Analyzing Character Part 28

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Copyright Ernest H. Mills._ FIG. 63. Sir Henry Fowler. A splendid example of fine, enduring physical balance with excellent intellectual equipment. Note large, long nose, ears, and chin; long, straight upper lip; long, rather lean lines of cheeks and face in general, flat-topped head; prominent brows, and square jaw, These are all typical indications of calmness, practical judgment, prudence, shrewdness, moderation, and, as a result, longevity.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 64. Reginald D. Barry, Engineer and Scientific Experimenter. Interested in mechanics and engineering in an almost purely intellectual manner. Ambitious, determined, optimistic. Note especially height and width of upper part of cranium, with slender lower face; also rounded dome above temples, and width and fulness back of upper corners of forehead.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 65. Colbert E. Lyon. Note especially high dome of head above temples, indicating optimism, faith, hope, sympathy, generosity and humanitarian leanings. Note also fine texture, indicating love of beauty, refinement, and responsiveness. Practical judgment, energy and determination are shown by prominent brows; large, high nose; and strong chin; fine powers of expression by prominent eyes.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 66. Dr. V. Stefansson, Explorer. Of the active, restless, eager, pioneering type, capable of enduring hardship. Note square jaw, large nose, convex profile, blond color, high, wide cheekbones, strong chin, and coa.r.s.e texture.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 67. High, square head, indicating conscientiousness, prudence, carefulness, dependability, and constancy.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 68. High, round head, indicating ambition, love of adventure, and a certain degree of recklessness, carelessness, and irresponsibility.]

ROOSEVELT AND TAFT CONTRASTED

When Mr. Roosevelt was about to end his term as President of the United States in 1907, he and his more prudent advisors did not consider it good political judgment for him to seek at that time nomination for what would have been, in effect, a third term. He therefore began to cast about to find a successor who would carry out his policies. As President, he had inaugurated certain policies of administration which he regarded as being of the highest possible importance to the country, and to the world at large. We are not here discussing the common sense, wisdom, and statesmanship of those policies. The fact to which we are calling attention is that Mr. Roosevelt wished to use his influence as President and as the leader of his party to have placed in nomination, as his successor, a man upon whom he could rely to continue to administer the office of President according to the policies he himself had inaugurated.

Mr. Taft had long been a member of Mr. Roosevelt's cabinet and had also been a very close personal friend. As Governor of the Philippines, and as Secretary of War, he had made a splendid record and was considered to be one of the most loyal and able of the President's official family.

Accordingly, he was selected by Mr. Roosevelt as his successor. In his campaign for election, and in his inaugural address, Mr. Taft repeatedly gave a.s.surance to the voters that it was his intention to carry out the Roosevelt policies. There is practically no one, even those who disapprove most heartily of Mr. Taft's record in the Presidency, who thinks that he was anything but sincere and honest in making these promises to the voters.

HOW IT WORKED OUT

Now, without discussing for a moment Mr. Taft's administration as President from the standpoint of its true value to the country, or the actual quality of his statesmanship, there is no question in the mind of anyone that he signally failed to carry out the Roosevelt policies. In fact, he became the t.i.tular leader of that faction of the Republican party, before the end of his administration, most violently opposed to the Roosevelt policies. He has subscribed to and preached a totally different political doctrine from that of his former friend and chief ever since.

This course of action may have been right; it may have been wrong; it may have been wise, or it may have been unwise. It may have been fully justified, or it may not have been justified. These are not questions which interest us here.

The point is that Mr. Roosevelt, in all good faith, and believing in the wisdom of his choice, selected Mr. Taft to carry out his policies in the government, and that Mr. Taft, no doubt with the best of intentions, failed to carry out those policies. The result was a split in the Republican party, the election of a Democratic President and Congress, and other far-reaching consequences, the full meaning of which we have not yet begun to see. They may be good; they may be unfortunate. That is not the question at issue. The question is, could Mr. Roosevelt, if he had had a scientific understanding of human nature, have foretold Mr. Taft's course of action?

INDICATIONS OF DIFFERENCES IN CHARACTER, IDEAS, IDEALS, AND ACTIONS

The Roosevelt policies were aggressive and bold, cutting across traditions, flinging down the gauntlet, and throwing defiance into the faces of powerful political and business interests. They a.s.sumed for the executive office at least all of the powers which, according to the Const.i.tution, belong to it, working in harmony with a group of men who had interested themselves in a number of progressive--perhaps some might say radical--reform measures. Furthermore, these policies were a perfectly natural expression of Mr. Roosevelt's personality.

Do Mr. Taft's physical characteristics, as easily observable indicate that he is of a character, temperament and apt.i.tude to continue such policies as these. A comparison of the two men should give us the answer.

