THE PRINCIPLE 
 
 B BY GEO. L. DILLMAN V V 
 
THE PRINCIPLE 
 
THE PRINCIPLE 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO: 
 
 A. M. ROBERTSON 
 
 MCMXXII 
 
BRUCE BROUGH, PRINTER: SAN FRANCISCO 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 Somebody, probably Bacon, who has been 
 blamed with many things, including Shake- 
 speare, said "Principles are reached by in- 
 duction" Some may be. It is also submitted 
 that they may arrive another way. The induc- 
 tion method is not in accord with the story of 
 Newton, the apple and the Law of Gravity. 
 Accident and inspiration may at times be 
 credited. 
 
 Principles must stand the test of induction. 
 Any fact in contradiction will upset any 
 alleged principle. "The Principle" here 
 formulated did not arrive as a result of con- 
 sistent study. It came out of a clear sky. This 
 is its genesis: 
 
 When I was a young man, I had charge of 
 a division of railroad construction. There 
 was a dispute with a bridge contractor. Some 
 extra work was necessary. If it were my fault, 
 it should be estimated and paid for. If it were 
 his fault, he should do it at his own expense. So 
 far as "The Principle" is concerned, it makes 
 
 941292 
 
no difference which was right. He appealed 
 to my superior, who came and looked into the 
 matter, told me that my other work would take 
 all my time and that he would send another 
 engineer to take charge of that bridging. 
 
 In a day or so the bridge engineer came 
 with the usual letter. The last paragraph, how- 
 ever, said, "This does not relieve you of any 
 responsibility for that bridging." I slept over 
 the letter, put the new man to work in the 
 morning, as one of my crew. He had charge 
 of the bridging, under my direction. That was 
 not what the resident engineer had intended, 
 nor what the bridge engineer had understood. 
 It was what I interpreted the letter to mean. 
 The viewpoint does affect the reason. 
 
 The matter was passed up to the resident 
 who again came down, hot-foot, to settle the 
 thing. My reply to his question was to call his 
 attention to the last paragraph of his letter, 
 adding, " You can't saddle me with responsi- 
 bility and deny me authority to execute it. If 
 you take from me all authority, you must 
 relieve me of responsibility. 1 ' 
 
 The idea then expressed, with no premedi- 
 tation, has grown into this formulation. It 
 was good then. Its importance increased (to 
 
my understanding) for years. Now I know 
 it is the most important item of knowledge so 
 far formulated by and for the human brute. 
 
 Its presentation has been intermittent, one 
 interruption being the World War. It has been 
 so well received by well known executives of 
 the World that it is now known to be true en- 
 tirely aside from my own consciousness. "The 
 Principle" will not be copyrighted. I thank the 
 many friends who have allowed me to quote 
 them. 
 
 Geo. L. Dillman. 
 
 San Francisco, June 1922. 
 
THE PRINCIPLE 
 
 Authority and Responsibility should 
 lie together. 
 
 A^EW understand this. Others partially 
 understand it. To some it is so patent 
 that the words seem synonymous. 
 Yet they are perfectly antithetic. Its im- 
 portance lies in: 
 
 1. Its universality, applying to every act 
 or failure to act, of every individual, every 
 community of individuals, up to nations 
 and combinations of nations. 
 
 2. Its practicability, requiring no con- 
 census of opinion to operate it. Each indi- 
 vidual will operate it to the extent he under- 
 stands it. 
 
 3. Its simplicity, being much simpler 
 
]6 //}'!; JHE PRINCIPLE 
 
 than these or any words in which it can be 
 expressed. 
 
 4. Its infallibility. Every accordance is 
 right. Every right act is in accord. Every 
 violation is wrong. Every mistake, error, 
 sin or crime is a violation. Every accordance 
 is rewarded. Every violation is punished. 
 
 Bacon says, "Words in all languages are 
 commonly false or inadequate marks or 
 signs of things and by no means convey just 
 and perfect notions." This is a perfect no- 
 tion. That reader and writer may be en 
 rapport, these definitions are in order: 
 
 Authority is the right to do something. 
 The abstract right without the means of 
 performance is null. So to the right must be 
 added the means of performance. 
 
 The means are various, according to cir- 
 cumstances. Tools, strength, money, repu- 
 tation, organization, courage, are some of 
 them. The potency of any means of perfor- 
 mance is enhanced by knowledge of how to 
 use them. Without knowledge, authority is 
 often unused, misused, perverted. 
 
 So authority is complete when the right 
 to act and the means of performance are 
 
THE PRINCIPLE IJ 
 
 joined to a knowledge of when, where and 
 how to use them. 
 
 Authority is naturally desirable. We all 
 want to own things, to control things, to 
 use things, to do things. An overwhelming 
 majority of the human race wants to boss 
 the job, no matter what it is. Each and 
 every one of these things is right and proper 
 when the authority of ownership, control, 
 use, performance, is accompanied by the 
 corresponding responsibility of possession, 
 use, action. Otherwise they are wrong. Au- 
 thority includes all that is desirable. There 
 is nothing anyone naturally wants that is 
 not some form of authority. 
 
 Responsibility is also of various kinds, 
 physical, moral, financial, etc. Whatever 
 its intimate nature, its general nature is a 
 load to be shouldered, a burden to be borne. 
 
 Responsibility is naturally undesirable. It 
 is sometimes shirked. Passing-the-buck is a 
 common human activity. But it is the price of 
 authority. It must be paid or penalty follows. 
 
 The necessary relation of authority and 
 responsibility is what this is about. It is 
 called "The Principle." 
 
1 8 THE PRINCIPLE 
 
 Authority and responsibility should lie 
 together. Every act in accordance spells 
 advance, success. Every act in violation 
 spells failure, trouble. Since there is only 
 one way to be right and many to be wrong, 
 examples of violation are more common 
 than examples of accordance. Bacon says, 
 "In the raising of axioms, negative in- 
 stances have the greater weight." 
 
 Take a man driving a horse. 
 
