THE NEWS-RECORD, MARSHALL, N. C.
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American Individualism
;',;V? A Timely Message to the
; ; ; v American People
i' ' '" ''";''.''.:'' ', '
;; " By HERBERT HOOVER
, - . Secretary of Commerce.
. t . . , 4 ECONOMIC" PHASES
THAT high and increasing standards of living jjnd comfort should
be the first of considerations in public mind and in government
- needs no apology. We have long since realized that the basis of an
advancing civilization must be a high and growing standard of living for
all the people, not I for a single class; that education, food, clothing,
housing, and the' spreading use of what we so often term nonessentials,
are the real fertilizers. of the soil from which spring flie finer flowers
of life. The economic development of the past fifty years has lifted the
general standard of comfort far beyond the dreams of our forefathers.
The only road to further advance in the standard of living is by greater
invention, greater production and better distribution of commodities and
services, for by Increasing their ratio to outnumbers and dividing them
justly we each will have more of them. '
The superlative value of individual-
Ism through Its Impulse to production,
its stimulation to Invention, has, so
far as I know, never been denied.
Criticism of It has Iain In Its wastes
tut more Importantly In its failures of
equitable sharing of the product In
our country these contentions a(e maln
,ly over the division f.o -each of his
share of the comforts and luxuries, for
none of us Is either hungry or cold
-or without a place to lay bis bead and
we have much besides, In less than
four decades we have added electric
lights, plumbing, telephones, gramo
phones, automobiles, and what not In
wide diffusion to our standards of liv
ing. Each In turn began as a luxury,
ach In turn has become so common-,
place that seventy or .eighty per cent
of our people participate in them.
. To all practical souls there Is little
use In quarreling over the share of
each of us until we have something to
divide. So long as we maintain our
Individualism we will have Increasing
quantities to share and we shall have
time and leisure and taxes with which
to fight out proper sharing of tbft "sur
plus." The Income tax returns show
that this surplus Is a minor part of our
total production after taxes are paid.
Some of this "surplus" must be set
aside for rewards to saving, or stimula
tion of proper, effort to skill, to leader
ship and Invention therefore the dis
pute is In reality over much less than
the total of such "surplus." While there
should be no minimizing of a certain
fringe of Injustices In sharing the re
cults of production or fn the wasteful
use made by some of their share, yet
there Is vastly wider field for gains to
all of us through cheapening the costs
of production and distribution, through
the eliminating of their .wastes, from
Increasing the volume of product by
each and every one doing his utmost,
than will ever come to us, even If we
can think out a method of 'abstract
Justice In sharing which did not stifle
production of the total product.
It Is a certainty we are confronted
with a population In such numbers as
can only exist by production attuned
to a pitch In which the slightest reduc
tion of tho Impulse to produce will at
rice create .misery and want. If we
throttle the fundamental Impulses of
man our production will decay. The
world In this hour Is witnessing the
most overshadowing tragedy of ten
centuries In the heart-breaking Ufe-and-death
struggle with, starvation by
a nation with a hundred and fifty mil
lions of people. In Russia under the
new tyranny a group, In pursuit of so
clul theories, have destroyed the pri
mary self-interest Impulse of the Indi
vidual to production. r .
Although socialism In a nation-wide
application has now proved Itself with
rivers of blood and Inconceivable mis
ery to be an economic and spiritual fal
lacy and has wrecked lts'elf finally up
on the rocks of destroyed production
and moral degeneracy, I believe it to
have beeri necessary for the world to
hare bad this demonstration. Great
theoretic and : emotional ideas have
arisen before In the world's history and
have In more than mere material bank
ruptcy deluged the world with fearful
losses of life. ' A purely philosophical
view might be that id the long run hu
manity has to try ' every way, . even
precipices, in finding the road to bet
terment But those are utterly wrong who say
that Individualism has as Its only end
the acquisition and preservation of pri
vate property the selfish snatching
and hoarding of the common product
Our American Individualism, Indeed,
Is oply In part an economic creed. It
alms to provide opportunity for self
expression, not merely economically,
but spiritually as well. Private prop
erty is not a fetich in America The
crushing of the liquor trade without a
cent of compensation, with scarcely
even a discussion of It, does, not bear
out the notion that we give property
rights any headway over human rights.
