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_Barbara Weinstock Lectures on The Morals of Trade_

HIGHER EDUCATION AND BUSINESS STANDARDS.
By WILLARD EUGENE HOTCHKISS.

CREATING CAPITAL: MONEY-MAKING AS AN AIM IN BUSINESS.
By FREDERICK L. LIPMAN.

IS CIVILIZATION A DISEASE?
By STANTON COIT.

SOCIAL JUSTICE WITHOUT SOCIALISM.
By JOHN BATES CLARK.

THE CONFLICT BETWEEN PRIVATE MONOPOLY AND GOOD CITIZENSHIP.
By JOHN GRAHAM BROOKS.

COMMERCIALISM AND JOURNALISM.
By HAMILTON HOLT.

THE BUSINESS CAREER IN ITS PUBLIC RELATIONS.
By ALBERT SHAW.




CREATING CAPITAL

MONEY-MAKING AS AN AIM IN BUSINESS



By

FREDERICK L. LIPMAN



BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
_The Riverside Press Cambridge_
1918

COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY THE REGENTS OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

_Published March 1918_


_The Riverside Press_
CAMBRIDGE. MASSACHUSETTS
U. S. A




BARBARA WEINSTOCK
LECTURES ON THE MORALS OF TRADE


This series will contain essays by representative scholars and men of
affairs dealing with the various phases of the moral law in its
bearing on business life under the new economic order, first delivered
at the University of California on the Weinstock foundation.




CREATING CAPITAL

MONEY-MAKING AS AN AIM IN BUSINESS


The object of this paper is to discuss money-making; to examine its
prevalence as an aim among people generally and the moral standards
which obtain among those who consciously seek to make money.

The desire to make money is common to most men. Stronger or weaker, in
some degree it is present in the mind of nearly every one. Now, how
far does this desire grow to be an aim or object in our lives, and to
what extent is such an aim a worthy one?

The typical money-maker as commonly pictured in our imagination is a
narrow, grasping, selfish individual who has chosen to follow lower
rather than higher ideals and who often is tempted, and always may be
tempted, to employ illegitimate means for the attainment of his ends.
The aims he has adopted are made to stand in opposition to the
practice of certain virtues. Thus we contrast profits and patriotism;
enriching one's self and philanthropy; getting all the law allows and
justice; taking advantage of the other fellow and honesty; becoming
engrossed in acquisition and love of family. Now, such contrasts
obviously prove nothing more than that money-making is and would be a
vicious aim if pursued regardless of these virtues, and it could well
be replied that consideration of patriotism, philanthropy, love of
family, etc., must in themselves impel one to earn and to save. "The
love of money is the root of all evil" implies an exclusive devotion
to acquisition that may well be criticized. But aside from this there
is no doubt that amid the confused ideas held on the subject, aiming
to make money is commonly regarded as in some sort of antagonism to
the social virtues.

That there are other sides to the picture is recognized, however, even
by the loose thought of the day. The man who earns his living, for
instance, it views as one who in so far is performing a fundamental
duty. Indeed, the world scorns him who cannot or will not support
himself and his family. But this is only to say that one must work
to-day to meet the expenditures of to-day. Is this the limit? Is it a
virtue for him to work in order to spend, but a vice for him to work
in order to save? What are the considerations to be observed by a man
in deciding whether or not he should adopt money-making--that is, the
acquisition of a surplus beyond his current needs--as one of his
definite aims in life?

One consideration relates to our country. The United States is now
understood to be spending about $25,000,000 per day in carrying on the
war. In the last analysis this amount must be paid out of the past
savings and the savings from current earnings of the people of the
United States. The wealth of the nation consists mainly of