Mr. Taft is very much lighter in color than Mr. Roosevelt. As a general rule, the lighter blond coloring is an indication of mildness of disposition, instead of the fierceness and eager determination to dominate of the man who is as ruddy as Mr. Roosevelt.

Mr. Taft's forehead is very much more practical in type than Mr.

Roosevelt's. He is, therefore, far more interested in the practical application of such principles as he has than in theories, hypotheses, and reform.

Mr. Taft's nose, by its roundness and softness of contour, indicates mildness, good nature, refinement, and delicacy of feeling, while Mr.

Roosevelt's is the large-tipped, bony-bridged nose of aggressiveness and combativeness.

Mr. Taft's mouth is a good-natured, smiling, laughing, jovial mouth, instead of the grim, hard, fighting mouth as shown in Mr. Roosevelt's type.

Mr. Taft's chin is of the rounded and rather retreating type, an indication that he is probably far better qualified by disposition to follow a strong and aggressive leader than to take the aggressive, dominating, fighting leadership himself.

Mr. Taft is a very much larger man than Mr. Roosevelt. This, while not particularly important, is just one more indication of his good nature and his dislike for a hard, grueling fight. It is an interesting fact that almost all of the great fighters of the world have been little men.

Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon, Grant, Lord Roberts, Sheridan, Sherman, Wilhelm II, and many others have been below medium in stature. Of the others, Kitchener, Wellington, Frederick the Great, Washington, and von Hindenberg have been men of not more than medium size. It is almost unprecedented to find a fighter in a man of Mr. Taft's huge size.

In structure, Mr. Taft is essentially of the judicial type. This type is always a defender of property, an upholder of the Const.i.tution, a strong advocate of making the best of things as they are, rather than plunging into violent innovations, the results of which are unknown and may very easily prove to be disastrous. On the other hand, Mr. Roosevelt is of restless, active, pioneering structure--the bony, muscular type of man who has always led reform movements and led in fighting for changes he thought would add to the freedom of humanity.

Mr. Taft's texture is finer than that of Mr. Roosevelt. He is, therefore, more interested in the refinements, the luxuries, and the delicacies of life than is Mr. Roosevelt. He is also less vigorous, less virile, and less insistent upon reform and the right of the people to rule. It is an interesting fact that most of the great friends of the people, most of those who are eager in demanding the rights of the proletariat, are men of medium or coa.r.s.e texture.

Mr. Taft is soft elastic in consistency of fiber, while Mr. Roosevelt is hard elastic. This indicates more impressionability or amenability to influence, more desire for finding an easy and pleasant way to accomplish his end on the part of Mr. Taft than on the part of Mr. Roosevelt.

In Mr. Taft the vital element leads--in Mr. Roosevelt, the motive. The vital element conduces to putting on of flesh, enjoys the good things of life, loves an easy time, and naturally inclines to make the best of things as they are. On the other hand, the motive element demands outdoor activity, freedom, liberty of movement, and not only liberty for itself, but liberty for everyone else.

Mr. Roosevelt's jaw is square and determined, which shows an inclination to push things through regardless of obstacles; to pursue his ends no matter what difficulties stand in the way. Mr. Taft's jaw is rather rounded and not so prominent. This indicates less determination, less perseverance, less persistence in pushing against obstacles and difficulties.

Note the difference in width between Mr. Roosevelt's and Mr. Taft's head just above the ears. Mr. Roosevelt is very wide-headed. This indicates energy, aggressiveness, impatience, a certain amount of destructive tendency. It is this which not only makes Mr. Roosevelt an aggressive, eager, fighting, dominating politician and statesman, but also a mighty hunter.

On the other hand, Mr. Taft's head is medium narrow just above the ears.

This indicates mildness, an inclination to use diplomacy rather than force, and a tendency to take things as they are rather than to push ahead aggressively and make radical changes.

Mr. Roosevelt's head is high in the crown. Mr. Taft's head is low in the crown. A high crown indicates firmness, decision, love of power, love of authority, a demand to rule, and great ambition. A low crown, on the other hand, indicates amenability to authority, a willingness to compromise, and a lack of domineering quality.

Compare the expression of the two men. Mr. Roosevelt's expression is intense, vigorous, and almost belligerent. Mr. Taft's expression is mild, calm, judicial, good-natured, and jovial.

By what stretch of the imagination could anyone suppose that a man of Mr.

Taft's character and apt.i.tudes, as shown by the indications pointed out in the foregoing, could even begin to carry out the policies of a man of Mr.

Roosevelt's character, as shown by the indications we have pointed out?

