* This short article is taken from “The Bulletin of New York Sabbath Committee” (New York). We have taken the liberty of substituting “Sabbath” for “Sunday” in two or three places.—Editor.
JOHN Morrell and Co., packers, a century old firm of Ottumwa, Iowa, which last year did a business of \$75,000,000, observe the Sabbath Day so strictly that they do not permit anyone in their employ to work for them on that day. This is brought out very strongly in a letter from T. Henry Foster, the president of the company, to Edward T. Fenwick, a Washington attorney, who had written that he preferred not to travel on Sabbath in order to attend some of the meetings of the company. In the course of this letter Mr Foster said:—“I note your letter of the 21st, which I am passing on to Mr McElroy for attention. There is one thing, however, I want to comment on, and that is the fact that you do not like to travel on Sabbath in order to appear at meetings in our behalf. I am glad to know this, and I want you to feel that you need never travel on Sabbath in connection with any of John Morrell and Co.’s business. If, in order to reach a destination, it is necessary to travel on Sabbath, it can be understood between us that the work is to go over until the next day, and in this connection you will find us always ready to co-operate with you. In our business we observe the Sabbath Day everywhere, and have done so as long as the business has been in existence. We not only do not work ourselves, but we do not want or permit anyone to work for us and, as long as the present management is in charge of this business, we expect to maintain this rule. We are really glad once in a while to come across people who have the same respect for the Sabbath Day we have.”
To those who still believe in the observance of the Sabbath Day it is interesting to note that this great firm gives such strict observance to the Sabbath and that Mr Fenwick, a Washington lawyer, prefers not to travel on the Sabbath Day even to attend meetings in connection with the operations of the business.
In a letter to the “Manufacturers’ Record,” President Foster, writing on this subject, says:—”A great deal of our success I attribute to the high standard of living maintained by the founders of our business, and the importance they attached to spiritual values and made use of in their relations with their employees, their competitors and the public. This has had its influence on the business down through the years, and long after all of them have passed away. You will realise that we operate a highly perishable business, dealing as we do in live-stock and fresh meats. Nevertheless, we have found it not only possible, but also entirely practical, to fully observe the Sabbath as a day of rest.”
Another great Western firm, that of Marshall Field and Co., of Chicago, for many years regarded as one of the greatest organisations in America, with ramifications world-wide in extent, follows the same rule as that of Morrell. Seventy-five years ago, Marshall Field and Co. inaugurated a practice of pulling down their store window curtains on Saturday night until Monday morning, and the practice has continued up to the present time.
In a full advertisement in the Chicago “Tribune” some weeks ago that house carried the following statement as an advertisement:—”At the end of their first week in business the owners of a little shop lowered the curtains of their windows and went home. On each succeeding Saturday night the curtains were pulled down and kept down until Monday morning. As the little shop grew the suggestion came from many sources that the curtains should stay up. ‘The windows are beautiful,’ people said, ‘let us walk by and look.’ The owners had an old-fashioned background. They had been taught in childhood that six days are enough for the things that are seen. The first day of the week, they said, is for the things unseen—rest and worship, and family life, and freedom from thoughts of business. Seventy-five years have passed. The store has grown until its windows are said to be more valuable than any windows in the world. But the example of the founders remains, and all day Sabbath the shades are down. Is this old-fashioned custom good, in days when so many old-fashioned customs are being crowded out? We like to think so. We like the idea that on the first day of the week the church and the home should come first. Strong churches and strong homes build strong cities. All the great words of business—service and courtesy and kindness and truth—have their inspiration in religion. And prosperity is only permanent where there is reverence, and mutual trust, and faith.”