January 18, 1908 



HORTICULTURE 



67 



COMPETITION— FAIR AND FOUL. 



\W.\,\ before tbe Florists' Club of Phila- 



ilellihia Januaiy 7th, 1908. by b. 



S. SUiilelsky. 



Competition, it is claimed, is the life 

 o£ trade— and so perhaps it is, provid- 

 ing of course the "live and let live" 

 principle is not lost sight of. 



It is an axiomatic truth— and we are 

 beginning to realize it, lo some extent 

 at least that success in its broader 

 sense hinges not upon the failure of 

 others but upon the general welfare 

 and prosperity of the community. 



The idea that one man's failure con- 

 stitutes another man's success or vice 

 versa, as we have been led to believe 

 by those whose vision is circumscribed 

 by the ramifications of their pocket 

 books, has long since been relegated, 

 in theory at least, to the rubbish heap 

 of similar fallacies, having no founda- 

 tion in fact. 



The infamous financier, for example, 

 who attempted to corner the gold mar- 

 ket and succeeded in plunging the 

 country into a panic, was no more of 

 a success in life than the savage in the 

 jungle who strangles his antagonist in 

 order to possess himself of a few brass 

 trinkets. Both are dismal failures, not- 

 withstanding the apparent ascendancy 

 of might over right. 



The progressisve business man of to- 

 day is inclined to take a more rational 

 and a broader view of business condi- 

 tions and business opportunities. It 

 begins to dawn upon him that the fun- 

 damental principle underlying the suc- 

 cess of any enterprise, great or small, 

 must first of all be sound in itself, else 

 no enterprise can possibly endure. 



Go where we may and look where 

 we choose— the signs of the times point 

 clearly to a general awakening of pub- 

 lic conscience to a general revival of 

 that Spirit of Justice which, since 

 times immemorial and throughout the 

 whole range of history— both ancient 

 and modern— was never known to fail 

 in its struggle for a worthy cause. 



The Standard Oil Company, well nigh 

 a kingdom and a law unto itself, the 

 tobacco trust, the beef trust, and many 

 another corporation of questionable re- 

 pute, whose colossal fortunes were 

 amassed at the expense of an indiffer- 

 ent and patient people— who defied pub- 

 lic opinion and strangled competition 

 by means that were foul and methods 

 that were adverse to the public welfare 

 —are called to account at last. Their 

 day of reckoning seems to have come. 

 A mighty avalanche of public oppro- 

 brium that has been gathering mo- 

 mentum for some time, bids fair to 

 sweep down and hurl itself upon the 

 heads of the malefactors with a force 

 that will be crushing in its effect. 

 "Fair play" and a 'square deal" seem 

 to be the cry of the hour. 



We seem to realize at last that the 

 "corrupt man of business"— to quote 

 President Roosevelt— "is as great a 

 foe to the country as the corrupt poli- 

 tician." We hear it also from the pul- 

 pit, at the bankers' banquet table, in 

 the corner grocery store. 



We seem to realize that the time has 

 come to call a halt to iniquities, that 

 God Almighty had never intended to 

 concentrate all the privileges and all 

 the opportunities in the hands of the 

 few, that the world is broad enough 

 for all willing to try their chances in 

 It 



It is claimed- and not without good 

 reason, perhaps— that the wave of ma- 

 terialism which has swept our country 

 is gradually expending its force and 

 that the succeeding generation will 

 witness a complete transformation in 

 our ideals and in our moral make-up 



Be that as it may, the fact is patent 

 that our tendencies and aspirations are 

 «till steeped in the mire of greed, that 

 we are still resembling our brothers in 

 t'le jungle, one arrayed against the 

 other, the strong preying upon the 

 weak, the mighty crushing the small 



fry. 



That green monster — Jealousy — 

 prompted by the inexorable dictator— 

 the Almighty Dollar— does not only 

 rule amidst us, but it rules us with an 

 iron rod that, at times, and to many of 

 us, is well nigh unbearable. 



"Peace on earth and good will to- 

 ward men" is a beautiful injunction, 

 having the right ring to it— in Church, 

 but no where else. In our daily inter- 

 course with our fellow men, we cannot 

 possibly be governed by such obsolete 

 rules. 



"Business is business" bears a more 

 practical sound to our ears. It is our 

 favorite slogan and, in our estimation, 

 it is broad and powerful enough to 

 cover up a multitude of sins. 



