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Think & Grow Rich
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CHAPTER 3
FAITH
VISUALIZATION OF, AND BELIEF IN ATTAINMENT OF DESIRE
The Second Step toward Riches
FAITH is the
head chemist of the mind. When FAITH is blended with the vibration of
thought, the subconscious mind instantly picks up the vibration, translates
it into its spiritual equivalent, and transmits it to Infinite Intelligence,
as in the case of prayer.
The emotions of FAITH, LOVE, and SEX are the most powerful of all the major
positive emotions. When the three are blended, they have the effect of
"coloring" the vibration of thought in such a way that it instantly reaches
the subconscious mind, where it is changed into its spiritual equivalent,
the only form that induces a response from Infinite Intelligence.
Love and faith are psychic; related to the spiritual side of man. Sex is
purely biological, and related only to the physical. The mixing, or
blending, of these three emotions has the effect of opening a direct line of
communication between the finite, thinking mind of man, and Infinite
Intelligence.
How To Develop Faith
There comes, now, a statement which will give a better
understanding of the importance the principle of auto-suggestion assumes in
the transmutation of desire into its physical, or monetary equivalent;
namely: FAITH is a state of mind which may be induced, or created, by
affirmation or repeated instructions to the subconscious mind, through the
principle of auto-suggestion.
As an illustration, consider the purpose for which you are, presumably,
reading this book. The object is, naturally, to acquire the ability to
transmute the intangible thought impulse of DESIRE into its physical
counterpart, money. By following the instructions laid down in the chapters
on auto-suggestion, and the subconscious mind, as summarized in the chapter
on auto-suggestion, you may CONVINCE the subconscious mind that you believe
you will receive that for which you ask, and it will act upon that belief,
which your subconscious mind passes back to you in the form of "FAITH,"
followed by definite plans for procuring that which you desire.
The method by which one develops FAITH, where it does not already exist, is
extremely difficult to describe, almost as difficult, in fact, as it would
be to describe the color of red to a blind man who has never seen color, and
has nothing with which to compare what you describe to him. Faith is a state
of mind which you may develop at will, after you have mastered the thirteen
principles, because it is a state of mind which develops voluntarily,
through application and use of these principles.
Repetition of affirmation of orders to your subconscious mind is the only
known method of voluntary development of the emotion of faith.
Perhaps the meaning may be made clearer through the following explanation as
to the way men sometimes become criminals. Stated in the words of a famous
criminologist, "When men first come into contact with crime, they abhor it.
If they remain in contact with crime for a time, they become accustomed to
it, and endure it. If they remain in contact with it long enough, they
finally embrace it, and become influenced by it."
This is the equivalent of saying that any impulse of thought which is
repeatedly passed on to the subconscious mind is, finally, accepted and
acted upon by the subconscious mind, which proceeds to translate that
impulse into its physical equivalent, by the most practical procedure
available.
In connection with this, consider again the statement, ALL THOUGHTS WHICH
HAVE BEEN EMOTIONALIZED, (given feeling) AND MIXED WITH FAITH, begin
immediately to translate themselves into their physical equivalent or
counterpart.
The emotions, or the "feeling" portion of thoughts, are the factors which
give thoughts vitality, life, and action. The emotions of Faith, Love, and
Sex, when mixed with any thought impulse, give it greater action than any of
these emotions can do singly.
Not only thought impulses which have been mixed with FAITH, but those which
have been mixed with any of the positive emotions, or any of the negative
emotions, may reach, and influence the subconscious mind.
From this statement, you will understand that the subconscious mind will
translate into its physical equivalent, a thought impulse of a negative or
destructive nature, just as readily as it will act upon thought impulses of
a positive or constructive nature. This accounts for the strange phenomenon
which so many millions of people experience, referred to as "misfortune," or
"bad luck."
There are millions of people who BELIEVE themselves "doomed" to poverty and
failure, because of some strange force over which they BELIEVE they have no
control. They are the creators of their own "misfortunes," because of this
negative BELIEF, which is picked up by the subconscious mind, and translated
into its physical equivalent.
This is an appropriate place at which to suggest again that you may benefit,
by passing on to your subconscious mind, any DESIRE which you wish
translated into its physical, or monetary equivalent, in a state of
expectancy or BELIEF that the transmutation will actually take place. Your
BELIEF, or FAITH, is the element which determines the action of your
subconscious mind. There is nothing to hinder you from "deceiving" your
subconscious mind when giving it instructions through autosuggestion, as I
deceived my son's subconscious mind.
