Hattiesburg daily news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1907-1908, 1908-03-13
easily drop into errs
this more manifest

circle the size OF shall coin We
call dollar 1t is not uncommon for |
people to read of the vast wealth Of
Mr.. Rockefeller, Mr.. Carnegie, Mr. Van
derbilt or Mr.. Hill, and 1t is literally |
true that these men are all wealthy |
when their possessions are measured |
by the dollar; but some of these,
however much despised by the envi-
Gus, and however misunderstood by
the populace, have wealth of char
acter which far outweighs all the gold
lat their command. This is not a
mere tribute to the wealthy, but de-
is. a man may be man in spite Of
his wealth; likewise man may be
mean in spite of his poverty. The
same thought may apply If we reverse
the terms. The Scotch bard, Bobbie
Burns, caught the idea when he said,
mans a man for a. that, and for a
that" 1t is not so much question
what have WEI" but what are we
doing with it?" This applies as well
to the financial magnate as to the hum
blest tiller of the soil or worker in the
mill.
The panic of 1907 is regarded by
many as most remarkable, because it
certainly came at a time when the
wheels of commerce were absolutely
flying; when the commerce of the
world was at the very flood tide. This
of course. made it most severe in its
effects on us. A drop from great
height is always attended with great
or shock than gradual slide down
an inclined plane. If, however. the
drop does not kill us or permanently
main us, our climb to the summit is
more certain. because the summit is
still there.
The fact that a great industry like
the yellow pine lumber business has
received sudden shock because of
conditions not inherent in that bust
ness, makes it most certain that the
: normal will soon be rendered to that
:. business. The lesson of the panic right
here, is, or should be, that we learn the
> value of our timber and know that In
the very nature of things its value
cannot become permanently or mate
rally impaired. This should suggest
the great need for intelligent discus
! sion and consideration of those meth,
i DDS of mill equipment and mill man
q agement which shall serve to lesson
the cost of production, while improv
: ing the quality of product, thus tend
! ing to the increasing of the measure
a of profit from both ends of the line
Am too bold in asserting that this II
possible? think not My confidence
in my fellow man is too great to permi
ME to believe that he will not learr
% even though he has gotten his learn
ing in the school of. experience. 70,
know as well as the class that will
: learn only in that school. There arr
4 many that look with forebodings upoi
the tendency towards paternalism il
our government. Perhaps in a politica
sense there is. danger in getting to-
far away from the idea of govern
ment of the people, for the people
and by the people, but on
should not stultify himself o
hazard his reputation for intelligence
by seriously contending that in ma
ton like ours there is no need for tn
assembling of great power for tn
conservation of natural resources Il
the hands OF the national government
We all know only too well, that Their
has gone on in our section ruthless
yea, unwise destruction of forest
While our wealth of forest is still fab
ulous, there is no. disputing the fac
that much folly has characterized tn
conduct of the past, when this i'm
mense wealth stored in our pine trees
has been invaded and largely depleted
as a mere response to our desire Z
"get rich quick" l am one of thos
who believe in the value of expeI
service-so l esteem the services {
the specialist in medicine, in surger!
in education, in law, in science, in al
rculture-in all the walks of life, an
therefore, uncover my head and bo
with homage to. King Thomas A. Ed
son, King Marconi, King Luther Blu
bank. to King Clifford Pinchet, tn
great forest expert, and al such lih
= who have dedicated the powers
- mind to the uses of man. Should "
n not then be ready to give heed 4
IL those specialists in the employ of o,
b government who sound in our ca
N the note Of warning against an |