Life — July 29, 1915 — page 12: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Business and Ethics" by Redfield Ingalls This short story contest entry satirizes corporate hypocrisy regarding business ethics. The plot centers on Mr. Slowitz, a dye company owner, who fires his employee Sloane—not for poor work, but because Sloane discovered a business secret (a formula) that Slowitz wanted to keep hidden. When Sloane threatens to take the formula to a competitor, Slowitz manipulates him with promises of rehiring and payment if he retrieves it from the rival Domestic Dye Works. The satire's point: Slowitz represents the ruthless businessman who preaches "business is business" while cynically exploiting ethics as a tool for profit. His casual disregard for his employee's dignity and his willingness to use deception illustrate the gap between business leaders' stated principles and actual practices—a common Progressive Era critique of American capitalism.