Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1922-05-10
Ethics for Business
Head Of Big Boston Firm
Outlines His Single Code.

Il
tilehs's Sons company OF ResIen, addressed the
American Academy OF Political and Social
Science al PHILADELPHIA Tuesday, his subject
being y simple Code OF Business Ethics" A
simple written code he proposed tie iolioWlngl
| ], business, In order TO have the right 10
succeed. must be OF real service 10 the COM
muntY,
!. Real service in business consists In maxi
ing OF selling merchandise OF reliable quality
for the lowest practically possible price. pro-
ylded that merchandise IS made and sold under
Just conditions
Mr. Fiene carefully considered the elements
OF his problem. as 10 what constitutes service
and lowest practically possible price. his con.
illusions being summed up IN this fashion,
During lifelong experience ia retail dis.
tfibution. my views on the factors that GO to
make up real service, and their relative i'm.
poEtanee, have changed number OF times. bu,
each change has brought me nearer 10 the con-
| elusion that no real service can be rendered eN-
| eept as business makes the neeessafes OF life
more and more accessible 10 the consumer. l. e..
makes prices cheaper and cheaper. The greatest
rewards OF business in the past have gone to
financial leaders. In the future, success will de-
pend not SO much on finance as on the ability
| 10 lead large numbers OF employees 80 thar they
VIII produce successfully and eheaply, The basis
oil such success is harmonious conditions
III should be automatic tina, the merchandise
must be oil reliable quality. Tor a lowering OF
|
ehandse is not real progress Surely we need
not dwell on this point OF the creed
| Finally, the proposed code calls for ner-
ehandise made and sold under Just conditions
| II one serves the community al the expense OF
| any portion OF il he has not added TO the sum
| total oil the comniunity's welfare, but has been
merely the means OF deprivng some OF its men,
bers OF benefits for the sake OF distributing them
to others II merchant handles merchandise
that has been made under sweat shop condi-
TONS under 'padronc' systems or by undergrad
or oyerworked people, he is SHINING ethcally as
well as economically; for either he is bepehting
himself, or he is letting the rest Of the eommun-
ity benefit. at the expense OF those workers.
Equally a managers treatment OF his en-
ploycs must be just This is not the place to
enlarge on the various methods that have been
developed, chiefly during the last ten years, TO
ensure justice and pleasant relations inside the
factoryo or shop. Too much thought and planning
can not be given to creating good relations be-
tween employer and employee. but in the en-
deavor to improve these relations the fact should
not be lost sight OF that such work is not an end
in itself but merely very important factor
among the means for attaining the true aim OF
business-service to the community.
u am i'll honor bound, as a decent citizen,
10 treat my employees as well as | know how II
| am TO require OF that city that It send my cm-
ployes to my store in the morning fortified by
education and health to do my work. have as
suiieu ny tldt NSiy requirement. uldt uulN VI
sending them out at night at least not deter
iorated, and il have any sense OF honor shall
want to give good measure and try to send them
out, so far as lies in my power. improved ply
sically financially and morally by their working
hours.
"Now. of course, this is hard thing to do
and in fact, is not generally accomplished But
the failure to do it is always paid for indirectly
and is more expensive and more onerous than
the doing Employees made friendly to their
employers, through just treatment and good con-
ditions, are much more likely to be useful and
profit producing employees than those who
work under bad conditions. Moreover, good re-
lations between employers and employees leave !
the managers free for their proper work of PLAN
ming and administering the growth and success
OF the business.
1--WE have been adnonished to love our neigh |
bors as ourselves Our real neighbors in these |
days of city life are not at all the people who
happen to move in next door to us; our nearest |
neighbors are the people with whom we spend
most of our waking hours And with whom do
we employers come in more continuous contact
than with our enlployes? When once our
thoughts run along this direction we see that
there are many additional reasons for recognizing |
our employees as our nearest neighbors.
with this consideration OF my employees as
my nearest neighbors and with the welfare of the
business also urging me on, soon found myself
going outside of my store walls into city affairs.
I was forced to associate myself with groups Of
other citizens who were trying to make the city |
better one for my employees and myself to live
in This is justhable; indeed, becomes essential,
once the fact is recognized that our employees
are our neighbors. We can not let our neighbors
pass in rainstorm without offering at least
share Of our umbrella, and when my employees |.
came in wet from bad street car service felt
that was only trying to be 4 good neighbor
when undertook to help reform that service. !,
therefore participated in the organization OF
franchise league which for many years was in
fuential in lettering the local service.
"The same relationship in civic affairs forced
me to help consolidate and reorganize the va
rious business associations OF the city. It led
me to help create City club, where employers
and employees and the friends OF each could meet
and learn to understand each other Following
this same impulse Of duty to my neighbors-I
finally came naturally into national and interna-
tional work. g:
Gas l look back find that each Of these was,
in itself, worth the time and effort it took, but.
as my vision grew from these experiences, l
began to see that it was all means to the big
end to the end of real service which, for bust
ness man, is to enable people to buy cheaper and
cheaper This insight came late with me, and
] am going to dwell on it because find that It
comes late with most men,
"The world is pretty well agreed now that,
after ALL the greatest progress will come from
the greatest freedom to all men. While definite
gains may be made by autocratlc control OF busi-
ness yet in business as in government our ex-
periencc has shown that democracy is the safest
road, and in spite of all its weaknesses it is the
dominant political creed Of today. Democracy
is based on freedom Freedom is not an eagle
screaming on a crag as we were told at Fourth
Of July celebrations at an mpressionable age.
The fundamental basis of freedom is the margin
men have in their income over their outgo. No
man is really free if he does not have more than
enough with which to purchase the necessaries
Of life for his wife, his children and himself.
IF pair Of shoes for the baby costs days
work and pair for each other member OF the
family costs from day and half to two days