 1. Horse properly hitched. Man in con- 
 trol. Knows how to drive. Safe trip. Author- 
 ity and responsibility with man. 
 
 2. Same man, same horse. Man drunk, 
 lines break or, in some manner, man loses 
 control. Docile horse. Goes home. Avoids 
 collisions. Safe trip. Authority and respon- 
 sibility with horse. 
 
 3. Same man, same horse, same loss of 
 control. Horse gets scared, runs away. Au- 
 thority with horse. Responsibility scat- 
 tered, with the man, passing vehicles, 
 pedestrians. 
 
 4. Same man, same horse, same loss of con- 
 trol, passenger. Passenger recovers control. 
 Authority and responsibility with passenger. 
 
THE PRINCIPLE 19 
 
 5. Guest gets rattled, grabs lines, neither 
 controls nor allows driver to. Disaster. 
 
 And so on, with an infinite number of 
 variations. We are the drivers. We are the 
 horses driven. We are passengers. We are 
 passers-by. We are cognizant of our abili- 
 ties. We are ignorant. We shoulder our 
 responsibilities, sometimes help others. We 
 butt in. We shirk. We pass the buck. We 
 let others butt in to our affairs. 
 
 There is no trouble possible that does not 
 come from some violation of "The Princi- 
 ple." Generally it comes direct and 
 promptly to the violator. It always reaches 
 him finally. Violation is all that provokes 
 righteous anger. We are angry when it 
 affects us and ours. We despise the violator 
 when it affects others. 
 
 "The Principle" is a true yardstick to 
 measure the meanness or greatness of men, 
 singly and collectively, past and present, 
 dead and alive. It measures us all. It is the 
 one thing that will justify ourselves to our 
 own souls. We can't dodge it. Nobody can. 
 
 Since men are judged by their perfor- 
 mances, "The Principle" is also a perfect 
 
2O THE PRINCIPLE 
 
 measure of the greatness or meanness of all 
 acts or failures to act. Every clause of 
 every treaty or edict or declaration or con- 
 stitution or statute since the dawn of his- 
 tory can be measured by it, has been right 
 or wrong as it accorded with or violated it. 
 As one reads history and biography, 
 "The Principle" is in evidence in each inci- 
 dent, each character; advance and success 
 in accordance always; trouble and failure 
 in violation, just as certainly. 
 
 "The Principle" is put into operation by 
 these three don'ts, which cover every case 
 of contact and conduct: 
 
 1. Don't butt in. Butting in is excercising 
 some form of authority when you do not 
 shoulder the corresponding responsibility. 
 If the responsibility lies elsewhere or you 
 are unable or unwilling to shoulder it, 
 don't butt in. 
 
 2. Don't shirk. Carry your natural or 
 acquired responsibilities. Shirking your 
 share of a joint load puts extra burden on 
 your associates, at times to the breaking 
 point. Don't overload yourself. Don't have 
 to call for help. You may not get it. The 
 
THE PRINCIPLE 21 
 
 attempt to accept responsibilities beyond 
 one's ability to execute them causes suicides 
 and fills our asylums. Don't pass the buck. 
 Don't shirk. 
 
 3. Don't let anybody butt into your af- 
 fairs. This sounds warlike. It is warlike. It 
 is the only justification for war. It's a per- 
 fect justification. The individual or the or- 
 ganization or the nation that violates this 
 "don't" deserves the slavery that ensues. If 
 the butter-in is stopped at the beginning, 
 there is no resentment on his part. If it is 
 allowed to continue a little, the idea of 
 vested rights gets into his mind and it is 
 harder to stop. If it is allowed to continue, 
 it becomes a divine right. That was Ger- 
 many's case. The German people were for 
 the Government, not the Government for 
 the people. 
 
 The line between one's own business and 
 the affairs of others is usually very plain. 
 There are cases where it is not so plain but 
 it is always there. The most important pur- 
 pose of education is to enable one to dis- 
 cern it, that 'The Principle" may be prop- 
 erly applied. 
 
22 THE PRINCIPLE 
 
 "The Principle" is a Natural Law. To 
 the extent we know natural laws, we are 
 educated. To the extent we are in accord 
 with Natural Laws, we are successful. To 
 the extent we violate Natural Laws, we are 
 failures. Natural Laws never change. Our 
 perceptions change. Our knowledge in- 
 creases but Nature's Laws are fixed. 
 
 "The Principle" is a wonderful rule of 
 conduct. To-do-or-not-to-do is an every 
 day question with everybody, often many 
 times a day. The facts examined in the 
 light of "The Principle" will give the right 
 answer every time. Without it there is often 
 much doubt. With it, we make no experi- 
 ments, take no chances, run no risks. Any- 
 thing that puts authority and responsibility 
 together is right. Anything that separates 
 them is wrong. There is no other right, no 
 other wrong. 
 
 The statements made are so broad it 
 hardly seems they can all be true. They are 
 true, every one. Truth never clashes with 
 other truth. Truth clashes with error and 
 errors with each other but no two truths 
 are ever contradictory or inconsistent. 
 
THE PRINCIPLE 2J 
 
 Contradiction is proof that supposed truth 
 is not entirely so. Another thing. Truth may 
 exist without our perceiving it. If you can 
 see "The Principle," it is yours. Don't take 
 another's say-so for it. That would be a 
 violation of "The Principle" itself. 
 
 Magna Charta, the Edict of Nantes, the 
 Declaration of Independence, the Consti- 
 tution of the United States, are applica- 
 tions of "The Principle." Some of the 
 amendments of the last are violations. 
 Taxation without representation was a 
 violation. We seceded from England 
 largely on that account. If we had been 
 given representation, we might be a Colony 
 of Great Britain today. Our secession un- 
 doubtedly helped other British colonies to 
 get representation, or their own parlia- 
 ments. 
 
