296 The Psychology of the Business Man 



self. Those who would naturally lead a simpler life are forced 

 by their watered-stock business position, as an advertising 

 proposition, or by the morbid social ambijtion of their wives 

 and daughters, to set and keep up a scale of wasteful living 

 that is often a nightmare to the whole family's souls. Think 

 what a scaling down of stores, offices, houses, and turnouts, 

 what a plucking of feathers and silks, what a breaking of plate 

 glass and china there would be if every business man lived 

 with his business and family on the safe side of his legitimate 

 income ! 



Another unfortunate tendency of the competition business 

 life is to dry up rather than cultivate the instinctive emotion 

 of sympathy which otherwise naturally grows strong in the 

 breezily optimistic western business man especially. But 

 where his business forces him to look out, not for exchanging 

 fair equivalents of labor, but to get the better of his customer 

 as one means of beating his competitor in business, — under 

 such conditions he naturally schools himself in the selfish prin- 

 • ciplc' — ''let each look out for himself." So, tho he cannot 

 afford to deny or dispute openly, he will quietly or indirectly 

 let you drop or find a roundabout way to beat you. Even the 

 many philanthropic and public enterprises, for which are long 

 printed lists of business supporters, are forced to almost every 

 kind of motive and argument except a pure sympathy for a 

 good cause. The best argument for getting business guaran- 

 tors and patron subscribers for a newly founded symphony or- 

 chestra was found to be that such a musical attraction had 

 been demonstrated to bring to the city families of means who 

 made good business for lot-sellers, house-renters, and trade in 

 general. Even the good Y. M. C. A. is disgustingly habituated 

 to appeal to its business public as a ''paying proposition." 

 Thus, while the occasional business man with some freedom 

 from perpetual competition can use his leisure and natural 

 altruistic sentiments in working disinterestedly for public ben- 

 efactions, the typical trader's purse is only touched for public 

 affairs by some motive for private gain. 



Under such conditions, too, it is no wonder that the busi- 

 ness man, who is hounded to death with an endless round of 

 public and private appeals, develops a weary suspicion. While 

 it is axiomatic with him that his business deals are for business 

 and not for philanthropy, he naturaly becomes suspicious of 



