Carolina watchman. [volume] (Salisbury, N.C.) 1871-1937, 1912-04-17
ASlA'S GREAT LESSON FOR The SOUTH.
Knowledge aud. Training Essential For /
Peoples Greatest Development,

reopleS 6tedtsst development.
The prosperity of every mar
depends upon the prosperity, and
therefore the efficiency Of the
average man. The welfare Of
every individual depends upon
the uplift of the great masses OF
the people. The most important
fact discovered in. all my trip
through the Orient was the fun
damental, worldwide Importance
of this too little accepted econom
10 doctrine. In the United States
the South especially has been
slow to accept it, and has paid
tbs penalty of its delay in a
tragioally belsted development.
Nowhere In either America or
Asia can the individual accom-
plish mush unless the great
masses of tho people have bee n
trained to. efficiency. Evsry mai
through ignorance. lack of train
ing, or any other hiudering cause
is producing or earning one half
ss much ss he ought, by his IL
efficiency is making everybody
else in the community poorer.
In America education, demo-
cratic institutions, and a prope,
Organization of industry are the
primary causes which have re-
suited in giving the average maj,
. high degree of efficiency aud
therefore q high degree~-of pros
perity, as compared with the lot
Of the average man in the Orient
We live in better homes, have
more leisure and recreation, en-.
dure less bitter toll; in shert, we
find human life fairer and sweet.
sr than cur fellowman in Asia,
not because you and I. ~ indi.
vlduals, deserve so much better
than he, but because of our rich
or racial heritage. We have been
born into a society where a high
er level of prosperity obtains,
whore a mans labor and effor,
count for more, simply because
of what previous generations have
done for increasing the efficiency
of the masses through tools and
knowledge, education and ma.
chinery. As the employment of
machinery increases, an increas.
ing number of men are set free
to produce some comfort or lux
ury, with the result that the
standard of living rises.
On the other hand, in the
Orient, where machinery il not
used to an important extent, men,
women and children alike do the
work of beasts Of burden, as we'll
"a that of human beings, for
wage that ranges fr,,m 4 cents to
80 cents a day. Ordinarily, of
course, when one answers the
question, why is it that the
oriental gets sach low wages and
has such a low earning power2"
the answer is, "An overcrowded
population.
I do not believe it. ->
The truth is that every man
should be able to earn q little
more than he consumes; and if
society be 90 able to handle men
that they produce any fraction
more than they consume. the
more the men the better the world.
Ny own conviction is that the
oriental nations are poor net be-
cause of their dense population,
but because of their defective in
dustrial organization, because
they do not provide men with
tools and knowledge to, work
with. Ignorance and lack of
machinery, these havs kept Asia
poor. knowledge and modern
tools, these have made America
rich.
Lst the South make haste to
learn the lesson that the Orient
teaches. We must thoroughly
educate all our people. Was it
not an oriental prophet who
wrote: "My people are de-
stroyed for lack of knowledge?"
This is Asia's most important
lesson for the South, the message
that comes to us trumpet-tongned
from any thoughtful study of the
stagnation and poverty of the
eastern world and Of the problem
of axnidinQ annh a hndu of daath