CHAPTER LXXXV.
AMERICAN SOCIAL CONDITIONS.[11]
Footnote 11:
An address by Henry Clews, LL.D., to the students of Yale University,
New Haven, Conn., November 1, 1907.
_Mr. Chairman and Students of Yale University_:
As you gentlemen of good old Yale are studying American social
conditions, I am glad to have the opportunity of addressing you, and I
congratulate you on the prestige you will derive from graduating at so
great and famous a university. You are now on the threshold of American
citizenship and have good reason to be proud of the prospect before you,
with its unlimited possibilities.
Surely it is a privilege that you all value, and can hardly overvalue,
that of becoming American citizens, and thus forming a part of this free
and glorious Republic, where the gates of opportunity are thrown wide
open to you, and the golden harvest of success stands ready to be reaped
by the worthy and deserving, who are able and willing to do good work,
and work hard in their chosen calling. I may reasonably predict that
some of you will become leaders of thought, trade, science, literature
or art, and that will be your ample reward. I base my prediction on the
fact that you are not here because you are compelled to be, but because
you have a thirst for knowledge, for information, or suggestions that
may be of use to you in this connection, and are willing and anxious to
work hard to attain what you desire. The first requisite to attain
success in any form is this willingness to study and work for what you
want, so, being equipped with this necessary quality at the start, you
are prepared to make headway in the battle of life.
The pessimist is abroad in this fair land of ours, in these days,
preaching the gospel of discontent, and a favorite text is that the
young man has now no show, or little chance to get on in life. Do not be
misled or discouraged by such a false doctrine. There never was a time
when brains were at a greater premium than at present, nor courage,
education, industry, and energy more requisite or in greater demand. The
harder you have to struggle to complete your education, the better
fitted you will be for that battle of life, for in your youth you will
have attained victory over the obstacles which lie in the path of
success. Disappointments may embarrass you, but you must conquer them,
instead of allowing them to conquer you. Every victory, thus won, will
be an incentive to further efforts and achievements, and will provide a
stepping stone to success.
Right here, let me impress upon you that the foundation stones of real
success in life are industry, honesty, and truthfulness. These are
jewels which every man can possess, if he cares to. Do not be honest
because it pays, or as a matter of policy. Be honest because you are
conscientious, and it is right to be honest and a reproach to be
dishonest. A man who is honest and truthful in all things is the highest
type of manhood, and commands respect in every walk of life.
While you are still young, I advise you to have an ideal. Make up your
mind what you are best suited for, and strive with all that is in you to
perfect yourself for the work of such a position or profession. While it
is the almost universal desire to become rich, remember that there are
other things in life more to be desired than great wealth. Whether
amassed in Wall Street or elsewhere. Few of the great authors,
scientists, professors, or inventors have been wealthy men, yet they
were great public benefactors, and their names will live in the pages of
history long after the very rich men of the world have been forgotten.
Learn well the history of your country. Study the science of Federal,
State, and Municipal government. Study also finance and banking. Whether
you go into Wall Street or not, it will be useful to you. Before you
leave Yale, try to inform yourselves on all the subjects that will make
you useful citizens, as well as competent, practical workers. School
yourselves to be polite and courteous under trying circumstances.
Politeness is one of the strongest allies one can have in his dealings
with his fellow-men. It is not only so in my field of activity—Wall
Street—but everywhere.
Read only good books. Libraries are now so plentiful that—even if you
have not one of your own—good books are within the reach of all, and
here at Yale you, of course, have an embarrassment of riches from the
Greek and Latin classics to modern literature.
While you are improving your minds, take good care of your bodies. You
are not yet too old for me to give you points. Exercise all you can in
the open air. Cleanliness of body, and neatness of dress, even if you
are not millionaires and your clothes are threadbare, will often be
taken as a guarantee of good character. Be thrifty and economical, even
if you cannot equal Russell Sage, and never get into debt, if you can
help it.
Strive to learn to do some one thing, in the line of your studies,
better than anyone else can do it, and you will have a specialty to
recommend you to a chosen career. Whatever you attempt to do, do it with
your whole soul—as Mr. Roosevelt, our strenuous and gifted President,
says: “Buck hard and hit the center of the line.”
I have been much impressed with the manual training schools, which have
recently been established in New York City. I wish that manual training
could be added to the course in every school and college. Mr. Booker
Washington has ably presented the plan in his Tuskegee Institution,
where every man to get an education must learn a trade, and every man
who learns a trade gets an education. It is a substantial personal asset
for rich or poor.