Our development of Individualism
shows an increasing tendency to regard
right of property not as an object In
Itself, but In the light, of a useful and
necessary Instrument In stimulation of
Initiative to the Individual; not only
stimulation to him that he may gain
personal comfort, security In life, pro
tection to his family,, but also because
individual accumulation and ownership
la a basis of selection to leadership In
administration of the tools of Indus
try and commerce. It Is where domi
nant private property Is 'assembled In
the hands of the groups who control
the, state that the Individual beg!ns to
feel capital as an oppressor. Our
American demand for equality of op
portunity Is a constant mllunt check
upon cnpltal bccomlri a thlrt t be
feareJ.-t'ut of fear w e on:e' ' :'i
go too far and st:.' t" e r.
use ofvcapltal by crushing the Initia
tive that makes for Its creation.
Some discussion of the legal limita
tions we have placed upon economic
domination Is given later on, but It Is
desirable to mention here certain po
tent forces In our economic life that
are themselves providing their own
correction to domination. '
The domination by arbitrary Individ
ual ownership Is disappearing because
the works of today are steadily grow
ing more and more beyond the re
sources of any one Individual, and
steadily taxation will reduce relatively
excessive Individual accumulations.
The number of persons In partnership
through division of ownership among
many stockholders Is steadily Increas
ingthus 100,000 to 200,000 partners In
a 'single Concern are not uncommon.
The overwhelmingly largest portion of
our mobile capital Is that of our
banks, Insurance companies, building
and loan associations, and the vast ma
jority of all this la the aggregated
small savings of our people. Thus
large capital Is steadily becoming more
and more a mobilization of the savings
of the small holders the actual people
themselves and Its administration be
comes at once more sensitive to the
moral opinions of the people In order
to attract their support. The directors
and managers of large concerns, them
selves employees of these great groups
of Individual stockholders, or policy
holders, reflect a spirit of community
responsibility.
Large masses of capital can only
find their market for service or produc
tion to great numbers of the same
kind of .people that they employ and
they must therefore, maintain confi
dence In their public responsibilities In
order to retain their customers. In
tines when the products of manufac
ture were mostly luxuries to the aver
age of the people, the condition of
their employee's was of no such Inter
est to their customers as when they
enter to employees In general. Of
this latter, no greater proofs'need exist-than
the efforts of many large con
cerns directly dependent upon public
good will to restrain prices In scarcity
and the very general desire to yield
a measure of service with the goods
sold. Another phase of this same de
velopment In administration of capital
is the growth of a sort of Institutional
sense In many large business enter
prises. The encouragement of solidar
ity In all grades of their employees In
the common service and common suc
cess, the sense of mutuality with the
prosperity of the community are both
vital developments In Individualism. ,
There' has been In the last thirty
years an extraordinary growth of or
ganizations for advancement of Ideas'
in the community for mutual co-operation
and economic objectives the
chambers of commerce, trade associa
tions, labor unions, bankers, farmers,
propaganda associations, and what not.
These are Indeed variable mixtures of
altruism and self-interest. Neverthe
less In these groups the Individual finds
an opportunity for self-expression and
participation In the molding of Ideas, a
field for training and the stepping
stones for leadership.
The number of leaders In local and
national life whose opportunity ' to
service and leadership came through
these associations has become now of
more InQortance than those through
the direct lines of political add reli
gious organization. ',
At times these groups come Into
sharp conflict and often enough charge
each other with crimes against public
Interest. They do contain faults; if
they develop into warring interests, if
they dominate legislators and Intlml-.
date public officials, if they are to be a
new setting of tyranny, then they will
destroy the foundation of Individual
ism. Our ' governmentwlll then drift
into the hands of timorous mediocri
ties dominated by groups until we
shall become a syndicalist nation on a
gigantic scale. On ..the other band,
each group Is a realization of greater
mutuality of Interest, each contain
some element of public service and
each la a school of public responsibili
ty. .In the main, the same forces that
permeate the nation at large eventually
ptermeate these groups. The sense of
service, a growing sense of responsi
bility, and the sense' of constructive
opposition to domination, constantly
recall In them their responsibilities' as
well as their privileges. In the end, no
group can dominate the nation and a
few successes In imposing the will of
any group Is Its sure death warrant.
