing more than a means for
crossing the river for those who wish
TO cross. It is also true that it will not
Z be used in the winter to the extent
that it Is used in the summer. The
! crowds who go to the beaches in the
summer are much greater than the
number of tourists who will pass over
1t in winter. But there seems to be no
room for doubt OF the fact that the
bridge from the beginning, will earn
twice as much as Is needed to pay ex-
penses and repairs and furnish
sinking fund to meet the bonds at ma
turity
While it viii be quite long time
before its earnings will again average
fourteen hundred dollars a day they
will steadily increase after they settle
down to the normal. They viii increase
with the increase of population in
Jacksonville and this will probably be
as much as 5 per cent year. But they
will get a much larger increase from
/ the growth of the South Jacksonville
and other parts of the territory south
and east Of the river This growth viii
| in two years twice as many men doing
business in Jacksonville will live on
| the other side OF the river as live
there now Before another decade has
passed this number will be increased
| five fold, and that will mean a very
great increase in the earnings of the
bridge.
| It seems reasonably certain that the
bridge will be paid for in less than
half the time the bonds have to run
This is one issue of bonds that viii /
not be reissued but that viii be paid |
at maturity-Times- Union.
! The Sanctity of Contracts.
| "Since the war business morals in
the United States have been shot to
! pieces" So states a writer in a recent /
number of one OF our nationally circu- /
lated magazines.
/ This may be true not only Of the
United States, but of the world. How /
ever, it is the morals of the individual |
! that are at fault and they are merely I
reflected through his business in q I
! larger and more public way, thus at |
tracing more attention. Honesty anG
fairness is right, in business or out Of |
| it, and when a firm or corporation I
| seems to be affected with "cancelities,"
| it can always be traced back to the /
| power behind the throne''-to the in
dividual whose personal policies are
passed on to his subordinates with in
structions to act.
That there has been an enormous
increase in LAX methods" to use a |
soft sounding term, is undoubtedly /.
true This increase has caused the for /
nation of a National Bureau of Com
mercia1 Contracts; it has caused the /
National Association of Purchasing
Agents to undertake a campign for
standardized contracts; it has caused
the Introduction of a bill before the
North Carolina general assembly to
prevent the abrogation of contracts by
public service corporations: and 1t
has been the moving force behind in
Vulnerable suits at laval because
the moral fibre of the policy directing
individual was too weak to stand the
strain.
1t is useles to talk of business NOR
ais" This is an abstract term like
the corporate SOUL 1t is better to get r
retrospective and when in doubt use
the Golden Rule as the perfect moral /.
law. Personal honor win not permit
a man to do other than keep his
pledged word whether it means finan
cial gain or financial loss, and the
honest and continually successful
head of a corporation injects his per-
sonal honor into every act Of that cor
poration. He avoids broken agree
ments. unsept promises and sharp
practices as he would avoid thievery
He places character and good repute
above profits. And he never asks G.
subordinate to do anything in the name
Of the corporation that he. as its con
trolling mind. would not do over his
own signature or in his private life
Cotton.
The IconocIas4ic Joe