Evening star., 1924-04-06
BY ROGER w. BABsON.

operation. For days the faithful
nurse had been quietly and regularly
recording the sick mans tempera-
ture One day he looked up to her
and said: 81 have been thinking that
every movement of temperature
chart portrays the progress of hu-
man life. Oh-if when men look at
charts on business conditions, they
could only see them in terms of hu-
manity! Every slightest movement
up or down on such charts changes
whole population Of the United States
You yourself are among that 100,-
100000. The movements of business
| reach out their influence to us all.
Our chances OF success vary daily
with the variations of business, as
my chances of recovery vary with the
movements of your chart"
People say, "Oh, this may be all
right for other folks but my situa-
tion Is different. Fundamental law
doesn't affect me at ALL" Such peo-
pie are wrong; 1t does affect all
groups and all classes The head of a
| large business once showed me charts
indicating how his business was
growing, month after month and
year after year. He shut his ears
however, to all warnings. He re-
fused to make any preparations to
| meet the storm that was plainly
| coming. When the storm fnaYy
| broke it dashed him upon the rocks
| OF bankruptcy. He failed financially,
physically and spiritually.
Positfon OF Farmern.
| Then there are tho farmers. Farm
ers often think they lead an inde-
| pendent life. Fundamental law"
they say, "appplies to bankers and
| business men but not to farmers"
They even want Congress to Iegislate
| fundamental law out of existence or
exempt them from its jurisdiction.
But what happens in a period of de-
preston! Down comes the price
| or wheat. Down comes the price of
cotton. Down comes the price of
other farm products. Like all the
rest Of the world. the farmer is hit by
hard times. He is hit by the law of
| action and reaction.
There is no escape from this eter-
nal and universal law One cannot
escape it by changing his occupation,
| because this law rules all occupa-
tions. One cannot escape it by NOV
| ing to another locality. because this
| law rules all localities. This law
Of success is like the law of gravity,
controlling the life OF each one of
US whatever we may be living and
whatever we may be doing
| There are many readers who are
! saying to themselves, We'll, well,
This seems to be quite an important
| law but I am sure it doesn't mean
| much in my life. The success of
| every one else may be affected, but
my particular case is an exception
| What do care about these economic
forces" The following two or three
| examples may be worth while, as
showing that there are no excep-
| tions:
Charts and Churches.
| the gospel He began his pastoral
duties during a period of business de-
preston At such time there is always
a marked revival Of interest in religion.
| One can show the actual figures to
prove that church membership grows
/ faster during hard times than during
good times. This min. ,ter was very
successful The people f1ocked to his
| church and listened attentively to his
preaching. He felt-and naturally so
| that he was destined to do a great
good in the world. that he was truly
called" to the ministry, that success
was assured to him.
There came a day when his people
seemed to be gradually slipping away
from him and turning more and more
| to worldly affairs. Religious interest
was distinctly on the wane, and mem
| bership in his church began to de-
cline. Conversions became less fre-
quent First one sign and then an
other began to point to the apparent
| fact that he was losing his hold and
was not a success. He even began to
| doubt whether he had truly been
called to his holy mission or had en-
tered upon a mistaken vocation.
Had this minister been familiar
with the fundamental law Of action
reaction and realized that there are
no exceptions to its operation, no
such doubts would have assailed him.
He would have realized that in the
earlier period of his pastorate very
large share of his success was due
not to his peculiar personal power,
but rather to the fundamental condi-
tions of the time 1t was not SO much
his own influence that brought people
into the fold as it was the chastening
of economic aGversity. On the other
hand, when times changed and
wave of reckless prodigality swept
| the land, the minister ought to have
reco ognized that his loss of influence
was due not so much to any failure
tendencies that always accompany
business boom.
School Teachers and Business.
! School teachers who read these ar
ticles will probably be astounded that
few classes of people are so pro-
law as are school teachers. School
teachers have what is commonly
known as a fixed income. For exam
pie, a teacher may begin teaching on
a salary of $1,000 to $500 year. In
course Of time this salary may be in
creased somewhat, but in the main
the salary range is pretty definitely
fixed and limited. 1t is unfortunate
| that the cost of living is not likewise
| fixed. The cost Of living, however. is
| variable; it can rise to dizzy heights.
Thus it rose during the period of 1914
| to 1919.
| One thousand dollars may have