Mount Vernon signal. (Mt. Vernon, Ky.) 18??-current, 1913-12-12
WHAT DO
GETOUTOFI IT?
By JULIAN WETzEL.

With reference to any body o
men organized for moral, social or
business advancement, the most
cowardly question any member
can possibly PROFOUND, and the
one which harnesses and disgusts
the real workers--the real self
sacri6cers-is, "What Go / get 4
out of it?" How often have You ]
heard it from puny-minded, weak
kpeed bretheren in lodges, socie-
ties and business bodies? The
whine of these men is a thorn in /
the side of public spirit. They !
are the class that expect to drop a
dime in the slot and take out
dollar. They are the men who are
actually disappointed if they fail
to draw more sick benefits from
their lodge or insurance company
than they pay in dues or preni
ums. They are one real and
menancing detrimeDt to civiIlza.
ton itself.
Did you ever stop to think that
all progress of the human race in
achievement AMI development S
exactly measured by the surplus
put into the effort to 60 fo1 ward?
Suppose all people in al ages had
put forth just enough energy to
subsist that they had taken out
just as much as they had contri-
outed to the general welfare.
Suppose every inhabitan,I to have
stopped at the beginning of every
suggested improvement. scratched
his barbaric head, squinted one
eve knowingly and inquired.
"Wl at do l get out of it," It's
difficult TO conceive or Conjecture
what the result would be today,
but the chances are the human
family would he dwelling in caves
clad in skins and fighting over
the bones of animals slain with
stone axes, or, perhaps, ever
hanging by their respective tails
banyan trees in the jungles of
Africa.
Organization of one kind or
another is responsible for nearly
everythi 1g we enjoy except raw
material resources. which God
gave us. along with the earth.
Organized men resolve" and or
ganized armies demand aii,.slssssu
force. Our whole political and
social economy is dependent upon
organization. Ali great reforms
religious, political and patriotic
have been launched and fought for
by men and women into whose
great minds the dwarf like, biased
selfish question. "What do l get
out of i;?" never for one moment
entered. Can you imagine the
Apostle Paul asking, What do
get out of them?" before writing
his great espisties? Is it possible
for you to think of Martin Luther
asking it? Where would our civ
ilizatlou be today if Burns had de-
manded money before writing "To
Mary in Heaven" or if Benjamin
!. Franklin had demanded a check
before presenting the cause of the
colonies to the French Court, or
if Washington had hesitated to
cross the Delaware because there
was no money in it fO~ him, or if
Whittier, Holmes, Bryant, Lowell
and Longfellow had refused to
write, or Rocks, Phillips, Chan
ming, Emerson and Beecher had
: declined to preach, or Edison,
Morse, Whitney, and Howe ceased
, to invent, or Grant and Sherman
had turned back or the majestic
! Lincoln halted-because the paw
was uncertain and the result in
doubt?
In the public life of today we
cannot, we must not ask this silly
question Every American citi-
: zen owes it to himself, his country
and her citizens to ask the ques.
ton. "What can + put in-what
can l do to help?" Just nowI can
think of but two who asked this
question and received the answer
Judas Iscariot, who betrayed
the Saviour for thirty pieces Of
silver and hanged himself in re
morse, and Benedict Arnold, WHIT
sought to deliver West Point into
the hands of the British and re
5 ceived his reward-a command In
the Kings army-and disgrace