BUILDING II' THE COMMUNITY.
A Great Address Delivered at the
Chautauqua Tent Sunday After
noon by James S. Knox of Cleve
land, Ohio. First We Must Discover
Our Problems and Then Set Out To
Solve Them. Speaker Called Atten
tion to Our Educational System and
Spoke of the Great Inefficiency
Along Many Lines. Co-Operation
and Not Competition is the Life of
a Community.
One of the greatest lectures, or
addresses, ever heard in Smithfield
was delivered here last Sunday after
noon at the Chautauqua by James S.
Knox, the efficiency expert of Cleve
land, Ohio. We deem it an address of
such worth that we arc giving a full
synopsis to our readers today:
There are two fundamental princi
ples underlying community building:
First, a problem must be acknowledg
ed before it can be solved. Second,
every community problem has an ed
ucational basis. There are many
problems in this country that should
have been solved many years ago that
we are now just beginning to recog
nize as problems. We are face to face
with some industrial educational
problems that the educators of this
country did not until recently recog
nize as educational problems. I am go
ing to call your attention to four fun
damental problems that President
Wilson has recently called our at
tention to. First, agricultural effi
ciency; Second, industrial efficiency;
Third, commercial efficiency; Fourth,
personal efficiency. There are 13 mil
lion people engaged in agriculture in
this country and according to the Gov
ernment, one per cent of them are
efficient. This is a sad commentary
upon our educational efficiency. In
England they raise 40 bushels of
wheat to an acre, Scotland 38, Ger
many and Ireland 34, China 23, but
in the United States, the country
with the richest soil, we only raise 16
bushels to the acre. In Europe they
are obliged to mix brains with the
soil. In this country we are not.
Our country school educational
system is a disgrace to this age. When
a boy finishes a country school course
he ought to have made a careful study
of the science of agriculture and eco
nomics, but instead of that he leaves
school both an agricultural and eco
nomical illiterate. The time is coming
when we will have a township high
school in every county that will teach
agriculture. Every high school in this
country ought to teach agriculture.
The Government is now spending 32
million dollars a year to help the far
mer of the country. The State of
North Carolina is to be congratulated
upon the fact that it has 68 men and
49 women who are agricultural dem
onstrators. This is going to help revo
lutionize the agricultural conditions
in this country.
Lack of Rusiness Efficiency.
We have 14 million people engaged
in manufacture, and the Government
estimates that about 1 per cent is ef
ficient. No one has ever believed
that more than 5 per cent of the
business people in this country were
efficient. Of the million merchants en
gaged in business in this country, be
tween 80 and 90 per cent make no net
profit. The business life of the aver
age retail merchant of the Middle
West is just 10 years. It takes him
just that long to lose all the money
he has. We have in this country 123
law schools and 96 medical schools,
bu<( not, a singla school owned by cither
State or nation teaches a man mer
chandise. Three million people of the
United States are sick all the time.
Five hundred thousand of them are
tubercular. This is a community
problem that must receive our very
serious consideration. Of the 20 mil
lion farmers in tH1s country, 10 mil
lion have incomes of only $600 per
family, while six million have in
comes of only $400.00 a year
per family. Poverty is a national ca
lamity. Only 5 per cent of the men
of this country earn $3,000 a year or
more. The average man must be
taught how to increase his personal
efficiency, and therefore his income.
Impressions Made by the Town.
Now let us see how we can apply
this idea to the community. Every
town, like every individual has a dis
tinct personality, and every town like
every individual radiates to the world
what it is. If a man is a success, he
radiates success, if he is a failure he
radiates failure. The same thing is
true with the town. Every man who
I
visits your town carries away an im
pression of the town, and the impres
sion he carries away depends upon the
impression you give him. The average
town in this country is surrounded
by a political invisible Chinese wall,
and that wall is composed of suspi
cion and prejudice. The average farm
er looks in with a certain amount of
suspicion, and the average business
man looks out with a certain amount
of prejudice. Suspicion and perajudice
are community chloroformers instead
of community builders.
If the farmer feels that the mer
chant has no interest in him, he sees
no reason why he should be interest
ed in the merchant. The average far
mer thinks the average business man
is "stuck up," because he wears a
white collar. The trouble is that the
farmer is a little bit "stuck down."
