Glass _J_£L-L2J— Book^Jlie Sherman Rogers Foremen! Spark Plugs or Grounded Wires Sherman Rogers 2kL r > «? & \ Published by the Author Copyright, 1922 by SHERMAN ROGERS By Transfer MaR2 9i924 £fr'W~&&#. FOREMEN SPARK PLUGS OR GROUNDED WIRES Speech Delivered by Sherman Rogers Before the Fore- man's School — Milwaukee Association of Commerce Gentlemen, before I start on the main part of this address I want to make a pertinent remark regarding my idea of the average foreman. Probably we'll get along better during the next hour: In the first place, the fact that you are foremen is proof in itself that you are men pos- sessed of initiative, with a definite desire to ad- vance up the ladder of hard work to success, and that desire in itself stamps you worthwhile men. If you didn't have these qualities you wouldn't be here. You would, in all probability, be smok- ing a cheap cigar down in a poolroom somewhere, or in attendance at some meeting where some "long" on hair and "short" on brain agitator would be telling you how little work you ought to do for the money you get. The fact that you are leaders of men proves that you have tried to do as much as you could for the money you have received, and it also proves that you have been long weaned from a milk bottle, and that you are probably even capable of doing problems in addition, subtraction, and multiplication. (Laughter.) That last remark is a satire on a certain type of academic theorist. I don't want to use sarcasm in this address, but I have read so 4 Foremen — Spark Plugs many idiotic statements written from dormito- ries, by men who have never seen a working man, giving the key to success for foremen. I want to tell you men something right now: No man has any business talking about how to handle working men until he has worn overalls, has sweat with men, gone hungry with men, fought with men, and knows from actual hard earned experience what a working man's heart really is. (Long applause.) TWO KINDS OF COLLEGE MEN I have met, face to face, a few dormitory theorists who have written a great deal about the shortcomings of foremen. It was a rare treat, I assure you. But after an hour's conversation with some of these men I became thoroughly con- vinced that if they would have written a book on what they didn't know about the working man, they would have been millionaires long since. (Laughter.) Don't get me wrong! I have the greatest admiration in the world for a man with a college education. If a man wants to study law after he receives his education in a good col- lege, you will find that his next step is a daily at- tendance in smelly courtrooms where cases are being tried, so as to get an actual contact experi- ence with their profession. And that is good. We find doctors who spend many years in great institutions of learning, spending other years, when they graduate, as hospital interns, and working in free clinics where they may get actual experience with the main particulars of the pro- fession they are going to follow. But for some un- or Grounded Wires known reason men going through college to be- come experts in handling men, feel, in many in- stances, that the morning they hatch out of col- lege they can bloom into great experts on the labor problem. Let me tell you, gentlemen, that that is not always the case. Take the college man who goes through college and then spends a few years right down in the ranks of men, learning their language, their habits, their de- sires, their prejudices, — he has a right to talk, and they make what, by all rules of the game they ought to make, Al leaders of men. Why I make these remarks is probably obvious to most of you. You will be approached scores of times in the next year or two, to purchase a cor- respondence course of how to lead men. My ad- vice to you is that before you buy find out if the author of the correspondence course has ever led men himself. If he has, buy; if he hasn't, locate the closest wastepaper basket. (Laugh- ter.) THE SECRET OF SUCCESS I have never been through college, but I would give my right arm if I had been. But everyone in the country lately has been contributing to newspapers short articles on what they consider the key to success. I have read hundreds of them. Most of them have said that hard work is the key to success, but that doesn't tell the story at all. I know men who have worked steadily for twenty-five years without missing a day; have worked hard every minute of that time; have been saving and temperate in their 6 Foremen — Spark Plugs habits, and they are not only broke but utter failures today. They were grouches. They worked because they had to work to live ; not be- cause they considered work one of the greatest gifts of God. A grouch is a failure — yesterday, today and tomorrow. I pity every one of you men if you look on work as toil. Those of you who do will never advance any further than you already have advanced. The law of human na- ture will keep you right where you are. I am not theorizing. I don't want to appear egotistic, but I am going to give you the rock bottom, copper riveted key to success, and that is — No man can succeed unless he learns to love the job he has in hand. The love of work immediately puts en- thusiasm in everything you do. The ability to learn to love work is the key to the jewel box of success. I have met many of the great American captains of industry and finance. During my youth I had always pictured these men as being abnormally great; — if you please, men of supe- rior blood and brain. I am frank to tell you that I have no such cobwebs in my brain now. It didn't take me long to realize why these men were big men, and successful men. Without