The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1908-02-20
LESSONS In PANICS
PEOPLE ASSIST IN BRINGING
ABOUT FINANCIAL DEPRESSION.
LOCAL WELFARE NEGLECTED
During Prosperous Times, Provision
for the Future Is Ignored, and
Natural Laws Afterward Ex-
act the Penalty.

ness Ol lnG CullCQ OJdltS HdS III |
creased in greater ratio than the pop |
ulation. The wealth of the country |
has also expanded in a like manner. !
Alarm has been expressed in the pub
lie press and from the rostrums as to
the danger of the mammoth accumu- |
lations of wealth by a few in control
of different industries. Great stress is |
laid upon the contention that in these
vast accumulations of individual
wealth there are elements that men
ace our free institutions. 1t is set
forth that by legitimate earnings Of
many lifetimes, even from the time of
Adam down to the present, an indi-
vidual could not accumulate the none
tary possessions of some of our great
financiers and kings in the business
world
How came about this aggregation
of great wealth is a question that
suggests itself. What particular con-
ditions allowed the aggregation of
such pyramids of money? Money is
merely a representative of value, a
medium for the exchange of COM
modities necessary in civilization. The
values represented by money have as
their standard labor, service, bene-
fits. That there is danger in the Sc
questering of the circulating medium
of the land and it's equivalent in prop
erty, cannot be we'll denied. He who
gains great wealth by exceptional or
superior talents and by honest effort
in combining circumstances to work
to his advantage, is as much entitled
to this wealth as is the tOiler whose
ability to do is limited to the earning
of few paltry dollars daily. But it
is what can be done with vast wealth
that is the question! It can be used
/ for either good or evil. 1t depends
upon the individual who possesses it.
HIoney is a power for good as well as
being "the root of all evil"
During the past decade the United
States has never been more pros
porous. Within the past few months
there has been financial stringency, a
pendulum in compensathg way.
This to the logician is merely the re-
suit of the workings of natural law.
The husbandman does not always ex-
pect under natural conditions equal
crops. A succession of large crops
covering a period of four or five
years will most likely be followed by
poorer crops for a season or two.
Financial successes as we'll as paniCs
alternate. There is period of prog
ress beyond the ordinary and then a
decline. But it is possible for natural
laws to be directed in a manner to
better serve the people. Such wizards
as Burbank, understanding the laws
of progeneration and properly direct
ing these laws, has brought into exist
ence highest perfection in plant life
By like exercise of high intelligence
it is possible to control the accummu
lati0ns of wealth, or rather to contro
the distribution of wealth and to pro
tect against so-called panics.
The United States has S6,000,00O o.
people. Three-tifths of these people
reside outside Of large cities ant
towns. With prosperity coming tt
them they have been neglectful of {
duty to the sections wherein they re
side, and have allowed systems tt
withdraw to the large financial cen
ters their surplus earnings. Thest
earnings have found their way as in
vestments in large corporations. Thest
large corporations, which give strength
and stability to the country in com
mercial way, by manipulations o
those in control of them, by stool
gambling and other forms of specula
ton, have evil elements which attacl
the stigma o. dishonesty to great com
binations for control Of industries.
While the per capita production o
wealth within the United States ha
;. been great, it is evident that tn
: masses of those who have created
( by their labor have not received thei
:. full quota of compensation. For thi
:. the workers themselves are to blame
They have assisted along the unequa
distribution of their earnings by is
noring simple principles of economy
!, and by so doing 'they have helped COZ
= centrate the wealth of the land in tn
:, hands of a comparative few. Wer
= the money invested and spent in tn
large cities by tfS people of agricu
tural communities, invested in locS
enterprises, just so much would hav
g been done to guard against concentr;
:. ton. Were the millions sent to tn
IS large cities for goods, that might q
\ we'll be purchased at home, retaine
g within the communities where the do
lars were earned, the distribution {
wealth would be more equitable.
;, Thus it can be seen that the pr
y. ducers, the workers, the masses
~ the agricultural districts have car
=, essly assisted in bringing about CO.
70 ditions bordering upon panic. Depre
y, sion in financial lines works to tt
" ietriment of the poorer classes. Whe
there is a scarcity of circulatir
medium, prices are forced to the 10y
Of est level. Thus.those with money ca
or buy at lowest prices. When IL
ct pendulum swings the other way ar
IS. values advance, the fortunate pc
IN SCISSOR of wealth who bought in 10
market finds his wealth increased.
Panics can be aSerted by the mass
IN If only proper judgment be used du
A.. ing times of prosperity, and provisit
r.. made for equalization and for few co
al tingencies. In each local communi
bo this can be provided for best by kee
Il, ing within that community the surpl
earnings of the people instead of sen
iro, +ba cI,r,Iuc a1eowhnrn The remaI