THE FOREST SERVICE AND ITS MEN 655 



several hundred men in the Forest Service ; and knowing them as indi- 

 viduals, with perhaps as clear an understanding of their traits of char- 

 acter and ability as any one person can hope to know of that mysterious 

 complex termed personality, it has been possible to grasp the causes of 

 their success or failure. 



The first thing that stands out is that circumstances, environment, 

 favoritism, and all that host of extraneous causes to which a young and 

 inexperiencel man attaches so much importance have exercised a trivial 

 and even negligible influence on the final result in almost every indi- 

 vidual instance. Yet it would be idle to say that environment and the 

 attitude of one's superiors are of no importance. It is probable that 

 the marked success of men of real ability within the Service is due 

 largely to the existence of the spirit of honor and fair play in the or- 

 ganization as a whole ; otherwise the able men would get out, and their 

 success, which is assured, would be attained in other lines. And in 

 saying that the able men have succeeded, I do not say that they have 

 all remained in the Forest Service as the road to success. 



Those who have succeeded, either within or without the Service, 

 have shown a remarkable similarity in the possession of certain traits, 

 the description and analysis of which is attempted below. 



1. Integrity. — This is apparently not only the most essential but the 

 most common trait of these men. It means plain honesty, reliability, 

 truthfulness, and clean habits. Immorality, intemperance, trickiness, 

 and dishonesty, no matter how well veneered with ability and culture, 

 have never gotten by for a very long period. 



2. Loyalty. — It is a remarkable fact that cynicism, habitual knocking, 

 and suspicion or jealousy are usually accompanied by irresponsibility, 

 inefficiency, and narrowness of vision to such an extent as to render a 

 man's services worthless, independent of his sentiments. The unfor- 

 tunate victim of the mental habit of disloyalty always imagines that his 

 failure is due to the hostility that his independence in thought and utter- 

 ance arouse in his superiors ; he becomes in his own mind a victim of 

 persecution, and his final severance from the organization is usually 

 automatic — he quits. Loyalty, on the other hand, is anything but slav- 

 ish toadyism to one's superiors. Too often such a spirit only conceals 

 one's contempt and disloyalty. Loyalty is the spirit which puts the 

 organization and its ideals above the man ; that seeks a proper knowl- 

 edge of cause and efTect; recognizes the absolute need of co-operation 

 and discipline, but will not hesitate to incur disfavor if clearly necessary 

 for the vital good of the Service. Loyalty and conformity are not 

 synonymous, although often regarded so by incompetent superiors. 