To make this "deceit" more realistic, conduct yourself just as you would, if
you were ALREADY IN POSSESSION OF THE MATERIAL THING WHICH YOU ARE
DEMANDING, when you call upon your subconscious mind.
The subconscious mind will transmute into its physical equivalent, by the
most direct and practical media available, any order which is given to it in
a state of BELIEF, or FAITH that the order will be carried out.
Surely, enough has been stated to give a starting point from which one may,
through experiment and practice, acquire the ability to mix FAITH with any
order given to the subconscious mind. Perfection will come through
practice. It cannot come by merely reading instructions.
If it be true that one may become a criminal by association with crime, (and
this is a known fact), it is equally true that one may develop faith by
voluntarily suggesting to the subconscious mind that one has faith. The mind
comes, finally, to take on the nature of the influences which dominate it.
Understand this truth, and you will know why it is essential for you to
encourage the positive emotions as dominating forces of your mind,
and discourage — and eliminate negative emotions.
A mind dominated by positive emotions, becomes a favorable abode for the
state of mind known as faith. A mind so dominated may, at will, give the
subconscious mind instructions, which it will accept and act upon
immediately.
FAITH IS A STATE OF MIND WHICH
MAY BE INDUCED BY AUTO-SUGGESTION
All down the ages, the religionists have admonished struggling humanity to
"have faith" in this, that, and the other dogma or creed, but they have
failed to tell people HOW to have faith. They have not stated that "faith is
a state of mind, and that it may be induced by self-suggestion."
In language which any normal human being can understand, we will describe
all that is known about the principle through which FAITH may be developed,
where it does not already exist.
Have Faith in yourself; Faith in the Infinite.
Before we begin, you should be reminded again that:
FAITH is the "eternal elixir" which gives life, power, and action to the
impulse of thought!
The foregoing sentence is worth reading a second time, and a third, and a
fourth. It is worth reading aloud!
FAITH is the starting point of all accumulation of riches!
FAITH is the basis of all "miracles," and all mysteries which cannot be
analyzed by the rules of science!
FAITH is the only known antidote for FAILURE!
FAITH is the element, the "chemical" which, when mixed with prayer, gives
one direct communication with Infinite Intelligence.
FAITH is the element which transforms the ordinary vibration of thought,
created by the finite mind of man, into the spiritual equivalent.
FAITH is the only agency through which the cosmic force of Infinite
Intelligence can be harnessed and used by man.
EVERY ONE OF THE FOREGOING STATEMENTS IS CAPABLE OF PROOF!
The proof is simple and easily demonstrated. It is wrapped up in the
principle of auto-suggestion. Let us center our attention, therefore, upon
the subject of self-suggestion, and find out what it is, and what it is
capable of achieving.
It is a well known fact that one comes, finally, to BELIEVE whatever one
repeats to one's self, whether the statement be true or false. If a
man repeats a lie over and over, he will eventually accept the lie as truth.
Moreover, he will BELIEVE it to be the truth.
Every man is what he is, because of the DOMINATING THOUGHTS which he permits
to occupy his mind. Thoughts which a man deliberately places in his own
mind, and encourages with sympathy, and with which he mixes any one or more
of the emotions, constitute the motivating forces, which direct and control
his every movement, act, and deed!
Comes, now, a very significant statement of truth:
THOUGHTS WHICH ARE MIXED WITH ANY OF THE FEELINGS OF EMOTIONS, CONSTITUTE A
"MAGNETIC" FORCE WHICH ATTRACTS, FROM THE VIBRATIONS OF THE ETHER, OTHER
SIMILAR, OR RELATED THOUGHTS. A thought thus "magnetized" with emotion may
be compared to a seed which, when planted in fertile soil, germinates,
grows, and multiplies itself over and over again, until that which was
originally one small seed, becomes countless millions of seeds of the SAME
BRAND!
The ether is a great cosmic mass of eternal forces of vibration. It is made
up of both destructive vibrations and constructive vibrations. It carries,
at all times, vibrations of fear, poverty, disease, failure, misery; and
vibrations of prosperity, health, success, and happiness, just as surely as
it carries the sound of hundreds of orchestrations of music, and hundreds of
human voices, all of which maintain their own individuality, and means of
identification, through the medium of radio.
