Statistics show that the industrial life of America was launched in Quebec, New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, and that groups of religious enthusiasts - both Protestant and Catholic - provided the motive power which developed Canada and the United States. America industrially and commercially was born and raised in the white spired churches on the village greens and in the little red school houses at the country cross roads.

These early settlers came here to worship God and to bring up their children in a way which should cause their families to endure. They wanted freedom, but not the freedom about which we hear to-day. They wanted freedom to worship God. Hence, the first public structures erected by these people after landing upon the shores of America were churches, and these became the civic and social centers. Men went to church to pray and to vote. Our government was founded on religion; our industries were founded on religion. Yes, religion became the spring of the watch; the fertility of the egg; the inspiration which caused men to produce, to save, and to develop the enduring investments for which these old settlements became famous.

The other day I came across an old New England newspaper. Of what was it made up? Were the chief items of interest divorce, scandals, and prize fights? Not much. The paper was almost wholly devoted to reporting (1) the teachings of the churches and their preachers; (2) the progress of the government; and (3) the important events in England and Europe.

Every morning each household got together in family prayers, asking God for strength and guidance in the day's work; each evening they met again and thanked God for the protection and success of the day. Each Sunday was spent - not in pleasure seeking - but in truth seeking, getting inspiration for the coming week's work. Before the farmers planted their seed they had an entire day of fasting and prayer (which day was a legal holiday in Massachusetts until a few years ago); while after the crops were gathered they had a day of Thanksgiving to God for the harvest He had given them. These are cold economic facts which must be realized when we sanely discuss enduring investments.

What's The Matter With Business?

Statistics show the difficulty with business to be that we have been trying to run industry by the will of Congress, judges, bankers, labor unions, and boards of directors rather than by the will of God. We have been trying to make cork sink, stone float, water run up hill, and prices remain fixed when these things should not be accomplished. Business men believe in the law of supply and demand, but most of us want the law suspended so far as it applies to our particular business. The farmer seeks lower priced labor, but wants a higher price for his wheat and corn; the railroads work for lower prices for materials, and yet want to keep the cost of transportation fixed; while the labor leaders clamor for a reduction of the cost of living and at the same time fight all wage reductions.

As a result business - every few years - gets stalled like the donkey between the hay stack and the bag of oats. The donkey was so undecided as to which to eat that he stood midway between the two and starved to death. Take the railroads, for instance, perhaps they would be better off with higher rates. Surely, however, the railroads should not continue to play the part of the donkey when great numbers of freight cars are idle. They should either raise rates or lower rates or do something to see if conditions could not be improved. This idea of arguing about rates in advance without a trial is a good deal like arguing as to the winner in a horse race before the race occurs. One of the best barometers of prosperity is the freight car "surplus" or "shortage" figures. One of the quickest ways to make our investments endure is to keep our railroads at work.

Business Is Like An Automobile

Business, like an automobile, now and then suddenly stops by the gasoline giving out and we are obliged to clean out the tank and refill it with gasoline. When the car stops we are running in high gear and we usually forget to change the gears. But in starting the car again, is it advisable to attempt to start on high gear or is it better to put the car first into low gear? Surely, the sensible way is to start on low, move to second, and then into high. Any automobile driver knows that this last is the thing to do. Attempting to start on high will inevitably stall the engine.

Yet we are continually trying to start business on "high" just where it stopped. During a business depression, the railroads want to get traffic back at the old high rates; labor refuses to have wages cut; while retailers hold up prices "until business revives."The result is that prosperity does not return when it is expected. There can be no enduring prosperity with this attitude. With railroad rates up, wages up, and everything else up, it is impossible to start the automobile of prosperity on high gear without stalling the engine. If, however, the railroads would reduce rates, wage workers reduce wages, and retailers reduce prices until the hundreds of thousands of freight cars got filled and moving, then we could get started. Then the railroads could gradually put back their rates, the wage workers could increase their wages, and so on along the line, moving gradually from low gear into second and from second into high. Then the automobile of prosperity would soon again be going at full speed without danger of stalling the engine. Enduring prosperity can be approached only by shortening the business cycles and by making the fluctuations less severe. As our prosperity is more enduring so are our investments.