--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Babson, Roger W. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 26 number: 12 published: 1923-10 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Roger W. Babson, "Fundamentals of Prosperity", *Improvement Era* 26, no. 12 (October 1923): 1082–1089.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera26012unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera26012unse start_page: 1082 end_page: 1089 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1923-10) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera26012unse publication_year: 1923 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1923, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Fundamentals of Prosperity Fundamentals of Prosperity * What They Are And Whence They Come By Roger T7 '. Babson, President Babson Statistical Organization IX What Figures Show Panics are caused by spiritual causes rather than financial. Prosperity is the result of righteousness rather than of material things. The large black areas on the adjoining chart are formed by combining and plotting current figures on New Building, Crops, Clearings, Immigration, Total Foreign Trade, Money Failures, Commodity Prices, Railroad Earnings, Stock Prices and Politics in order to give a composite view of business in the United States. (When Interstate Commerce reports of earnings of all United States railroads became available, Jan- uary, 1909, this record was substituted in place of the earn- ings of ten representative roads which had been used previous to that time. Revised scales for monetary figures were also introduced in August, 1912.) The line X-Y represents the country's net gain or growth. Based on the economic theory that "action and reaction are ecpial when the two factors of time and intensity are multiplied to form an area," the sums of the areas above and below said line X-Y must, o\er sufficiently long periods of time, be equal, provided enough subjects are included, properly weighed and combined. An area of prosperity is always followed by an area of depression; an area of depression in turn always fol- lowed by an area of prosperity. The areas, however, need not have the same shapes. It will be seen that each area is divided into halves by a narrow white line. This is to emphasize the fact that the first halves of areas below the X-Y line are really reactions from the extravagance, inefficiency and corruption which ex- isted during the latter half of the preceding "prosperity" area. Contrariwise, the first halves of areas above the X-Y line are really reactions from the economy, industry and righteousness developed during the hard times just preceding. The high points of the stock market have come in the early part of the prosperity areas and the low points have come about the be- *Copyright by Fleming H. Revell Company, New York. Reprinted by permission from Fundamentals of Prosperity, by Roger W. Babson. 1084 IMPROVEMENT ERA ginning of the depression areas. In 1914 the war held down prices of all securities. The highest prices of bonds have usually come about the end of the depression areas and high money rates, and lowest bond prices at about the end of the prosperity areas. But what causes these fluctuations in business and prices? Statistics show that panics are caused by spiritual causes, rather than financial, and that prosperity is the result of righteous- ness rather than of material things. Hence, the importance to industry and commerce of the forces already mentioned. These spiritual forces are the true fundamentals of prosperity. This in turn leads us to consider from where they come and upon what we are to depend for their further development. The fol- lowing pages will give the answer. What are the sources of these fundamentals of prosperity? Where do we get this faith, integrity, industry, co-operation and interest in the soul of man upon which civilization is based? As already explained, we do not get it from the raw ma- terials. We have always had the raw materials. We do not get it from education. From a statistical point of view Germany is the best educated country in the world. It has the least il- literacy. It has the largest percentage of scientific culture. No, these three fundamentals do not come from education. They do not come from the inheritance of property. I mentioned in the preceding pages the investigation we made of leading captains of industry in America, the men who head the various greatest industries in this country. Out of this group of men, only ten per cent inherited their business, while only fifteen per cent received special education. This shows that the source of these qualities is from something more than wealth or edu- cation. We are striving and even slaving to lay up property for our children, when statistics clearly show that the more we lay up for them the worse off they are going to be. If statistics demonstrate any one thing, they demonstrate that the less money we leave our children the better off they will be; not only spiritually and physically, but also financially. When it comes to the question of education, we work and economize to give our children an education and to send our children to college. Yet statistics show that only a small percentage of these lead- ing business men are college graduates. The success of individuals, the success of communities, the success of nations, depends on these fundamentals, — integrity, faith, industry, brotherly kindness and an interest in the soul FUNDAMENTALS OF PROSPERITY 1085 of man. To what do we owe these great fundamental qual- ities? Statistics show clearly that we owe them to religion. Yes, and to the old-fashioned religion of our forefathers. Moreover, I say this not as a churchman. I would give the same message if I were speaking to a group of bankers or a group of engineers. I was first brought into the church through the Christian Endeavor Society, but I was really converted to the Bible teachings through a study of statistics. To religion we owe our civilization and to the church we owe our religion. All there is in the world today that is worth while comes from men filled with, and from groups actuated by, these fundamentals of integrity, faith, industry, brotherly love and those other factors which come only through God. The Church today deserves the credit for keeping these factors before