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.
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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 p 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.
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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 counter part.
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."
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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.
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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" 'm 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."
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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.
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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 (i magnetized"
withemotion 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!
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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
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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.
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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.
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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 mid-western 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."
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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:
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"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.
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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 lifework
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.
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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 epression, to
witness what the LACK OF FAITH will do to business.
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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.
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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.
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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 SPEECII FOR A
BILLION DOLLARS
"When ' on the evening of December 12, 1900, some eighty
of the nation's financial nobility gathered in the
banquet hall 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.
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"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
Stillmans 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.
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"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.
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"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.
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"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, had 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.
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"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.
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"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 o 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.
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"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 $SO,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.
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"'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.
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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 maxketed 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
un-questionable 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.
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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.
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