Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1917-04-20

world In her practical economic philos-
ophy. IA brought down into the goth
century. has imposed on Germany, and
M sought to impose on the world. a
government and a philosophy of GOV
eminent in which the most enlightened
conceptions OF economic welfare and
efficiency are mingled with ideas of in
ternational relations and the ethics of
war which were standards in times
when prisoners We're examined by tor
ture. captured cities turned over to
armies for loot and pillage. and truth
fulness reckoned by statesmen as much
Il private virtue AS meekness.
Frederick Williams economic philos-
ophy shaped itself in his active mind
IN the days when all the ambitions of
princes conferred upon the kin of ma
llonai greatness which vindicates and
genius cannot escap from the limita-
tlons OF MS age; so Frederick
Williams wonderful understanding of
the economic basis of national great
ness took a shape as u military policy
sustained by economic foundations. lit
may be stated thus: That wars are
won. not by armies, but by nations.
that soldiers are only weapons with
whlcn people fight; that a military pre-
.parcdnesS supported by universal i'm
duStry and thrift and by the most rigid
economy In administration lies at he
base of all military effectiveness.
how far beyond this time this
ionenzollern king was may be judged
by the fact that the economic pri1ncinIas
which he began to act upon on the day
the breath left the body of his father
nave only within the past year been
embodied in the defensive legislation of
the United States.
Here was Frederick Williams prob
ZEN: lie vas king of a poor country,
Viii n1l1nh fhiy1 ~. ---1 -
wafo IN manufacture and trade. COM
passed by powerful enemies, and wholly
without physical frontiers susceptible Of
easy defense. The greatest country on
the European continent was France
Iertlie. rich. prosperous. u leader in the
,,iaus.rial arts. maintaining a court
Wnlch was a center of luxury and
splendor. What hope was there for
Prussia between the might of France
and the pride of Austria?
Frederick William had his answer
ready. France was rich and prosperous.
but luxurious and idle. Her kings were
MASTERS, her court a center Of extra
TOR the public good which were but
were so augmented by graft
n corruption that the resulting bur-
den on the peasant bowed his should
ers. A paralysis of the effectiveness of
government resulting from the condon-
ing OF graft and the multiplying of USE
less OFFICES threatened the %perpetuity OF
the nation. The French kings had for
gotten the common people; in process
or time the common people would for
get them. The hops of the future was
in a land, poor in soil it might be. and
in the arts. whose king
should be a father to his people and
not an extravagant pensioner upon
them. whose government should be
managed as economically as any house.
hold in the land, whose officials should
be Tor use and not for show. whose first
concern should be h goodness of har-
vests. IN drainage of swamps, the re-
clamatton of waste lands, the planting
OF thrifty colonies where their example
hould instruct the backward and the
ignorant. That army would be irresist-
ibie whose soldiers and officers Should
no preferment except through
merit, whose regiments should be de-
tenders of the homes and home makers
OF the nation.
This wonderful man cut off the lack
eys and pages Of the court before his
father had been dead half an hour; he
Kept three pages at 10 thalers a month,
without board, and 80 horsemen instead
OF 1000. He sold jewels to support new
regiments n pay debts. He paid ex-
else duties on his own goods. like the
humblest subject; he was busy at 5
O'CLOCK In the morning over accounts,
for he believed that rulers are put
there for the purpose of working" He
originated the budget system; there
was to be no expenditures without a
previous estimate. He dccked an Of
ficial six months salary for absence of
a a from work. He originated a CEN
trail system of control over official ac-
ttyities. accounts. and expenditures
which revolutionized the administration
OF the kingdom. He was busy with
questions of marketing, Of industrial ef-
ftciency. OF the securing Of desirable
immigrants from foreign countries, of
public works. And as the country grew
In economic power n in stored wealth
he delighted to lavish his increasing
revenues on larger and larger schemes
for military development. whose every
detail-except In he single instance of
his costly corps Of giants-was carried
out with exemplary economy.
The dearest thing to Frederick Will
.ham.s ear was his army: His watch
word might have been: Thrift and in
dustry everywhere. from kings palace
to PEASANTS cot. In order to achieve ir-
reaisttble military power
The king reigned % years. and his
work OF reorganixing the business and
industry Of the kingdom began on the
first day OF his reign and went on to
the last. These were. in the main, years
OF peace. Frederick Williams son, Fred
erick the Great. came to the throne with
all his fathers ability and q deep devo-
ton to his fathers economic military
policies. He ripened the harvest OF the
his father s0wed. and he reigned
for as years. II was he who advanced
Frederick Williams great idea from
theory to absolute demonstration. He.
proved. In campaigns whose successes
daxxled the imagination Of man-
Kind for q century int = hall. that wars
are won by nations n that armies
ara hllf tnQtr1nHnnMf 81 Ind 4 that ~ nnnn