 All the sins of commission consist of 
 butting in, wielding authority without re- 
 sponsibility. All the sins of omission are 
 shirking, refusing to wield authority when 
 it should be done. AH the sins of slavery, or 
 submission, are letting some one else butt 
 in to our affairs. 
 
24 THE PRINCIPLE 
 
 This is a big thing. All principles are big 
 things. That's what principle means. Its 
 application is co-extensive with human 
 activity. It invades the physical world. 
 The effect of posting or trussing an arch 
 hurts it as an arch. The attempt to make a 
 dam tight in more than one place weakens 
 the dam, sometimes to destruction. Load- 
 ing a bridge beyond its capacity, steam in 
 a boiler beyond the strength of its joints, 
 current through a wire beyond its capacity 
 to carry juice, tension in a rod beyond its 
 strength, are all violations of "The Prin- 
 ciple," therefore failures. Strength or ca- 
 pacity is authority. Load is responsibility. 
 
 To the individual, "The Principle" is a 
 safe guide in all performances. A Natural law 
 is higher than a man-made law. It is more 
 important that it be obeyed. Man-made 
 laws change. Natural laws are permanent. 
 One may escape detection or, on detection, 
 avoid punishment for a breach of man-made 
 law. No such immunity exists for violation 
 of Natural laws. So the fiction that ignor- 
 ance of the law is no excuse has a founda- 
 tion jieeper than is*generally considered. 
 
THE PRINCIPLE 25 
 
 To parents and children "The Principle" 
 is most important. When parents are in 
 accord, each shouldering their own and 
 recognizing the other's responsibilities, con- 
 ceding authority for their execution, the 
 happiest family is the result. We are not 
 far removed from barbarism. Civilization 
 is a thin veneer. It was almost rubbed off 
 in the World War. In family affairs fre- 
 quently one or the other wants to be boss. 
 Sometimes both do. When the question is 
 settled, if the dominant one carries the 
 responsibilities and the other concedes such 
 dominance, the result is still a very happy 
 combination. When either butts in to the 
 other's affairs or shirks their own responsi- 
 bilities, the result is friction, trouble, un- 
 happiness, divorce. 
 
 In the case of children, growth from in- 
 fancy needs "The Principle" at every step. 
 Authority may be given as fast and as far 
 as responsibility is felt, but never faster. 
 The youth given liberty, tools, horses, au- 
 tomobiles, money, beyond his feeling of 
 responsibility for each of those things, is 
 awfully handicapped in life. "The curse of 
 
26 THE PRINCIPLE 
 
 wealth" and "The blessings of poverty" are 
 proverbs arising from ability and inability 
 respectively, to violate "The Principle." 
 
 Volumes could be written on applica- 
 tions of "The Principle" to politics. A very 
 common trouble is our way of campaigning. 
 When the elected one comes to office with 
 no strings on him, the best results ensue 
 with that officer. By pre-election promises, 
 party or personal fealty, the officer has ob- 
 tained only the responsibility of office, hav- 
 ing ceded the authority for the sake of 
 election. Then the Civil Service Board 
 compel him to work with tools of their, not 
 his, selection. The result is less then good. 
 He fails, partly or wholly, as a result of 
 conditions. One who understands "The 
 Principle" will not accept office under those 
 conditions. That is the main reason why 
 inferior minds clamor for office and men of 
 better intelligence refuse to stand for elec- 
 tion. The recall is for the elected one, or 
 political oblivion or both. If he makes his 
 promises good, he ruins his future. If he 
 repudiates them, his past is vulnerable. 
 The man best fitted to administer an office 
 
THE PRINCIPLE 27 
 
 is often entirely unfitted to obtain it. The 
 people suffer and they should. They curse 
 politics and it is their own fault. They 
 should not require or allow pre-election 
 promises. The man who knows exactly 
 what he is going to do in any future case is 
 generally a liar anyway. 
 
 If there is any one thing the lay mind 
 can understand it is that our Constitution 
 contemplated three branches of govern- 
 ment, with some checks between, generally 
 acting independently, with defined author- 
 ity in each case. Whether that is the best 
 may be a matter of opinion, but that intent 
 is the fact. These are the Legislative, the 
 Executive and the Judicial. 
 
 The President, largely through patronage, 
 has affected Congress. This began under 
 Jackson and has increased until it is now 
 fairly complete. The President either dic- 
 tates legislation or is consulted about it 
 prior to enactment. So the laws of Congress 
 are the President's ideas instead of the 
 mind of Congress. The President is butting 
 in to the extent of such control. It is a 
 change in form of Government, a leaning 
 
28 THE PRINCIPLE 
 
 toward autocracy. It makes no difference 
 what the President's name is. It is the 
 biggest graft in our whole system. Graft of 
 money is insignificant by contrast. Ordi- 
 nary graft is to gain power. This is graft of 
 power itself. It is weilding power without 
 responsibility. 
 
 Congress is shirking. The Constitution 
 gave it authority to do specific things. 
 Passing the buck to the President is as bad 
 as the President's butting in. Congress 
 should not do the first nor allow the second. 
 President and Congress are not immune 
 from Natural laws. They are punished for 
 violation, same as others. Violation by both 
 is the reason for their being called "Dicta- 
 tor" and "Rubber stamp" respectively. 
 The serious thing is that the country suffers. 
 
 Organization is the welding of parts into 
 units. Its purpose is to develop strength by 
 concerted action. A battering ram is organi- 
 zation. Organizations are battering rams. 
 Their keynote is subordination. Every part 
 must be subordinate. The ultimate superior 
 must be subordinate to the purposes of the 
 organization. 
 
THE PRINCIPLE 29 
 
 There is no difference in principle be- 
 tween civil, military, political, business or 
 other organizations. That is, the same ideas 
 make for success or failure. There is a differ- 
 ence in the penalties paid for failures. 
 
 Discipline is the habit of subordination. 
 It exists willingly, thro' appreciation of the 
 necessities of the case; or forcibly, thro' fear 
 of punishment. The latter is the Prussian 
 variety. The efficiency of an organization is 
 directly related to its discipline. Insubordi- 
 nation in any degree is akin to a balky mule. 
 The rest of the team has to pull the mule as 
 well as the rest of the load. Sometimes they 
 get stuck. 
 