What we need in community life is a
larger vision of life and its possibili
ties. We have developed a spirit of
suspicion, prejudice and antagonism
rather than co-operation, and what
are some of the results? The mail
order houses have grown to such an
extent that they are now doing over
5 hundred million dollars worth an
nually, and ten thousand American
towns have lost population.
Five Great Reasons.
There are five reasons for mail or
der development and small town de
moralization as follows: Lack of pro
per community organization, lack of
proper community co-operation, lack
of community loyalty, lack of sales
manship advertising in business effi
ciency on the part of the merchants,
and because of the high degree of
salesmanship advertising in business
efficiency on the part of the mail order
houses. What is the purpose of a
town in the community? It is to serve
that community to the maximum of
its ability. If your town is doing that,
it is getting 98 per cent of the busi
ness in your territory. But the aver
age town of 5000 in the United States
is sending one hundred thousand dol
lars a year to the mail order houses.
Lansing, Michigan, a city of 35,000,
is sending to the mail order houses
nearly two million dollars a year.
Your Chamber of Commerce whose
dues are from $1.00 to $5.00 every
year is nearly always a dead insti
tution. You must invest money in or
der to money, and it is not a
question of what a thing cost, but
what is it worth. Your dues ought
to be at least $10.00 a year. The
Chamber of Commerce that I belong
to charges $40.00 a year dues, and we
have a prominent speaker once a
week during the year. The leading
business men of a great city realize
the need of continually getting new
ideas, and studying in the various
phases of their business, not only lo
cally, but nationally and internation
ally. A small town must do the
same, if it is going to solve its prob
lems and properly serve its commu
nity. We are just beginning to learn
the meaning or co-operation in com
munity life. Co-operation, and not
competition, is the life of community
trade. The lower we go on the scale
of civilization, the more we find dis
organization, disintegration and fail
ure; the higher we go, the more we
find organization, co-operation and
success. Loyalty is based upon organi
zation and co-operation. I can't see
how there can be any such thing as
national loyalty and patriotism unless
there is community loyalty and patri
otism. A great many people are not
loyal to their own community from
the standpoint of buying at home, and
yet they do not realize that it has any
effiect at all on their own home. The
individual who buys goods away from
home, is in that act crucifying the lo
cal genius in his own community, and
making it difficult for it to develop.
Community Grafters.
I know a woman who is educating
her three sons in the public schools
of her town that are supported by the
business men of her town, but she
buys practically all of her goods
from mail order houses. This woman
is a commurity grafter, but she does
not realize it. Any individual who
profits by the advantages of a com
munity without helping to pay for
these advantages is a community
grafter. The individual who buys a
dollar's worth of goods outside of his
own town, that might just as well be
bought at home, is helping to commit
community suicide. When we buy our
goods from mail order houses, we
drive our merchants out of business
and we kill the social life of the corn
unity. When the town begins to die,
the hotel goes down. The hotel is a
semi-public institution, and you can
not have a good town without a good
hotel. When you drive the merchants
out of business, you kill the local
newspaper and you cannot have a live
town without a newspaper, and you
cannot have a live newspaper with
out live patronage. When a town gets
a reputation for being a dead town,
its brightest high school and college
graduates, realizing that success is
impossible at home, leave their com
munity and go to the large cities,
and instead of building a civilization
in that community we demoralize it.
The average community would do
well to follow the advice of Benjamin
Franklin, when he said we would
either have to hang together or hang
separately. The people of the commu
nity will either have to work together
or some of them will go hungry sep
arately.
How to Keep Boys and Girls.
You may send to the mail order
houses for your dry goods and your
groceries, but you cannot send away
for paved streets, or your schools or
your churches or your social life.
Unless the people of the community
are given the advantages of these
things, the brightest of them will
leave the community and go away
where they can get them. Every
young man possesses within himself
a continent of undiscovered possibil
ities which whisper to him that he is
capable of almost infinite develop
ments, if he will only wake up and
r* urn Vi i *vi u nl ^ o /tVi n r\/in
iiiuiocii a vitalise.
