The Mena weekly star., 1919-05-15
YOU ANpIAT FAULT.

It is not the solution of such prob lens as "equal rights" "the divinity of Jesus" "what party or creed is right" that is hurting mankind so much as the petty, everyday annoy ances, like indigestion, sloth, style and laziness. Even war, world leagues and all the cults can never bring about many permanent reforms until more of us understand as individuals what constitutes real enlightenment, efficiency and greatness.
 A nation is just what the masses are at heart in their daily living. The good efforts of few are tremendous ly weakened by the sloth of the many. This proves that humanity is one, a unit, and that we must rise and fall together. A chain is no stronger than it's weakest link, we rightly say, but very seldom ever consider the matter any further. And that's the trouble. Too many of us are just waiting and waiting for some one else to fix things, while we are doing a lot of negative criticizing. That is what got Russia into trouble. The people at the bottom got to considering that the people at the top, in Moscow and Petrograd, were to blame for all their troubles. This was a mistake. The Russian peasant himself was partly to blame. He had failed to properly enlighten himself on political matters and would never assume any social responsibilities, other than that into which he was forced. Tn a mild CT way, of course, what troubled Rus sia is troubling us. Too many people at the bottom are shirking some im- portant duty and laying all the blame on big business and the government. For myself, altho I belong to the farmer and laboring class, have be- come sickened with so many of these sugar-coated things said in praise of the greatness of the farmer and the laborer. Some of it is true. But there are lots of farmers and laborers who are, in intent and motive, nothing short of vicious, no matter how exalt- ed the nature of their work may be. They seem to forget that their great est source of power must always orig mate within themselves. This class of persons, tho they are growing less every day, will curse wealth, and yet that is precisely what they aspire to for themselves, and consider them selves failures if they don't get it.
 We are, indeed, learning much these days. For one thing, especially, we are learning that most wealth is nov being accumulated more as a result of honesty, thrift and enlightenment than by dishonesty, shiftlessness and ignorance. Our laws discriminate sometimes in favor of wealth, to be sure, but in the main it is our own shiftlessness and sloth that brings about our greater miseries. When man finds his youth gone, his wealth gone, family on hand and old age approaching. he is in a pitiful state if he failed to lay by some money. But he has no one to blame for the most of it, but himself. And in nine cases out of ten these persons place the blame for their predicament upon wealth and the government, and con stantly talk socialism and anarchy. A lot of kickers need to assimilate the 1 fact thoroly that the highest theory of government known can never do for us what we can do for ourselves if we will but try Individual worth is what we need, and many of those men
 we call oppressors of the people are really big-hearted and far-sighted. Let us keep our own doorsteps clean and learn to appreciate more of the good in our public leaders. They need our help in helping all humanity to better things. Joe Lewis.