 "The Principle" teaches all there is to 
 organization, discipline, efficiency. Super- 
 iors should have ability and be given au- 
 thority. They must be considerate and 
 shoulder responsibility. Subordinates are 
 guided by the same rules. There are de- 
 grees of subordination. They must not butt 
 in to superiors' affairs. They must initiate 
 subordinate moves and carry on. 
 
 This brings up the Initiative of the Sub- 
 ordinate. Some years ago, Captain (now 
 
3O THE PRINCIPLE 
 
 Admiral) Sims made a talk on this subject 
 to the Naval Militia of Philadelphia. After 
 expurgation by Mr. Daniels, it was pub- 
 lished. That was applied to military organi- 
 zations. It applies to all organizations. 
 
 The efficiency of any organization de- 
 pends largely on the initiative of the sub- 
 ordinate. The purpose, the movement of 
 the moment, general directions, should 
 proceed from the head down. All details 
 that can be left to subordinates should be 
 so left. It relieves the head, encourages the 
 subordinate, develops esprit de corps, gets 
 things done, done right, done promptly. 
 
 Heads of affairs frequently say they have 
 no one in their organization to succeed 
 them. The fault is theirs. They have never 
 allowed their subordinates any latitude. 
 They have attended to unnecessary details 
 themselves. The result is bad, for the sub- 
 ordinates, themselves, the organization. 
 The only way to learn how to do anything 
 is to do it. 
 
 Like other things, initiative can be over- 
 done. When it applies to any but subordi- 
 nate moves to the known end, it is insub- 
 
THE PRINCIPLE JI 
 
 ordination and may be as disastrous as 
 direct disobedience of orders. 
 
 Ethics is defined as the basic principles of 
 right action. "The Principle" covers them 
 all. 
 
 Morality has reference to mental attitude 
 rather than performance. There can be 
 nothing immoral if "The Principle" is fol- 
 lowed. Everything immoral is violation. 
 
 Law and its administration are not en- 
 tirely satisfactory in any country. Statutes 
 are sometimes wrong. Judicial findings 
 sometimes do wrong. The influence of pull 
 is frequent. Since nothing is permanently 
 settled till it is settled right, laws are con- 
 stantly changing. 
 
 Nobody in the trial of a case is interested 
 in abstract justice. The parties and their 
 attorneys are after a verdict. They are fre- 
 quently not particular how they get it. 
 The witnesses are generally partial. The 
 alleged experts, no matter how unbiased 
 they start, are as partial as the attorneys, 
 once their opinion is formed. The presiding 
 officer should be and generally is neutral. 
 He is so hedged about with rules of evi- 
 
32 THE PRINCIPLE 
 
 dence, precedents, court procedures, cus- 
 toms, that his concern largely, sometimes 
 wholly, is to avoid error, subsequent rever- 
 sal and its consequences in reputation. 
 
 Every item in the unsatisfactory state of 
 the law is a direct violation of "The Prin- 
 ciple." Partial interest, self interest, local 
 interest, pull, compromise, expediency, 
 sophistry, politics, delay, all are violations. 
 Justice would be vastly improved if "The 
 Principle" were a guide in the enactment 
 of laws and in the rulings and findings of 
 courts. 
 
 Religion is many things to many people. 
 They all teach right living here, proper con- 
 duct in this life. There is not much agree- 
 ment about our origin. That is beyond 
 change, so it is interesting as throwing some 
 light on the hereafter. There is little agree- 
 ment, except hope, about the hereafter. 
 There is quite general agreement that good 
 conduct here will be rewarded there, if 
 there is any "there." 
 
 Heaven and hell may be here or here- 
 after. If here, acts in accord with "The 
 Principle" are rewarded here, every day, 
 
THE PRINCIPLE 33 
 
 visibly. Acts in violation are punished. 
 If hereafter, as a universal rule of conduct, 
 it teaches right living here and the reward 
 hoped for hereafter, or vice versa, as the 
 case may be. 
 
 "I intend to use your gospel as oppor- 
 tunity offers. Responsibility is a big 
 thought. Recognition of it and the conse- 
 cration that follows is all that is vital in 
 any religion." Chas. A. Murdock, S. F. 
 1917. 
 
 Philosophy is a compound of eternal veri- 
 ties, with their applications. The first 
 philosophers sought the base of things. 
 Some found air, some earth, some water, 
 some fire. Another school found ideas, 
 logic, mathematics, religion. 
 
 Bacon discarded all earlier philosophies, 
 accused Aristotle of confounding philos- 
 ophy with logic, Plato of mixing it with 
 religion, others of other faults, and founded 
 a philosophy of works, to be reached by a 
 contemplation of Nature. 
 
 German writers have written at length 
 on what they call philosophy but have de- 
 veloped nothing new. Their discussions 
 
34 THE PRINCIPLE 
 
 have descended to wrangling over defini- 
 tions. 
 
 As an eternal verity, as a basis of things, 
 as a perfect idea, as resulting in works, as 
 a Natural law, "The Principle" is truly 
 philosophic, no matter what school is 
 followed. 
 
 "The Principle" guides thought, there- 
 fore action. Minds are increased in 
 strength by it. Interest in all literature, 
 history, biography, fiction, the daily news, 
 current discussions, humor, is increased by 
 it. A lecturer on psychology said that 
 'The Principle" was the best expression of 
 practical or applied psychology ever form- 
 ulated. Maybe it is. It is a foundation of 
 every other branch of learning, why not 
 include psychology. 
 
 Any man who knows his business is 
 educated, whether he can read and write or 
 not. If he sticks to his business, he suc- 
 ceeds. Schooling is of less importance in 
 education than is usually credited. School- 
 ing alone is never education. When one 
 tries to operate beyond their ability, they 
 fail or, if they succeed, the success is acci- 
 
THE PRINCIPLE 35 
 
 dental. There are so many ways to be 
 wrong to each one way to be right, these 
 accidents are remarkable. 
 