Today business organization Is mov
ing strongly toward co-operation. There
are In the co-operative great hopes that
v can even r ' la Individuality,
"Ity c-f crportec'ty, and an ea-
Urged field for initiative, and at the
same time reduce many of the great
wastes of over-reckless competition in
production and distribution. Those
who either congratulate themselves or
those who fear that co-operation la an
advance toward socialism need neither
rejoice or worry. Co-operation in lta
current economic sense represents the
Initiative of self-interest blended with
a sense of service, for nobody belongs
to a co-operative who Is not striving
to sell his products or services for
more or striving to buy fromy others
for less or striving to make his Income
more secure. Their members are fur
nishing the capital for extension of
their activities Just as effectively as If
they did It In corporate form and they
are simply transferring the profit prin
ciple from joint return to Individual
return. Their, Only. success lies where
they eliminate waste either In produc
tion or distribution and they can do
neither If tbey destroy individual InltP
atlve. Indeed this phase of develop
ment of our Individualism promises toy
become the dominant note of Its Twen
tieth century expansion. But It, wiU
thrive only In so far as It can con
struct leadership and a sense of serv
ice, and so long as it preserves the In
itiative and safeguards the individual
ity of Its members.
The economic system which Is the
result of our Individualism Is not a
frozen organism. It moves rapidly In
Its form' of organization under the im
pulse of Initiative of our citizens, of
growing science, of larger production,
and of constantly cheapening distribu
tion. ,
A great test of the soundness of1 a
social system must be its ability to
evolve within Itself those orderly shifts
In its administration that enable it to
apply the new tools of social, economic,
and intellectual progress, and to elimi
nate the malign forces that may grow
In the application of these tools. When
we were almost wholly an agricultural
people our form of organization and
administration, both in the govern
mental and economic fields, could be
simple. With the enormous shift in
growth to industry and commerce we
have erected organisms that each gene
ration . has denounced as Franken
stelns, yet the succeeding generation
proves them to be controllable and
useful. The growth of corporate or
ganizations, of our banking systems, of
our railways, of our electrical power,
of our farm co-operatives, of our trade
unions, of our trade associations, and
of a hundred others indeed develops
both beneficent and malign forces. The
timid become frightened. But our
basic social Ideas march through the
new things In the end. Our dema
gogues, of. both radical and standpat
breed, thrive on demands for the de
struction of one or another of these
organizations as the only solution for
their defects, ' yet progress requires
only a guardianship of the vital princi
ples of our Individualism with Its safe
guard of true equality of opportunity
in them.
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
(Copyright. 1923, by Doubleday, Page
. Co. Published by arrangement with
Western Newspaper Union.) '
ONE-TIME MAGNIFICENT CITY
Palmyra Began to Sink Into Decay
in Fifteenth Century, Under
Rule of Turks.
In ancient times, from ' about the
year 100 A. D. to the Fourteenth cen
tury, more .especially In the second
anil third centuries, Palmyra was a
wealthy , and mngnlflpent city of
northern Syria, standing In an oasis
on the northern edge of the Arabian
desert, about 150 miles northeast of
DamaScus. Its Semitic name was
Tadmor, and Palmyra (city of palms),
Is the Greek equivalent According to
the old tradition, it was founded by
King Solomon. It became the com
mercial center of northern Arabia.
During the long-protracted wHrs be
tween Rome and Parthla, Palmyra
acknowledged the supremacy of Rome,
and secured great, commercial advan
tages. From the Emperor's Hadrian
and Septimus Severns It received spe
cial favors and privileges.
- One of Palmyra's ruiers, Odaenathus,
extended his power over most of the
adjoining countries from Egypt to
Asia Minor. ; Then came the fatal war
with Rome. Adaenathus was mur
dered and his famous queen, Zenokla,
took, up the reins of power.. In the
year 272 she was crushed by the
Romans and carried captive to Rome.
The Emperor Aurelian presented her
with large : possessions near Tlvon
.where she passed the rest of her life
in comfort and even splendor.
After the Roman empire became
Christian, Palmyra was made a
bishopric.5 . When the Moslems con
quered Syria, Palmyra also submit
ted to them.. From the Fifteenth cen
tury It began to sink Into d&fly with
the rest of the East that had falleu
Into the hands of the Moslems, or,
in this case, Turks. '
- Magnificent remains of the ancient
city still exist, hlef among them be
ing the great temple of the Sun or
Baal. An old and high .authority on
this once famous city bears the title,
"Ruins of Palmyra," by . Wood and
Dawklns, published In London in 1753.
