The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1913-09-09
EXTRAVAGANCIES OUTWEIGH NECESSITIES

idea that he owns the earth, that
the jingling coins make him master
of the universe, fairly personifies us
in the eyes of the world. Thought |
less of the past, needless of the fu-
ture, we are having a good time to-
day, drinking and making merry,
drunk with pleasure and extrava-
gance. The day of reckoning will
come. The farm boys stupOr will
wear off. With the headache of the
morning after" as he stumbles out
to milk before breakfast, his pockets
empty, his head befuddled a bad
taste in his mouth, he will find life
again a stern reality.
A nation which pays more for its
chauffeurs to run it's cars of luxury
than it does for it's teachers to in
struct it's children will reap what it
sowed. 4 nation that spends more
for beer than for bread has no cause
for complaint of the high cost of liv-
ing. A nation that spends enough
| in diamonds in a year to build Pan
anna canal need ask no sympathy
| from the world when beef goes up a
! few cents a pound. nation that
pays its bartenders more to serve
| it with drinks than it does to the
~ n n Chnnc
wears has only itself to thank if
social revolution sends the whole
structure crashing down around
about it's ears.
Wasting our substance in riotous
! living is our course at present.
crude youth among the nations, we
are making a spectacle of ourselves
in our first debauch. An American
abroad is typically the traveller whom
all strive to tap. He is made of mon
ey; his idea of a good time is meas
ured in dollars and cents, as is his
| idea of what constitutes the best in
art and literature and life itself.
Because he spends four times as
much for his whiskey tipple as he
does for the output of all the bake
shops in the land, he figures he is
having a good time, that he is living
the life. He works hard, hoeing
corn. and then sells the nation corn
crop, the biggest crop he raises, for
beer. Then he plants more acres
next year and works harder so he can
drink more beer.
! Drink Up Our Corn Crop.
These are not figures of speech;
They are based on the figures in the
government report for the fiscal year
ending July /. Our bumper corn
crop of 1912 was worth 1866, 258,-
900. What we guzzled from beer
barrels cost $1,612, 100000. Isn't it
distorted view of things to indulge
ones taste to the extent of drinking
lup the entire corn crop? When we
see an individual spend his hard
earnings of year over the bar We
call him shiftless and improvident.
Is it any less true of nation?
Tobacco is a permissible vice; but
isn't it burning up too much money
to let $416, 100000 go up in smoke?
No cause remains to complain of high
taxes. If we were to swear off to-
bacco for three years we could pay
all of our national debt of S1,027,-
100000. Nor do we realize as we
smoke we are paying a 100000, 900
tax to Uncle Sam each year.
To glide in rubber-tired luxury
during the fiscal year ending July
we paid $249,OOO,O 900 for American
made cars, besides 100000 for
those made abroad The 100000
chauffeurs and mechanicians, who
are required to transport US in lux
ury, do not work for any wages so
small as the 1858, 915,170, which is
the pitiably small salaries we pay
our public school teachers. In other
words, we value our automobiles
higher than we do our children. We
care more that the cars of luxury
! be kept shining and in order than We
; do that our greatest asset receive the
: best instruction and training
We groan at the cost of warships