the world. Hence, it is evident that the people of Amer- ica have not the bankers to thank for their security and pros- perity, but rather the preachers and the churches. To these men we are obligated for our growth and development. X Where the Church Falls Down Become saturated with Christ's principles, be clean and upright, co- operate with one another, have faith, serve, trust the Almighty for the re- sults, and you you will never have to worry about property. "If you will do these things, all of the others will be given to you." There are two groups of people who criticize the church. First, there are those who claim great love for their fellowmen, but do not go to church because it is allied with the property interests of the community. I believe that to be the funda- mental reason why the wage workers, labor leaders, socialists and radicals are not interested in the Church. They believe that the Church is too closely allied with property. I have been severely criticized myself for presenting the Church as a de- fender of property and as a means of making your home, your business and your securities safer. Such critics are perfectly conscientious and the Church suffers much because those peo- ple, in their love for humanity, are antagonistic to the Church. The second group are those defenders of property who look upon the Church as impractical; who consider the Golden Rule as something all right for the minister to talk about on Sun- days, but something useless to try to follow during the week. Those men criticize the Church for preaching lo^e, for talk- ing the Sermon on the Mount, and for being what they say is "impractical." So the Church suffers today by having both of these groups stand off alone. Neither of them is interested in the Church, the most important organization in America. It is the Church which has created America, which has de- veloped our schools, which has created our homes, which has 1086 IMPROVEMENT ERA built our cities, which has developed our industries, which has made our hospitals, charities, and which has done everything that is worth while in America. Yet today, the Church is the most discarded industry of all, because it has not the co-operation of either of the above groups, — the radical group which claims to be interested only in hu- manity and not in property, and the propertied group which frankly says that it is primarily interested in property and not humanity. It seems that we should stop side-stepping this question. Instead we should face it squarely and answer both of these criticisms. My answer is as follows: Jesus was not interested in property, per se. There is no question but that Jesus had no interest in property. These things which look so important to us, — houses, roads, taxation, buildings, fields, crops, foreign trade, ships, — it is very evident were insignificant to Jesus. When any of Jesus' disciples came to him to settle some property question, he pushed them aside and said he was too busy to consider it. I am sure that if Jesus were here today, he would tell us all that we are idiots for striv- ing so to accumulate things — building ourselves bigger houses, and getting bigger bank accounts and more automobiles. Hence, when the socialist or the radical or the labor leader complains to me, I frankly admit this fact. Without doubt the Church should emphasize that property of itself is of no value, and the only things worth while in life are happiness and the health and the freedom which come from living an upright, simple life. On the other hand, and this point I wish to emphasize just as strongly, Jesus took the position throughout his teachings, that if his disciples would simply get saturated with his fun- damentals, if they would be clean and upright, if they would co-operate with one another, if they would have faith to serve and trust the Almighty for the results, they would never have to worry about property. Property would take care of itself. Jesus emphasized, first, that they should not think of property; but he always closed his discourses by some such statement as this: "If you will do these things, all of the others will be given to you." It is absolutely impossible for any individual to develop the above fundamentals of prosperity, — faith, integrity, indus- try and brotherly kindness — without being successful in the highest sense of the word. I do not refer to the mere accumula- tion of money, but include all that a common-sense use of money can provide, namely, a necessary competence, goodly repute among one's fellows, service in the community, and, above all, that inner satisfaction which no possession of pelf can purchase. It is fundamental law, "Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap." Yet even in the matter of secular wealth statistics show FUNDAMENTALS OF PROSPERITY 108 that the Church is the greatest factor in the worldly success of men, groups and nations. Some readers may have seen a book written by Professor Carver of Harvard entitled, The Religion Worth Having. In that book the author discusses the various denominations of Christianity. Then he says most conclusively that the religion worth having, the religion that will survive, is the religion which produces the most. Yet this production will not come by seeking production per se, but rather by the development of these fundamental characteristics which have been described. Try as you will you cannot separate the factor of religion from economic development. In the work conducted by my Organization at Wellesley Hills we study the trend of religious interest as closely as we do the condition of the banks or the supply of and demand for commodities. Statistics of church membership form one of the best barometers of business con- ditions. We have these figures charted back for the past fifty years. Whenever this line of religious interest turns downward and reaches a low level, history shows that it is time to prepare for a reaction and depression in business conditions. Every great panic we have ever had has been foreshadowed by a gen- eral decline in observance of religious principles. On the other hand, when the line of religious interest begins to climb and the nation turns again to the simple mode of living laid by in the Bible, then it is time to make ready for a period of busi- ness prosperity. XI The Future Church The time is coming when the Church will awake to