Because you live in a city, do not think that the country is less
attractive, and has no chance to grow like a town. The State of Texas
alone could give to every man, woman, and child in the United States a
full-sized building lot 20 × 100, and then, allowing for public
highways, have over one-third of the area of the State left for the
production of food supplies. The West, the Southwest, and the South, are
yearning for newcomers. Horace Greeley used to say: “Go West, young
man!” The emigrants from foreign shores will some day realize that there
is a welcome ready for them outside of cities. Colonies will be formed
and men of intelligence will be needed to rule and advise the newcomers;
and those of you who can speak a foreign language will be well fitted
for such a position. But you may aspire to the United States Senate, or
to become Wall Street millionaires.
The natural resources of our country are constantly being developed, and
men of brains and courage will be sought to lead the armies of workmen.
Every man cannot be a captain of industry, but a man of pluck and
education need not remain a private in the ranks very long. Still, avoid
that vaulting ambition that overleaps itself and falls on the other
side.
Whatever your calling may be, try to become your own master in your
younger days. Nothing will give you so much self-reliance as the habit
of relying on yourself. You may possibly fail at first, but great
successes are often built on failures, if the one who fails will profit
by the lesson. Bulwer Lytton tells us that in the bright lexicon of
Youth, there is no such word as Fail.
When you graduate, do not imagine that your education is completed.
Consider that you are just beginning to be able to learn, and that your
College life has simply been a period of training to put you in
condition for the real struggle for knowledge. Practice makes perfect in
all the professions.
See to it that you acquire some new point in knowledge every day that
will be of future value to you. This will mean 365 good ideas acquired
in a year, and every one of these ideas will be like money out at
interest, or like seeds planted in good soil. They will blossom and bear
fruit.
Do not believe that all men in politics are rascals, or weaklings, who
can be bought for a price. If you have the inclination, get into
political life and be a factor in the affairs of your district. Honest
and truthful men will be most welcome in this field, and may be of great
public service.
Do not be worried by the statements made by so many pessimists that
society, and the country at large, are on the verge of moral bankruptcy.
I tell you that the world is growing better every day, and good men are
held in higher respect than ever. Of course there are more rascals, and
more thieves, than there were fifty years ago, but that is because there
are far more people. The percentage of bad to good is relatively
smaller. Men who do wrong are found out oftener and sooner than they
were in the olden days, and the news of wrongdoing is carried all over
the land by telegraph and telephone and published broadcast in the daily
papers. A hundred years ago a man might commit a crime a thousand miles
from New York and we could not get the news of it in a month, even if it
was sent at all.
Use all your endeavors to suppress the use of profanity or obscenity in
public places or elsewhere. This is one of the crying evils of the day
and our women are never safe from the insults of having to listen to
talk that would not be tolerated in a first-class barroom. But of course
the present company is excepted. You are all gentlemen and scholars.
Be cheerful under adverse circumstances. Ella Wheeler Wilcox expresses
what I mean when she says:
“It’s easy enough to be pleasant,
When life goes by like a song;
But the man worth while
Is the one who will smile
When everything goes dead wrong.”
Whenever you see a chance to help a fellow-man who is not as well
equipped as you are, give him a lift up. If you do so, _you_ may forget
it, but _he_ never will, and you will secure a friend who will be
looking for a chance to do you a good turn.
An old clergyman used to preach that true religion consisted in doing
something good each day, so that when one went to bed at night, he could
feel that the world was a little better, or some one a little happier,
because he had lived that day.
Chemistry is going to play the important part in the next twenty-five
years that electricity has in the past quarter of a century. Fortune
awaits any man who can make use of waste material. Millions of dollars’
worth of this is thrown away every year because the mind of man has not,
as yet, been able to solve the problem of utilizing it. Students are now
at work to this end and who can tell but one of you may be the man who
will play an important part in this great work of discovering new
sources of wealth and progress. If so, he will find a bigger gold mine
than Wall Street.
Railroad magnates are on the watch for improvements and devices of any
kind that will tend toward saving time, increasing facilities, lessening
liability of accident, or saving in cost of construction or equipment.
Here is a broad field for action and for fertile minds to work in.
Copper metal is in such demand that the price has recently been higher
than in a generation, namely, twenty-six cents a pound, and some cheaper
metal may be found to possess qualities that will allow it to take the
place of copper in a degree.
Surgeons and physicians now perform operations and effect cures that
would have been considered miracles in my younger days, and still we
find each year that they have much to learn. It is possible that I am
now addressing some youthful savant, who will startle the world in the
distant future by still more miraculous skill.
Wherever you go, whatever you do, keep your eye on the star of Hope.
Every man has his place in the world if he can only find it. Opportunity
knocks at every man’s door at some time during his early life. Look
sharp and secure it when it knocks at yours, and grab it before it
flies.
But, to all I would advise that when you have found occupation, whether
it is in the professions, or not, strive to please. Don’t expect to sit
in high places at once. Remember that most of you are in the junior
class and can only graduate to a higher class by merit. Study well your
surroundings and what is ahead of you. Carefully consider what may await
you. If you see no evidence of a position worthy of your hopes, do not
hesitate to make a change. It is better to change several times while
you are young than to waste your time by remaining where you cannot
expect to achieve success.
