Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-05-07
THE PRESIDENTIAL YEAR.
It conjures UP Fears That Never Ma
terialize.

II conjures UP Fears That Never Ma
terialize.
There Is q vast contingent Of good
people who always imagine that the
party in power is depressing the peo-
pie, and that when there Is a change
in presidents butter will be ten cents
pounds, eggs three dozen for quar-
ter, with everything else in proportion
and wages twice as high as they are
now.
This idea probably comes from the
fact that the average man only reads
one newspaper, and that the one that
mirrors his own prejudices.
. Every president Is disappointment,
and the hope Of a change comes as
glad and welcome relief.
For most of us the times are always
hard, and even in the midst Of pros
perity many people find 1t difficult to
pay their bills and get enough money
to buy all the things they would like
to.
Inertia tugs at us, and the "cussed-
ness" of things is on every hand. AS
election time approaches we just quit
work, lay off, and say "Nothin' doin'
until after the election"
There Is only one thing to be afraid
of, and that is fear.
Fortunately, most Of our troubles
never come to pass. And occasionally
we go right through a time Of trouble
and forget to shudder until we get out
on the broad highway where the road
is clear and the automobiling good.
Some of our griefs we have cured,
and the sharpest we have survived, but
what torments of pain we have endur-
ed from the evils that never arrived.
The world has fallen heir to great
legacy of fear. We are all more or
less imbued with 1t.
If this were not so, would not be
writing on the subject now, and the
fact that I am writing on it proves
that I have not gotten the microbe
fully out Of my system.
But this do believe-that the lions
are always chained, and usually they
are only plaster of paris lions.
Among our superstitious fears is the
idea that a presidential year is always
a bad year for business.
This state of mind comes to us from
a time when kings ruled the world and
a change of government was effected
only through death, violence and rev.
olution.
The grand chamberlain, who stood
in the window Of the palace and called
aloud to the multitude, 1.-The king is
dead-long live the king!" while all
around were soldiers standing at
present arms" and the air bristling
with bayonets, is in our minds.
Government for us Is not a thing
that rules-it is merely a matter of
business.
The real fact is, the public business
at Washington Is not conducted by
the president or his cabinet. There
Is a big force Of able men who have
held their positions long, and these
are the men who do their work and
hold their peace.
The presidents power is largely in
he line of publicity. He stands i'm the
imelight, but the work goes right
along without him.
We are ruled by the spirit of the
lines, the zeitgeist is supreme, and
no order, even of the supreme court,
s operative unless it Is backed by
public opinion.
In America today we have a more
stable public opinion than ever be-
ore in the history of the world. The
lew spirit of the times demands hon
.sty in business and in all public SER
ice.
No man who could be elected
president could do us much harm.
wen were he so inclined, and there
s no possibility Of our electing a ruff
ian, a renegade or dictator to the
)f11ce.
The country is safe, and what we
Ill should do is to put the snuffers on
his talk Of poor business in a presi
lential year.
We all need food, shelter and cloth
ng Just as much as in other years.
The sun shines. the waters run, the
Winds blow, the clouds chase each
'ther across the blue, the birds nest,
he flowers bloom and blossom, and
he crops-when we SOW and culti-
harvest will be found big
With fulfllment
Out upon this foolish fear that
Is about to happen.
To sit around and moon is to lose
ust that much time. And time lost
s lost forever.
To your knitting, girls, to your
nitting!-Elbert Hubbard.