One of the purposes of a Chautau
qua is to help build up high ideals, to
arouse and inspire the people of a
community to a realization of their
power and possibilities, and to en
courage the community as a whole to
work together to the end, that it may
make of itself a maximum instead of
a minimum town; a place that every
one in the community is proud of, a
place where everyone of the commu
nity will want to go instead of get
away from.
DON'T WANT SEPARATE TRUCE
Russian Refuse German Gensxfei'g
Offer of Armistice, Send Strong
Answer. Council of Workmen and
Soldiers Calls on Army to Repulse
Any Such Tampering.
Petrograd, June 9. ? The German
commander in chief on the Eastern
front has invited the Russian armies
to a separate armistice, according to
a statement by the council of work
men and soldiers made public today.
It was proposed, according to the
statement, that secret pour parlers
with German leader be inaugurated,
but the scheme was denounced by the
council.
in a wireless teigram, me coun
cil's announcement states, tht- Ger
man commander proposed to show
the armies a way towards an honor
able peace and a means of ceasing to
wage war without a rupture with the
entente allies. The council of work
men's and soldiers' delegates has in
t'-is connection addressed to the Rus
sian army the following appeal:
"The commander in chief of the
German armies on the Eastern front
has sent to our troops a wireless
message proposing to indicate to
them a way toward an honorable
peace and a means for ceasing to
wage war without a rupture with the
allies. The German general talks this
way because he knows that the Rus
sian revoultionary troops would re
ject with indignation any overt pro
posal for a separate peace.
"That is why the enemy command
er in chief invite our armies to a
separate armistice an4 proposes that
we should enter into secret pour nar
lers with the German military lend
ers on the Eastern front. In his wire
less telegram the German declares
that a separate armistice does not of
for Germany any advantage. But this
is untrue for, in speaking of the in
activity of the German army on the
Russian front, the German general
forgets what Russia can not forget,
notably the Russian defeat on the
Stockhod. The German general has
forgotten that the Russian troops
know whether the divisions and heavy
batteries are being taken from our
front. The German general has for
gotten that we in Russia hear the
sound of the bloody battles which are
being fought on the Franco-British
front. He has forgotten that Russia
knows that the overthrow of her al
lies would mean the overthrow of
Russia and the end of her political
liberty."
GERMANY LESS FORWARD NOW.
Another Day I'asses Without Effort
Their l'art to Regain Ground Tak
en by British In Reeent Drive.
Teutons Along the Ypres Front De
clared to Re Demoralized. South
ward, However, They Are Heavily
Bombarding British Positions.
Another day has passeu without
the demoralized Germans along the
Ypres front making an effort by
counter-attacking to regain the
ground they lost in the titannc drive
of Field Marshal Haig's men last
Thursday. South of Ypres, however,
the Teutons heavily bombarded the
British positions where additional
terrain was taken from them Satur
day night on several sectors. Aerial
activity between the German and
British fliers continued Saturday and
numerous battles in the air were
fought. Nine enemy machines were
accounted for by the British, who
themselves lost three.
There has been no fighting along
that part of the line where the French
are facing the Germans rising above
the character of small surprise at
tacks. On the Chemin-des-Dames, the
Germans early Sunday morning pene
trated a small salient west of Cerny,
but almost immediately were driven
out.
In the Austro-Italian theater, the
fighting is being done entirely by the
artillery wings of the opposing ar
mies. There has been no attempt at a
resumption by the Italians of their
*;reat offensive in the Carso front,
but from the fact that reconnoiter
ing parties are being sent out to sur
vey the new positions of the Aus
trians, another great battle probably
is not far distant.
In Macedonia, especially along the
Vardar river sector, artillery duels
are in progress.
The situation at Kronstadt, where
the council of workmen's and sol
diers' delegates is still defying the
provisional government, remains
'tense. Apparently as its first step in
carrying out its threat to take reso
lute action, the government has re
called various officials from Kron
stadt. A heartening sign in the crisis
there is the fact that the fleet in that
port is reliable and can be depended
on to aid the government.
The movement for the establish
ment of a republic in Russia has been
joined by the congress of peasants'
delegates of all Russia.
The situation in Spain which re
sulted in the resignation of the min
istry is still acute. The Marquis Perie
to has declined to retain the pre
miership, and the belief prevails that
Eduardo I)ato, a former premier of
conservative leanings, will be en
trusted with the formation of a cab
inet.
