Torch, Spring 1986

Roy Linton is Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of The Standard Register Company, headquartered in Day– ton , Ohio. In 1983 he retired as President and Chief Executive Officer after 35 years with this international firm which employs 4 ,500 people in 15 U.S. plants and 16 affiliates. He is a 1937 graduate of Cedarville College. Roy Linton recently addressed the subject of free enterprise at Cedarville College. The following are excerpts of his remarks. I am a product of the free enterprise system. I was born into a family that believed in the free enterprise system 100 percent. Our parents taught us children the work ethic and encouraged us to work things out for ourselves. They advised us that not only could one rise above any situation, but that there was always room at the top. One of the ways my father taught us responsibility was by turning over to my brothers and me the total operation of our dairy. This meant getting up at 5 a. m. to do the milking and completing all the chores before leaving for school at 8 a.m. Then at 5 p.m. we started the milking again. This cycle ran seven days a week, 365 days a year . We were twelve , nine, and seven years old at the time. We maintained accurate records on each cow . We eliminated high cost cows and attempted to replace them with more productive animals . (This, Reflections ofa Free Enterpriser by Roy Linton incidentally, was the same procedure I followed in the business world decades later.) When we decided to modernize our cow barn, we put in cement floor, gutters, stations, and worked with an experienced adult in the construction. After that learning experience, a neighbor engaged us to design and construct his milk house . We did the excavating by hand, built the forms, and mixed, poured, and finished the concrete. The gravel came from the creek bed that ran through our farm. We tore down an outside privy and used the lumber for the milk house. The finished project may not have been a thing of beauty but it was utilitarian and passed the inspection of the health department. In elementary school we were taught reading, writing , and spelling with flash cards. This was synergistic education. By learning our letters and reading the "Memory Gems" we were actually learning the essentials of a productive life : A stitch in time saves nine. (Economical use of time) 4 --------------------------------------------------------------------~