i
me pieDmoniTon
New Feature:
PACEMAKER PUZZLE
See Page Three
VOL. VII, NO. 11
i940 — CELEBRATING TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OP SERVICE — 1965
The Other Side Of Getting
by Melvin Barger
The Flying A
"Every man is a consumer, and ought to be a producer. He
fails to make his place good in the world unless he not only
pays his debt but also adds something to the common wealth.
Nor can he do justice to his genius without making some
larger demand on the world than a bare subsistence.”
—Emerson
Editor’s Note: This story impressed those of us who read it so
thoroughly as to wai’rant our putting it on the front page to be
sure you would not miss it.
What really caused the great
American Depression that began
in 1929? Nobody knows with
complete certainty, and it’s like
ly that even now there is a book
on the press with an explanation
for this disaster to add to the
hundreds already on record.
But there’s one durable, if
somewhat simplified, explana
tion that’s shared by a number
of people. This explanation has
it that too many people were
trying to take more out of the
economy than they were willing
to put back into it. The inevi
table result of such short-sighted
practice was collapse.
True or not, this theory has a
ring of plausibility. More than
one human arrangement, be it
the neighborhood social club or
a giant manufacturing concern,
has failed because most of the
emphasis shifted to “getting,”
with less and less thought being
paid to “giving.” A large num
ber of people still fail to see that
“giving” is really only the other
side of “getting” and ought to
come first. This is so true that
the saying, “What can we get?”
should be superseded by a better
one: “What can we give, what
do we have to offer?”
Charitable Giving
To a large degree, people
recognize the need for charitable
forms of giving, the kind that
bring nothing tangible in return
except the good feeling of hav
ing done one’s duty. Centuries
of excellent training, religious
and otherwise, has brought
many to accept that man is his
brother’s keeper, and serves him
self by helping others with no
thought of personal gain. So far,
so good.
But what about the necessity
for making substantial contribu
tions to activities that do bring
us something in return? Such
activities as serving our custo
mers, for example, or giving a
good day’s work for a good day’s
pay? Many of us fail to recog
nize that these also are forms
of giving, and that if these
aren’t properly observed, we de
ceive others as well as ourselves.
In this century, especially, the
realization has been made that
companies which give the most
service also grow to become the
greatest. It is also true that the
people who fill positions of lead
ership in a successful company
are those who know how to be
of as much personal service as
possible.
As consumers, we are so con
stituted that we cannot afford to
reject the company that gives
us the best services and prices;
at the same time, a business is so
constituted that it cannot reject
the services of the man who
gives himself wholeheartedly to
its interests.
Yet a surprisingly large num
ber of companies and employees
carry on their affairs as if they
thought the nature of things to
be otherwise. This suggests that
they don’t really understand
that giving and getting are in
terdependent.
It is, for example, very diffi
cult to obtain top service from
more than a few supplier firms
in any field. This is true in spite
of the fact that every business
has lots of companies in it, all
clamoring for purchase orders
and proclaiming the superiority
of their own services.
But after the purchase orders
have actually been placed, not
every company lives up to its
original promises. Only a few
recognize their obligation to fol
low through with good service
even after they have received
the purchase order.
Now this is certainly odd as
well as self-defeating. It should
The Airlines Are Cooperating
With Department of Agriculture
Plant pests take a toll of about
$9 billion a year in damage to
U. S. crops, forests and ornamen
tal plants. Because of the in
creasing volume of travel and
trade, travelers’ baggage pro
vides a potential way for these
pests to invade the country.
For example, an estimated 178
million people, including regu
lar commuters from Mexico and
Canada, now enter the United
States annually. They bring with
them more than 32 million
pieces of baggage •— all potential
carriers of pests that can hide
in innocent-looking plants, fruits
and souvenirs made of agricul
tural materials.
Recognizing the airlines’ role
in this vital area, the Depart
ment of Agriculture recently
said; “The airlines’ help is of
prime importance because the
job of defending our agriculture
resources against foreign plant
diseases and insects grows big
ger each year. Because of the in
creasing volume of travel and
trade, travelers’ baggage pro
vides a potential way for plant
pests to invade the country.”
(see contest on page five)
SHE NEfcDS A NAME*
Financial News for the Year
be clear to almost anyone that a
company’s ability to keep busi
ness and to get new purchase
orders is determined by the kind
of performance it shows on cur
rent orders. Why shouldn’t self-
interest alone, to say nothing of
pride in personal achievement,
force many companies to im
prove their services?
Cause and Effect
In many cases -it does, but in
a large number of instances no
body seems to learn the simple
lesson that there’s a cause-and-
effect relationship between giv
ing and getting. Sometimes the
failure to give so much as token
services drives firms out of busi
ness. But even then it’s hard to
get an admission of personal re
sponsibility from the very peo
ple whose derelictions invited
the failures.
