Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-03-15
"To Build Up a Town.

The greatest advantage of COM
munity life is the opportunities al
| forded for cooperation, and the sue
cess of community life generally, de-
| pends upon the extent to which this
| advantage is utilized: but it must not
be forgotten that community life has
its pitfalls, and that every man who
SAYS, Come, let us pool our resources,
and create joint benefit" does not
have any real intention of going in for
square. joint divide.
| OF course, there is no question OF
the fact that more can be accomplish
ed by cooperation in any kind of pro-
| ductive enterprise than by individual
effort. and where the parties to such
an enterprise are all on the square,
each willing to do his full part without
| a thought of attempting to take ad-
vantage of the others, this is always
| the best way to go about anything; but
where there is any reasonable ground
to suspect sinister designs on the part
of any of the movers, those who love
straight and honest methods Will al
WAYS do well to hold aloof.
| This writer remembers an incident
of his childhood, when two small
brothers, one some years older than
the other. were each given nickel,
| The Younger brother did not know the
| difference between nickel and sus-
| pender button, while the elder under
stood that five cents was always good
for pindars or candy. The elder broth
er explained to the younger now II
| would be q good scheme to plant the
coins in the garden and raise crop
of nickels. This was done with great
care, and when the two went to the
spot later on to see whether the seed
had sprouted. it developed that the
coins had disappeared entirely. Ihe
elder brother explained that some bad
| boy mad been there and dug up the
seeds. or maybe the pigs had rooted
them out of the ground and eaten them.
The greatest town builder in the
world is the intelligent, energetic, hard
| worker. who sticks close to his work
and creates steady growth and devel-
opment in his own business. He makes
money with more or less rapidity, ms
operations expand, he gives employ
ment to others, and their work ana
wages contribute still further to the
purposes of his own efforts. The most
prosperous and progressive towns are
| the ones which have the largest pro-
portion of workers of the kind descrlb-
| ed.
OF course. it is fact that the sue
cess of cooperative efforts depends In
large measure, indeed almost entirely,
on capable, intelligent leadership and
direction. There can be no success
without this But it must not be for
gotten that ii is absolutely essential
that his leadership be not only intelll-
gent and capable; but it must also be
honest and generous, seeking the COM
mon benefit even more than personal
gain. 1t must not be of the kind that
would show the younger brother now
to grow money by burying nickels.
There are in every community men,
who. though they have never tried TO
do anything in the line of really honest
production. have spent years III the
business of trying to exploit their tel-
low citizens for their own beneflt. IL
is a common thing for such men to in
vOlve the good of the community
md 40 h.
lie welfare" but it invariably happens
at the windup of each scneme, that
if there has been any benefit at all,
il has gone to the promoter and most
of his dupes are none the wiser. On
the contrary, they innocently console
themselves with the consciousness OF
good intentions, and stand ready 10
contribute their nickels again at the
next planting
Also, in every community there are
men who have shown by what they
have done for themselves in an honest
legitimate way what they might be
able 10 do for others. Such men as
rule do not volunteer to manipulate
other peoples money. They are some
times fooled once by nickel planters;
but seldom are they fooled by the same
people twice. They always stand ready
to cooperate in anything that prom
ises real benefit To the community;
but they d., rot generally press their
claims to leadership, only assuming
such position when actually urged by
people whose confidence they COM
mand In nimcty-nine cases out Of
hundred they make good with sue
cesSful management. and where their
leadership actually fails, they them
selves are invariably the heaviest los
crS.
Community corporation is always
important and town building is always
cummcndable; but the community that
suffers from Il preponderancc ol rN-
pluitcls Of confirmed reputation for
fakins. and Il majority of suckers, who
are unable To learn anything, even
after repeated experiences with the
nook, is not in the most hopeful avenue
of progress and prosperity.
I he best way 10 judge of what Il
man can do, is by what he has done.
Ii he has made money, consider how,
" Whcthcr by accident, trickery, fraud, ur
legitimate energy ur capacity. If there
is any doubt about his past methods,
let him alone. If his past and present
methods are clean and open and mis-
character is abov" r"prOach. get in be
hind him. In the one case, there will
unl,. be clc;n-up uf suckers. In the
other case. there will be benefit t. the
town and to every contributor who
helps the right kind of Il man.
- The supreme court has held up the
rrmittur in the cas-" of w. I.