Dollars and Sense | Page 9

the law of compensation that the man who
originates a plan and carries it to successful conclusion has a patent on
his business. This patent is his individuality and good business
equipment. The man who steals his plan physically is unable to steal
the mental end.

Since men have recorded facts in the shape of history, we find that men
have made successes of plans and businesses that have been discarded
by their predecessors as played-out plans.
When a plan is presented to you do not calculate the outcome by the
plan, but by the man.
Two banks may start side by side with exactly the same office furniture
and exactly the same business operations. They use the same kind of
money; they make loans on lands or on securities. The operations of
these two banks may be as closely identical as possible, yet within ten
years one bank will have considerable surplus and the other may be out
of business.
If the plan were the measure of success these two banks should fare
equally well, but the fact that they differed so materially is in itself
evidence that the success is determined by the individuals and not the
plan.
The illustration of a bank may be carried into other lines,
merchandising, manufacturing or railroading.

Compensation
The law of Compensation is--you pay for what you get, or you get what
you pay for.
This law says if a horse can run fast it can't pull a good load and vice
versa.
This law says a horse cannot go fast far.
It says that for every sorrow there is a joy, for every positive there is a
negative.
Where evil exists there is some good to offset it, says compensation.

The law of compensation is the measure optimists use, and in nearly
every chapter we have written in this series, compensation will be
found as a ground-work.
You can't get away from nor violate this rule of compensation.
It is not new, it is as old as creation itself.
Centuries ago it was expressed this way: "Whatsoever a man soweth
that shall he also reap."
Too many try to ignore this great rule, they try to get something for
nothing.
You may eat first and pay afterwards, or you may pay first and eat
afterwards.
You may play the butterfly; sip life's sweets and sow your wild oats
now, but pay day will come and may be you will be unable to pay.
You may spend your income now and suffer want later on.
You may work hard now and play as you go along. You may have
happiness each day you live; you can make life worth living if you
work.
Happiness is compensation for work; no work, no happiness.
You may have what you want, but, you must pay for it.
Millions cost happiness and often cost health too.
The dinner is properly balanced when it has sweets as well as
substantials. The sensible person finds the dinner is better if the sweets
come after the substantials.
To violate the law of compensation is to eat the sweets first and then
the substantials, and by this law the substantials do not taste good when
they are eaten after the sweets.

The man who procrastinates is violating the law of compensation.
When you see your duty attend to it at once.

The Boss
By the boss we mean the active proprietor, the executive head, the
owner of the business. He is sometimes called the "old man."
The success of an institution depends largely upon the example set by
the boss.
If the boss is careless in little things, if he is sharp in his practice, if he
does mean acts, he may rely upon it his employes will copy him, and
later on, when some blow strikes the business, he will find it has
happened through the practices of the employes who got their cues
from the boss.
Kindness wins kindness; love wins love. If the boss is generous and
charitable, if he sets a good example, he will have an esprit de corps
among his employes that is of incalculable value.
There is not one chance in a thousand for the boss to make a success
unless he has risen to the position of boss, and climbed and earned his
position through steady progress.
The boss must know how to do the things he hires others to do.
The boss who can show an employe his error in a kindly manner and
point out a better method, leaves a good feeling in the heart of that
employe.
The boss who shows his heart to the employe and is concerned in the
things not necessarily business will be repaid a thousand-fold in loyalty
and willingness on the part of the employe.