BOTH GUILTY!

knowing that promises cannot be kept; are all acts that betray an absence of Principle.

In the relations of employers and employed want of Principle is frequently displayed on both sides. There are employers who take advantage of their employés; who tempt men away from good positions under promise of larger salary which is never fulfilled; who make agreements which they have no intention of observing; who suck the brains of a man and then turn him adrift; who clear out old employés who have served them faithfully for the best of their days, without giving them some timely warning or making some provision for their future.

On the other hand want of Principle is conspicuous amongst workmen and servants. There is want of Principle in wasting a master's time; in spoiling or stealing his goods; damaging his machinery, or pilfering his money; in being untruthful; in fact, there is no Principle in a man who cannot serve his employer faithfully, by honestly carrying out the duties he has undertaken to do for the wage his employer has agreed to pay.

We have heard it said that human character is human nature; that men and women are selfish ; that if you want their help you must show them what they will gain by it; that if you want favours you must let the world see that you can pay for them. True, no doubt, of life as we find it; but not of life as it ought to be; and we cannot concede that all men are so devoid of character and principle as to be entirely unregenerate.

Nature takes years to make the man; and man takes years to build up a character. There is a time when the will is plastic, and good and evil struggle which shall mould it. If men could only see at the outset of their business career the priceless value of Principle, and that the most valuable asset of a successful business is an honourable reputation, there would be fewer failures in life, and Business would be robbed of more than half its worries.

On Being Practical

"To follow foolish precedents, and wink with both our eyes is easier than to think."--CowPER.

PERHAPS one of the commonest words used in business is that thoroughly expressive but often misapplied word, 'Practical.' The constant demand in industrial life is for practical machinery, practical men, and practical methods. Practical wisdom rules the trade of the universe; whether it be in the manufacturing or the mere buying and selling of goods. The philosopher whose wisdom is not Practical is but a crank and dreamer ; and if he attempts to oppose the Practical, he puts himself very much in the position of the cow which tried to stop the railway train. As George Stephenson said, 'it would be bad for the coo;' and it would be equally bad for the philosopher. But as there are differences of opinion as to what constitutes wisdom, so there are differences of opinion as to what is Practical; and it is a common

A COMMON PHRASE

mistake to refuse to accept new ideas because they do not accord with present practice.

We so often hear the expression, 'Oh, it's not Practical.' It is a phrase that has been lightly said of every great invention, and every epochmaking discovery that has been brought before the world. It was said of the steamship, of the locomotive, of the electro-motor, of the printing machine, of the spinning loom, and of every other grand conception that has made for human progress. These words, carelessly and sneeringly spoken, have driven brilliant inventors. to poverty and despair; and have disappointed and discouraged many a high-souled philosopher, wearing out his life only to make the world brighter and happier.

Ask any half-dozen men who say a thing is not Practical, to give practical and logical reasons for their opinion; and we doubt if one could put forward objections which would carry weight. They may be most able men in their business or profession; yet the difficulty of defining with judicial precision exactly what is Practical would preclude them from giving a weighty opinion. It comes simply to this, that any fool can, and does, use the expression, 'it's not Practical; ' but it takes a brainy man to decide on what is really Practical.

Practical wisdom is all very well; but when it sets itself in opposition to all progress, it may be better described as practical stupidity. The practical wisdom which says, 'This thing is no

6-(1419)

good; my father and his father before him got on without it, and I have gone on all right and made money without it myself,' is simply senile idiocy.

It is very usual for a workman to boast about being 'thoroughly Practical;' which may be taken to mean that he has become accustomed to the practice of the trade through long experience in old-established houses. But it cannot be too strongly emphasized that length of service does not make the most practical man. He may have become so hide-bound with old-fashioned methods and antiquated prejudices that he has no knowledge which he can profitably apply outside the sphere in which he has moved. He is like the cog-wheel of a machine; removed from its place it can serve no useful purpose; and, as the engineer would express it, can be thrown on the scrap heap. The analogy can be carried further. It is easy to replace a missing wheel; but no one would ever think of building a machine to fit an odd wheel found on the scrap heap, or on the second-hand goods stall.

Thus the thoroughly practical man,' in most cases, wants a place built for him, to suit the circumstances in which he has previously moved; and if he can find some employer foolish enough to do this, it too often happens that he still doesn't fit; and the wheels don't go round, because they are not in gear. You cannot make an old wheel gear properly with a new one; it's generally far better to have two new ones. With new machines

WASTE OF TIME

and new conditions, it is often expedient to have new men; and employers find it pays to get hold of intelligent youths who have had little or no previous experience, but who are adaptable to the new circumstances.

The fact is the practical man doesn't count if he has no adaptability. The virtue of being Practical consists in applying knowledge or theory to use. It's wasting time to go through life gaining knowledge unless we have the tact to apply it in all circumstances of doubt and difficulty, and to help us forward in our enterprises. That is where the quality of being really Practical comes in.

England would not be going backward in manufacture as she seems to be to-day, if employers and workmen had made full use of the splendid heritage of knowledge and facilities which has been handed down to them. We have been content to let foreign nations take advantage of our knowledge until they are able to oust us from the markets of the world with goods equally as good, and, in many cases, better and cheaper than our own. We have brought the economics of manufacture to the highest pitch; but we have neglected to make full use of the economy of energy; and that is where other nations are outstripping us in speed and cheapness. Our manufacturers and workmen have been Practical to the highest degree; but they have not known how to usefully apply their practice to suit modern needs.

There is too much of the white-wash and the