Grand Forks herald., 1917-03-09
Geo. B. Winship on Reading Profound
Thoughts of Others; ':America And the
New Epoch, :" as Seen by One Writer
tRv Cm n winshinl

10y 00Os 0s Wx0601Q.l
IN National ae a. City: cslif.. AZ March g. -
which I have had opportunity to in
dulge myself since laying aside the
business harness ana enjoying life in
= tranquil and frictionlees environ
ment, 10 the reading of books and the
studious consideration OF questions
grave as we'll as Instructive. I have
had time to think more or less deep
". according to my capacity OF pro-
found thinking. Nine-tenths Of the
people think only s0perfcially. They
don't have the time nor the mental
adaptability to go very deep into in
tricate questions: besides many are
too busy making money or struggling
for the necessaries Of life. They live
In an atmosphere unfavorahle to the
requirement Of studious habits. and
the result is that hasty and superficial
profound study is seldom given to any
question. Faculties not healthfully ex-
ercised do not develop. That was my
condition. and am still victim of it.
although have an abundance of time
to devote to thinking. Lack Of early
training. and consequently haphaxard
and unscientihc thinking. has been my
bane. and this defect has made me
an inefficient man.
But did not set out to disparage
myself; The point I wish to make is
that while large percentage of US do
| not think deeply. there are others who
do. and who are ever ready to give
| US the benefit of their thoughts. Re-
Gently I have read with painstaking
! care the interesting work Of Chas. p
Steinmetz entitled America and the
New Epoch" and assure my readers
that am profoundly impressed with
the premises. arguments and conclu-
sions Of the author. Like him. assert
that the book docs not represent my
(his) sentiments" but as his conclu-
sions are drawn from economic his
tory, they are unacceptable, REGARDLESS
Of likes or dislikes.
Every person who thinks even sup
critically must concede that the great
war now raging In Europe marks the
beginning OF a new epoch in the
ends and the necessary adjustments
are made. the people Of this country
must adopt new systems. and forever
abandon the lax and unscientific
! methods of the past Germany has set
the pace. so far as the economic fea-
lures are concerned, and we in this
country must adopt and utilize most
OF her industrial methods or suffer the
consequences. Our system of govern
ment is involved as we'll as our eco
nomic system. and it Is up to our
people to accomplish, as a democracy,
| what Germany has accomplished as
| an autocracy. We do not want her
militarism nor her kultural philoso-
ply; but her thoroughness. her fac
ulty for organization and her coop
erative efficiency we are in dire need
1 tD pvlr
economic in its motives. and he MAIN
tains that Germanys cooperative ef-
ficiency during peace had prevailed
over the British theory Of individual
tstic competition and will remain su-
preme regardless of military results.
England. he asserts, has lost the lead
ershtp gained when the continent was
ravaged by the Napoleonic wars and
the island kingdom was protected by
the surrounding oceans During that
period Of prosperity England was the
worlds manufacturer until she lost
that position to Germany. Meanwhile
England passed from the position of
worlds workshop to the position of
the worlds merchant and banker.
That is the position which England is
now fighting to maintain. but which
she is forfeiting to the United States
In proportton that she sacrifices her
capital fighting Germany. England is
selling her securities by billions. and
borrowing In this country by other
billions. The United States is solidify-
ing its position as England solidifed
hers by the arts of peace while the
rest of the commercial world was at
war. But the United states needs for
its security governmental recognition
Of cooperation between capitalists,
and between capital and labor, on the
German example.
Says Mr.. steinmetz: practically,
all these necessary requirements for
safely guiding our industrial prosperi-
ty from the competitive age, which
has failed and is dead, into the COM
ing cooperative age, have been out
| lawed by our government. The result
Is that from the beginning of this
century, when the corporate develop
ment Of industry was arrested by the
interference of the government, insti-
gated by misguided public demand,
our industrial development has not
progressed. but lapsed back; the in
| dustries have grown larger, the cor
porations financially more powerful
but as an industrial nation we have
gone backward with increasing rapid
ity. Competition has not been restor-
ed; no political law can resurrect a
corpse, and while you can forbid CO.
operation by legislation, you cannot
by law order people or corporations
to commit suicide. The result has been
increasing disorganization, interfer-
ence, inefficiency and waste, leading
to an industrial chaos just as regret
able for our national welfare as un-
necessary"
Mr.. Steinmetz maintains that the
real danger before our country after
the war is not. military but economic
Industrial invasion is the danger
against which there is no safety ex-
cept in the same methods. To this end
it is necessary that our government
should adopt the methods Of efficiency
Of our corporations. instead of prose-
cutting them for such methods. The
votes Of citizens should continue to
control the government in matters af-
fecting all citizens, but questions of
fact should be left to the decision of
those with especial qualifications For
instance. the treatment of epidemics
should be left to doctors, the decision
between battleships and submarines
should be left to the naval staff, the
development of water powers should
be left to engineers, without embar-
DON'T SUFFER