Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-08
who are interested in the affairs OF the
mind and who at the same time like to
be helpful to others.
Commerce.
BY DIR. FRANK M. SURFACE,

BY DIR. FRANK M. SUHFACE,
Assistant Director, Bureau of Foreign and
| Domestic Commerce, U. 8. Department Of
/ Commerce.
| Commodities have no economic value
| until they can be brought to the place
| where the ultimate consumer can use
4 them. The business OF bringing CON-
! naodities from the place where they are
/ produced and offering them for sale al
| the time and place desired by the con-
sumner Is encompassed In the field OF
commerce. And it is an enormous bust
ness The annual volume Of retail sales
| in the United States is estimated al
more than $4,000 900 900. and the sales
to industrial buyers probably total an
other $s5, GOO, 900, 900.
To carry on this enormous business
requires an army OF trained men and
women, involving hundreds of different
occupations, such as buying, selling
transporting, delivering, managing,
advertising and others.
There is today perhaps no field OF
endeavor which offers larger rewards tc
| the we'll trained, alert man or woman
than that of commerce. 1t is true that
on the whole we have made greater
| progress in increasing the efficiency Of
| the productive Industries than we have
in that of distribution. On the other
hand, we are just on the threshold Of
marked developments and improvements
in our marketing system. The next S
or 10 years will bring about significant
changes. The man who can keep
abreast of these changes has wonder
full opportunity before him.
Need Trained Personnel.
One trouble with our marketing
system in the past has been the lack
of sufficient trained personnel. 1t has
| been assumed that any one could keep
store and as consequence thousands
have branched out in one form or an
other of marketing who ought never &C
have been In business for themselves
| The vast turnover in retail establish
ments and the records of our bankruptcy
courts indicate the end to which many
of these have come.
Success in commerce depends upon
| the same factors as in other lines OF
| business; first, some natural liking fol
the work. One is never fully successful
unless he is In love with his work
Next, 1t requires some education and
special training or experience and
finally but not least, one must be willing
to work hard and long. Success may
be two parts natural ability but the
other eight parts consist of hard work
Education Great Benefit.
The young man who is preparing tc
| go into commercial work should first
of all get a good education. The day
| Is past when the uneducated man car
| get very far. A college education may
seem impractical and of little real use
but the man who has mastered col.
| lege course, who has really learned tc
think, even though it may have been
in trigonometry or history, has a far
| better chance, other things being equal
than the man who lacks that training
Business is largely applied economics
and the young man expecting to enter
commercial life should have a thorough
grounding in practical economies Next
to that he should study the sciences
because the method of thinking In
| science, the drawing of conclusions from
| facts, is of inestimable help in business
| Some knowledge of business law may
be of practical help, but I should attach
less importance to it because legal
! thinking is based largely upon prece-
dent, and if there is one thing the
| business man needs 1t Is to think less
Of how a thing has been done In the
| past and more about how it can be
| done better.
For the man or woman with average
ability. a reasonable education, a fan
degree of common sense and a willing
mercial endeavor offers an opportunity
not only for d satisfactory financial
! return, but also to perform a worth
| while service to his fellowmen. Learn
to think and aim to serve, to render a
full return for the wages or profits you
receive-are rules which will yield large
returns in this worlds satisfactions.