coal trade bulletin - Clpdigital.org

THE COAL TRADE BULLETIN. 35
PUBLIC SENTIMENT*
By Mr. George F. Parker, of New York
You have kindly asked me to attend this meeting
of keen, trained business men who have come
together to discuss a difficult, highly specialized
industry and to say something about a question
that has, perhaps, more angles and corners (ban
anything known to mankind.
You have done this, despite the fact, that, in
many cases, we hardly know our own opinions
on a given set of problems, and when, to a certainty,
we cannot presume to understand or fathom
(he sentiments or conclusions of those with whom
we are closely associated. When this is true can
we afford to dogmatize upon w-hat may be in the
minds of the people who live and work together
in a given city, county, state or country? Can
we, with safety, analyze the impulses, motives
and thoughts that control the actions of masses of
men?
But. recognizing- the fait that there does run
through the minds of men, who live together under
certain conditions, a sentiment that tends to
become common, we may. perhaps, inquire how il
is produced and what ils effect is in those actions
that inspire and demand a union of effort and thus
produce results that may bring good or ill to all.
What you are immediately concerned with, not
only in your relations to your neighbors and your
own state, but in those of the country, is the effect
of this mysterious force upon business development,
upon the prosperity which marks real progress
towards improved conditions. If it is favorable
to the constant
EXPANSION OF INDUSTRY
in all lines—agricultural, commercial, manufacturing
and transportation—then the necessary initiative
and labor, when applied steadily to them,
will produce contentment, confidence and that
good-will which drives men to do their best. On
the other hand, if there is suspicion and backbiting,
if every man's hand is raised against his
neighbor, then confidence, that plant of slow
growth, will not thrive, industry must suffer, and
no man car count upon the reward which he
deserves and must have if he is to do his full duty
to himself and the world.
Under natural conditions, without the presence
of disturbing or foreign factors, men will choose
and follow their own occupations with the knowledge,
often unconscious, that, as every other man
is doing the same and they are interchanging
products, the world is getting forward. Having
chosen their callings they are not supposed to
hinder their fellows either by physical force or
•Address delivered before the West Virginia MininE Insti
tute. at Charleston. W. Va.. Dec. 8. 1913.
unjust laws, or by that jealousy which is so impelling
as a feature in human nature. But from
ihe toil to the bottom of our life—if there is any
longer a top or a bottom—this primary duty or
obligation seems to have been forgotten, and we
find interference in its most effective ancl dangerous
forms. It takes (he shape of a questioning
of motives, want of confidence, jealousy, envy,
malice and uncharitableness.
Men of the types and classes which have been
relied upon, during all our history, to lead in industry,
suddenly find themselves under the ban,
their
MOTIVES QUESTIO-TED
and suspicion ruling where confidence and help
could once be counted upon. Agitators and demagogues—men
who have never known what it was
to meet even the most modest weekly payroll during
the 52 recurring Saturdays of a year—raise
their voices in loud assertion of the supposed
wrongs of somebody or something, they know not
who or what, but never, even by chance, do they
utter a word that maintains or restores confidence
in those honestly and faithfully engaged in an
effort to promote the general good while earning
support for themselves and their families.
It is not because the order of men engaged in
industry have changed either in themselves or
their methods: both are the same as they have
always been. What your fathers and predecessors
were, within their scope, whether wide or
narrow, doing their best within (he limits of
thrift, originality and opportunity, that also you
and your associates are. and you are doing the
same work with improved facilities, and with a
sense of responsibility increased and emphasized
at everv turn. Industry commands its rewards,
just as it has always done, through knowledge,
foresight, energy, courage, enterprise, thrift and
honesty. The fortunes that men make, the position
or influence they attain, the good they are
fated or permitted to do, come to them from going
forth ready, willing, determined to subdue some
part of the earth. As they could not do this if
they did not have and observe
THE MORAL RILES
entering into the thing we call honesty, so they
are likely to incur enmities among those who have
not the requisite parts or abilities, or are unwilling
to make the sacrifices which must precede
the grant of fortune's favors.
You, here in this state, can easily trace the
rapid growth of your varied industries during the
period in which they have been developed on large