(The. Pathfinder),
"We Americans have always assumed that we
vere smarter than any of the other nations. We
have always boasted that our country was bigger
an(l better than any other land under the sun—
and as frr competition, the others simply
weren’t in it. We have taken it for granted that
in dealing w’th “ignorant foreigners” we could
always outwit them. In. fact we have proclaimed
ourselves as so supremely satisfied with our own
country and our own ways that we didn’t covet
own a single* inch of anybody else’s territory.
We have despised those nations which have be
come overpopuiated and have been compelled to
secure fresh territory to give their surplus peo
ple a li zing. We have assumed to “lead” the
ivorld and lo’tke it “safe for democracy”—setting
^in-selves up as a-shining example of superiority
(lie papular form of government. We despise
dike ez: rs, emperors, kings, princes, dukes, dicta
;0rs—and we despise any people who will submit
to their . L.:e. especially nave we told the people
of the Orion' that they are an “inferior” race—
and Irenled item that way. It was an American
naval ihvt beck in 1*54, that first awakened
Japan i:\nn n: r feudal sleep and forced her to
open her uoMs io foreign commerce. Oh, what an
ill-fated awAcning that was! The Japanese
have ajwnyh resented tins high-hat. attitude of the
noted and it is but natural that they
would hide :h ir time until they could show the
world thee they are net only not inferior but
that th'-y nrr in many ways superior. In matters
in wbhh *!,!;y are “inferior,” they take advantage
of that inferiority and turn it to their own ac
count—widen seems to be more than we smart
hoys can do. The Japs are “inferior” in size.
This allows them to live on much less food and
to accomplish feats of strength and endurance
which arc i >i possible to a larger race. It is also
this smalh-e-'i? of size which enables the Japanese
girls, with th«;r wonderfully deft little fingers,
gifted by heredity and trained by long practice
in the home and the school, to make so many of
those cute little toys and gimcracks of all. kinds.
The Japs have a very limited supply of natural
resources, but they utilize what, tney nave to. an
extent'that - is imheKevahle unless you ate fa
miliar with stich. things. For instance, we have
before us a sample of a decorative mat, sold in
Washington tor Christmas. This mat is made
by weaving tiry strips of ribbons. Silk of course
is too costiy lor them to use. Even cotton, jute
and other vegetable fibers are too costly. So
what do these resourceful Japs do? They use
wood. Yes, the wooden ribbons, of which' this
wonderful mat is made are just 3-lOQOths of an
inch ir thickness! Do you realize what that
means? It Means that these ribbons shaved out
of wood are only three-fourths as thick as the
paper on which this Eatfifinder is printed. It
would be juiyercally impossible to produce* this
material amd ./cave such mats in the United
States. Wo boast that our. American, machinery
is botte- chan machinery anywhere else in the
world. But even, in this we are fooling,ourselves.
While our ucptr.ins of industry have been clos
ing their factories and keeping them closed
while they have let their equipment become rusty
and olco.iete. the Japs have not. only taken all
our best ma J.’u^y but have added improvements
of thei. ov-c vviimi we do not haye. For instance,
in the textile mills in Japan the loom9 have been
so improved within the last few months that one
of those I'.tti; Tap girls can tend tp half as many
again e an American girl can. And right while
we have been boosting our own cost of produc
ing all such goods, the-Japs have.kept on. cutting.
tuca' cesis.' ice Japs.nave one trica m .
biik wii'cii .j»s won them many an advantage. _
They wJl ony 'Just a .single.machine in the United,
Slates, for -usance,' Thil? machinl’will be the ,
very be:t unJ lst^et'niodef that 6uv;factories are,
side to produce. ' Our magnates..tijSuK;they are/
then going to sell'thousands more ef "these wane,.
uachinesV-lit. several hundred :p£^ cent profit.
But there is where the. Japs ojjfttut. .th$|g—and^
do it with a smile.' They take that whfehine_ care-^
fully apart anT th^imake’.as maiyy moro like it^
its they need.. They not only make these dupl1",
cate readJnes"so cheaply that our inapBSap4ref3+
can’t possibly produce them for the sammmbney—
but then’ they, turn" right around and loa<hvtheir
slii))s. with similar machines and sell themtothp^
other ' ' These other countries rnrre. the;
ones, on which, we have so long depended for our
big and prosperous “balance of trade.