From the great storehouse of the ether, the human mind is constantly
attracting vibrations which harmonize with that which DOMINATES the human
mind. Any thought, idea, plan, or purpose which one holds in one's mind
attracts, from the vibrations of the ether, a host of its relatives, adds
these "relatives" to its own force, and grows until it becomes the
dominating, MOTIVATING MASTER of the individual in whose mind it has been
housed.
Now, let us go back to the starting point, and become informed as to how the
original seed of an idea, plan, or purpose may be planted in the mind. The
information is easily conveyed: any idea, plan, or purpose may be placed in
the mind through repetition of thought. This is why you are asked to
write out a statement of your major purpose, or Definite Chief Aim, commit
it to memory, and repeat it, in audible words, day after day, until these
vibrations of sound have reached your subconscious mind.
We are what we are, because of the vibrations of thought which we pick up
and register, through the stimuli of our daily environment.
Resolve to throw off the influences of any unfortunate environment, and to
build your own life to ORDER. Taking inventory of mental assets and
liabilities, you will discover that your greatest weakness is lack of
self-confidence. This handicap can be surmounted, and timidity translated
into courage, through the aid of the principle of autosuggestion. The
application of this principle may be made through a simple arrangement of
positive thought impulses stated in writing, memorized, and repeated, until
they become a part of the working equipment of the subconscious faculty of
your mind.
SELF-CONFIDENCE FORMULA
First. I
know that I have the ability to achieve the object of my Definite Purpose in
life, therefore, I DEMAND of myself persistent, continuous action toward its
attainment, and I here and now promise to render such action.
Second. I realize the dominating thoughts of my mind will eventually
reproduce themselves in outward, physical action, and gradually transform
themselves into physical reality, therefore, I will concentrate my thoughts
for thirty minutes daily, upon the task of thinking of the person I intend
to become, thereby creating in my mind a clear mental picture of that
person.
Third. I know through the principle of auto-suggestion, any desire that I
persistently hold in my mind will eventually seek expression through some
practical means of attaining the object back of it, therefore, I will devote
ten minutes daily to demanding of myself the development of SELF-CONFIDENCE.
Fourth. I have clearly written down a description of my DEFINITE CHIEF AIM
in life, and I will never stop trying, until I shall have developed
sufficient self-confidence for its attainment.
Fifth. I fully realize that no wealth or position can long endure, unless
built upon truth and justice, therefore, I will engage in no transaction
which does not benefit all whom it affects. I will succeed by attracting to
myself the forces I wish to use, and the cooperation of other people. I will
induce others to serve me, because of my willingness to serve others. I will
eliminate hatred, envy, jealousy, selfishness, and cynicism, by developing
love for all humanity, because I know that a negative attitude toward others
can never bring me success. I will cause others to believe in me, because I
will believe in them, and in myself.
I will sign my name to this formula, commit it to memory, and repeat it
aloud once a day, with full FAITH that it will gradually influence my
THOUGHTS and ACTIONS so that I will become a self-reliant, and successful
person.
Back of this formula is a law of Nature which no man has yet been able to
explain. It has baffled the scientists of all ages. The psychologists have
named this law "auto-suggestion," and let it go at that.
The name by which one calls this law is of little importance. The important
fact about it is— it WORKS for the glory and success of mankind, IF it is
used constructively. On the other hand, if used destructively, it will
destroy just as readily. In this statement may be found a very significant
truth, namely; that those who go down in defeat, and end their lives in
poverty, misery, and distress, do so because of negative application of the
principle of auto-suggestion. The cause may be found in the fact that ALL
IMPULSES OF THOUGHT HAVE A TENDENCY TO CLOTHE THEMSELVES IN THEIR PHYSICAL
EQUIVALENT.
The subconscious mind, (the chemical laboratory in which all thought
impulses are combined, and made ready for translation into physical
reality), makes no distinction between constructive and destructive thought
impulses. It works with the material we feed it, through our thought
impulses. The subconscious mind will translate into reality a thought driven
by FEAR just as readily as it will translate into reality a thought driven
by COURAGE, or FAITH.
