The sun., 1919-08-24
BY FRANK PARKER sTocKBRIDGE

lie L nlted States oil America SLanuS
l. to-day the one civilized nation of
the Western world that is not seriously
threatened with either revolution, bank
ruptcy or starvation. New York has re-
placed London as the financial centre of
the worlds business; Washington over
shadows in world importance any of
EurOpes political capitals. We have
come out of the war not only with a new
national prestige among the peoples of
the world who are everywhere looking
to America for political leadership, but
with our own internal resources unim-
paired even materially increased.
Never has a nation of a hundred mill
ion souls experienced such widely spread
and generally shared prosperity as the
people of America are experiencing to-
day. Nowhere in all history can one find
the record of a social organization on
so huge scale in which the common run
for their labor such volume and variety
of creature comforts, of luxury and of
recreation beyond the bare necessities of
life.
Not since time began, moreover, has
any such considerable body of human
beings been so completely in control of its
own collective destiny that every adult
member of the whole great group has at
all times voice in the affairs common
to all, of precisely the same weight and
influence as the voice Of any other indl-
vidual; this, too, without the slightest
impairment of the personal rights of such
individuals as may for any reason dissent
from the position on any subject taken
by the majority Of their fellows.
Surely" the reader may exclaim in
wardly at this point, 'this is not a real
nation: this sounds like a description of
Utopia! What else is needed than these
things which have just been recited?
What more has mankind ever besought"
Let us see.
Why, here is group of men and
women who declare that the conditions
in Americas fundamental industry, agri-
culture, without which no nation can
thrive or long endure, are simply deplor-
able, and that unless something is done
quickly we shall lose many of our ma
tional advantages.
II.
1t is no time to rest on our oars-nOt
willie the worker is still getting less than
his fair share of the products of his
labor, not while millions are still living
in unsanitary ignorance, not while our
transportation system, railroad and high
way is in its present condition, certainly
not while our people are still thriftless.
The list of things that need still to be
done, of problems still unsolved in our
national life, could be extended to fill
many columns. Nor are these mere
whims of so-called reformers, vagaries Of
self appointed regenerators of society,
untried experiments the advocates of
which would proceed to try at once on
full sized national scale without first
discovering by laboratory methods
whether they will work or not. -.
This would be gloomy subject to con-
template were it not for the cheering
variety of efforts constantly in progress
for their elimination and the optimistic
spirit in which, all over the country, the
solution of these problems is being underi
taken by varying groups, with here and
there such obvious success that no one
can doubt that, sooner or later, the prob
lens of to-day will have vanished, what
ever new problems may replace them for
another generation to solve.
1t is this very characteristic of not