its great opportun- ities. The greatest industry in America but the most backward and inef- ficiently operated, is still in the stage-coach class. Of course the Church is very far from developed. The Church is in the same position today as were the water-powers fifty years ago. The Church has great resources; but these re- sources are sadly undeveloped. From an efficiency point of view, from an organization point of view, from a production point of view, the Church today is in the stage-coach class. It holds within itself the keys of prosperity. It holds within itself the salvation and solution of our industrial, commercial and international problems. Yet it is working, or at least the Prot- estant branch is open, only three or four hours a week. The Church has the greatest opportunity today of any industry. It is the least developed industry, the most inefficiently oper- ated, and the most backward in its methods. Let us shut our eyes and look ahead at what it will be twen- ty-five years from now. Let us imagine five churches within 1088 IMPROVEMENT ERA a radius of five miles. All of them now operating independ- ently. Each one open only a few hours a week. Twenty-five years from now these five churches will be linked up together under a general manager who will not be a parson, but who will be a business man. Today the preacher of our churches is a combination of preacher, business manager, and salesman. He is the service de- partment, the finance department and everything but the jan- itor. The Church is being operated today as a college would be operated with one professor, who would be president, treas- urer, general manager, and everything else. The Church is being operated today as a factory with simply a production man and no one to tend the finances or the sales. Manufacturers reading this book know how long a factory could be run with only a superintendent and no one to sell or finance the proposi- tion. Twenty-five years from today, instead of the pastor being at the head of the church and a few good people doing vol- untary work, there will be four or five churches of the same denomination united under one general manager. I do not mean by this that four of them will be closed. They will all be open much more than they are now; but they will all be under one general manager and will be taking orders from that general manager. Twenty-five years from today the churches will be self-supporting. The days of begging will be over. Religion has been cheapened by singing about "salva- tion's free for you and me." When we have our legal diffi- culties, we go to a lawyer and pay him; when we have a pain we go to a doctor and pay him; if we want our children taught we pay the price; but if we want our children instructed in the fundamentals of prosperity upon which their future depends, we send them to a Sunday school for a half-hour a week with the possibility of having them taught by a silly girl who doesn't know her work. In any event the parent seldom takes the trouble to ascertain the quality of the teaching. The time is coming when the Church will awake to its great principles and opportunities. The greatest industry in America if still the most backward and most inefficiently operated. When these four or five churches are combined, the preacher will not have to spend half the week in preparing a different sermon every Sunday. He will have two weeks or a month to prepare that sermon. He will have time and have the "pep" and energy to deliver it to you so you won't go to sleep while sitting in the pews. The audience will then hear the same preacher only once each month, and the preacher will then have more than one congregation to appeal to. The same man is not going to be expected to preach on Love, Hate, the League of Nations, How to Settle Labor Dis- FUNDAMENTALS OF PROSPERITY 1089 putes and the Health of the Community and every other sub- ject. All of these men will preach the salvation of Jesus, but each one will specialize in one particular phase of the Chris- tian life, such as Faith ,Integrity, Industry, Co-operation. Then we will take more stock in our preachers because they won't pretend to know every subject. Then the preacher will not be of lesser intelligence than the average audience. Fifty years ago the ablest men in every community were the preachers, the doctors, and the lawyers. They were the only college graduates of the town and were looked up to. To- day, while we pay our salesmanagers from $15,000 to $20,000 a year, and lawyers and doctors large fees, we pay our preachers only miserable salaries. It's a damnable disgrace to all of us. I often think that if Jesus were to come back to us, that he would take for his text that thought from the Sermon on the Mount, "If you have aught against your neighbor, before you enter into your worship go and square up." I think that when he came in to speak to us on Sunday morning, he would say: "Gentlemen, I suggest that before we have this service, we raise funds to pay the preacher a decent salary." * * * Just before I went to Brazil I was the guest of the President of the Argentine Republic. After lunching one day we sat in his sun parlor looking out over the river. He was very thought- ful. He said, "Mr. Babson, I have been wondering why it is that South America with all its great natural advantages is so far behind North America notwithstanding that South America was settled before North America." Then he went on to tell how the forests of South America had two hundred and eighty- six trees that can be found in no book of botany. He told me about many ranches that had thousands of acres under alfalfa in one block. He mentioned the mines of iron, coal, copper, silver, gold; all those great rivers and water-powers which rival Niagara. "Why is it, with all these natural resources, South America is so far behind North America?" he asked. Well, those of you who have been there know the reason. But, being a guest, I said: "Mr. President, what do you think is the reason?" He replied: "I have come to this conclusion. South America was settled by the Spanish who came to South America in search of gold, but North America was settled by the Pilgrim Fathers who went there in search of God." Friends, let us as American citizens never kick down the ladder by which we climbed up. Let us ne\er forget the foun- dation upon which all permanent prosperity is based. THE END