The pages of medical history are rich with illustrations of cases of
"suggestive suicide." A man may commit suicide through negative suggestion,
just as effectively as by any other means. In a midwestern city, a man by
the name of Joseph Grant, a bank official, "borrowed" a large sum of the
bank's money, without the consent of the directors. He lost the money
through gambling. One afternoon, the Bank Examiner came and began to check
the accounts. Grant left the bank, took a room in a local hotel, and when
they found him, three days later, he was lying in bed, wailing and moaning,
repeating over and over these words, "My God, this will kill me! I cannot
stand the disgrace." In a short time he was dead. The doctors pronounced the
case one of "mental suicide."
Just as electricity will turn the wheels of industry, and render useful
service if used constructively; or snuff out life if wrongly used, so will
the law of auto-suggestion lead you to peace and prosperity, or down into
the valley of misery, failure, and death, according to your degree of
understanding and application of it.
If you fill your mind with FEAR, doubt and unbelief in your ability to
connect with, and use the forces of Infinite Intelligence, the law of auto—
suggestion will take this spirit of unbelief and use it as a pattern by
which your subconscious mind will translate it into its physical equivalent.
THIS STATEMENT IS AS TRUE AS THE STATEMENT THAT TWO AND TWO ARE FOUR!
Like the wind which carries one ship East, and another West, the law of
auto-suggestion will lift you up or pull you down, according to the way you
set your sails of THOUGHT. The law of auto-suggestion, through which any
person may rise to altitudes of achievement which stagger the imagination,
is well described in the following verse:
"If you think you are
beaten, you are,
If you think you dare not, you don't
If you like to win, but you think you can't,
It is almost certain you won't.
.
"If you think you'll lose, you're lost
For out of the world we find,
Success begins with a fellow's will—
It's all in the state of mind.
.
"If you think you are outclassed, you are,
You've got to think high to rise,
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
.
"Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But soon or late the man who wins
Is the man WHO THINKS HE CAN!"
Observe the
words which have been emphasized, and you will catch the deep meaning which
the poet had in mind.
Somewhere in your make-up (perhaps in the cells of your brain) there lies
sleeping, the seed of achievement which, if aroused and put into action,
would carry you to heights, such as you may never have hoped to attain.
Just as a master musician may cause the most beautiful strains of music to
pour forth from the strings of a violin, so may you arouse the genius which
lies asleep in your brain, and cause it to drive you upward to whatever goal
you may wish to achieve.
Abraham Lincoln was a failure at everything he tried, until he was well past
the age of forty. He was a Mr. Nobody from Nowhere, until a great experience
came into his life, aroused the sleeping genius within his heart and brain,
and gave the world one of its really great men. That "experience" was mixed
with the emotions of sorrow and LOVE. It came to him through Anne Rutledge,
the only woman whom he ever truly loved.
It is a known fact that the emotion of LOVE is closely akin to the state of
mind known as FAITH, and this for the reason that Love comes very near to
translating one's thought impulses into their spiritual equivalent. During
his work of research, the author discovered, from the analysis of the
life-work and achievements of hundreds of men of outstanding accomplishment,
that there was the influence of a woman's love back of nearly EVERY ONE OF
THEM. The emotion of love, in the human heart and brain, creates a favorable
field of magnetic attraction, which causes an influx of the higher and finer
vibrations which are afloat in the ether.
If you wish evidence of the power of FAITH, study the achievements of men
and women who have employed it. At the head of the list comes the Nazarene.
Christianity is the greatest single force which influences the minds of men.
The basis of Christianity is FAITH, no matter how many people may have
perverted, or misinterpreted the meaning of this great force, and no matter
how many dogmas and creeds have been created in its name, which do not
reflect its tenets.
The sum and substance of the teachings and the achievements of Christ, which
may have been interpreted as "miracles," were nothing more nor less than
FAITH. If there are any such phenomena as "miracles" they are produced only
through the state of mind known as FAITH! Some teachers of religion, and
many who call themselves Christians, neither understand nor practice FAITH.
Let us consider the power of FAITH, as it is now being demonstrated, by a
man who is well known to all of civilization, Mahatma Gandhi, of India. In
this man the world has one of the most astounding examples known to
civilization, of the possibilities of FAITH. Gandhi wields more potential
power than any man living at this time, and this, despite the fact that he
has none of the orthodox tools of power, such as money, battle ships,
soldiers, and materials of warfare. Gandhi has no money, he has no home, he
does not own a suit of clothes, but HE DOES HAVE POWER. How does he come by
that power?