 Judgment teaches you what to do. It is 
 born with us. Skill teaches you how to do. 
 It is acquired by practice. "The Principle" 
 teaches you when to do. It can be learned 
 right here. It is not taught in the schools 
 either by precept or practice. Yet it is the 
 veritable trunk of the tree of knowledge. 
 
 Labor is the most respectable thing in the 
 World. It seems about the only thing that 
 is intrinsically respectable. The greatest 
 satisfaction comes from some construction 
 with our own hands, without help. The 
 man with the hoe is to be envied, not 
 despised. 
 
 Why is he despised? Because he despises 
 himself. He is envious. He is ambitious. 
 He enters into political combinations that 
 get laws passed exempting him from opera- 
 tion of general laws, outlawing himself by 
 statute. He joins unions. They decree 
 various things, who may work, who may 
 learn how to work, who may employ, who 
 may not. The whole World seems to be 
 
36 THE PRINCIPLE 
 
 making rules for the other fellow, not for 
 themselves. Unions fall in line. All such 
 things violate "The Principle." 
 
 What's the answer? Follow "The Prin- 
 ciple." Organize if you want to. Strike if 
 it's to your advantage. Apply the three 
 don'ts. Don't butt in. Don't shirk. Don't 
 let any one butt into your business. And 
 especially don't agree beforehand to let 
 others butt into your affairs. That means 
 don't promise to follow some other fellow 
 till you know where he is heading. 
 
 A Natural law is higher than any statute. 
 Statute law, through fear of political re* 
 prisals, has exempted labor unions from 
 prosecution and legal penalty for certain 
 acts. They cannot avoid the penalty for 
 the breach of Nature's law, irresponsible 
 authority. When they know and apply 
 "The Principle," they will gain the respect 
 they deserve, their own and others. 
 
 Capital is the surplus product of labor. It 
 is available until wasted, sometimes for 
 generations after its accumulation. It is 
 stored power, one form of authority. When 
 used with a feeling of responsibility, it is 
 
THE PRINCIPLE 37 
 
 good. When used without such feeling, it 
 is bad. The wrong lies in its irresponsible 
 use. 
 
 A lot is said about the conflict of capital 
 and labor. Examination shows no conflict. 
 Irresponsible performances of either arouse 
 antagonisms of the other. The careless 
 observer has come to think the conflict 
 natural and unavoidable. It is absolutely 
 avoidable by applying "The Principle." 
 
 The Commonwealth Club of California 
 had an evening to discuss Capital and 
 Labor. The Committee changed the sub- 
 ject to Employer and Employe, making 
 three parties interested, employer, em- 
 ploye and the public. 
 
 The proponent of Capital or Employer 
 stated that he disagreed with the Commit- 
 tee. He did not think the public were to be 
 considered and made his talk from that 
 viewpoint. 
 
 The proponent of Labor or Employe 
 recited that Capital, being the product of 
 Labor, Labor was going after its own. He 
 assumed that labor and labor-unions were 
 synonymous. 
 
38 THE PRINCIPLE 
 
 Neither of these men was called down. 
 One said "The public be damned." The 
 other proposed highway robbery. Yet 
 the Commonwealth Club is made up of men 
 of good intentions. 
 
 Some years ago a rich man called in one 
 of his railroad presidents, proposed a cer- 
 tain thing, giving instruction that it be 
 done. The president demurred. 
 
 "Can't I do as I please with my own?" 
 
 "Not entirely. This is a public utility. 
 It must render service. Your proposal 
 would deteriorate service and make me 
 liable for breach of laws regulating service." 
 
 "Will you do it?" 
 
 "I will not." 
 
 "Then resign." 
 
 In a few years the aforesaid rich man lost 
 control of that railroad, also of all other 
 railroads in which he was interested. He 
 is in no sense a railroad man, which had 
 been his ambition and the ambition of his 
 father, from whom he had inherited great 
 wealth and railroad prestige. 
 
 The wrong of capital is getting into ir- 
 responsible hands. The wrong done by 
 
THE PRINCIPLE 39 
 
 such capital is not a good reason but is 
 somewhat an excuse for the wrongs of labor. 
 "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" 
 is bad practice. Two wrongs never made 
 a right. Observance of "The Principle" 
 will avoid all such conflicts. 
 
 Employment, a job and a salary, are 
 always in request. Unemployment is not 
 solved by any Country. At times, it is 
 very serious. No work, no pay. No 
 money, no food. 
 
 Employment is one form of acquired 
 authority. The employe who shoulders 
 his responsibilities, makes good, is con- 
 tinued longest in employment and hired 
 first after unemployment. When the other 
 way, he is first fired and last hired. 
 
 What brings steadiest employment, big- 
 gest pay? It isn't brains, or strength, or 
 knowledge. It is dependability. Physique, 
 brains and knowledge are desirable, but 
 reliability is the real thing. Dependability, 
 reliability, are entirely indicated by "The 
 Principle." The questions are: 
 
 Can and will he shoulder the responsibil- 
 ity of place? 
 
4<3 THE PRINCIPLE 
 
 Can and will he prove dependable? 
 
 Will he take pride in his work? 
 
 These exact questions may not be asked 
 but they are in the mind of every employer 
 of labor, whether the employe be the man 
 with the hoe or a railroad president. 
 
 The Panama Canal is a wonderful 
 example of violation, then partial accord, 
 finally full accord with "The Principle." 
 
 First, Wallace tried to shoulder the re- 
 sponsibility of performance under a Com- 
 mission in Washington. He wasn't a 
 member of the Commission at the start. 
 He didn't get far. 
 
