new policies very often gain tremendous force either by being
explicitly identified with past experience or by departing from
such experience. And in the course of such historical re-exami-
nations, business often becomes acutely and tragically conscious
of the shortness of "memory" of its elder statesmen to say
nothing of the chaos, the confusion, and the losses that soon
develop among business records that repose in the wastes of
cellars and warehouses.

With the purpose of being of assistance in the important
task of recovering and preserving the actions and thoughts of
our earlier business executives, the New York University
Graduate School of Business Administration is inaugurating
a business history series. The projected volumes, of which two
are now ready, will be limited to objective and scholarly studies
of business companies, businessmen, or business situations. In
sum, the editor of the series, Professor Thomas C. Cochran,
will attempt to guide the projected volumes and their respective
authors in the direction of an expanding picture of the realities
of business entrepreneurship. In dealing with companies, men,
and situations, it is hoped to avoid both the unrestrained praise
of friend and the unwarranted damnation of foe.

The first volume of this series, presented herewith, is the
history of a manufacturing company over one hundred years
old, with a record of genuine achievement in its contributions
to technology, market distribution, and business leadership.

G. ROWLAND COLLINS

Dean

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