ex- ception, every great captain of industry or fi- nance that I know are men who are wrapped up, heart, body, and soul in their work. I have heard about how men of great achievement are "dollar lovers." That's the greatest bunk in American history. Builders? Yes! Builders because they are head over heels in love with the thing they are building. They have woed and won the work or Grounded Wires they have been successful in. They made of it an ardent courtship. Their work was as pleasant a part of their life from eight o'clock in the morn- ing until five o'clock at night as their home life from seven o'clock at night until seven o'clock the next morning. And so I tell you, without the slightest doubt, the secret of success is enthusias- tic application of every ounce of your energy to the job at hand, and to do that you must learn to love it. And so, whatever you do, if you want to succeed, if you want to play fair with yourself, remember that you have just as big a brain as the man above you, and that with the proper enthu- siasm and the careful elimination of grouch, and the spirit of knocking, you'll get there; all the world loves a lover; and when you have learned to love the job you have now, you will have dis- persed the clouds that have been withholding from you the sunlight of happiness and greater success. FOREMEN AND MEN Foremanship is divided into two classifications ' — study of men and study of business. Fore- men — I think at least ninety percent of them — have come up from the ranks. They have worked at the job they are now superintending, as a gen- eral rule. These men know what a man can do and what he cannot. Therefore, I feel, and I think I am justified in making the assertion, that the development of future production to a greater standard than the present is going to be accomplished through foremen. I will tell you why: Foremen are going to recognize the neces- 8 Foremen — Spark Plugs sity of spirit in industry. I am not talking about the occult either. The efficiency of a man is either raised or lowered from fifteen to fifty de- grees by his mental attitude toward the job, by his mental attitude toward the company, and by his mental attitude toward the foreman he is working under. Therefore, the foreman, having practical experience, is going to learn how to pull every ounce of spirit out of a man by becom- ing thoroughly familiar with the peculiarities of every individual under his direction. The Fore- man is the "key" man in industry. He is the point of direct contact between men and man- agement. He seldom has more than 25 men under him; rarely over fifteen. There is abso- lutely nothing to prevent this Under-Foreman from thoroughly understanding the makeup of every man in his crew, and believe me, boys, that is the most important job the foreman has; much more than merely telling a man what he is to do, in the morning, and when he can quit, at night. The foreman of the future who is not a good reader of character; who hasn't a feeling of re- spect and admiration for men as a whole; who has not a pleasing personality — will find his job limited to a mighty small sphere. Foremen of the future who desire to advance will find that the development of personality and his ability to sell confidence, good will and re- spect to men will be a lot bigger factor in bring- ing an increased pay check and a higher position of authority, than his ability to "drive" men foi a short period of time. or Grounded Wires WHY SOME MEN QUIT Foremen of the future will have to be men who can keep down the "turn-over." The biggest factor by far in limiting "turn-over" lies directly in the personality of the foreman. I have worked all over the country with rough men. I think two-thirds of the men that have quit a job that I have worked on have done so for dislike of either an indifferent or arrogant foreman. Good men — hard working men — never say so when they quit. If they do not like a foreman, they are generally gentlemen enough to walk right in and get their pay check and neither ask questions or tell tales. The average working man feels that it is kind of a "stool pigeon" job to roast a foreman to a superintendent or to the book- keeper who hands him his check. I have found mighty few workmen who would tell the super- intendent of a job his real reason for quitting. Lumberjacks are itinerant workers and so I have worked for many foremen. I am only an average human being ; at least, I think I am hu- man. I have always noted that in the camp, where I liked the management from the foreman, up, and from the superintendent, down, work was a pleasure; time went quickly; the morale of the men was the highest and efficiency the great- est. Why? Simply because these foremen awakened in myself, and others who worked with me, a feeling of good will, respect and confidence and when we were thoroughly sold on these three qualities of our official superiors, the manage- ment didn't have to run around finding where the 10 Foremen — Spark Plugs leak was in diminished production. There wasn't any such thing as diminished production where there was "spirit in" the crew, — confidence in the foreman and good will toward the Company. That camp didn't need industrial experts because those foremen pulled everything out of a man. I will illustrate this with a story of a western logging camp. This happens to be a true story. THE STORY OF TONY An Italian about forty years old had been working as a "road monkey" — woods' parlance for a road sander. He had been on the job for a couple of years; never spoke to anyone and being a very unkempt dresser, wearing overalls that had a score of patches on them, it was only natural that the men around him almost