 Then Stevens undertook the same re- 
 sponsibility. He was a member of the . 
 Commission, had more authority than 
 Wallace, but his Commission had its office 
 and president in Washington. Stevens 
 made some progress. Then a set of con- 
 ditions arose under which Stevens felt that 
 his authority was not commensurate with 
 his responsibility. He severed his connec- 
 tion with the work, not before he had things 
 going well. So much was this the case that 
 Colonel Goethals said once when patted on 
 
THE PRINCIPLE 4! 
 
 the back "I was preceded by a man who 
 understood transportation. My progress 
 is somewhat due to Stevens' plan for the 
 removal and disposal of the material of 
 Culebra cut." 
 
 Then the responsibility was taken by 
 Goethals, with full authority. He was 
 Chief Engineer. He was President of the 
 Commission. The rest of the Commission 
 were largely his subordinates. The result 
 was the most successful construction or- 
 ganization in the history of the human race. 
 
 Wallace and Stevens were sacrificed to 
 the education of Washington. They failed, 
 not from lack of ability but from lack of 
 authority. Goethals or anyone else would 
 have failed from the same cause. Goethals 
 understood "The Principle." He didn't 
 attempt to shoulder the responsibility till 
 he had sufficient authority. 
 
 The writer was Chief Engineer for a 
 railroad company, the Treasurer being, 
 say Brown. Brown was also the manager of 
 a bank, the depositary of the company. 
 
 Brown sent word that the appropriate 
 thing would be for me to keep my personal 
 
42 THE PRINCIPLE 
 
 account with his bank. The reply was that 
 I was working for the railroad for so much 
 per, that when the "per" arrived, it was 
 mine to handle as I saw fit. 
 
 Brown wanted to send one of my assist- 
 ants off for a month on some private work, 
 asking one day when it would be convenient 
 for him to go. The reply was that it would 
 never be convenient, that he was needed 
 where he was, that if he went, he would be 
 replaced permanently. 
 
 Brown asked why a certain firm was not 
 patronized. After investigation, the reply 
 was that we could do better. 
 
 Brown issued an order that all bills in 
 excess of five dollars should not be paid in 
 the field but be sent to his office for pay- 
 ment. I called Brown's attention to the 
 fact that this would hamper the work. His 
 reply was that the order had been issued 
 after consultation with the President and 
 it must be obeyed. This correspondence 
 was bundled up and sent to the President 
 with about this letter: "Despite Mr. 
 Brown's statement to the contrary, I do 
 not believe that you are issuing your orders 
 
THE PRINCIPLE 43 
 
 over his signature. If I am mistaken, you 
 may replace me as soon as convenient. I 
 am personally countermanding the order 
 in cases where obedience will hamper the 
 work." The order was countermanded. 
 
 When the purchase of right of way began, 
 Brown sent word that he had some men he 
 wanted put on that work. The reply was 
 "If you will be entirely responsible for the 
 integrity and ability of these men, they will 
 be put to work at once. If I am to be in any 
 way responsible, you may submit their 
 names and qualifications." 
 
 Brown's last meddling act was to return 
 some bills asking that the necessity for the 
 purchases be written across their face. The 
 reply was "These bills seem regular. They 
 have the O. K. of the engineer who made 
 the expense. They have the approval of 
 the resident engineer in charge of that di- 
 vision. They have been further approved 
 in my office and have been sent to your 
 office for payment. As for the necessity, 
 it is none of your business in any way, shape 
 or manner." 
 
 Brown was sent to the penitentiary for 
 
44 THE PRINCIPLE 
 
 embezzlement. If he had been allowed to 
 butt into my affairs, I might have been 
 smirched. As it was, I had sustained 
 intimate business relations with a rascal 
 for two years, with never a chance to lose a 
 cent or a particle of reputation, by applying 
 "The Principle." Application is always 
 good. It is wholly worth while. 
 
 The writer had a chance to apply "The 
 Principle" in organizing troops for France 
 in 1918. He talked it directly. He showed 
 its application in every day affairs. The 
 usual formula with new officers was "We 
 have commissions and uniforms. They 
 make us look like officers but do not make 
 us so. Our commissions give us the right 
 to make ourselves officers if we have the 
 ability. Your business is to develop the 
 efficiency of the enlisted man. To the 
 extent you do it, you are officers. To the 
 extent you fail to do it, you are not officers, 
 no matter what your commissions say. My 
 principal business is to see that you do it. 
 This is the general problem. Let's go to it. 
 If doubts arise as to details, come and see 
 me. That's what I'm here for." 
 
THE PRINCIPLE 45 
 
 Similar instruction to non-coms had a 
 visible effect in esprit de corps. That 
 battalion went to France in a good humor, 
 worked eleven hours a day for months 
 without a murmur and their barracks were 
 the show barracks of Camp Montoir. 
 
 One young man volunteered for service 
 in North Russia after the armistice. In 
 June, 1919, he wrote me a chatty letter 
 from a box car alongside Lake Onega, tell- 
 ing of his work, the Country, the people, and 
 added "I want to keep in touch with you. 
 I specially want to thank you for "The 
 Principle." It has kept me out of most of 
 the trouble I have rubbed against and 
 gotten me out of the rest of it." 
 
 The officers liked it. The men liked it. 
 Its application makes a good organization. 
 It effects the best kind of discipline. There 
 are two ways to spoil a man, abusing him 
 and coddling him. Fair treatment de- 
 velops him and nothing else does. "The 
 Principle" teaches what fairness is in every 
 case, in every detail of every case. 
 
 Business is getting production to the 
 consumer. It is a necessary activity, a 
 
46 THE PRINCIPLE 
 
 little overdone, according to some. It in- 
 cludes banking, transportation, storage, 
 advertising, wholesaling, jobbing, retailing, 
 with their thousands of details. 
 
 When business serves, it is good. When 
 business makes others serve it, it is bad. 
 Each kind can be accurately judged by 
 "The Principle." 
 
 Value is a word much used in business. 
 It doesn't mean anything. AH value is a 
 matter of opinion. There is no part of 
 value that is anything else. Yet the term 
 is used in business as though it were a 
 matter of ascertainable fact. This is one 
 of the fictions of business. There are 
 others. This is written, not to point out a 
 particular reform but to advertise "The 
 Principle," by which all reforms can be 
 effected. 
 
