BUSINESS, FRIENDSHIP, AND CHARITY. 73 



BUSINESS, FRIENDSHIP, AND CHARITY. 



Br LOGAN G. McPHEKSON. 



AS man has learned with increasing complexity of means 

 toward an increasing variety of ends to wrest food and 

 fuel and shelter from the earth and all that springs therefrom, 

 each man has had to depend more and more upon the efforts of 

 his fellowmen; and hence has arisen that marvelously intricate 

 intertwining of effort that characterizes the civilization of to-day. 

 Interwoven in ministering to the needs and gratifications of man- 

 kind are the laborer's muscle, the hand of the mechanic, the brain 

 of the merchant, the painter's touch, the singer's voice. 



This intertwining of effort is nowhere separable ; the result is 

 the blood of civilization that, flowing through the arteries of 

 commerce, connects the hemispheres. Europe and America eat 

 the cattle and the wheat of the western plains, wear the fabrics 

 of England and France, and drink the tea of the Orient. The re- 

 sults of the researches of the German laboratory, and of the in- 

 ventor of whatever nation, are utilized throughout the world, and 

 books of whatever press penetrate to the households of every 

 clime. Patti sings in San Francisco and St. Petersburg ; Irving 

 and Booth act in Berlin, Paris, London, and New York. In pub- 

 lic gallery and public park the masterpiece of painter and'sculptor 

 is seen by thousands, and, as reproduced by engraving and etch- 

 ing, is brought to the sight of thousands more. The English 

 specialist discovers a remedy that all physicians use ; the Ameri- 

 can lawyer collates, systematizes, and formulates a code that eases 

 the burden of all litigation. 



In the simplicity of primeval life each man obtained for him- 

 self his own crude subsistence, prepared his own rude clothing, 

 and fashioned his own rude tools. In time it was learned that, by 

 yielding a portion of the result of one's efforts for the benefit of 

 another in return for a portion of the results achieved by that 

 other, increased benefit was obtained by each. Thus began that 

 co-operation that, through the centuries of slavery, feudalism, 

 and absolutism, has increased and extended until to-day all who 

 by work of hand or brain achieve results that contribute to the 

 benefit of others receive the measure of their material reward in 

 money obtained as wages, salaries, fees, or profits. 



The man of affairs, before taking the morning train that con- 

 veys him to his place of business, gives a penny to the boy at the 

 station and receives in return a newspaper. In exchange for that 

 penny he receives knowledge of the happenings of the previous 

 day, which may play a part in determining his course in connec- 

 tion with the production and distribution of commodities that 