HE CREATED IT OUT OF HIS UNDERSTANDING OF THE PRINCIPLE OF FAITH, AND
THROUGH HIS ABILITY TO TRANSPLANT THAT FAITH INTO THE MINDS OF TWO HUNDRED
MILLION PEOPLE.
Gandhi has accomplished, through the influence of FAITH, that which the
strongest military power on earth could not, and never will accomplish
through soldiers and military equipment. He has accomplished the astounding
feat of INFLUENCING two hundred million minds to COALESCE AND MOVE IN
UNISON, AS A SINGLE MIND.
What other force on earth, except FAITH could do as much?
There will come a day when employees as well as employers will discover the
possibilities of FAITH. That day is dawning. The whole world has had ample
opportunity, during the recent business depression, to witness what the LACK
OF FAITH will do to business.
Surely, civilization has produced a sufficient number of intelligent human
beings to make use of this great lesson which the depression has taught the
world. During this depression, the world had evidence in abundance that
widespread FEAR will paralyze the wheels of industry and business. Out of
this experience will arise leaders in business and industry who will profit
by the example which Gandhi has set for the world, and they will apply to
business the same tactics which he has used in building the greatest
following known in the history of the world. These leaders will come from
the rank and file of the unknown men, who now labor in the steel plants, the
coal mines, the automobile factories, and in the small towns and cities of
America.
Business is due for a reform, make no mistake about this! The methods of the
past, based upon economic combinations of FORCE and FEAR, will be supplanted
by the better principles of FAITH and cooperation. Men who labor will
receive more than daily wages; they will receive dividends from the
business, the same as those who supply the capital for business; but, first
they must GIVE MORE TO THEIR EMPLOYERS, and stop this bickering and
bargaining by force, at the expense of the public. They must earn the
right to dividends!
Moreover, and this is the most important thing of all— THEY WILL BE LED BY
LEADERS WHO WILL UNDERSTAND AND APPLY THE PRINCIPLES EMPLOYED BY MAHATMA
GANDHI. Only in this way may leaders get from their followers the spirit of
FULL cooperation which constitutes power in its highest and most enduring
form.
This stupendous machine age in which we live, and from which we are just
emerging, has taken the soul out of men. Its leaders have driven men as
though they were pieces of cold machinery; they were forced to do so by the
employees who have bargained, at the expense of all concerned, to get
and not to give. The watchword of the future will be HUMAN HAPPINESS
AND CONTENTMENT, and when this state of mind shall have been attained, the
production will take care of itself, more effectively than anything that has
ever been accomplished where men did not, and could not mix FAITH and
individual interest with their labor.
Because of the need for faith and cooperation in operating business and
industry, it will be both interesting and profitable to analyze an event
which provides an excellent understanding of the method by which
industrialists and business men accumulate great fortunes, by giving
before they try to get.
The event chosen for this illustration dates back to 1900, when the United
States Steel Corporation was being formed. As you read the story, keep in
mind these fundamental facts and you will understand how IDEAS have been
converted into huge fortunes.
First, the huge United States Steel Corporation was born in the mind of
Charles M. Schwab, in the form of an IDEA he created through his
IMAGINATION! Second, he mixed FAITH with his IDEA. Third, he formulated a
PLAN for the transformation of his IDEA into physical and financial reality.
Fourth, he put his plan into action with his famous speech at the University
Club. Fifth, he applied, and followed-through on his PLAN with PERSISTENCE,
and backed it with firm DECISION until it had been fully carried out. Sixth,
he prepared the way for success by a BURNING DESIRE for success.
If you are one of those who have often wondered how great fortunes are
accumulated, this story of the creation of the United States Steel
Corporation will be enlightening. If you have any doubt that men can THINK
AND GROW RICH, this story should dispel that doubt, because you can plainly
see in the story of the United States Steel, the application of a major
portion of the thirteen principles described in this book.
This astounding description of the power of an IDEA was dramatically told by
John Lowell, in the New York World- Telegram, with whose courtesy it is here
reprinted.
"A PRETTY AFTER-DINNER SPEECH FOR
A BILLION DOLLARS
"When, on
the evening of December 12, 1900, some eighty of the nation's financial
nobility gathered in the banquet hail of the University Club on Fifth Avenue
to do honor to a young man from out of the West, not half a dozen of the
guests realized they were to witness the most significant episode in
American industrial history.
