The Weaving Machine Mr. Joseph Franklin invented a machine that could weave cloth. It wove faster and straighter than anyone could weave by hand. He decided to take it to two cities on a peninsula, Netherton and Wilton. In these cities, a large proportion of the people worked in weaving. Joseph felt sure he could sell his machine there. Joseph first took his machine to the mayor of Netherton. “Think of the money you will earn from this machine!” Joseph said to him. But the mayor was a benevolent man. He knew about the people’s dependence on weaving for their livelihood. If he bought the machine, the people would lose their jobs. So he refused to buy it. Joseph said, “We are no longer in the medieval age! Soon everything will be made by machines. Cloth made by hand will soon be obsolete. If you don’t change your archaic ways, your town’s income will diminish!” But the mayor said, “I don’t like capitalism. Don’t impose your radical ideas on my town. Go away!” So Joseph took his machine to the mayor at Wilton. This mayor thought Joseph’s machine was spectacular and spent a long time looking at its different components made of brass. The mayor couldn’t refute the fact that the machine had drawbacks that would affect the people’s jobs. But he realized the machine could bring money and prestige. So he ordered Joseph to build twenty of them. Within a year, Wilton was a wealthy city, famous for its wonderful cloth. People no longer wove but worked in managerial jobs at cloth factories instead. Nobody bought the cloth from Netherton anymore. The people of Netherton became poor and hungry. Finally, the mayor of Netherton called Joseph and said, “Now I realize that your machine is not just a passing fad. To succeed in business, we must be willing to change.” He then ordered twenty weaving machines. After that, both Netherton and Wilton became rich cities, famous throughout the land for their wonderful cloth.