As a result of the recent bombard
ment of Ostend, and probably in
fear that another operation of a sim
ilar character might be carried out
against the port, the Germans have
removed all the large ships from the
harbor, which presents a deserted
appearance. ? Associated Press Sum
mary, Sunday.
ROMANOFF TO BE PUNISHED.
Soldiers Are Clamorous Against the
Former Czar.
Petrograd, June 9 (via London.. ?
The demand of the revolutionaries for
the trial and condign punishment of
Nicholas Romanoff, the former em
peror, and in the meantime his sub
jection to restraint in prison, which
at first was made by a handful of ir
responsible extremists, is growing
daily. All Petrograd laughed at the
resolution of the Bolsehviki, the fac
tion led by Nikolai Lenine, two days
ago, demanding the transfer of Nich
olas to Kronstadt or even to the Si
berian mines.
But today comes official news that
the crews of the battleships Republic
and Gangut and the cruiser Diana,
stationed at Helsingfors, had adopted
a resolution requiring the imprison
ment of the former emperor at Kron
stadt until he is placed on trial.
The sailors declared that if the de
mand was rejected the warships
would apply force.
On Tuesday, Saratof was placarded
with red proclamations having the
same import and today there are be
ing gold in the streets of Petrograd
thousands of leaflets inscribed "Trial
for Nicholas II."
UNVEILING AT GETTYSBURG.
Statue of Robert E. Ix'e, Loved Lead
er, Given to Government. Many
Veterans There. Monument on
Pennsylvania Field Where Pickett's
Men Rode to Death and Deathless
Fame.
Gettysburg, Pa., June 8. ? Confed
erate veterans from all parts of the
South came here today from Wash
ington, where their annual reunion
is in progress, to attend the unveil
ing of Virginia's monument on the
Gettysburg battlefield.
On the spot where Pickett's divis
ion formed 54 years ago for its fa
mous charge in the third day's battle
that marked the high tide of the
Confederacy; an equestrian statue of
Gen. Robert E. Lee, mounted on his
famous horse Traveler, was formally
presented to the nation. Several
thousand Daughters of the Confeder
acy and Sons of Veterans also at
tended the ceremonies.
Gov. Stuart of Virginia led the
parade to the battle grounds. Miss
Anne Carter Lee, a granddaughter
of Gen. Lee, pulled the cords which
unloosed the Stars and Stripes cov
ering the monument.
Gov. Stuart, in presenting the
memorial to the government, recount
ed the character which has made the
name of Lee loved and revered
throughout the world and declared
that today marked the third time the
blue and gray had blended on this
spot, first in battle array, the second
time at the reunion of the 50th anni
versary and today at the unveiling of
Virginia's memorial. This occasion,
he said, should stand as a sign to all
the world of the union of the North
and South.
The governor's eulogy to Gen. Lee
and the men who served for the Lost
Cause evoked great demonstration.
The statue was accepted on behalf
of the government by Assistant Sec
retary of War Ingraham. The invoca
tion was pronounced by the Rev.
Jamc3 Power Smith, who served as
captain and aide on the staff of Stone
wall Jackson.
Assistant Secretary of War In
graham in accepting today for the
war department the rvmori.il which
the State of Virginia ! .is erected on
Gettysburg battlefield to her soldier
dead, declared it wat characteristic
of the American pcop.u that both
North and South could meet as one
great reunited family on the field
where they had inflicted the greatest
carnage on each other.
"Virginia knows how to honor
those she loved and who fought and
died for her ideals," said Mr. Ingra
ham.
"It is only natural and proper for
those who survive to honor those who
fell. It matters not whether they be
the victors or the vanquished as long
as their part was honorable and they
fought like men.
"The lessons we gather from the
battlefield on which we stand, the in
spiration that this monument gives
us, all go forth toward helping us
solve the difficulties of the present
hour. The Civil war up to the out
break of the present conflict was the
greatest struggle the world had ever
seen, but now it sinks into insignifi
cance compared with it. But those
who took part in the Civil war and
especially in the battle of Gettysburg
realize what war means and can best
interpret the full significance of the
present struggle."
Death of a Child.
