CHAPTER LXXXV.AMERICAN SOCIAL CONDITIONS.[11]
11.An address by Henry Clews, LL.D., to the students of Yale University, New Haven, Conn., November 1, 1907.
11.An address by Henry Clews, LL.D., to the students of Yale University, New Haven, Conn., November 1, 1907.
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 ornot, 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 whileIs the one who will smileWhen everything goes dead wrong.”
“It’s easy enough to be pleasant,When life goes by like a song;But the man worth whileIs the one who will smileWhen everything goes dead wrong.”
“It’s easy enough to be pleasant,When life goes by like a song;But the man worth whileIs the one who will smileWhen everything goes dead wrong.”
“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,youmay forget it, buthenever will, and you willsecure 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 doorat 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 alsoPunch’sadvice 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 yourselvesto 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 sinewsClasps and holds us day by day.”
“Habit with its iron sinewsClasps and holds us day by day.”
“Habit with its iron sinewsClasps and holds us day by day.”
“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 castKite-borne threads till lines are passed,And habit builds the bridge at last.
First across the gulf we castKite-borne threads till lines are passed,And habit builds the bridge at last.
First across the gulf we castKite-borne threads till lines are passed,And habit builds the bridge at last.
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 manWho 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.
Avoid a manWho 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.
Avoid a manWho 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.
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 aidto 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.