Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-02-23
WASHINGTON SEEN
AS EARLY BOOSTER
Business Magazine Editor
Calls Attention to His
Varied interests.

george washington was an OutStand-
ing business man Of his day. with a
variety of interests that included agfi-
culture, engineering, construction and
commercial pursuits, Merle Thorpe,
editor of The Nations Business. told a
radio audience last night, in an address
delivered over Station WRC and a ma
tion-wide network of the National
Broadcasting Co.
Visualizing the Father of His Coun-
try as a booster" Mr.. Thorpe said
that WaShingtons standing as a prac-
tical business man enabled him to start
America on the road to the industrial
pre-eminence It occupies today. He was
opposed to Government going into COM
petition with private industry, the
editor added.
Applied Science to Farming.
Everywhere" Mr.. Thorpe said. there
is evidence that Washington was a
highly successful business man. He
was a banker; he was an engineer; he
was interested In transportation, both
highway and waterway; he was
manufacturer; he applied science to
his farming problems; he was a real
estate dealer and one of the first large
scale American exporters; he solved
single-handed distribution question
for the citizens of Alexandria.
He was the first to understand and
appreciate our national opportunity in
the development of the West Today
he would have been called booster
He was the first to conceive the con-
struction of the Erie Canal he was the
first to see the possibilities of an all
water route from the ocean to the Great
Lakes. He helped to build the first
highway over the mountains to the
Ohio country. The first Ohio Land Co.
was made possible by Washington and
his associates when he was engaged in
surveying the holdings of Lord Fairfax
He was the first Virginian to see
that tobacco was played out because the
land was worn and to meet his farm
problems by diversification. He sug-
gested the building Of canals penetrating
into the mountains through the val
leys Of the Potomac and James Rivers,
and the stretches of the old Chesapeake
test his engineering skill.
IT we study Washington'S ancestry.
we f1nd nothing strange in the nagni-
tude OF Washington's business acumen
and enterprise. There is q marked
strain of business ability to be found In
the Is generations between him and his
ancestor william de Washington, who
settled the English palatinate of Dur
ham in 1885,"
Practical Cost Accounting.
Washington, Mr.. Thorpe pointed out,
kept a careful record Of his business
transactions and used a system of cost
accounting" which was quite unusual In
those early days.
Each plantation" he explained, ''had
its separate reckoning. II he made
something on his wheat, or his tobacco,
the gain Is plain to see. He shows us
now many slaves he had, and how his
expenses were rising. In his gaming
account he was no less faithful in de-
tau: George Washington liked to keep
DOCKS. He wanted to know at all times
where ne stood with the world He was
business analyst, an analytical book
keeper. He was at least a century ahead
OF present-day business men, who have
come to know that q business can be
directed efnciently only by an accurate
knowledge Of all the factors involved.
ne anticipated our present cost account
ing system.
Farm relief held a practical mean
ing Tor him, and he interpreted IL in
appropriate terms Of crop diversity and
the application of new agricultural
methods and implements. He got an
English expert to come over and give
MIN the benefit Of the best practice
abroad. When Arthur Young was car
rying on his reform Of agriculture in
england, Washington correSponded with
nun In behalf OF his own interest in
better farming. Washington saw that
the fertility of the soil would be ex-
hausted by continued repetition of to-
bacco growing. Diversification was his
solution. 1t Is worth while to note that
he introduced new seeds, and found
time TO grow many varieties Of shrubs
and trees.
Kept Faith With Customers.
wheat culture invited him strongly
and ne made 1t pay. He put UP his own
mill and sent the flour to market He
believed in branding his product so
that the buyer would have an assur-
ance of the quality Of the merchandise
and the integrity of the producer
just as the responsible manufacturer
today keeps faith with customers who
know him only through a trademark
or label.
"There is scarcely a problem which
washington. faced which we do not
face today In different forms-finance,
transportation, public lands, agriculture
One lesson he gave US. AS q business
man he studied both sides and had
tolerance for both sides Of every oues-
ton. If we have our present prohibit
ton troubles, Washington had his Shay's
Rebellion. And the fanatical wet and
the fanatical dry could profit greatly
by studying the moderation and toll
erance which characterized washington
In the days of the Whisky Rebellion.
Another timely lesson we could learn
from this business man President He
believed, as every good business man
does. in placing responsibility where it
belongs and of looking for results. A
Federalist, he believed firmly in local
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