THE majority of American business men prefer to take a chance rather than act on the basis of facts. In many instances experience is never recorded and studied, and its lessons are disregarded. Shortly after the armistice was signed a representative of the War Department visited a concern to close a contract and pay the actual costs incurred in its performance. The contractor showed him two drawers of papers and told him to go ahead. One drawer was filled with an accumulation of invoices; the other contained cancelled checks. Needless to say, the contractor still awaits a settlement.