The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1914-02-07
"Oikos Mono"

nomos" to signify the law or the nousenOu.
This term has come down to US preserved in our
word Economics. Even we now use it, 1t might
still be defined as the law of the household if we
understand 'household' to mean the home of the
entire community.
The modern citizen who takes seriously his
political OBLIGATIONS and who is in earnest to full
fill the functions of his citizenship cannot posi-
blv vote or act with intelligence unless he knows
something of Economics The law of our social
household is the dominant force to all our social
activities and shapes political, ethical cultur-
al and religious experiences
In our human society there are two underly
ing and fundamental facts. One of these is the
growing population and the other is the land
from which all it's needs drawn. The popula-
ton is constantly increasing in number. One
needs only to compare the recent census reports
with those of ten or twenty years ago to see that
the number of human beings on this planet is
growing steadily. All these new individuals must
be clothed, fed, housed, educated and amused.
This means that the world is required to produce
a greater amount of the things that will satisfy
these needs
Not only does the population grow in num-
her, it increases it's wants and desires. And in
dustry is as quick to satisfy i. Or desire as
it is to satisfy hunger any other necessity.
This means that not only is there an increasing
number of persons whose demand must be met
but that the wants of this increasing number OF
persons also increase. Thus on this side we are
confronted with an ever increasing demand for
more and more goods.
But all these goods come from the land. The
materials with which house is made and heated,
the textiles that go into ones clothing, the food
on ones table and every other imaginable thing
come at last directly indirectly from the soil
or the mines or the or the Oil wells.
The all-important fact about the land and its
resources is that it is diminished by use. In
Colonial days, farmers rushed into New York
State and raised corn, tobacco, wheat, fruit and
vegetables from it's soil. They sweated and
worked for few generations, fed and clothed
themselves, but now this soil is exhausted and
many of these farms abandoned. Twice
much work expended on the soil does not yield
twice the results. On the contrary the soil may
become bankrupt and exhausted. Ore and coal
mines out, oil and gas wells become extinct
Thus society is tossed on the horns of di-
lemma. On the hand is the pressure of in
creasing want both of number and desires and
on the other hand is steadily decreasing source
of supplies to meet these wants. Thus tension
is created these two great forces bear each
other and the whole of human society cries out
Nigorousy for relief.
1t is at this Juncture that the inventor steps
in and devises appliances that will enrich the SOIL
conserve minerals, coal and OIL open lands
for cultivation much of the wastes in trans
portation, discover uses for old waste ma
terials and in thousand ways preserve those re-
sources on which the human depends.
AS a whole, these inventions fall into three
classes: those machines and organizations which
used to produce wealth. those machines and
organizations which are used to transport it
from the place where it is produced to the place
where it is consumed and those machines and
organizations which are used to assist in it's use
and consumption.
This great system of production, transporta-
ton and consumption is the subject matter of
which Economics is science. The economist is
one who seeks to know the laws that govern this
process of producing goods, distributing goods
and consuming goods
This process, of course, like all others in So
ciety is brought under the goverance of law
Factories, railroads and stores must be regulated
according to legislation. The policies concerning
the regulation of this process must be debated
and decided in the council chambers of the ma
tons. The making of law to govern the econon-
ic system, the Interpretation or the enforcement
Of it and the deciding of the policies according to
which that system will be developed, all these
things go to make up politics. And the man who
can 20 to the polls and cast ballot intellieentlv
who can make clear-headed decision on the
questions of political policy, is the man who
necessarily must know something about Econom
les.
Organizing the Charities
frha news that the Commercial Cluh wac nl.n