The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1918-03-16
People Cams. Tee 3to-e Gut OF
a Community Than They
Fut In.
COLLAPSE IS Inevitable
Town VIII! Net Survive Long II its
Commercial Structure Is Torn
Down Faster Than It Can
Be Built Up.

copyright, 1917. Western Newspaper Union.)
lie who dances must pay the fiddler.
That is an old saying which is full Of
truth. Tie primary idea in this say
ing, Of course, is that one cannot have
my pleasure without paying for it in
some way, but this is not the only
sense in which it may be construed.
It means thai we cannot pursue any
foolish policy indefinitely without pay
ing for it in the end.
No man can Overtax his physical
strength indefinitely without risk
ing ultimate disaster. Dissipation
or overwork may be continued for u
fine without any noticeable results,
hut if continued for sufficiently long
time the inevitable comes to pass. The
laws of nature cannot be violated with
IMMUNITY. If one takes out of life more
than he puts in, if he tears down his
physical strength faster than he builds
it up, he must eventually pay the i'd
dler.
What is true of the laws of nature
is equally true of economic laws. The
people of a community may for time
tear down the commercial structure of
a town faster than they build it up
without meeting disaster, but it cannot
be continued indefinitely. In the end
they must pay the fiddler.
Exhaust Resources Of Community.
The person who makes his living in
a community, receiving the money of
the community for his labor or the
his income outside Of his community
is helping to exhaust the resources Of
the community just as the man who
expends his energy through dissipa-
ton or overexertion faster than he
builds it up is exhausting his physical
resources. One man may do this, of
course, without nOticeably affecting the
economic strength Of the0community,
but when a dozen men or women do
it the effect becomes noticeable and
when q hundred do it the resources of
the community become exhausted to
the point where collapse is inevitable.
Those who are responsible for this Sit
uation may think that they have profit
ed individually by their actions, but
they have not realized that in the end
they must pay the fiddler.
There are some persons who seem to
be able to get through life without
much effort. There are some who pro-
coed on the theory that the world owes
them living and they proceed to col
lect it. They take what they can get
and give nothing in return. Such per-
sons, however, are not very numerous.
Most of us must pay for everything
that we get. Some may have to pay
more than their share and these are
carrying the burden of those who get
more than they pay for. The fact re-
mains that, as general rule, one can
not have much worth while without
paying for 1t.
The merchants Of any community
are the backbone of that community,
SO far as its prosperity and progress
are concerned. Individually there may
be some Of them who do not exert
themselves to boost their community,
but collectively they are the men upon
whom the living of every person in
the community depends. The success
or failure of an individual merchant
may not be of particular concern to
the people of community, but the
success or failure of the merchants as
q whole is matter Of the very great
est concern
Provide Market for Farmers.
The merchants of a town, in the first
place, provide market for q large
part of the products of the farmers
in the territory surrounding the town.
They buy the produce of the farmers
in small quantities, in accordance with
their need, and some of them buy in
larger quantities for shipment to for
eign markets. If the merchants could
not do this there would be no market
at least for the small quantities except
ut ruinous prices. II the farmers could
not realize a reasonable profit from
their products, there would be no mon-
cy for them to spend and there could |
be no money to pay for your products
or to pay for your labor. 1t is there,
fore, of the greatest importance to ey-
cry member of the community, wheth.
or resident of the town or q farmer
in the country surrounding the town,
that the merchants. be enabled to pro-
v:ae this market for ut least a part Of |
the farmers products.
Every dollar sent away from a town
to q mail order house helps to diminish
tAe ability q tbs lesN merchants e