"J. Edward Simmons and Charles Stewart Smith, their hearts full of gratitude
for the lavish hospitality bestowed on them by Charles M. Schwab during a
recent visit to Pittsburgh,
had arranged the dinner to introduce the thirty-eight-year-old steel man to
eastern banking society. But they didn't expect him to stampede the
convention. They warned him, in fact, that the bosoms within New York's
stuffed shirts would not be responsive to oratory, and that, if he didn't
want to bore the Stilhnans and Harrimans and Vanderbilts, he had better
limit himself to fifteen or twenty minutes of polite vaporings and let it go
at that. " Even John Pierpont Morgan, sitting on the right hand of Schwab as
became his imperial dignity, intended to grace the banquet table with his
presence only briefly. And so far as the press and public were concerned,
the whole affair was of so little moment that no mention of it found its way
into print the next day.
"So the two hosts and their distinguished guests ate their way through the
usual seven or eight courses. There was little conversation and what there
was of it was restrained. Few of the bankers and brokers had met Schwab,
whose career had flowered along the banks of the Monongahela, and none knew
him well. But before the evening was over, they— and with them Money Master
Morgan — were to be swept off their feet, and a billion dollar baby, the
United States Steel Corporation, was to be conceived. "It is perhaps
unfortunate, for the sake of history, that no record of Charlie Schwab's
speech at the dinner ever was made. He repeated some parts of it at a later
date during a similar meeting of Chicago bankers. And still later, when the
Government brought suit to dissolve the Steel Trust, he gave his own
version, from the witness stand, of the remarks that stimulated Morgan into
a frenzy of financial activity.
"It is probable, however, that it was a 'homely' speech, somewhat
ungrammatical (for the niceties of language never bothered Schwab), full of
epigram and threaded with wit. But aside from that it had a galvanic force
and effect upon the five billions of estimated capital that was represented
by the diners. After it was over and the gathering was still under its
spell, although Schwab had talked for ninety minutes, Morgan led the orator
to a recessed window where, dangling their legs from the high, uncomfortable
seat, they talked for an hour more.
"The magic of the Schwab personality had been turned on, full force, but
what was more important and lasting was the full-fledged, clear-cut program
he laid down for the aggrandizement of Steel. Many other men had tried to
interest Morgan in slapping together a steel trust after the pattern of the
biscuit, wire and hoop, sugar, rubber, whisky, oil or chewing gum
combinations. John W. Gates, the gambler, had urged it, but Morgan
distrusted him. The Moore boys, Bill and Jim, Chicago stock jobbers who had
glued together a match trust and a cracker corporation, had urged it and
failed. Elbert H. Gary, the sanctimonious country lawyer, wanted to foster
it, but he wasn't big enough to be impressive. Until Schwab's eloquence took
J. P. Morgan to the heights from which he could visualize the solid results
of the most daring financial undertaking ever conceived, the project was
regarded as a delirious dream of easy-money crackpots.
"The financial magnetism that began, a generation ago, to attract thousands
of small and sometimes inefficiently managed companies into large and
competition-crushing combinations, had become operative in the steel world
through the devices of that jovial business pirate, John W. Gates. Gates
already had formed the American Steel and Wire Company out of a chain of
small concerns, and together with Morgan had created the Federal Steel
Company. The National Tube and American Bridge companies were two more
Morgan concerns, and the Moore Brothers had forsaken the match and cookie
business to form the 'American' group— Tin Plate, Steel Hoop, Sheet Steel—
and the National Steel Company.
"But by the side of Andrew Carnegie's gigantic vertical trust, a trust owned
and operated by fifty-three partners, those other combinations were
picayune. They might combine to their heart's content but the whole lot of
them couldn't make a dent in the Carnegie organization, and Morgan knew it.
"The eccentric old Scot knew it, too. From the magnificent heights of Skibo
Castle he had viewed, first with amusement and then with resentment, the
attempts of Morgan's smaller companies to cut into his business. When the
attempts became too bold, Carnegie's temper was translated into anger and
retaliation. He decided to duplicate every mill owned by his rivals.
Hitherto, he hadn't been interested in wire, pipe, hoops, or sheet. Instead,
he was content to sell such companies the raw steel and let them work it
into whatever shape they wanted. Now, with Schwab as his chief and able
lieutenant, he planned to drive his enemies to the wall.