And yet, all of the political history of the United States since 1909 has been completely changed as the result of Mr. Roosevelt's lack of knowledge of the plain facts of the science of human nature. Indeed, the result of Mr. Roosevelt's choice of a successor is found in Mexico, in Germany, in England, in France, and, in fact, throughout the world.

IF NOT SCIENTIFICALLY, HOW?

Woodrow Wilson has been criticized, perhaps, as severely for his selection of men for various posts in his administration as for any other cause, if reports are to be believed. He has probably suffered far more from unfortunate selection of lieutenants and of men for special tasks, and has more deeply regretted his mistakes of this nature, than any other thing in his administration up to the time that these lines are written.

The few examples we have given in this chapter of men who gave excellent promise and then failed to live up to their expectations are typical. They are occurring every day in every line of business and industry, as well as in politics and government. We are told by some who have made a study of this subject that the only way to find out what a man can do, what his apt.i.tudes are, what are his abilities, his capacities, his type, and what his performances will be, is to put him in a place where he will have an opportunity to show what there is in him. If this is the best that science can do for us, we are, then, groping in darkness through a tangled maze of pitfalls. We have nothing left but to go on using disastrous and impracticable methods in the selection of men for commerce, for industry, for financial responsibility, and for the highest positions of honor, responsibility, and power in the gift of the people.

CHAPTER III

THE REMEDY

True, we can determine a man's fitness by giving him a trial. But, if he is a failure, and we learn nothing by experience, the next inc.u.mbent may be a hundred-fold worse. Furthermore, in many places, selection by trial is an impossibility, as in marriage, in the presidency of a bank, or in a general to lead a forlorn hope. There must be some better way.

Some years ago we were asked to make an investigation at a printing and publishing house. Two years before this time the proprietor had ceased to receive any profits from the enterprise and, at this particular time, complained that for months he had been putting money into the business in order to keep it going. He himself was not a practical printer and was not in immediate management of the concern. His manager, however, was an able man, a good printer, and was considered to be a good business man.

At the very outset of our investigation, we found that the foreman of the composing-room purchased type, leads, and slugs, furniture, cases, and all of the other materials used in his department. The foreman of the press-room purchased paper, ink, rollers, twine, and other things. The foreman of the shipping-room purchased packing-cases, wrapping paper, twine, nails, hammers, marking ink, and other materials he used. The foreman of the bindery purchased glue, cloth, leather, boards, paper, and wire. The office manager purchased typewriter ribbons, carbon paper, clips, paper fasteners, pins, mucilage, rulers, pens, and pencils. The foreman of the electrotyping department purchased copper, acids, metal, and tools. We were rather surprised to find that the coal and lubricating oil for the engine room were purchased by the manager himself, but not at all surprised to learn that he had never heard of such a quant.i.ty as a British Thermal unit and that he had absolutely no records to show the kind of coal most efficient under his boilers. A little further investigation showed that each head of department had charge of the stores of materials and supplies for his department and gave them out to employees upon a mere verbal request. We were not long in discovering that the foreman of the composing-room received "tokens of regard" from salesmen; that the foreman of the press-room was regularly on the payroll of several companies furnishing inks and rollers, and had a brother-in-law running a little print shop around the corner and spending very little money for ink, paper, and other such materials. Each head of a department also had full power to "hire and fire," as he called it. The foreman of the composing-room said to us, when we questioned him in regard to this matter, "Why, if I didn't have the power to hire and fire I could not maintain discipline in my department; rather than give that up, I would resign my position."

As a result of this state of affairs, we found a brother of the foreman occupying an easy position in the composing-room, a brother-in-law, two nieces, two nephews, and a son occupying easy positions at good salaries in the press-room and various other nephews and other semi-dependents working away under foremen who were related to them in the various departments. In the composing-room, also, we found, upon careful investigation, that several of the employees were very heavily overpaid at times and that they divided the surplus in their pay envelopes with the foreman.

When we called these things to the attention of the manager, he was deeply surprised and pained. "Why," he said, "every head of a department in this printing and publishing house is a personal friend of mine. I have the highest regard for them and have held their honor and uprightness so high in my estimation that it has never occurred to me to investigate their administration in their several departments. You know, of course, that this is the usual procedure in the printing business. The foremen regard these prerogatives as being especially theirs and would very deeply and bitterly resent any attempt on the part of the management to take them away." The manager was only partly right. It is true that these practices have been followed in many printing and publishing houses; that they are followed in some even to-day; but even in his time the most progressive and successful had long ago abolished this inefficient and dishonesty-breeding system.

SCIENTIFIC PURCHASING ENDS ABUSES