wholly ignored him, and the foremen were accustomed to slapping orders at him with an undisguised inflection of contempt. Finally, one of the camp workmen was elevated to foremanship. He had charge of the roads. Feeling pretty good the first morning over his new raise, both in author- ity and salary, the new "push" walked down the logging road, and the first man he encountered was "Tony the Wop." He said, "Good morn- ing, Tony. How does she go?" He spoke cheer- iiy- Tony looked up dazed, and noted at once that the foreman was not trying to ridicule him. That probably was the first time that anybody had said "good morning" to Tony since he had been on that job — that is, said it with a friendly or Grounded Wires 11 inflection of the voice. Tony straightened up and said, "Fine! Fine!" "Tony," the foreman continued, "You cer- tainly have an important job; the most impor- tant in this camp. You have the lif e of a team- ster and four horses in your hand continuously. All you have to do is a poor job of sanding and immediately the life of those horses and teamster are in jeopardy. Their lives are entirely in your hand. I am very glad to know that you have always performed your work without a single man or team ever being hurt on these hills. It shows you feel your responsibilities seriously, and I want you to feel that not only I, but this Company appreciate the way you have handled this road job." Tony couldn't believe his ears. He only shaved once a week. His shirt was one of many colors; patches from crazy quilts down. No one ever said a word to him; I don't think anybody in that camp thought there was an ounce of real stuff in that unkempt figure. He was slow of movement. I don't believe he could have gotten out of the way of a falling tree quick. The same evening the foreman had had the short talk with Tony, the leading teamster walked into the bunkhouse and the first thing he said to the crew of men who were changing their clothes was, "By the Great Horn Spoon, that 'wop' has throwed sand around today like a man 'possessed'. What in the Sam Hill do you sup- pose struck him. He has been charging up and down these hills today like an electric battery." (Laughter.) 12 Foremen — Spark Plugs Then a few days later the foreman was going to a dance. The camp closed at four o'clock on Saturday afternoon. The foreman hurriedly walked down the logging road and encountered Tony headed the same way, and gave him a jar. "How are you?" Tony stopped him. "Boss" he said very fear- fully, "You are going within a half mile of my house. Marie's got supper waiting. 'Spose you have supper at my house and then go to the dance." The foreman was amazed, and said, "My God, Man, are you married?" "Sure ting," Tony re- plied. "Gotta Marie and four keets — and the finest keets and the finest Marie." The foreman stood staring at the Italian. Go- ing through his mind was this one thought "For Heaven's sake, is it possible that an unkempt man like this could have ever hypnotized a wo- man to share life with him under the same roof." But something big within the foreman prompted him to accept the invitation. A half hour later they appeared at the edge of a clearing. A little two room log cabin with smoke enveloping suddenly loomed upon the far corner of the small cleared plot. Tony whistled. A door flew open and a woman wildly yelling, followed by four children, tore across the clearing meeting Tony half way. Tony grabbed his wife and the wife grabbed him, and they both sank to their knees while the four children romped around them with glee. Then the foreman woke up. He realized that here, kneeling in front of or Grounded Wires 13 him, was a perfect father, an indulgent husband and a real man, down underneath. (Applause.) During the short supper, accompanied by the odor of garlic and onions, Marie jumped up and ran around the table to the unsuspecting fore- man, grabbed him in her arms and kissed him flush on the lips. Marie could not speak English but Tony shamefacedly informed the "boss" that he had just told his wife "He is the best foreman in America; he has treated me like a white man." He had fully explained to his wife what had hap- pened. I don't need to go into details beyond this, only to say that today, Tony "The Wop" is the Superintendent of Construction in one of the largest logging camps in the State of Washing- ton and is considered one of the best logging road builders in the Puget Sound country. The foreman in question walked into the Superintendent's office the next morning and said a whole library in two sentences. THE FOREMAN SAYS A LOT IN A FEW WORDS "Bill," he snapped, "I'll tell you every liv- ing man has got an electric battery in him, if somebody will only turn on the switch. Every man has a great many qualities that will grow, that can be brought to light only through good will and confidence. If that "wop", who never had life enough to hardly walk, could, all of a sudden be converted into a two fisted, red-blooded peppy man, practically every man can and will 14? Foremen — Spark Plugs be the same thing, if the right method is applied to turning on the switch. (Long applause.) BLUE PRINTS VERSUS COMMON SENSE Now, it is possible that a fashion plate from a dormitory could have walked into that camp and showed the management where Tony was not performing all the work that he probably could perform; he could work this out on a definite table to show the shirking, but without practical experience, without confidence in men he could not in a million years instill the spirit that turned Tony from a clock watcher to one of the best, red-blooded, "He" men of the Pacific Northwest, and that is the big necessity of industry right