Mr. President, it is with great pleasure that I get to bring you the rest of the story. I have always said you can tell a lot about a country by learning about the leaders of that country. One of the areas of leadership on which this country can pride itself, worldwide, is its leadership in small business and in retailing. And we have a Wyoming boy who has done well. I want to share with you, for just a moment, his history and the history of the company he started. I also have to tell you about a young man of 83 who has just taken up a career in writing in Wyoming. Since his retirement, he has written a book called ``Pride, Power, Progress.'' His name is John ``Ace'' Bonar. He had a distinguished career and, as I say, has now taken up writing. He has written a very short history of an important man that I want to share with you.
To quote him:
The year was 1902. With the blessing of President Teddy Roosevelt the Panama Canal was being built. Roosevelt, who said, ``Speak softly and carry a big stick,'' was also sending the United States Navy around the world to demonstrate its effectiveness.
And back in the states an unheralded project had started. In the tiny mining town of Kemmerer, Wyoming (population 1,000), a 27-year-old man had opened a dry goods store. James Cash Penney was his name. Son of an unordained Baptist minister father in Missouri, Penny, like his father was a strict disciplinarian. He adhered to honesty, thriftiness and hard work. ``Jim,'' his father admonished, ``you have no right to make money if you take advantage of people!''
At the age of 8, the younger Penney ran errands for a nickel. The $2.50 that he saved was invested in pigs. On complaints of neighbors, he sold out. But he made $60. At 12 years old he was horse trading and raising watermelons on the family farm. He soon joined Hale Brothers Dry Goods Store in Hamilton at a $2.27-a-month salary. His income increased to $300 a year. But he left on doctor's orders. He had to go to a higher and dryer climate for his bronchial trouble. Arriving in Colorado he tried the butcher business in the town of Longmont. He soon sold out.
Against the advice of people Penney borrowed $1,500 from a bank and used $500 of his own hard-earned money to start a Golden Rule Store in Kemmerer. In Mr. Penney's words, ``It was on April the 14th we opened our doors. I was assisted by my wife, a local girl, and a Methodist minister. Our sales that day were $466.59, of which $89.90 was shoes. I was warned that a cash business such as our could not succeed. The miners received pay once a month and most spent it before the next day. And then business dropped as low as $25 a day.''
``I got new fight in my blood.'' James Cash Penney catered to the needs of a rural and ``blue collar'' clientele. Trade revived. He opened another store 75 miles away in Rock Springs, Wyoming.
In 1913 the Golden Rule Stores became the J.C. Penney Company. By 1917 there were 175 stores in the United States. Penney operated on a cash basis. The coal company stores had offered only credit. He studied the market and concentrated only on necessary items for his customers. A plain and devout man, Mr. Penney, as the story goes, was waiting on a man and his family in a Midwestern store. He took great pains in getting the family a perfect fit. They liked to buy at the friendly Penney stores. ``I'd sure like to meet Mr. Penney someday!'' Whereupon the salesman smiled and said quite simply while offering a handshake, ``I am Mr. Penney!''
Mr. Penney at times would literally ``pop up'' unexpected at one of his growing chain of stores which was the nation's first chain store. There is an account of his encounters in a Milwaukee store where strolling down an aisle he noticed a display of men's corduroy pants marked $3.98. He called the store manager on the carpet.
``These pants,'' said Mr. Penney, ``sell at $2.98!.``
But Mr. Penney,'' pleaded the manager, ``they are an excellent buy at this price!''
``You violate company policy!'' the owner exploded. ``You must give the customer the best value and make a reasonable profit!''
Penney's memory was remarkable, according to all accounts.
At the opening of a new Penney store in Minneapolis in 1970, it is told that a man came up to Mr. Penney and asked, ``Do you remember me?''
Penney regarded the man for a moment, and smiled.
``Your name is Severt Tendall. I last saw you when you worked in the Cumberland, Wyoming, store in 1902.''
About the only thing James Cash Penney didn't accomplish during his lifetime was to live to be 100 years old. He came very close to his wish. He was still a board member of his company until his death in 1971. He was 95 years old.
Does the Golden Rule, ``Do unto others as you would have other do unto you,'' work today? Ask any of the managers of the 2,080 JCPenney outlets in Europe and across the nation. Today the little Golden Rule Store in Kemmerer, Wyoming, stands as a National Historic Landmark. A tribute to James Cash Penney and his faith in his fellow man.
Back in Wyoming we have dedicated that historic location, the start of chain store retailing in the United States and the home of J.C. Penney.
The principles on which he built that store are important principles for this country, ones that keep retailing going. I am pleased to say that my dad worked as a shoe salesman for a while in the Golden Rule store in Thermopolis, WY. My mom repeated some phrases to me that were a part of that culture and are a part of my mission statement in the Senate; that is, do what is right; do your best; and treat others as you want to be treated.
I want to mention in more detail the Penney idea. Here are some of the statements that are made to all employees of the company, the challenge, the mission of Penney: To serve the public as nearly as we can to its complete satisfaction; to expect for the service we render a fair remuneration and not all the profit the traffic will bear; to do all in our power to pack the customer's dollar full of value, quality, and satisfaction; to continue to train ourselves and our associates so that the service we give will be more and more intelligently performed; to improve constantly the human factor in our business; to reward men and women in our organization through participation in what the business produces; to test our every policy, method, and act in this wise: ``Does it square with what is right and just?''
J.C. Penney was the pioneer of retailing, the pioneer of chain stores, and one of the pioneers of catalogs. Catalogs were the way the West was served when distances were too great to get to stores. Some of it is still that way.
His principles are just as true for business today as they are for life. Adhering to these great principles actually usually leads to great success. That is one of the lessons we learned from J.C. Penney on this 100th anniversary of the effort he started that set him apart from his competitors and made him one of America's most famous and successful businessmen, a person who gives us guidelines for ways we should operate today, ways that will keep the United States in the forefront of free enterprise.
