The united American : a magazine of good citizenchip., April 01, 1925, Image 5

THE
UNITED
r i c a n
A MAGAZINE OF GOOD CITIZENSHIP
Devoted to the Cause of
Vol. 3
Americanization, Assimilation and Group Elimination; Pointing the way to a Constitutional
Americanism, to Equality in Citizenship, and a better understanding
between Native born and Foreign bom.
vo?ume°us 21
April 1925
Number 7
LEAVING THE SPIRITUAL VALUES BEHIND
WHERE THE TRAIL OF MATERIALISM HAS LED AMERICA
«F BELIEVE in business and I believe in religion,
but the two are separate and you can’t mix them.”
Thus did a prominent attorney who recently parti­
cipated in a discussion on religion in business, dis­
miss the subject, as he with amazing candor empha­
sized a much practiced code of reason and conduct
in our modem age.
The argument that honesty is not only right but
is a good, sound business policy, that no nation and
no business conducted in violation of sound morals
can permanently succeed, that violation of the
spiritual laws of the universe can not be practiced
without seriously affecting national economy and
trade, is invariably held to be so much nonsense by
the matter of fact man in politics and business when
his views on the subject have been carefully analyzed.
The contention is more general than an excep­
tion that business is based on the principle Gf self­
interest, while religion, reduced to its fundamentals,
means helping your neighbor. The man engaged in
business contends too often that if he is to succeed he
must always do the thing that is to his own advantage
no matter whether it hurts or helps anyone else. He
concedes that the man who thinks of his neighbor
first may become successful in religion and obtain
a seat in the heavenly stock exchange, but he is firm
in his belief that the moralist’s material assets will
be reduced in proportion and leave him and those
who depend on him below the level of financial security
and independence. Hence, there is a well defined
opinion abroad that it is justifiable to drive a sharp
bargain, to take every advantage possible of a competi­
tor and grab every dollar, rightly or wrongly, that it is
possible to lay hands on without running too great a
legal risk. To beat the law, if necessary, is held by
many to be quite all right, so long as the track is
sufficiently covered to give a measure of security
against criminal action. Civil actions are not feared.
They are considered a part of the price the “successful”
businessman must pay for being progressive, enter­
prising and keen.
*
*
*
The successful, father is nowadays often heard to
complain that when his son has finished college he
is a misfit in the business world because of his fan-
dangled idealistic notions and he must be educated
all over again in order to fit him for a place in the
practical business world.
As an American code of business this doctrine is
anything but a healthy contribution to the governing
principles in human affairs for which America stands,
when placed against the illustrious American back­
ground of true ideals and moral conscience.
Businessmen who use shrewd terms of ridicule
and in casual conversation throw suspicion on other
businessmen, are plain knockers and are guilty of
two common sins: building up ill will against them­
selves among their competitors and placing the very
business in which they are themselves engaged in
a very bad light.
The very core of business is confidence. Destroy
confidence and business will cease; If you have the
faculty of making people believe in you and possess
the moral stamina to keep inviolate every trust, you
may find that you are succeeding marvelously well
in business though you may be quite unconscious
of the fact that you have thereby put religion into
business and are succeeding because of it.
There is a much abused word in the business
lexicon of today. That word is SERVICE'. Too few
people in business know the real meaning of the word.
It adorns their stationery, their desk pads and wall
signs. Invariably it is the key-word in their slogans
and catch-phrases. It serves the purpose of con­
verting business, for a while, but failure to apply it
in practice will not make patronage permanent. The
man who confesses allegiance to the principles enunci­
ated in the Sermon on the Mount but denies their