One of the fundamental principles of business is that civility costs
nothing and always pays good dividends, both in and out of Wall Street.
Very often the temptation will come to you in dealing with a nervous or
cranky customer or client, to give vent to your wrath or impatience. My
advice is don’t. That is also _Punch’s_ advice to those about to marry.
To succeed in holding and pleasing such a customer is a high
accomplishment, and sure to attract attention.
The Almighty has endowed every man with two important allies, namely,
courage and conscience. The latter can be blunted if not heeded and an
elastic conscience is worse than a wooden leg. Be cautious not to enter
into any deal or occupation when your conscience warns you that you are
treading on dangerous ground; but, having made up your mind that you are
in the right, press forward with all the energy that is in you. If you
do not succeed, have the courage to rise and try again and renew the
struggle. Nearly every man who has made a great success in business life
has, in his earlier years, suffered reverses. These failures have been
lessons that have taught him the way to win. You may often be
temporarily discouraged by seeing success come to the dishonest and
unworthy, but remember that such cannot command the respect of their
fellows. There is more in life than “filthy lucre,” although Wall Street
prizes it immensely. A contented mind is more to be desired than great
riches, and, if you are poor, be independently poor. Andrew Carnegie
says that to die rich is to die disgraced, so guard against that.
You are really now on the threshold of a new school—the school of Life.
As the old forest guides were taught their wood wisdom by the rocks, the
streams, the grass, the leaves, and kindred objects, so you will learn
by actual contact with all the customs, rules, and complex situations of
the business world, what to do and what to avoid.
Many young men are disheartened before they start in business by the
fact that so many lines of manufacture are controlled by big
corporations and trusts. As I have already shown, they hear the talk of
the agitator and discontented that a poor man has no chance in life. Let
me repeat that brains will always command a premium and that young men
who have brains, backed by energy, will always be in demand. You must
prove that you have these requisites, by good work, and you will find
capital will seek to combine with such qualities. You may start in
business, or the professions, with your feet on the bottom rung of the
ladder; it rests with you to acquire the strength to climb to the top.
You can do so if you have the will and the force to back you. There is
always plenty of room at the top. The men now at the top have their
minds and hands full, and are eager to delegate to smart assistants some
of their work so as to ease the burden they bear. Success comes to the
man who tries to compel success to yield to him. Cassius spoke well to
Brutus when he said: “The fault is not in our stars, dear Brutus, that
we are underlings, but in our natures.”
Form the habit as soon as you become a money earner, or money maker, of
saving a part of your salary, or profits. Put away one dollar out of
every ten you earn. The time will come in your lives, when, if you have
a little money, you can control circumstances; otherwise circumstances
will control you. You may often have to practice self-denial to save ten
per cent. of your earnings; but compel yourselves to do so and you will
never regret it. Most of the leading men in business life to-day started
out less well equipped with worldly goods or education than any of you.
What they have done at least some of you can do.
See that the money you spend is well spent. By careful judgment in this
respect, you will acquire a habit which will cling to you in after life.
Many a man makes bad investments because he did not learn to be cautious
in the beginning of his business career.
The improvements in the past quarter of a century have been marvelous
and the end is not yet. There are many new ideas being formulated, and
some of you may bear an important part in solving problems which will
revolutionize the world. Electricity and chemistry are perhaps still in
their infancy, and latent forces are floating around unknown to men. The
next fifty years may indeed witness changes just as great and startling
as we have seen during the last fifty.
I once advised young men to go as soon as possible into business. I have
changed my opinion somewhat and think that it is well to get a technical
training in a business at college where special courses are taught. I
still consider, however, that if a young man is to enter Wall Street he
will learn just as much by going into the Street as soon as he
graduates, and I consider a large office just as good as any business
college, where a pupil can learn by actual experience as well as he
could by a theoretical course in a business college. Almost every man in
a leading position in a banking house has started as a junior clerk and
gradually worked his way up.
The term “Get the habit” has become quite a metropolitan by-word and
brings me to speak on this subject, for the habits we acquire have much
to do with our progress, and as Lamartine has truly said:
“Habit with its iron sinews
Clasps and holds us day by day.”
In the various matters of detail that make up the sum and substance of
business—considered as trifles by the foolish, but by the wise as
important and vital—such as our methods of occupation, our time, and our
manners, great care should be taken to acquire the sterling habits of
industry, punctuality, and sobriety. The most watchful and jealous care
should ever be exercised by you all in this regard. A single deviation
from the straight path may mean much, for habit is not of sudden
acquirement, but is formed (and also lost) act by act, thread by thread,
as we progress in the journey of life.
