If it at any time became a question between lowering wages or abolishing
dividends, I would abolish dividends. That time is not apt to come, for,
as I have pointed out, there is no economy in low wages. It is bad
financial policy to reduce wages because it also reduces buying power.
If one believes that leadership brings responsibility, then a part of
that responsibility is in seeing that those whom one leads shall have an
adequate opportunity to earn a living. Finance concerns not merely the
profit or solvency of a company; it also comprehends the amount of money
that the company turns back to the community through wages. There is no
charity in this. There is no charity in proper wages. It is simply that
no company can be said to be stable which is not so well managed that it
can afford a man an opportunity to do a great deal of work and therefore
to earn a good wage.
There is something sacred about wages--they represent homes and families
and domestic destinies. People ought to tread very carefully when
approaching wages.
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