On Friday night, June 1, death en
tered the home of Mr. and Mrs. Hosse
Hill and took from them their little
hoy, Eston. His death was caused !<y
whoopirg cough. He was not quite
nine months old. He was buried at
Hannah's Creek cemetery the next
day in the presence of a large crowd
of sympathizing relatives and friends.
Weep not, papa and mama,
Your babe has gone to rest.
Wo love him, yes, we love him,
3ut Jesus loves him best.
A FRIEND.
Against the Law to Kill Game.
The last Legislature passed a Game
Law for this County making it
against the law to kill squirrels or
any other game between the first of
March and the first of December. We
are calling attention to this law be
cause there may be some who do not
understand it and who may unwitting
ly violate it.
CHILD FOUND DEAD IN WELL.
Baby Lloyd Keet Kidnapped Over
a Week Ago Had Been Dead Four
Days When Located by Posse. Vio
lence is Threatened. Scores of Men
in Automobiles Pursuing Sheriff
With Seven Suspects Under Ar
rest.
(Wilmington Star.)
Springfield, Mo., June 9. ? Baby
Lloyd Keet was found dead today.
The child had been drowned in a well
on an abandoned farm at least four
days ago, according to the findings
from an autopsy, when the band of
kidnappers;, who took him from his
home Wednesday night of last week,
feared capture.
Tonight scores of Springfield men
in automobiles were hurrying in pur
suit of the county sheriff's automo
bile in which seven persons suspect
ed of complicity in the kidnapping
and murder, were being sped to the
State prison at Jefferson City. Open
ly these pursuers have declared their
intention of taking vengeance upon
the perpetrators of the crime.
The body of the 14-months-old
child was found shortly before noon
today by a sheriff's posse which had
gone to a "haunted" house long since
abandoned in the Ozark mountains,
eight miles from here. In some way
not explained the sheriff was told last
night that trace of the child could be
found on the farm. Straight away he
left Springfield with deputies and the
long search began before midnight.
At noon they thought of the well.
A deputy was lowered into the open
ing while others held him by his feet.
And there was found the body of
"Buddie" Keet, wrapped in the pink
blanket which was upon his bed the
night he was stolen. A woman's skirt,
too, of black silk substance, was
wrapped around the body and the only
evidence left by those who threw the
baby into the water.
J. Holland Keet, the wealthy fath
er, was given but one opportunity to
ransom his son. Then the elements
and possibly his friends combined to
defeat the rescue. Shortly after the
kidnapping Mr. Keet received an an
onymous letter directing him to pro
ceed by automobile alone through a
certain country district, the coming
night. When he observed a lighted
lantern by the roadside, the letter
directed, he was to drive on for a
mile, return and exchange $6,000 for
the child.
But that night a tornado descended
upon the county, roads were all but
impassable and rain fell in torrents.
Nevertheless, the anxious father
started his journey, followed by
friends in other automobiles and
though he drove until dawn, he did
not receive the signal.
From day to day the search for
Lloyd grew more minute. The county
authorities bent every energy in their
efforts to catch the kidnappers. Sev
en persons were arrested charged
with conspiracy to kidnap other per
sons, but not one was definitely
charged with taking "Buddie" Keet.
Today Federal agents joined in the
search, though just why has not been
learned.
Snis city is aroused tonignt as it
k not been for many years. As a
res^pt, automobiles were taking every
pre<%ution to prevent violence and ef
forts were being made to calm the
crowds that gathered everywhere
along the streets, discussing nothing
other tlian the tragedy. No secret
was mr.de of the crowds' feeling and
threats of lynching were heard open
ly
Mrs. Keet, the baby's mother, was
on the verge of a complete break
down tonight, physicians attending
her said. The father, too, was grief
stricken. Mr. Keet repeatedly had of
fered to pay any ransom sum demand
ed and promises at one time that he
would not press the prosecution if the
baby should be returned to him. Con
sequently, the only reason apparent
to officirls for the murder of the
baby was that searching parties at
one time had come so close to the
kidnappers that it became necessary
for them to seek safety in flight and
had killed the little fellow.
The government forecast of a
wheat crop of only <556,000,000 bush
els means that we must practice the
most rigid economy or fail to feed the
Allies, or go hungry. Now is the time
for every farmer to plan to plant
some wheat this fall.