Tarsus.
In apostolic times, the part 6t what
la now Asia Minor, on the. northern
shore of the Mediterranean sea, where
the coast begins to-run to the west
and opposite the Island of Cyprus,
formed the province of Cillcla-r-one of
the many provinces Into which Asia
Minor was divided, and all f ortnlng
parts of the Roman empire. To the
west was Pamphylla, to the north Cap
padocla, and to the east Syria. Clllcla
was, therefore, the highway between
Syria and the cectral and western parts j
or me empire, jews iorroea a conaia
err.v'8 part of the population. - '
fish mm
s
OFFICERS
INITIAL MEETING OF BOARD
HELD IN ' MORHEAD CITY
OUTLINES PROGRAM
elect j. i mm emu
Investigating Committee to Visit
Various Sights on Coast to Get
. First Hand Information.
Morehead City The new Fisheries
Commlssoln Board held their first
regular meeting' at their office with
the folowlng members present: Ro
bert Lassiter, Charlotte; Santord
Stfclman, Fayette vllle; J. K. Dixon,
Trenton; H. C. Wall, Rockingham; J.
C. Baum, Poplar Branch; George
Hampton, Canton; F. S. Worthy,
Washington; H. B. Grant, Sneaos
Ferry and E. S. Askew, Windsor.
Every member of the commission
was present with the exception ot
M. B. Hart, of Tarboro, who gave Im
portant personal business as the 'rea
son for his absence.
The board elected J. K. Dixon full
time chairman at a salary of $3,600
M. L. Willis, secretary, and John A.
Nelson fisheries commissioner, at a
salary, of $3,600 and a subsistence al
lowance of $240 annually.
. The board unanimously confirmed,
the following appointments of Com
missioner Nelson and voted the fol
lowing salaries: Theodore S. Meek
ins and W. G. Dixon, assistant com
missioners, with a salary each of $2,200
and a subsistence allowance ot $240.
M. L. WUUs, chief clerk, salary
$2,200. Miss Carita Wade, stenogra
pher, salary $1,200. All of these salar
ies being voted for a period of one
year. The commissioner was authori
sed by the board to employ Inspectors
and other officers necessary for the
proper conduct of the business of the
commission.
, I The chairman appointed executive
and finance committee as follows:
Frank H. Stedman, F. S. Worthy and
Santford Martin, and an investigating
committee on fish hatcheries and Inlets
composed of J. C. Baum, H. V. Grant,
Henry C. Hall, Robert Lassiter and
E. S. 'Askew. This investigating com
mittee will visit various sites on the
c6ast In order to get first hand in
formation with regard to cutting in
let while tjiey will- also visit sections
the view of locating and securing
In the interior part of the State with
places for the establishment of fish
hatcheries.
Crops Daamged In Scotland County.
Laurinburg. The recent freeze, has
killed Vie fruit in this county what
was left from the cold snap of two
weeks ago. Cotton . that was coming
up two weeks ago has been planted
over. The earliest planting was nip
ped. It is, now thought that, all the
cotton in the ground will be all right.
There is an Increase in acerage of
about 25 per cent over the last year,
and there has been an increase of
fertilizer, although it. Is ot cheaper
mixture. The cantaloupe acerage will
be reduced, and that much more woll
be added to the cotton acerage. The
watermelon crop will be hetween five
and six hundred acres, which Is about
the usual crop planted yearly. The
small grain Is looking better than has
been, the condition for several years
at this season. The mode of poisoning
the weevils will be the dusting as re
commended by the farm demonstrator,
but most of the poisoning will be by,
the molassesmIxture and picking up
the squares that drop off until they
decide that the weevils are too numer
ous to combat; then they will turn the
rest of the crop over to them, although
they , hope to get enough early crop
to make it a paying proposition. Scot
land county has. been going in for pe
can planting strong for several years;
Last fall there was planted between
three and four hundred acres,
. May Be Heirs to Large Estate. '
'' Lumberton. Eighteen Robeson
county people seem to be in line to in
herit a fortune of $50,000,000, which is
said to be waiting In California for
those who can estalhish their claims.