now — getting team work, instilling spirit in men. That cannot be done by wireless ; it can't be done by tables, charts or blueprints ; it cannot be done by force or intimidation. (Applause.) I have seen men quit a job at noon on Satur- day, apparently so listless and tired that you would imagine they would go to bed until Mon- day morning; but, two hours later they are on a baseball field howling like Comanche Indians and running like deer. Why? Simply because they had the spirit in the ball game and didn't have it in their job. That's all. The big job in industry is keen observance of actual, everyday happenings on the job; taking advantage of mistakes and building successes from the stones you stumble over daily. They are the safest foundation. But, believe in men; have confidence in men or Grounde d Wires 15 and build men. Men will go to Hell for you if you can reach them under their coats — but it is the "man" in YOU, that must appeal to the "man" in THEM. Applause.) The spirit you wish engendered in men can only be developed by you yourself having your own spirit in the game, and I want to tell each of you Foremen, that if you are a square peg in a round hole; if you are "against" your Company; if you have a grudge — be man enough to quit. (Applause.) I have heard Foremen I was working under knock the Company they work for but I never had any respect for them after I heard them do it. Enthusiastic loyalty to the Company you work for is as necessary to success- ful leadership as salt is to the meal. If you are a grouch yourself, your crew will be grouchy. If you are only half hearted in your methods, that is all you are going to get from workers. You cannot expect an energetic, vigorous "hitting-on- all-six" crew, if you are coughing along on two cylinders. (Laughter.) It can't be done. You are the battery that is furnishing current for the crew. If that battery is weak, you are not going to get much response. (Applause.) BE "HE" MEN There is one thing you can't do; nobody ever has yet; I don't think anyone ever will. You can't mix enthusiasm with suspicion. It is like oil and water — it simply won't mix. Neither can you mix good will and indifference. Abso- lutely impossible. It can't be done. Neither can arrogance and efficiency work together long. 16 Foremen — Spark Plugs They are also like oil and water. Whatever you do, for the love of Heaven put red blood into it. Be "He" men. Be tolerant. Develop a person- ality and don't rest your arms on rainbow prom- ises from salesmen who can sell you at "so much down and so much a week" the key to success. You have got the key to success in your own hand. The lock is in front of you, but it is a simple key and it fits a small opening. You can't get the key in the lock blindfolded; you can't do it in a "hit or miss" fashion. It won't work. It has got to be methodically done. Your own intuition must guide your hand. When you have developed personality; de- veloped fairness; developed tolerance; you will have developed at the same time, unconsciously, the main spring that drives to permanent suc- cess — Principle; and when that principle, which is the balance wheel of civilization is thoroughly and permanently encased underneath your coat you will be able to climb almost any ladder, 'most anywhere; 'most any time. Because those four qualities develop a fifth, self-reliance, and with that combination nothing can stop you from reaching almost any goal you set out for. "KEEP HITTING THE BALL" Don't get discouraged. Real foremen must have patience; tolerance will give you patience. Many a foreman has gone "down and out" get- ting a little discouraged and then blowing up and becoming abusive when he didn't intend to. Red blood never gets discouraged — not very much — because red blood doesn't think much about the or Grounded Wires 17 past, it is building for the future. I don't care how dark the future may look for you along cer- tain lines ; how cramped you think your quarters may be; how limited you think your oppor- tunities are, take it from me, boys, keep on Hit- ting the ball! (Applause.) It is the discouraged man that can never see opportunity. The discouraged man can never instill faith in anyone else, nor can he win con- fidence. You are fighting men or you wouldn't be foremen. You have initiative or you wouldn't be here, as I told you at the start of my address. You have the quality to make successful men, if you will hit the ball and keep right on hitting it. Babe Ruth doesn't bat a home run every time he goes up to the plate; it is necessary that he "fan" a certain number of times to finally knock the horsehide for a goal. Quite a story right there. I have seen Babe Ruth "fan" three times in one game — but he swung the bat just as hard each time he missed as he did when he knocked the home run. "STEEL OR SLAG" THE STORY OF LIFE All successful men have had their dark days, but it is the troubles, disappointments, that tem- per the real hard steel of man within us. Iron goes through fire and comes out steel, if it is worked right . It goes back to softer iron, if it is not worked right. Disappointments and discour- agements are the fires of experience that temper the real honest-to-God qualities in man. (Long applause. ) Now I will close with an illustration of what 18 Foremen — Spark Plugs I mean. Two frogs were sitting on a table, envi- ously eyeing a pitcher of cream. One frog said, "It looks good to me." The other assented and they both jumped in. After a while they wanted to get out but found they could not, as the cream was too deep to stand on the bottom for leverage. They kicked around furiously for a few moments. Their case looked hopeless; the pitcher didn't