 In a business, there is always a nominal 
 head. If this is also an actual head, pos- 
 sessing the means (knowledge, initiative, 
 funds, judgment; in other words, authority) 
 the result is success. Every trouble comes 
 of somebody's butting in or shirking. Both 
 crimes are sometimes committed by the 
 
THE PRINCIPLE 47 
 
 same act. The owners butt in and inter- 
 fere with the management; the manager 
 butts in, interferes with details, withholds 
 authority where he expects responsibility; 
 departments clash; subordinates fail to 
 obey orders; a thousand and one things go 
 wrong. On proper analysis, every one of 
 the troubles, partial failures, complete 
 failures, can be traced to some violation of 
 "The Principle/' 
 
 The Navy League was organized to arouse 
 the Country to our need of a larger Navy. 
 When that was done, its original purpose 
 was fulfilled. So far, so good. Organizing 
 for a desirable and legal purpose is always 
 good. Some dropped out at this stage of 
 the performance. There was still a large 
 paying membership. With no chance for a 
 membership expression, the purpose was 
 changed. It was to do other things, to knit 
 for the sailors, to publish a paper. 
 
 Its head started to butt into the affairs 
 of the Secretary of the Navy. The paper 
 published a statement reflecting on the 
 Secretary of the Navy, that was never 
 proven, on the alleged say-so of someone 
 
48 THE PRINCIPLE 
 
 that was never named. Look at all that 
 violation of "The Principle." Mr. Daniels 
 has been charged with many things about 
 which I know little or nothing. If his every 
 other act was wrong, resistance in this case 
 was right. 
 
 The President of the League had the 
 welfare of the Navy at heart. He may have 
 intended to benefit the Navy and the 
 Country by his action. His method was 
 wrong, to himself, to the Navy League, to 
 the Secretary, to the Navy, to the Country. 
 He had violated 'The Principle." 
 
 The Constitution of the United Sates 
 started out with well defined authorities. 
 The Legislature was to do specific things in 
 specific ways. So with the Executive and 
 Judicial departments. 
 
 State Constitutions were generally in 
 accord, but have lately varied considerably 
 from that of the United States. The main 
 divergences lie in enacting what should 
 have been statutes as constitutional pro- 
 visions. So we have various ideas existing 
 in various degrees, as laws, some of which 
 violate "The Principle." 
 
THE PRINCIPLE 49 
 
 Civil Service is one of them. It started as 
 a cure for "Turn the rascals out" or "To 
 the victors belong the spoils." The disease 
 was not very serious. The cure is many 
 times worse. We are cursed and hampered 
 by Civil Service Commissions in National, 
 State, Municipal, affairs. They dictate 
 who may be employed and examine dis- 
 missals, sometimes ordering re-instate- 
 ments. Their legal authority is great, 
 their assumptions greater. In no single 
 case is Civil Service a move toward effi- 
 ciency or economy. In every case it 
 hampers and is expensive. In no case is 
 any responsibility shouldered for the au- 
 thority wielded. 
 
 Commissions generally are wrong. Here 
 is cited specifically the Interstate Com- 
 merce Commission, the California Railroad 
 Commission, all other California Commis- 
 sions, even to the Commission to regulate 
 Commissions, the Board of Control. 
 
 Every large railroad company in the 
 United States, every considerable public 
 service corporation in the State of Cali- 
 fornia has a department for the sole purpose 
 
5O THE PRINCIPLE 
 
 of appearing for those corporations before 
 the Commissions regulating them. The 
 result is extra cost with no benefit. In- 
 creasing the tax eaters at the expense of 
 the tax payers is bad political economy. 
 "The Principle" is violated in this way. 
 Commissions are given irresponsible au- 
 thority by the law creating them. Such 
 authority relieves the corporations of re- 
 sponsibility. In the mix-up, Commissions 
 are greedy for power, corporations are 
 greedy for profits and the public pay, the 
 bills. 
 
 The Initiative and the Referendum, to be 
 intelligently administered, requires every 
 voter to study every law, every detail of 
 every law, so enacted. The consequence is 
 that they are not intelligently administered, 
 do not add to efficiency, complicate voting, 
 confuse the people, make expense with no 
 benefit. We employ legislators to make 
 laws, pay them for it, then do it ourselves. 
 And so we get the privilege of voting on the 
 California Water and Power Act, choosing 
 between Socialism and the inefficiency of 
 our Railroad Commission. 
 
THE PRINCIPLE 5! 
 
 The Recall of elected officials relieves 
 every one of them from responsibility. The 
 recall of Judicial decisions spells anarchy. 
 That has not yet been accomplished but is 
 threatened. It is entirely in line with the 
 other political fads. It is just as logical as 
 Civil Service, Regulative Commissions as 
 they are administered, the Initiative or the 
 Referendum. These things are all per- 
 fectly measured by "The Principle." 
 
 "The Principle" has had a great many 
 approvals, by men of the present, men of the 
 recent past and men long gone. It has 
 been practiced more than preached. Care- 
 ful search will show that it has also been 
 preached, many, many times. 
 
 "Every one shall die for his own iniquity. 
 Every man that eateth the sour grape, his 
 teeth shall be set on edge." Jeremiah,31,30. 
 
 "He that thinks of the greatness of his 
 place more than the duty of his place shall 
 soon commit misprisons." Sir Francis 
 Bacon. 
 
 "Let us stand to our authority or let us 
 lose it." Coriolanus. 
 
 "Thus can the demi-god authority make 
 
52 THE PRINCIPLE 
 
 us pay down for our offense, by weight. The 
 words of heaven, on whom it will, it will; 
 on whom it will not, so. Yet still 'tis 
 just." Measure for Measure. 
 
 "Stay, where's your commission, Lord? 
 Words cannot carry authority so weighty." 
 Henry VIII. 
 