It is not niv object, however, to 

 deal in platitudes, nor do 1 wish to as- 

 sume the role of the preacher, whose 

 business it is to exhort his audience. 



The subject 1 have chosen for my 

 paper need not necessarily take me 

 into labyrinth of figures and data in 

 order to prove that two multiplied by 

 two makes four. Nor need I depart 

 far from niv course in quest of exam- 

 ples in order to illustrate the striking 

 contrast between the methods of fair 

 and those of foul competition. Exam- 

 ples of either and both are at our very- 

 doors We behold the one with a feel- 

 ing of satisfaction and we become in- 

 spired with confidence in fellowman,— 

 the sight of the other fills us with dis- 

 gust and suspicion. 



Fair competition courts the light ol 

 day Having nothing to fear and 

 nothing to conceal, it stands upon a 

 pedestal of its own creation, firm and 

 indestructible, in. full view of an ex- 

 acting multitude— being eager to 

 prove and to convince, striving to 

 achieve its success not by the circuit- 

 ous way of fraud and deception, but 

 bv the straighter path of honorable 

 means and honest business methods. 

 Fair Competition believes in the ' live 

 and let live" principle. Having 

 learned that lesson in its own school 

 of Experience, it is eager to promul- 

 gate its truth to the world at large, 

 fearing no detriment to its own inter- 

 ests no ill results to its own pocket 

 book It is like an open book, acces- 

 sible to all wishing to peruse its 



'' Fair Competition goes into the open 

 market, firmly convinced that merit 

 must and will win in the end, that 

 success, it it is to be permanent, must 

 rest not upon the quicksand of un- 

 certainty, but upon a bed rock of sta- 

 bility. . .. 

 It makes no rash promises, it 

 shuns reckless statements, it abhors 

 falsifications and adulterations of all 

 sorts ever aiming to improve rather 

 than to cheapen quality, ever striving 

 to win and to hold public confidence 

 witUout which success ia impossible. 



Fair Competition does not cringe, 

 does not fawn and does not sham- 

 such despicable methods being for- 

 eign to its business policy. Nor does 

 it concern itself with the affairs of 

 its rivals for the purpose of ascertain- 

 ing their methods in order to underbid 

 and to undersell them. 



If John sees fit to peddle his 4-inch 

 geraniums at 60 or 75 cents per dozen, 

 heralding that fact for months m ad- 

 vance in the "locals," with a view of 

 cornering the geranium market and 

 incidentally to put his rival out of 

 business— it is John's own affair ot 

 course Fair Competition does not at- 

 tempt to follow his methods, much 

 le«s to "go him one better." knowing 

 full well that such prices do not coyer 

 the cost of production, let alone a liv- 

 ing profit— realizing that by attempt- 

 ing to corner the market John will in- 

 evitably get into a tight corner him- 

 self, and it is seldom indeed that it 

 errs in its judgment. 



Fair Competition has mapped out its 

 own way of doing things and it fol- 

 lows its own business methods. It 

 reasons thus: All things being equa 

 —the cost ot production plus the cost 

 of marketing the product, plus a legiti- 

 mate profit-the price to the consumer 

 must be clearly defined and based 

 niion strict business lines, that any 

 devration from this straight business 

 course either one way or the ot&er, 

 must inevitably result either in a loss 

 rconfldence and custom, if the qual^ 

 ny of the product be cheapened, else 

 n' financial ruin to the con^^n itself 

 if quality be maintained at the ex 

 pense of its legitimate profit. 



A sense of propriety deters me from 

 ritVnf examples of concerns that have 

 eone to tb^ wall, because of such/.e^; 

 fons and ot others tbat are heading 

 that wav bv leaps and bounds 



.„: here will take escpBoii to mj' 

 S erUo" tb.l <o«l competinon ,. « 



"T,P,°SirS«"« "-'"SiS 

 „, otPer principle. <«."' "?°f Se" 



worK. on »■« •'"reCr o .wSoW 



are fools — a plenty — eagei lu = 



the tempting bait-hook and all- 



''cheap'^'''The very word has a sinis- 



come dear in t^e enu 



a floral monstrosity atjo^any^^^^ 



els and dimes P^r ^0°* /^J ^^ insult 



-^rlt^an^to^leittrmoraf stench 



"'concS m^fnTquity and fostered 

 in'^an atmosphere of fraud and cor- 

 :^ption, unscrupulous. moraJly dis- 

 torted, suave and cunning-foul com- 

 petlUon Has but one object in view 