get any smaller and the necessary foundation didn't get any closer. After an hour of strug- gling in the cream, one frog said, "What's the use? I'm going to quit. It's impossible to get out," and so, stretching all four legs, he sank to the bottom and died. The other frog thought, "Not me! I'm going to kick just as long as there is a breath of life in me. While there's life, there's hope. I won't be discouraged." So he kept on kicking, kicking, kicking. Finally churned the cream into butter, stood on the but- ter, and jumped out of the jar. (Long ap- plause. ) I thank you. Excerpts of Address to Elizabeth, N. J., Foremen Sherman Rogers "SELLING THE NEW MAN THE JOB" I have never seen a good building that could stand very long on a poor foundation. I have often tried to imagine what would happen to the Woolworth Building if they had not spent a staggering amount of money in sinking to bed rock so that the four corners of the building rested on a foundation that nothing could shake. or Grounded Wires 19 I think, in industry, very often we are tempted to try to build a building and then, later on, put in the foundation. It don't work, no matter how nice it looks. We might get along for awhile until it rains, or the frost comes out of the ground, then trouble starts. Ditto industrial re- lations. The best way to start a man on the job is to start the man right, and then, when trouble does come, financial depressions, or other ob- stacles that we are always confronted with, we find the man with confidence in the management — confidence in the company— is the man that says, "Let 'er buck; we're here first;" but the man that never has been satisfied — never sold to the management, flys up in the air, and the trouble starts. I've had a lot of experience, just like every man in this room; a whole lot of fine experience in taking my hat in my hand and ap- plying at the employment gate for work. Of course, the foreman cannot be held responsible for the shortcomings of the employment man- ager, and a great many employment managers have tremendous shortcomings. Why, I cannot tell you. I don't believe anybody else can. I have always believed it was easier to eat ice cream than vinegar, but there is many an employment manager that doesn't believe that. At many works, a man walks up to a youth, or a woman, who has a long lead pencil and lots of paper. He or she seldom looks up, but, with the snap of a gattling gun, and the personality of a dead salmon, yarps, "White or black? Mar- ried or single? Who was your great grand- father's eighteenth second cousin? How are you, 20 Foremen — Spark Plugs when are you, what are you; if not, why not, and what not?" (Applause.) In many places a man looking for a job is on trial, and the prose- cuting attorney is examining him. In some of the places you apply for a job to an employment manager, you get one feeling, right at the out- set, and that is that the company agents examin- ing you are death-scared that you will pass muster, and get inside the works. They seem to leave no stone unturned to discourage the applicant. I have seen good men walking away from the gate when they were told to come back the next morning, and they would say to the first man they met, "I'd sooner work for the devil himself than that outfit," and I imagine that the employment managers here wondered why these men did not appear the next day. This table doesn't work in all places. There are many em- ployment managers today, with a personality. They are the best, and they are getting big salaries, but why on earth all employment man- agers, and those who represent him, do not try to "sell" the applicant the company at the em- ployment gate, I don't know, many of them cer- tainly don't, in a great many cases ; but you fore- men are the next man on the job. THE NEW MAN AND THE FOREMAN The man that has gotten by the gate, into the works, more or less disgruntled and suspicious, comes in contact with the foreman on the job. Whether that foreman handles that man right the very first day, means a great many real gold dollars to the employer. If a workman starts or Grounded Wires 21 to work, and finishes the first day with his heart against the company, he is practically a liability for six months. On the other hand, if he is sold the first day, it is going to take many a jar to unsell him, and even though the employment manager doesn't do his job right — doesn't co- operate with you as he should — you can offset it a great deal by selling the man the company, from the inside, and that can only be done through YOU. If you have a lot of permanently disgruntled, dissatisfied, kicking men in your crew, against both you and the company, just go right home, take a good square look in the look- ing glass, take your hat off, and you'll be looking straight in the eyes of the fellow that is chiefly to blame. (Laughter.) You don't have to kiss the applicant as he arrives on the job. It isn't necessary that you walk up and wind your arms around his neck; and yet, every foreman should do his very best in trying to sell his own person- ality to the applicant in the first five minutes' contact; and, believe me, boys, selling yourself to the worker is 90 per cent of a foreman's job. Selling yourself means that you are selling the company; selling your company and yourself means the unselling of the radical, of the agi- tator. If you can sell your personality you have already built with solid rock a firm foundation of good will and confidence that will lead to co- operation, efficiency, and quantity production. (Applause.) No, I am not dreaming; I want to tell you that personality is one of the greatest forces in the world. It is one of the greatest