St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1908-03-07
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.

lldS also expanded IN ike 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 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, Hbene-
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 well 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 collars daily. But it
is what can be done with vast wealth
that is the question! 1t can be used
for either good or evil. It depends
upon the individual who possesses it.
Money is 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
reaction and swinging back of the
pendulum in a compromising 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 s6,000,000 of
people. Three-fifths of these people
reside outside of large cities and
towns. With prosperity coming to
them they have been neglectful of
duty to the sections wherein they re-
side, and have allowed systems to
withdraw to the large financial CEN
tiers 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 COM
mercial way, by manipulations OF
those in control of them, by stock
gambling and other forms of specula-
ton, 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-
noring 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 agrioul-
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
ha of
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
lessly 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 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
SCISSOR 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
this can be provided for best by keep
ing within that community the surplus
earnings of the people instead of send
ing the surplus elsewhere. The remedy
Is simple one.
D. M. CARR.