The Breckenridge news. (Cloverport, Ky.) 1876-1955, 1921-06-08
THE BUSINESS MAN
SPEAKS
BY L. A. Williams in The Outlook

A few weeks ago | was sitting on
the broa PIAZZA of resort hotel after
dark smoking my after-dinner cigar
and watching the crowd of vacation
lists. A fine-looking, gray-haired, well
groomed man in white flannels and
blue serge sat down beside me. He
was motoring through the country,
and, thought | was little more than
"fivvering," yet we had a common
ground for conversation. Soon the
talk drifted to a discussion of salar-
les. and this brought up the question
of teachers salaries and public school
support At once he broke forth into
a monologue which was most interest
ing to me, and, coming as it did from
a business man. is worthy of record.
Il shall be fifty-two years old to-
morrow, and until two years ago I'll
bet | never gave the question of our
public schools fifteen consecutive
minutes of thought in my life. | al
ways sort of took them for granted,
just as | took the sulphur and molas-
ses my mother used to give me every
spring | went to the district school
as boy, and all three of my children
have been through the public schools
but even when they were i'll school
! signed their report-cards, looked to
see if their department was all right
and dismissed the whole thing when
| laid their cards down on the table.
/ guess | did attend the 'doin's' when
they graduated, but | am not sure |
did even that for any but the young
est one-and that was probably be-
cause she was my pet and prize pack
age. | thought | was too busy with
my business to bother about school;
it was a by-product of my life
you have probably guessed that |
am business man. | am manufac-
turer of cotton cloth | have mills in
a half-dozen small cities and large
towns. Up to two years ago | went
on my way serenely hiring my help
from anywhere l could get it. not
paying much attention to the quality
of it so long as it could run loom
and turn out the goods | made then
a moderately good quality of cotton
cloth, not a standard, trademarked
product but a material that passed
for good fabric.
Zone day young fellow came into
my office to try and sell me some new
machinery which he claimed would
make it possible for me to make up
an Al finished product. He argued
that the margin of profit in manufac-
turing lies not merely between raw
material and a finished product, but
in the difference between mediocre
product and a firstclass finished ar
ticie | could not see his argument.
He was so dead sure he had what |
needed that he sort of put me on my
mettle | wouldn't buy of him, and
l showed him out of the Office pretty
roughly, | guess. just the same his
idea stuck with me, and. while | was
so obstinate that | wouldn't put in
machinery did begin to cast about
to see if | could do anything to turn
out a better article After many
months of thinking, | saw what he
meant. So | set out to refine the pro-
duct in one of my mills.
at was one of the mills where my
help had been recruited largely from
the country districts where schools
had not kept for more than four
months in a year, and darned poor
schools at that while they were open.
Right there | was up against it. OF
chanically, to run the looms according
to directions. but when ] tried to get
them to make little adjustments of
the machines on their own judgement
and to be more careful about loose
ends, etc-little things that would
take some thinking on their part
Just naturally had no desire or inten-
ton to do them | worked personally
with that bunch for nearly six months
and couldn't accomplish one single
thing with them
81 started thinking about why they
would not take some pride in turn
ing out better product, and, after
talking with some of them and after
thinking about their whole attitude,
/ came to see that they had no ideals.
That sounds funny for business
man, know; but it's the truth They
had never been to a school long
enough to get any ideals about fine
work, about carefulness, neatness, "a
bout trying every day to do thing
lust a little bit better than they did
il the day before, about all those ele-
ments that make for first-class work.
Oh, you can laugh at me, but by
love! il was true, They hadn't one
ideal above drawing their pay once a
week and resting on Sunday.
81 took the hint and let them alone,
but to prove my point went into an
other one of my mills in town where
they had been having long-term
school and good teachers for several
years, and tried out my scheme there
and say man, il workedl They fell
for my coaching like / was doing
them the greatest favor on earth, and
they began to turn out better and
still better product, until now, do you
know, have had to begin in two
more mills to coach the hands; but,
believe me. | am not trying il again
with hands who haven't had good
not muchl
"I tell you, right now, I've had my
lesson, and from now on ! am inter-
ested In good schools, long terms, |