; Jim Baker went from Robeson coun
ty in 1849 to California and died some
years ago, leaving a fortune with no
direct heirs, both his sons having died
wilhbut issue. He Was an uncle of J,
E. Tyner, Mrs. W. M. Bryan and Mrs.
A. L. Droadwell, all of whom live near
Lumberton, also an uncle of the first
wife of W. H. Shooter, of Lumberton.
' , Must Protect Came In State.
' Greensboro. George - A. Lawyer,
chief game warden of the United
States, addressing Statewide meeting
ot the North Carolina Game and Fish
Development League here declared
that unless there is some effort made
to protect game the people of the
State will see It vanish. He advocated
a State game department with State
licenses, and measures to enforce pro
tection. ', He cited the disappearance
of game In other sections ot the com
munity, also its 'reappearance wbea
given pretention.
' 1 - j o (
O )
Looicfor
the Cross
and Circle
Prcicd b Red ea Eray
p
Instead ofKalsomine or Wall Paper
Beem onW rauk AUW wffl g
colon, which add w Buck to the beamy ei yow bom.
Good oVeomon ua AlabuliM. Newly all aiJIbgi efck Stock
A MorcWei or oWmtor to Aow yoa tuple uJ cspka th AkoMbw
OptlL ProoM dM aowc sad no beMdihil hd oi cUeonlwu
The Alabastine Company
Grand Rapid Mich.
Lots of Experience.
A victim of chronic, bronchitis
called on - a well-known physician to
be examined. The doctor, after, care
ful questioning, assured the patient
that the ailment would respond read
ily to treatment
"I suppose you must have had a
great deal of experlenc with this dis
ease," said the sufferer.
The physician smiled wisely, and
replied: r
"Why, my dear sir, Tve had bron
chitis myself for more than 15 years,"
Baltimore Sun.
Jr faaaalwl
Utility
Express Truck
Utility Express is the) lowest-priced quality truck la
die world capable of fast heavy-duty service. It
hauls your heavy loads quickly and economically.
It is reliable.
-Long grades and deep mud are mastered by it
' without racing the motor or boiling the water
because the 3-speed transmission provides correct
gear ratios to meet any condition of load or road.
You get fast heavy-duty service at the lowest
operating and maintenance cost with this truck
It leads In high mileage on gasoline, oil and tires,
living up fully to the Chevrolet reputation for
unequalled economy.
Prices f.cb. Flint, Michigan
Superior X Put RoaHtttr . SJ10 Suparior S Fw. Sedan . . 60
Superior 5 Pu Tourinf . 525 Superior Ugh DllTry . '. 510
Superior 2 PmM. Utility Coup 680 . 8upe-ior Commercial ChmMi, 41i
Suparior 4 Pen. SadanMtt . 850 UcUirr Exprau Truck Chaui, 575
Chevrolet Motor Co., Detroit, Mich.
' ' Division of Gtuermt Moton Corporation
irHoiWtic- ist.t..imiiiu;.,?,
Every year you plant
Every year you have
, Hvery year you should use
STONECYPIIER'S
Irish Potato Bug Killer
Guaranteed to destroy the bag without damage to the plant
Also destroys all leaf eating braeote en cabbage, encumber,
ft ,r
III
2V
Package cf fkssxs KzxZzs
no
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SOUTH AMERICA YOrMO MKN, 4Mlrla
poaltlona In South Amciioa. mar writ U
FREDERICK PUBLISHING COM PANT,
But Corbr Stmt, SOUTH BEND. IND.
HairThinTi
YoaaaCra
atr Toaia w
raactaau a)
4taarow-av
katr-HTttaJlaa
tin MM sa Ota telr faWa out fllla baJ4
W. N. U, CHARLOTTE, NO. 16-1923.
The Fat and the Lean.
Fat Girl "1 have an appetite' like a
canary" Thin Girl ''Tea, you naval
Ton eat a peck at a time."
Tr$frimtin
.,, ChaasifOnlf
Saaf mm aa t O. b.
Mich.
Dealers and Service
Stations Everywhere
Ufaitretlon at left atiowi
Utility Expreee Track
with etandard general '
purpoM body
1
Irish Potatoes,
Potato Bugs.
J
.... JJ,, mr
cantaloups, squash and tomato vines. Ap
ply lightly. Cost low. Applies too easy.
Result sure. . . .
Far Sale by Drag, Seed
and General Mores
STONECYPITEIt D1UJG &
ciirr.ncAL co,
Westminster, . . 8. C