One of our,, big concerns has just received- an
order fnj a c- r upk-tc. plate-glass making plant,
O' he i,.rdJo J.ipan. But that one order will be
a'i they will . t, und then the factory will have
•to shut up a.id let its employees go*- When the
Japs get to producing plate-glass on' a large scale
the vast business o£ this sort which began as an
infant industry,” in this. country many, years
ago, with a high protective tariff may have to
W. UJ>. Hitherto, our industrial magnates! have
always been, able to take refuge behind the high
tariff wall. It used to be Franee that supplied -
all the plate-glass. Then Germany learned the .
trick and got a share of ihe world trade, includ
ing our trade. Then we got into the game. But
our plate-glass makers could never have sold a
foot of plate-glass if it had not been for the tariff.
Now it is Japan that takes the place of “Made
in France” and “Made ip: Germany.” The Jap
has come to be the villian in the world melo
drama, and he, is. playing this part with a skill
and resourcefulness never before equaled. If the
Japs are an “inferior” race, let us hope that, we
shall not have to come up against any race that
is our superior. The point about the Japs is
that they are a “young” race, asraees go. We
are now old—in fact decrepit apd tottering, with
no faith in ourselves and no energy or punch.. We
stumble abput, we mumble and1 murmur and
grouch and cite alibis—while Japan, in her own
way, is forging right ahead. Japan-is doing this
because we helped to make her realize her own
strength. She is now starting out to conquer the
earth if necessary. She already has a hold in
the Pacific which we either can not or dare not
shake loose. She can take the Philippines any
time she wants to—we have pointed out the way
to her in fact. She has gobbled a lot of territory
in the Manchurian region—territory which will
allow her to expand and which is rieh in re
sources. But the most dangerous resources which
the Orient presents to the rest of the world is
the man power—which, also includes the woman
power. There is an inexhaustible supply of
workers in Japan and China alone, and these
workers can, live so cheaply that their work costs
very little. Moreover they work early and late,
week in and week out, and: are tiekled to death
to get a job which will pay them a few cents a
day,’ whi& we are talking in doHars.
The Japs beat us to it when they took the wind '
out of their money unit, the yen, and reduced its
value about half. Our chart’shows the good re
sults of this, money trick. As far back as 1931
the. Japanese production index started upward
and it has continued upward ever since. Eng- *
land did* the same thing with her pound4 and re
valued* it; to meet the conditions- which existed
in world trade. Uncle Sara, as usual, was a
epupfe of years late. And even then it appears
that1 he didn't know, how to play this- trick even
when he drew the cards. Consult the chart and
you with see that production in the United- States
jumped' from 6<b to 90 in* the first half of. 193>3
but after that it has wiggled- up and down like a
dying snake and then settled back to at the
end of* 1934-.
The question naturally apises, how are* we go
ing to ckteh up wlt£ the other’nations—and if
it proves that Wa are not smart enough to beat
them, whatL are we going, ter do then? Qf course,
before you. pack and go to Japan dr Eng
land or some qtlitpr country fp settle, we want to
remind you that, the U. S, A, is still a pretty
good country, ^he Pathfiud'et is not among 'those
who regard Wqrla trade as, anything, to grieve over
very much. We believe that if we wiH only at
tend. to our own domestic* trade, and not let
the foreigners chisel in and steal that away too,
we are going to be very well off. There is
plenty for alb—provided some don’t" steal it from
the others. And thefe is work enoughto keep all
our factpnps gonrg lull DjHfrrn.qur ou»mra»
will .just produce 'the good? and sell them fox
.what the7people can. afford tp pay—which is; the
principle that'Japan works on. The Japs also
would like very, much to' get. higher prices for
their products—but they "woke up to the. reality*
fbur years ago, that the consumers throughout th«;'
1 w#fe are uha]&le,to p^ homn prices. Hence, the
^ Jdf trid^rs-^who-afe:ai3,*iart as they come—hre
"their. goodsr for any price, they can get, r
f MjfeetUrn they take goods which they ean re-*
.ghll—the same low hpsis of cost And so, hav- .
hogHstabKshed a system of barter which. *8 bene
fit nng* hoth'sides—while Unde ^am.ls^fitill wait-;
ing ip, the fbpce corner, for the “rabbir - that is .
to jupip:mto; his Fag when he'holds, it open. ~
r. must *emember-that' the trade world, pas,
made several, revolutions while we have thus, with
childlike simplicity, been waiting for business to,
come onr way. The last Congress gave the.
President unprecedented power to deal with tins
changed world of trade. He was authorized to.
arrange special trade treaties with all the nations
—one after another. Great hopes were expressed
It I* No Time for tdlenesi.r’
In ignorance and indiff^fpnqe, the people of
America hove looked on while millions of acres
of fertile lands have been denuded of their soil.