It is the same with a large
number of jobholders, both plant
employees and office workers.
Many neglect their real duties.
The days are gone when an em
ployee was expected to “tote
that barge and heave that bale,”
and it’s generally felt today that
an employer has no right to
make unreasonable demands.
Moreover, it’s also recognized
that an employer isn’t granting
a one-sided favor upon a person
by giving him a job; the rela
tionship is a business-like rela
tionship, and to be successful
it should benefit all concerned.
But this does not exempt the
employee from his obligation to
do a good day’s work; he’s only
kidding himself if he thinks it
does. He has a moral obligation
to do a good day’s work even if
he doesn’t always get recogni
tion for it. This obligation is
owed to the company and to his
fellow workers, but it is also an
obligation that he owes to him
self.
Increased Security
The common-sense reason why
a person has this obligation is
simply that his own job security
is increased when he improves
the kind of work that’s being
turned out. At the same time,
though, he picks up a number
of side benefits. The man who
gives himself fully to his work
usually is happy doing it. He al
so has a clear conscience be
cause he’s earning his own way;
he knows that he’s not being
carried by others.
It may also be that a certain
amount o f character improve
ment is achieved by the con
stant effort to give good service
on a job, to advance by merit
rather than by deceit. Good work
performance also affects a per
son’s ability to get a new job
when his old one terminates be
cause of reasons beyond his con
trol. It’s hard to conceal what
you really are, and the person
who has made a practice of do
ing as little, as possible jri.av
“project” a certain insincerity in
personal interviews — perhaps
just enough insincerity to keep
him from getting the job he
wants.
Lesson To Be Learned
So there is a lesson we must
learn and relearn collectively as
“companies” and individually as
“employees.” That lesson is sim
ply this: if we take care of the
giving, the getting comes auto
matically. Life is so arranged
that it must give something back
to us if we contribute some
thing to it. But the time has not
existed when something could
come into being without mental
or physical effort. It is likely
that it never will; giving will al
ways be required of us.
This demand that we give to
life in order to receive from it
is not a form of penance. It is a
demand that has brought about
most human progress. All the
great achievements have been
(Continued on Page Two)
NOVEMBER, 1965
Third Dividend
Of Company Stock
Has Been Declared
A cash dividend of 10 cents
per share to stockholders was
again declared by the Board of
Directors of Piedmont Aviation,
Inc., at their regular quarterly
meeting in October. This marks
the third cash dividend to be
declared by the Company. The
other two, each also amounting
to 10 cents per share, were
authorized in October 1964 and
April of 1965. The new dividend
is payable December 1, 1965, to
stockholders of record on No
vember 15, 1965.
It was also announced that net
earnings of the Company for the
first nine months of 1965 were
$1,196,630, an increase of 33 per
cent over the same period in
1964. This amounts to 66 cents
per share compared to 49 cents
per share for the first three
quarters of the previous year,
based on the number of shares
outstanding as of September 30,
1965. Total revenues during this
period were up 20 per cent to
$27,364,714.
The Airline Division provided
service to 940,606 passengers dur
ing the first nine months of 1965
as compared to 790,925 passen
gers for the similar 1964 period,
a 19 per cent increase. These
passengers flew 209,372,431 reve
nue passenger miles, an increase
of 20 per cent over the same per
iod last year.
The passenger load factor
from January 1 through Septem
ber 30 of this year was 54.48
per cent as compared to 51.10
per cent for the first nine
months of 1964, one of the re
gional airline industry’s highest
load factors.
Sales, services, and other in
come of the General Aviation
Division and the Central Pied
mont Aero Division increased 33
per cent over the first three
quarters of 1964 to total $5,253,-
298 for 1965.
Piedmont President T. H.
Davis, in commenting on the
results of 1965’s first nine
months, said: “We are gratified
that the year has thus far been
unusually favorable and we hope
to close out 1965 with substan
tial gains. We are also glad that
we can share this achievement
with our many loyal stockhold
ers by once again declaring a
cash dividend.”
New Tax Director Named
John Wallace Hoffman has
been named Director—Tax Ad
ministration in the Finance Di
vision of the company.
Mr. Hoffman is a native of
Statesville, N. C. and has broad
experience in both public and in
dustrial accounting. His respon
sibilities at Piedmont will be the
administration of corporate tax
activities and planning; he will
report to M. F. Fare, Vice Presi
dent—Finance.
Mr. Hoffman is a Certified
Public Accountant, a member of
the North Carolina Association
of Certified Public Accountants
and is also active in Toastmas-
tering.
Mr. Hoffman for the last six
years has resided in Raleigh,
North Carolina. He plans to
establish residence in Winston-
Salem soon and will be joined
by his wife and two children, a
daughter fourteen and son
eleven.
rs
%
1
.John W. Hoffman.