 "I have told him Lepidus was grown too 
 cruel; that he his high authority abused." 
 Antony and Cleopatra. 
 
 "My duty will I boast of, nothing else." 
 
 "My duty pricks me on to utter that 
 which else no worldly good should draw 
 from me." Two Gentlemen from Verona. 
 
 "I should not urge thy duty past thy 
 
 might." Julius Caesar. 
 
 "But 'twas a maxim he had often tried, 
 that right was right and there would he 
 abide." The Squire and the Priest. 
 
 "The path of duty was the way to 
 glory." Tennyson. 
 
 "Because right is right, to follow right 
 were wisdom in the scorn of consequence." 
 Tennyson in Fatima. 
 
 "A sense of duty pursues us ever. It is 
 omnipresent like the Deity. If we take to 
 
THE PRINCIPLE 53 
 
 ourselves the wings of the morning and 
 dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 
 duty performed or duty violated is still 
 with us, for our happiness or our misery." 
 Daniel Webster. 
 
 "He who through force of will or of 
 thought is great and overlooks thousands, 
 has the responsibility of overlooking." 
 Emerson. 
 
 "Men seek to be great; they would have 
 offices, wealth, power, fame. They think 
 that to be great is to get only one side of 
 Nature the sweet, without the other side 
 the bitter." Emerson. 
 
 "Let us have faith that right makes 
 might; and in that faith dare to do our 
 duty as we understand it." Lincoln. 
 
 "When an end is legal and obligatory, all 
 the indispensable means to that end are also 
 legal and obligatory." Lincoln. 
 
 "If the British Government in any way 
 approach you directly or indirectly with 
 propositions which assume or contemplate 
 an appeal to the President on the subject 
 of our internal affairs, whether it seem to 
 imply a purpose to dictate or to mediate or 
 
54 THE PRINCIPLE 
 
 to advise, or merely to solicit or persuade, 
 you will answer that you are forbidden to 
 debate, to hear or in any way to receive, 
 entertain or transmit any communication 
 of the kind." Lincoln, to our Ambassador 
 to England. 
 
 "To act in absolute freedom and at the 
 same time to realize that responsibility is 
 the price of freedom, is salvation." Elbert 
 Hubbard. 
 
 "A corporation, no more than an indi- 
 vidual, can be bound hand and foot and yet 
 be active and give good service." Theo. N. 
 Vail, 1915. 
 
 "There is a tendency on the part of 
 Bureau officers to reach out for more 
 power, even if they do not assume author- 
 ity which the law does not give them." 
 John W. Weeks, 1915. 
 
 " The Principle' is undoubtedly violated 
 by many of our present day practices, both 
 social and political. It is well for us to be 
 jarred into thinking whether each item of 
 the established order is in fact the right and 
 true practice." Harry M. Wright, Master 
 in Chancery, U. S. Court, S. F. 
 
THE PRINCIPLE 55 
 
 "You have put the matter in a very 
 interesting way." Max Thelen, San Fran- 
 cisco. 
 
 "Hope you will spread the truth of 'The 
 Principle' far and wide." Harry F.Atwood, 
 Lecturer, Chicago, 1921. 
 
 "I have been following 'The Principle* 
 for the last thirty-five years, discovering it 
 like yourself early in life, since when I have 
 insisted on putting it into operation in 
 everything I have undertaken." Geo. W. 
 Goethals, 1916. 
 
 " 'The Principle' is indeed a corner-stone 
 to an orderly condition of society and can- 
 not be too strongly emphasized." Dr.F.W. 
 Durand, Stanford University, 1916. 
 
 "Thank you for your address on respon- 
 sibility and authority, which I have read 
 with much interest and with which I fully 
 agree." Jas. K. Lynch, Gov. Fed. Res. 
 Bank, S. F., 1917. 
 
 "I have been an upholder of 'The Prin- 
 ciple' for many years, but, until I read your 
 paper, I was not aware that it was so far- 
 reaching." Wm. Kent, Mechanical En- 
 gineer, 1917. 
 
56 THE PRINCIPLE 
 
 "I cannot imagine any success unless 
 power goes with responsibility. It is the 
 principle upon which I have always acted 
 and am acting now." Admiral W. S. Sims, 
 1918. 
 
 "I believe every word of it and have 
 practiced The Principle' for years. It may 
 be of interest to you to know that the 
 affairs of the Pacific Fleet are administered 
 in accordance with The Principle' set forth 
 in your article." Admiral Hugh Rodman, 
 1919. 
 
 ' The Principle' is so pithy and so worth 
 while that I would like to reprint it for free 
 distribution." Alfred Bickford, Ex. Sec. 
 Assoc. Industries of Seattle, 1921. 
 
 : The Principle' has many applications 
 in my profession of medicine and surgery, 
 As you say, it applies to all activities." 
 Admiral McCormick, M. C, U. S. N. 1921. 
 
 "I thoroughly enjoyed reading The 
 Principle.' Thank you." Admiral H. B. 
 Wilson, U. S. N., 1921. 
 
 " The Principle' is really a big thing and 
 I see its applicability very often. I use it 
 lots of times, giving you more or less 
 
THE PRINCIPLE 57 
 
 credit." Alex. T. Vogelsang, Ex-Assistant 
 Secretary of the Interior, Washington, 
 1921. 
 
 A great many common every day expres- 
 sions are partial statements of "The Prin- 
 ciple," such as: 
 
 "Mind your own business." 
 
 "Noblesse oblige." 
 
 "Don't bite off more than you can chew/' 
 
 "Don't butt in." 
 
 "Quit rocking the boat." 
 
 "Look out for deep water." 
 
EIGHT HUNDRED COPIES 
 
 OF "THE PRINCIPLE" HAVE BEEN PRINTED, OF 
 
 WHICH FIVE HUNDRED ARE FOR PRIVATE 
 
 DISTRIBUTION BY THE AUTHOR 
 
941292 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY