The Huttig news., 1908-02-22
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.

ASoo ol tie OulJSu oCdIeS Has Ill.,
 creased in greater ratio than the pop ulation. The wealth of the country
 has also expanded in like manner.
 Alarm has been expressed in the pub
 lie press and from the rostrums as to | the danger of the mammoth accumu-
 .ations of wealth by a few in control | of different industries. Great stress is
 laid upon the contention that in these
 vast aecumulations of individual
 wealth there are elements that men
 ace our free institutions.
 | How came about this aggregation
 of great wealth is a question that 1 suggests itself. What particular con | such pyramids of money? Money is merely 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 se- | 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 It depends
 upon the individual who possesses it.
 Money is power for good as we'll 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 reaction and a swinging back of the pendulum in compensating 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 season or two. Financial successes as well as panics alternate. There is a period of prog ress beyond the ordinary and then decline. But it is possible for natural laws to be directed in manner to better serve the people. Such wizards as Burbank, understanding the laws of regeneration 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- lations of wealth, or rather to control the distribution of wealth and to pro- tect against so-called panics.
 The United States has S6,OO0,0OO of people. Three-f1fths of these people reside outside of large cities and towns. With prosperity coming to them they have been neglectful of a duty to the sections wherein they re- side, and have allowed systems to withdraw to the large financial cen ters their surplus earnings. These earnings have found their way as in vestments in large corporations These large corporations, which give strength and stability to the country in a com mercial way, by manipulations of those in control of them, by stock gambling and other forms of specula- tion, have evil elements which attach the stigma of dishonesty to great com binations for control of industries.
 While the per capita production of wealth within the United States has been great, it is evident that the masses of those who have created it by their labor have not received their full quota of compensation. For this the workers themselves are to blame They have assisted along the unequal distribution of their earnings by ig- norirg simple principles of economy; and by so doing they have helped con- centrate the wealth of the land in the hands of comparative few Were the money invested and spent in the large cities by the people of agricul- tural communities, invested in local enterprises, just so much would have been done to guard against concentra- ton. Were the millions sent to the large cities for goods, that might as well be purchased at home, retained within the communities where the dol lars were earned, the distribution of wealth would be more equitable
 Thus it can be seen that the pro- ducers, the workers, the masses in the agricultural districts have care ]essly assisted in bringing about con- ditions bordering upon panic. Depres- sion in financial lines works to the detriment of the poorer classes. When there is a scarcity of circulating medium, prices are forced to the low est level. Thus those with money can buy at lowest prices. When the pendulum swings the other way and values advance, the fortunate pos sessor of wealth who bought in low market finds his wealth increased
 Panics can be averted by the masses if only proper judgment be used dur ing times of prosperity, and provision made for equalization and for few con- tingencies. In each local community
 f F, s. T