Jl'orih Carolina as a whole* has not' suffered' .as
haye some of the western, areas, Tet a rjeegnt
authoritative survey places th% number, of
lessly ruined acres in 31- piedmont. counties,,at
upward of a million and: a half acres, or an area
aa large. as, Sampson, Harnett and Chatham
counties combined.
The ruin is continuing. But the, Roosevelt
administration has made a beginning, particularly;
in the Tennessee Valley, and here in North Caro
lina in the upper .Deep River Valley, in an el&rt
to stop the ruinous erosidri which Kan threatened
to destroy utterly vast areas of the country, mid
has already ruined, for practically all tiiiep a
total acreage equal to the area of-several statBB.
Vet millx" -' of Americans can find* nothing to
do. Part of the people, using all the available
resources, make enougn tor ail,' yet trte tor «««»«*
ones haven’t sense enough-to-see-dhat if the idlo
are not put to wo A saving the remaining, re- „
sources it1 will be ercecdingljf hard in the. cot^se
of a few ger era+i mn for even a population, the
size: of the present one to make-a living for all
when all are working not 40> hottrs-*a week, hut
70 hours.. • ;
Fortunately, eastern Carolina suffers compara- ?
tively little from erosion; but1 the- evil is by no
means to be minimized. The-ridgeaeils were-so
thin that land was worn out and thrown out of
cultivation before the erosion .reached an, irre
parable stage. The flat lands suffer very little
from erosion." Yet there are few fields which do
not need some protection against the washing off
of the soiL .Halt of the land in,Harnett, county
needs the protection of scientifically, laid terraces.
There is plenty to keep Americans busy'if the,
surpluses produced by. the fortunate be surren
dered to the. government for the maintenance? of.
tjipse who should be busy saving1 and re-netting
the nation’s resources. And why nof what ean
notr otherwise be used, be devqted'.to the common
gpqA and the support of those who are employed
in saving and renewing the whole people’s re
sources? . • ‘
. Fender county, is .“sitting pre^ty.’’^-W'il6 onn ”,
son treasurer- of5 tte State, and supervisor ? ,
finances of subdivisions and another speake* of
the house o£ representatives, the thinly popu
lated county occupies a position close to he head
of-the* table, 'the Grady clarv. also" ^sits pr^tty,”
what, with one on the superior court bench, an
ather president protein of the senate, and. Hoheft
Grady. Johnson (his. napther was a, Grady), a®
Speaker qf the . House.
Tratts.1
’ «]^her” began liUle'Foy, “what does -trap*
Atlanticmpao^’ . . i
HAcross.; the ocean,” relied his mother;, / * j
Then* ‘T>pes* Trans’ always, mean, ncrobalT. -
“Yes, it,'does, always. How if you a& *®e>
another question' X shall, send' ypu to bcc! I”, xhe
second' silqnce was broken by a pla.'ntive, small
voice w,b|ich commented, “TheUjI suipposq
parent means a crocs parent !”
The, Djructim*. . ; -
Young Man-—“Can you take, a. jck< V*
Taxi Driver—“Yes, where do yeti' want / t<?
gor . • ’ :- 1
Unfortunate. , ' ' :
Lady—“If you love work, why don't
hw ' • .. • ' a .
Tramp—“Alasf lady, ,lo_veis blind.” ^ '
at tRe time for thq heW import and export '
Bess which, w,as to put several millio i people back
to work. .' But it .seems that’ many unexpected *
snags have been struck and- little cr no actual
progress .has- been. made.1 EhoVing' tha’t' they
can outsmart us, the other nations seem to- -
tpfmined-to' defy uo .and' t^ey- thumb thei# nOs^ /,i
at; our /ffersrt The which- vref pfopee^mj
not ’ app cal to them-^-at least not unless - wo y:
prephupd to.giv' the goods ,aw^.y or pu£. VP^the \
money/, with no* /Tihisplpf Its 'eyCT'being^paid -->•
back/ It would spehr as if we bad.had enoAgn. '
of that 'sort-Of- arti^cial••;<prp8peri^k”.h:jFofrvojyy; '/
are' the other: cpnritries now surrounded -by '.all
sjjrt^ of tariff walls; quotas andrre«trtc/ti6ns which. *
make trade1 Veil-nigh' impossible, bat - even Vrnetf
a sale 'is arranged-, there is no way to transfer the
money. In ,most countries the government hab. a
monopoly of all the money and keeps a..t%ht h
bohl on credit. Traders may.,make deafe-^-hut
they are liable to find their head in a noose, and
you know that, even sliarp business men are .not
anxious to develop trade when they are liablp
lose not only their money but also fch?ir head. * ;