If you hold a fiduciary position in a Wall Street banking house, or
bank, remember that the information you acquire regarding the secrets
and inside facts of the business of your employers belongs to them alone
and must not be divulged or spoken of to anyone. Very often you will
hear of “tips” being circulated there as inside information. Never put
faith in such tips, as an employee who would give away the secrets of
the firm he works for would be unscrupulous enough to lie to you, and I
warn you not to make a close friend of such a person. Do not think that
I look upon you as boys in tendering this piece of advice, but rather as
a veteran addressing new recruits.
The trait of tenacity of purpose is very often a natural gift; but if
you have not this persistence by nature you must cultivate it. For, with
it, you can succeed, you can make difficulties bend, you can make
opposition give way, and doubt and hesitancy yield to confidence and
success. Without it, the more shining qualities of our nature will not
insure your success, nor avert failure and disaster.
At the time the Suspension Bridge over the Niagara River was to be
erected the great question was how to get the cable over. A kite was
elevated, which, with a favoring wind, alighted on the opposite shore.
To its insignificant little string a cord was attached which was drawn
over, then a rope, then a larger one, and then a cable; until the great
bridge between the United States and Canada was completed.
First across the gulf we cast
Kite-borne threads till lines are passed,
And habit builds the bridge at last.
In like manner, my friends, our whole character is made up of little
things, of threads and strands and ropes of habit. Let us be sure that
they are always good and sound.
Next to the unwisdom of selecting and following bad or incompetent
advisers in matters of business, there are also certain persons whom, if
you wish to do well and make a fortune honestly, you should be careful
to avoid. You will not always know them by their appearance; in fact,
that is often the worst rule to go by, for they are generally well
disguised. It is in their manner and conversation that you will find
them out, and, that this be the easier, I have made a collection of
their characteristics, as follows:
Avoid a man
Who vilifies his benefactor;
Who unjustly accuses others of bad deeds;
Who never has a good word for anybody;
Who, when he drinks, habitually drinks alone;
Who boasts of the superiority of his family;
Who talks religion downtown in connection with his daily business
affairs;
Who talks recklessly against the virtue of respectable women;
Who runs in debt with no apparent intention of paying;
Who borrows small sums on his note or check dated ahead;
Who will not work for an honest living;
Who looks down upon those who do;
Who is always prating about his own virtues;
Who imputes bad motives to those trying to do good;
Who betrays confidence;
Who lies;
Who is honest only for policy’s sake;
Who deceives his wife and boasts of it to others;
Who chews tobacco in a public conveyance;
Who gets intoxicated in public places;
Who partakes of hospitality and talks behind his entertainer’s back;
Who borrows money from a friend and then blackguards the lender.
With a population of 85,000,000 people, which this country now has, it
is easy to find associates in life without selecting men possessed of
any of these characteristics, and life is the better worth living
without them.
You will both save and make money by strict observance of this short
catalogue of men to avoid. You are not called upon to do anything or to
risk any money in the exercise of this discretion. It simply consists in
letting such people severely alone, and if you have been in the habit of
being imposed upon by such characters, you will find your happiness, as
well as your cash, greatly increased by prudently avoiding them.
There is another subject of signal importance, to which I invite your
earnest attention.
You must ever bear in mind that while, when you become citizens, you
will possess certain rights and privileges—such as the elective
franchise and equality before the law—there are, as well, sacred
obligations and duties imposed upon you, as citizens, that should be
faithfully regarded and performed.
To properly understand and appreciate these duties, you should, I
reiterate, make a careful study of our system of government, and
acquaint yourselves with the manner in which municipalities, states, and
the nation are governed.
As you mature, attend political meetings and read and discuss economic
questions of the day; for public discussion is one of the best
quickeners of individual thought and expression. Be prepared, when the
time comes, to actively participate in the affairs of your city and
state as well as the nation, and stand always ready and willing to lend
your aid to the uplifting of the government to the highest ideals of
Democracy, or Republicanism, as you see them.
If I should add a further word of advice it would be an appeal to you to
ever cherish, deep in your hearts, undying love of country.
Not only be ready to defend it with your lives; but constantly cultivate
and encourage the inspiring qualities of civic pride and virtue, so that
your whole future career will reflect a sincere and patriotic affection
for and just appreciation of the noble institutions of our great
republic. As, however, you are doubtless all true patriots this advice
may be uncalled for.
Leaving, these few precepts with you, I wish to assure you that in
whatever you may undertake, in banking, trade, or the professions, you
will have my good wishes for your success, and if I have planted in your
minds seed that will bear good fruit, it will add to the pleasure I have
enjoyed in addressing you and giving you incidentally, as students of
American social conditions, my experience of human nature, for, in your
case particularly, the proper study of mankind is Man.
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