Evening star., 1924-05-04
BY ROGER w. BABsON.

A GREAT banker of Chicago was
~ once asked If he had any rule
~ for operating his institution
4 a 1t was known that his losses
were very small, he was never in
volved in any of the large failures
of prominent concerns and the num-
ber of his depositors constantly in
creased by leaps and bounds. He Gre
ated the big commercial bank of the
central west and laid a foundation to
which the business interests of Chi
cago largely owe their phenomenal
growth.
The great banker answered by say
ing that he never thought of himself
and seldom of the bank when loaning
money, but rather of the success and
happiness of those TO whom he
loaned. He said that he tried to Gre
ate men rather than create profits;
but in creating men he made for his
bank a tremendous number of friends,
and thereby developed a large and
successful business.
He sought young men who, he
thought, were grounded with the
right principles and who had success
qualities.
These young men would. almost
without exception, make good, and
they have today become the great
merchants of the central west. Fur
thermore, he loaned only to enter
prises which he believed were bene-
fetal to the city, and which helped
create in people the right desires,
purposes and ambitions. He never
would loan to the liquor interests; he
aters, and he recognized the needs of
the better newspapers and other
growing organizations. He believed
that most bank losses come through
loaning either to illegitimate enter
prises or else to men who are not
grounded in the fundamentals of
righteousness.
Is Interest Right:
without doubt the accepting of in
terest for the loan of money is con-
trary to the teachings of the early
Christian church. On the other hand,
there were no such things as corpora
tions in those days, and we may be
justified in assuming that, under
present conditions. Jesus and the
apostles would have taught differ
emily. At any rate, that teaching has
been set aside, and the practice of
cepted today by church people. 1t
should not be forgotten, however,
that the Socialists still oppose the
taking of interest, and that there is a
that the church is doing wrong in de-
Tending il. Therefore a real respon-
sibility still rests upon those who do
accept interest. Moreover, the very
fact that a question as to the right
or wrong of accepting interest exists
should make US all the more careful
about our investments. This means:
ID That we should invest only in
industries which make people health
ier, happier or more prosperous.
(2) That we should insist that such
corporations be operated by men who
stand for righteousness and the ap-
plication Of religion to business.
go That church people should COM
bine and use their proxies to have the
corporations in which they invest op-
Grated for the purpose of rendering
service and not merely as money
making propositions.
Who Educates Your Children.
There once was a time when the
church and the home actually direct
ed the education of the children. Then
this education was gradually turned
over to the public schools. The
schools being a public enterprise, it
was 1ett tndt lhlS 'Snll tlnS OIL TeSpOn-
sibility could be safely done. The in
f1uence Of the church and the home
has since been greatly curtailed in
directing the work of the public
schools. The public schools have
largely become a football of politics.
Hence today the public schools are
not educating the young people. The
great educational forces today are the
newspapers, movies and billboards.
These are all private enterprises, op-
Grated for profit.
Tho ownership of the newspapers
varies in different communities.
There are great newspapers which
are a power for good, but there are
many others which are power for
evil. The movies, which are a tre-
mendous factor in the education of
our young people, are certainly not
all to be commended for the kind of
influence which they exert.
1t is not the purpose of this chapter
to advise the securities of news
papers, movie companies and adver-
tising agencies as an investment. 1t
should be recognized frankly, how
ever, that these things are great fac
tors in determining our children's
futnre and our own success and ham