"So it was that in the speech of Charles M. Schwab, Morgan saw the answer to
his problem of combination. A trust without Carnegie—giant of them all—would
be no trust at all, a plum pudding, as one writer said, without the plums.
"Schwab's speech on the night of December 12, 1900, undoubtedly carried the
inference, though not the pledge, that the vast Carnegie enterprise could be
brought under the Morgan tent. He talked of the world future for steel, of
reorganization for efficiency, of specialization, of the scrapping of
unsuccessful mills and concentration of effort on the flourishing
properties, of economies in the ore traffic, of economies in overhead and
administrative departments, of capturing foreign markets.
"More than that, he told the buccaneers among them wherein lay the errors of
their customary piracy. Their purposes, he inferred, bad been to create
monopolies, raise prices, and pay themselves fat dividends out of privilege.
Schwab condemned the system in his heartiest manner. The shortsightedness of
such a policy, he told his hearers, lay in the fact that it restricted the
market in an era when everything cried for expansion. By cheapening the cost
of steel, he argued, an ever-expanding market would be created; more uses
for steel would be devised, and a goodly portion of the world trade could be
captured. Actually, though he did not know it, Schwab was an apostle of
modern mass production.
"So the dinner at the University Club came to an end. Morgan went home, to
think about Schwab's rosy predictions. Schwab went back to Pittsburgh to run
the steel business for 'Wee Andra Carnegie,' while Gary and the rest went
back to their stock tickers, to fiddle around in anticipation of the next
move.
"It was not long coming. It took Morgan about one week to digest the feast
of reason Schwab had placed before him. When he had assured himself that no
financial indigestion was to result, he sent for Schwab—and found that young
man rather coy. Mr. Carnegie, Schwab indicated, might not like it if he
found his trusted company president had been flirting with the Emperor of
Wall Street, the Street upon which Carnegie was resolved never to tread.
Then it was suggested by John W. Gates the go-between, that if Schwab
'happened' to be in the Bellevue Hotel in Philadelphia,
J. P. Morgan might also 'happen' to be there. When Schwab arrived, however,
Morgan was inconveniently ill at his New York home, and so, on the elder
man's pressing invitation, Schwab went to New York
and presented himself at the door of the financier's library.
"Now certain economic historians have professed the belief that from the
beginning to the end of the drama, the stage was set by Andrew Carnegie—
that the dinner to Schwab, the famous speech, the Sunday night conference
between Schwab and the Money King, were events arranged by the canny Scot.
The truth is exactly the opposite. When Schwab was called in to consummate
the deal, he didn't even know whether 'the little boss, ' as Andrew was
called, would so much as listen to an offer to sell, particularly to a group
of men whom Andrew regarded as being endowed with something less than
holiness. But Schwab did take into the conference with him, in his own
handwriting, six sheets of copper-plate figures, representing to his mind
the physical worth and the potential earning capacity of every steel company
he regarded as an essential star in the new metal firmament.
"Four men pondered over these figures all night. The chief, of course, was
Morgan, steadfast in his belief in the Divine Right of Money. With him was
his aristocratic partner, Robert Bacon, a scholar and a gentleman. The third
was John W. Gates whom Morgan scorned as a gambler and used as a tool. The
fourth was Schwab, who knew more about the processes of making and selling
steel than any whole group of men then living. Throughout that conference,
the Pittsburgher's figures were never questioned. If he said a company was
worth so much, then it was worth that much and no more. He was insistent,
too, upon including in the combination only those concerns he nominated. He
had conceived a corporation in which there would be no duplication, not even
to satisfy the greed of friends who wanted to unload their companies upon
the broad Morgan shoulders. Thus he left out, by design, a number of the
larger concerns upon which the Walruses and Carpenters of Wall Street had
cast hungry eyes.
"When dawn came, Morgan rose and straightened his back. Only one question
remained.
"' Do you think you can persuade Andrew Carnegie to sell? ' he asked.
"' I can try, ' said Schwab.
"' If you can get him to sell, I will undertake the matter, ' said Morgan.
"So far so good. But would Carnegie sell? How much would he demand? (Schwab
thought about $320,000,000). What would he take payment in? Common or
preferred stocks? Bonds? Cash? Nobody could raise a third of a billion
dollars in cash.
