YANKEE AND BRITON.

Franklin Times, Volume 10, Issue 797, 5 January 1923, Page 5

YANKEE AND BRITON.

BUSINESS HABITS COMPARED. THE WORK FEVER. (By Lord Leverhulme in the “Westminster Gazette”) Anyone visiting the United' Stajtes miust be struck with the great difference in English and American habits, and the difference !is generally, bat not always in favour of the American In the first place they are earlier risers in the mornin.g Next to right thinking,, one must give firsfc place in importance to early rising as a habit. The Americans never were heavy alcohol drinkers, and to-day they drink less alcohol than ever. The Americans are keenesr workers, “as a babiit ” than are we British. It is, true that one could offset these American adavantages with points in our British character wherein we greatly excel the American ; but we are dealpng with habits and not national character, so we will for the moment omit siting out a list of strong points in our British character. In any case,, we never gain by parading our strong points but) we always gain by giving fullest thought and attention to correcting our weakness. If one has to , leave by an early tjrain from New York, one finds breakfast in full swing at 7, and a good breakfast readily served at 6 o'clock in'the dining rrom. In London few! hotel breakfast rooms are open before 8 in the morning and any breakfast earlier than that hour is a bed room affair left to the night waiter. If you wish to get shaved in New York you can get shaved at 6 a.m. easily and without previous arrangement. In England' the barber’s "shop will be supposed to open ht 7.30, and the barber not there till 8 These' hdftels apa barbers in New York and London, remember are catering for their clients. But we British are not early risers ; the Americans are ; and that is all we can say about the matter. The Habfit of Work, Long before ■ the United States adopted prohibition, when one visited the United States it was the exception and not the rule’ to see guests in an American hotel taking wine or other form of alcohol to lunch or dinner., In the United' Kingdom it was* and is, the exception to see guests at} the hotel table! who are not taking wine beer, or whisky at lunch and dinner. America has got, in a supreme decree .the habit of work that great and sjoodi habit which is the foundtion of prosperity and happiness, national and individual In Great Bn*;air«, if a young man has i “expectations of inherited wealth he not only does not apply himself to acquire the habit of work, but he will never be o-iven the chance to acquire it by parents or college masters ■ We have often seen in the United! Kingdom most promising young men absolutely spoiled by a small inheritance ot a more £IOOO a yelar. One could, instance any number of American young men to whom prospects of inherited wealth ) running into incomes of one of moj’e millions of dollars a year* have not blunted their desire for the habit of work. Bad Habits Fatal. IThe United States holds to-day, in ith,e coffers of her bankersi, more than three-fourths of the world’s gold and this fact, alarms us ; but that fact is not our danger for the future hut that Amerifcan habits of ea(t'ly risinrr,, hard! work, and abstinence from alcohol are superior to out own* These habits alre their real gtjld reserve. ... I have never known a person bad habits of any kind* harmless or the reverse that had any practical common sense. J ; I have been reading a book iiie Foundation of Japan,” by Mr Robert-son-Scotti, and was astonished to learn the great part the young men and women there are playing ’in the development of the country. They have formed a society to elevn e themselves and the community in the towns in which they Jive lam certain there is finer material in England for work of this kind than m Japan. Why should the young men and women here not band together to improve their native land to make it easier to live a good life and more difficult to be led away into evil—we who have .sent missionaries to teach the people of Japan ?