assets of 22 Foremen — Spark Plugs man. I am not one of those that believe that all the brains in the world are up in the front office ; neither do I believe that all the brains on the job are vested in the foremen. They are not ; but the man in the head office, and the foremen, are oc- cupying their present positions chiefly through their personality. Personality is the greatest salesman in the world for ability. Ability with- out a personality is a long time in gaining recog- nition. Ability with personality is recognized instantly anywhere. What is personality? I have never heard it defined, but I'll make a stab at it. Personality, in a nutshell, is a cool head, a warm heart, an absolutely tolerant brain, and a character that is absolutely fair to both sides at all times, everywhere; or, in other words, a man who can recognize the fact that there are two sides to every quarrel, and there is a certain amount of merit in the man that is on the wrong side of it. Pleasing personalities are never im- pertinent, seldom sarcastic, and never bordering on a desire to ridicule. I want to give you a short illustration of the difference between a leader and a driver. Since leaving the Army I have tried to think up an incident that would illustrate what I want to say without referring to the Army, but I have never been able to find a parallel illustration as a propos as the actual experience I gained at Camp Lewis, Washington: The reason I quote this story is that it graphi- cally illustrates the greatest shortcoming in many newly made foremen, and possibly, in a few cases, the old ones; namely, pompous display of or Grounded Wires 23 authority. And mark me, foremen, no leader, whether the president of a company or an assist- ant straw boss, can gain either good will or con- fidence of a crew of men by making undue dis- play of his authority. The one thing I gained in my associations with laboring men that im- pressed me more than anything else, was the fact that labor, as a unit, instantly detests ostenta- tious authority. Before I tell my story I also want to point out one more salient feature of proper leadership in industry. The foreman doesn't live, never will live, who can add ar- rogance and abuse and get cooperation and con- fidence. The foreman doesn't now live, and never will live who can subtract confidence and cooperation from industry and get efficiency or quality production. It is just as impossible for a man to give a hundred per cent of his efforts to the foreman whom he detests as it would be to get an expression of gratitude from a man you have just struck in the face. Now, we will get back to Camp Lewis, and I'll give you an explanation of just what I mean: AN ARMY EXPERIENCE When the call to arms came, in the recent World War, there were a great many lumber- jacks who felt that sending five million men to France was superfluous. In the camp where I worked I heard a big Swede say one morning, "Send a few thousand lumberjacks over there and the Kaiser will be hunting tall timber in- stantly." I think that's the way they all felt about it — those that went. Of course, we had a 24 Foremen — Spark Plugs great many radical foreigners at that time, a large per centage of whom had never taken out citizenship papers of any kind, and, therefore, never were called into the service. However, many of them volunteered. Our bunch went from Shelton, Washington, were taken by automobile to Olympia and there by special car to Camp Lewis. I never felt so proud of men in my life as I did of those boys. All the way to Camp Lewis they were talking about how they were going to make Shelton proud of every lumberjack that went into the service. They weren't going to ask for any fa- vors, and didn't expect any. I had been to Camp Lewis several times to see my brother who entered the service a few days after the war broke out. I knew they liked you to "make it snappy." When I thought we were close to the cantonment, I called the brake- man over and asked him if he would let us know a few minutes before we entered the camp limits so that we might form in line and leave the car as rapidly as possible. He looked at me dumb- founded: "You're sure from the backwoods," he said, real pointed like; "let me tell you, son, that when you get to Camp Lewis you'll know all about it, and nobody will have to tell you." That brakeman may not have been a highly educated man, but he certainly knew how to tell the truth. Less than five minutes later the train slowed down. I was conscious of a terrific bang at the end of the car. The door had opened. An officer in khaki strode down the aisle. He wasn't talking; just sort of bellowing. I looked at his or Grounded Wires 25 shoulder. There was a single bar on it. It wasn't silver. (Laughter) Red in the face, he then bellowed, "Who has the papers?" I stood up quickly. "Sir, I have them." "Sit down," he howled; "Who in Hell told you to stand up." ( Laughter. ) And, gentlemen, from that instant I knew, beyond all possibility of a doubt, that I was in the army. (Prolonged laughter.) I think there are enough men here tonight who can tell those who were not in the army what hap- pened to us in the next thirty minutes. The next morning we heard the bugle blow, and just as the final blast echoed throughout the parade ground and barrack limits, there was a terrific din. I think some of the boys really be- lieved the Germans had arrived. I even had a faint suspicion myself, but we were soon dis- abused. We found it was the newly made cor- porals and sergeants airing out their lungs ; and they must have had a lot of bad air in them for a long time. (Laughter.) We finally rushed out in line. I was dazed. Not so much