The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1920-08-20
Time is Here for
Concerted Effort

1t is common enough in the life of
any community for it to rouse itself
| at intervals and begin to make mo-
tions toward Improvement. III is
easy to listen to some hot-shot talk
by an organization specialist; the
folks rather like the mild excitement
the high-binder creates and every
body agrees with what he says, even
when some Of his remarks are not
complimentary to the town. And at
the height of enthusiasm the feeling
that something must be done is unan-
imous. Then, often, a month later,
everybody is wondering why some
thing wasn't done.
If we could, or would, just take up
the slack and stop the lost motion we
could solve all Of these little prob
lens that call for concerted effort on
the part of the whole community.
Most everybody agrees in organized
effort toward general community SER
vice. II they would go on step fur
ther than the belief and give the op-
portunity little concentration and
handful of effort then these little
spasms of community enterprise would
take root and grow into tangible
forms of accomplishment. There
would be better cooperation and un-
derstanding among the different COM
mercial interests, the natural result of
which would be more successful bus
inesses. There would be concerted
attention directed toward any objec-
tive which would result in strength
ening that which is desirable and ben
eticlal or tearing down that which is
unwholesome, thus raising the civic
and social level. The uses to which
an organization comprising all re-
sponsible citizens of the community
could be put are practically unlimited
Harrington is not an industrial
community, it is agricultural. There
is enormous wealth in agriculture at
our very hands, and it is virtually un-
touched. There is no system of mar
ketlng, even the production is not in
anything like desirable state of or
ganlzation. Any step toward better
markets is step toward greater pro-
duction, which is the big immediate
American objective. Strengthening of
the cooperative relationship between
the town and the adjacent community
is the plainly logical, intensely prac-
tical obvious task for the newly or
ganized Pennington Chamber of Com.
merce to set itself to. 1t is one of the
big jobs, but there are many others
of hardly less Importance.
1t is reasonable to believe, that with
proper effort, this little city can be-
come famous as residence place, for
1t has all the essentials of location,
social atmosphere and climate. Along
with that idea can be found a stimu-
lous for greater educational advan-
tages, with perhaps a utilization of
now deserted buildings that once rem
dered service to the cause of education.
Then there are matters of transporta-
tion and public utilities which are
constantly subjects of general criti-
cism, often observed. The Chamber
of Commerce is an instrument through
which adjustments can be made. These |
are but few of the things to which
attention can be directed,
with good and profitable effect. Truly |
the possibilities of organized effort
are unlimited.
There have been commercial clubs
in Pennington before. One after the
other, they have sprung suddenly in
to being and almost as quickly passed
into total oblivion, leaving nothing
but the memory of the name. The
commercial club couldn't save it's own
life, but those who were responsible
FOR its inception could. They brought
It into being, and promptly left it to
lie unused, when they had use for it;
lnsung when they might have charg-
ID its departure with dignity by
single requiem. There is a moral in
he above which is obvious.
Concerted effort calls mostly for ef-
'ort. The moss-grown alibi, "I'm too
ousy," has degenerated into bun
,ombe. John Wanamaker was a no.
able success, and he was never too
'usy to give valuable attention to
worthy affairs of his community aid
lis county. If one is constrained to
roak I'm not interested" he is dan
serously near oblivion. When one is
lot interested in his community he
reeds whole new set of works in
de.
The Chamber of Commerce is under
aking no new and untried course: it
S not leap in the lark. What this {
rganization is undertaking is to en- t
late those communities that have
cen more attentive and alert to their S
opportunities than we have, and have 6
oncentrated their efforts to the end 7
hat they are more efficient, self /
especting, wholesome, prosperous 7
than they were before. @
avs Of physics won't let us stand G
till. We can go forward to little a
Improvement, or to one hundred per v
ent improvement. Ana we can slide
ack to little worse than we are v
ow, or to whole lot worse than we t
re now. The present enthusiasm g
lust be turned into concerted effort. b
his time the undertaking must not b
egenerate into a perfunctory affair n
ut it must be kept living, working, h
rowing.-Contributed. d