"There was a golf game in January on the frost-cracking heath of the St.
Andrews links in Westchester, with Andrew bundled up in sweaters against the
cold, and Charlie talking volubly, as usual, to keep his spirits up. But no
word of business was mentioned until the pair sat down in the cozy warmth of
the Carnegie cottage hard by. Then, with the same persuasiveness that had
hypnotized eighty millionaires at the University Club, Schwab poured out the
glittering promises of retirement in comfort, of untold millions to satisfy
the old man's social caprices. Carnegie capitulated, wrote a figure on a
slip of paper, handed it to Schwab and said, 'all right, that's what we'll
sell for.'
"The figure was approximately $400,000,000, and was reached by taking the
$320,000,000 mentioned by Schwab as a basic figure, and adding to it
$80,000,000 to represent the increased capital value over the previous two
years.
"Later, on the deck of a trans-Atlantic liner, the Scotsman said ruefully to
Morgan, 'I wish I had asked you for $100,000,000 more.'
"' If you had asked for it, you'd have gotten it, ' Morgan told him
cheerfully.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"There was
an uproar, of course. A British correspondent cabled that the foreign steel
world was 'appalled' by the gigantic combination. President Hadley, of Yale,
declared that unless trusts were regulated the country might expect 'an
emperor in Washington within the next twenty-five years. ' But that able
stock manipulator, Keene, went at his work of shoving the new stock at the
public so vigorously that all the excess water— estimated by some at nearly
$600,000,000— was absorbed in a twinkling. So Carnegie had his millions, and
the Morgan syndicate had $62,000,000 for all its 'trouble, ' and all the
'boys, ' from Gates to Gary, had their millions.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"The
thirty-eight-year-old Schwab had his reward. He was made president of the
new corporation and remained in control until 1930."
The dramatic story of "Big Business" which you have just finished, was
included in this book, because it is a perfect illustration of the method by
which DESIRE CAN BE TRANSMUTED INTO ITS PHYSICAL EQUIVALENT!
I imagine some readers will question the statement that a mere, intangible
DESIRE can be converted into its physical equivalent. Doubtless some will
say, "You cannot convert NOTHING into SOMETHING!" The answer is in the story
of United States Steel.
That giant organization was created in the mind of one man. The plan by
which the organization was provided with the steel mills that gave it
financial stability was created in the mind of the same man. His FAITH, his
DESIRE, his IMAGINATION, his PERSISTENCE were the real ingredients that went
into United States Steel. The steel mills and mechanical equipment acquired
by the corporation, AFTER IT HAD BEEN BROUGHT INTO LEGAL EXISTENCE, were
incidental, but careful analysis will disclose the fact that the appraised
value of the properties acquired by the corporation increased in value by an
estimated SIX HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS, by the mere transaction which
consolidated them under one management.
In other words, Charles M. Schwab's IDEA, plus the FAITH with which he
conveyed it to the minds of J. P. Morgan and the others, was marketed for a
profit of approximately $600,000,000. Not an insignificant sum for a single
IDEA!
What happened to some of the men who took their share of the millions of
dollars of profit made by this transaction, is a matter with which we are
not now concerned. The important feature of the astounding achievement is
that it serves as unquestionable evidence of the soundness of the philosophy
described in this book, because this philosophy was the warp and the woof of
the entire transaction. Moreover, the practicability of the philosophy has
been established by the fact that the United States Steel Corporation
prospered, and became one of the richest and most powerful corporations in
America, employing thousands of people, developing new uses for steel, and
opening new markets; thus proving that the $600,000,000 in profit which the
Schwab IDEA produced was earned.
RICHES begin in the form of THOUGHT!
The amount is limited only by the person in whose mind the THOUGHT is put
into motion. FAITH removes limitations! Remember this when you are ready to
bargain with Life for whatever it is that you ask as your price for having
passed this way.
Remember, also, that the man who created the United States Steel Corporation
was practically unknown at the time. He was merely Andrew Carnegie's "Man
Friday" until he gave birth to his famous IDEA. After that he quickly rose
to a position of power, fame, and riches.
THERE ARE NO LIMITATIONS TO THE MIND EXCEPT THOSE WE ACKNOWLEDGE
BOTH POVERTY AND RICHES ARE THE OFFSPRING OF THOUGHT |
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