because of the newness of the army life, but from the continuous roar of abusive orders from corporals, sergeants, and I could give special mention of the "top cutter." In course of time I heard "Parade Rest" given in a raucous, stentorian tone. Of course, I had never heard it in my life; neither had any of the other "jacks." The "top cutter" nearly choked. I am positive that he swore in several languages. (Laughter.) My opinion of the United States Army had dropped, up to this time, about 60 per cent. 26 Foremen — Spark Plugs SQUADS RIGHT We went out on the drill field two days later, and had many disquieting experiences with newly made corporals and sergeants who, per- haps, a few days before, had been bell hops and bootblacks. The trouble with these fellows was they had been vested with a certain amount of authority and they were scared to death that the recruits would not fully recognize the tremendous heights to which they had suddenly risen. The trouble with those noncoms laid, generally, in the fact that they were unable to discriminate be- tween the authority in a corporal and a major general, and, being afraid that we would not notice their tremendous importance, they im- mediately took steps to see that we were duly informed; and I'll say one thing for them, — they did a good job. (Laughter.) In less than five minutes any stranger in the 166th Depot Brigade could easily point out every noncom without ask- ing foolish questions. — And then the fun started. — When a recruit made a mistake on the drill field the air was blue. They didn't stop with the drill field. They continually howled their au- thority in the barracks over the most trivial things until I really believe that some of those lumberjacks contemplated suicide or murder. I know I could have been sent to the mili- tary prison for life for my thoughts alone. (Laughter.) I had never known what real hate was before I arrived in that Depot Brigade, but I soon learned. We were so badly scared that we couldn't have executed an order properly be- cause our feet and our brain had ceased to recog- or Grounded Wires 27 nize each other. But the thing I noticed most in this Depot Brigade, something that fascinated me, was the talk of the men when we "fell out" for the rest period on the drill field. They were so choked with hateful anger that they were un- able to speak coherently. When we lined up at night I would look up and down the line, just before the "Fall Out" order came, and I could visualize a hundred and twenty-eight men whose eyes shone like diamonds, glistening with the fire of hate. I often wondered what would happen if we got to France with those same corporals. I have often wondered, if we ever got to fighting, whether we wouldn't have forgotten that we were looking for Dutchmen. I used to wonder if we wouldn't forget a moment, and our subconscious mind take some of those noncoms for disciples of the mailed fist. (Laughter.) Finally, one night, after about six hectic weeks in the Depot Brigade, our Lieutenant, who really was a white man, announced, one morning, that we would be assigned, that day, to our permanent units. We found we were going to the 1st In- fantry, where every officer and noncommissioned officer had seen from three to thirty years service in the United States Army, from Cuba to the Philippines. A few moments later the "top cut- ter" informed us that no longer would we be mollycoddled as we had been in the Depot Bri- gade. From now on we were going to get real discipline, (Laughter.) My hair stood on end. A big Swede hit me a slap in the back. I heard him mumble, "Sonny, if there's any more dis- cipline where we're going than we've had, I'm 28 Foremen — Spark Plugs going over the hill." "Your intelligence is mar- vellous," I whispered; "I've just been thinking the same thing." (Laughter.) However, I con- soled myself with one thought: It would be im- possible to encounter more arrogance, more abuse, more bragadocio than we had encountered in the Depot Brigade. An hour later we entered the barracks of the 1st Infantry. There was an ominous silence prevailing. Generally, you know, there is a silence before a storm. There was no profanity. We could see many men run- ning around with corporal and sergeant chev- rons. We thought, for a moment, that pesti- lence must have struck these barracks because there wasn't the slightest display of authority by these men, unless an order was being given or instructions handed out. There was some- thing peculiar about these men. They wore normal size hats. (Laughter.) They gave an order with a snap, but att the sting was left out. (Applause.) Gentlemen, all my life I had detested a Regu- lar Army soldier. I thought a Regular Army man in peace time was an individual without gumption enough to make three square meals a day on his own hook; but, let me tell you this — when I got among those old grizzled, tanned Regular Army boys I instantly realized that I was associating with the finest, squarest, whitest bunch of men I have ever been with in my life. (Applause.) These fellows were men. The next morning I heard the "first call" and my brain still dwelt on the Depot Brigade. I dressed in practically no time, made a rush for or Grounded Wires 29 the bannister; went down two steps at a time. I saw something coming up, but I didn't have time to dodge it. I collided, with full steam ahead, with the man coming up. We both went down in a heap. We came up brushing our uni- forms, and then, for the first time in my life, my knees absolutely refused to support my body, (Laughter) because I stood there gazing on the chevrons of a "top cutter." In the Depot Bri- gade I knew that this would mean at least ten years. (Laughter.) He looked me over a mo- ment and said, "Where did you come from?" I al- most whispered, "Depot Brigade." He laughed outright; "Oh," he said decisively, "you'll be all right in a couple of weeks." (Laughter.) That morning I noticed that there wasn't a command given that you could hear across the parade ground. We were like men in a dream, wondering when the officers were going to break loose. We waited a long time. Six months later they still hadn't broken loose. We arrived on the drill field a few hours after this. Again practical silence, so far as the non- commissioned officers were concerned. When they gave an order it was given in an even tone, with all the snap in the world behind it, but under the snap you could easily sense respect. The first order given on that field especially applied to me. I was the pivot man. The order was "Squads Right." My brain heard the order alright, but my feet still had the Depot Brigade idea. They got tangled. (Laughter.) Our corporal, who had seen five years of service, called a halt and gave us fifteen minutes of a 30 Foremen — Spark Plugs lecture; and before he got through, we knew we were going to like this part of the Army. He went right down the line with us. He not only told us, but he manifested toward us the utmost respect. He assured us that he was going to be pulling for every man in that squad every minute of the day. He wanted the members of that squad to be pulling for him the same length of time, but he pointed out very carefully that we were both trying to do the same thing — win a war. I couldn't write down what that boy said dur- ing those fifteen minutes, but every word came from the middle of him. We knew that although we would have to snap into every command he ever gave us, that little, hundred and twenty pound corporal had a ton of respect and con- fidence for every one of us, and remember, gentlemen, the corporals and sergeants in the army occupy the same position as the foremen and sub-foremen in industry. I can truthfully say that I enjoyed every day in that Regular Army. Bayonet drill, gas drill, twenty-mile hikes, all looked alike to us, but those officers knew how to put spirit and pep into men. They knew how to make men fight every inch of the way, and the 1st Infantry of Camp Lewis could walk the legs off of any other unit in it. But, there was no hating, no backbiting, no suspicion, no petty feeling between the non- commissioned officers and the men. The Depot Brigade "top cutter" was right — I never saw such discipline in my life, but it was a discipline built on respect, and the discipline was main- or Grounded Wires 31 tained just as much by the seven men in the squad as it was by the corporal or the sergeant. I believe any man in that squad would have knocked a man down who would have fallen down on inspection so as to put the corporal in bad. In due time we were mustered out. I don't need to go into the details of that, but I do want to tell you that there were mighty few men in that regiment who were able to say goodbye clearly to any of the officers. That's the only time in my life where I ever realized that your heart could get in your throat and wouldn't get out of it. The whole idea I bring out in this story is this : The Depot Brigade corporals and sergeants had exactly the same badge of authority as the noncommissioned officers in the 1st infantry. Whereas the Depot Brigade officers had the deep seated hatred of practically every recruit, the noncoms in the 1st Infantry had the whole- hearted, fighting respect of every man in the regiment. The difference between those two lead- ers was this — the Regular Army noncoms built their discipline by engendering the utmost re- spect from every man under them. He was a leader of men, pulled all the best there was in a man out, and, by his leadership, maintained a wonderful discipline and had the one hundred per cent support of every man under him. In other words, there wasn't a man, I don't believe, in the 1st Infantry, that wouldn't have gone through the fires of Hell for every officer and noncom in it; whereas, in the Depot Brigade, officers and 32 Foremen— Spark Plugs noncoms had tried to build a discipline, but they tried to build it through fear ; that is, putting the fear of God in the hearts of the men. They were arrogant, and continually made an ostentatious display of their authority. They were not lead- ers. They were drivers. They couldn't have whipped an army into shape in a thousand years, because it takes spirit to win battles and wars, and arrogance instantly eliminates spirit. THE FOREMEN WHO WIN OR LOSE Now, there you have a concrete comparison in the proper way to handle men. The leader, in this case, was successful; the driver wasn't. That isn't all — the driver never is. But, let me put one more thought in your mind — don't forget it — it's one of the keys to a foreman's success — the difference between the Depot Brigade cor- poral and the 1st Infantry corporal was that one knew the difference between discipline and abuse, and the other one didnt. One led and the other drove. One put his personality in the game, and the other put his arrogance in the game. One pulled out of a man everything he had in him. The other submerged all the good. One engen- dered confidence and good will. The other, stub- bornness and hatred. And, foremen, let me tell you this — in 1923 no foreman is going to get very far who cannot discriminate between disci- pline and abuse, between leadership and driver- ship — and there is no foreman living that can build shop morale if he cannot engender confi- dence and good will in those he leads. (Long applause. ) kKftHY 0F CONGRESS 021 590 466 HP"