Polk County news. [volume] (Benton, Tenn.) 191?-1983, 1920-02-12
No. 4S

]
The reclamation Of the devastated
area is. after all, only a matter OF
plan, time and money, and notwith-
standing the fact that Europe is bank
rupt today. the money must and will
come. The barbcd wire will be rolled
UP. the mines and shells viii be dug
from the fields. the villages will be re-
built: everything that has been de-
stroyed VIII be replaced. Physical re-
construction is the least of Europe's
problems.
The great problem is the recOnstruc-
tion of life. The war-devastated and
disordered the life of the world. 1t
threw everything into confusion; 1t
left the scheme out Of balance.
Only Road to Prosperity
We live by work. Prosperity means
production. Poverty is underproduc-
ton. Stripping economics of all its
high-sounding iargon. the simple truth
that everyone knows is that the world
has only the things it works to pro-
duce.
1t may not be amiss to state few
facts known by everyone which ex-
plain the meaning Of production: We
live on the earth. 1t Is land and wa
ter. In the ground are minerals. The
land grows crops. We need the min
erals that are in the ground. We need
the crops, but minerals in the ground
as well as the fertile soil, mean moth
ing until man by his work brings the
mineral from The ground and makes
the soil yield. We must have food, we
must have clothing, we must have smell
ter, and the only way we can get these
things is by working. If little work IS
done we have a shortage. There isn't
enough food to go around, there aren't
enough clothes enough coal, and as a
result the prices of all these neces-
saries go. way up But this is not SO
important as the fact that when there
is not enough to feed the world some
go hungry, others must starve. When
there isn't enough coal, some are cold,
others freeze When there aren't
enough clothes for everyone, some
must be ragged and half-naked. Ev-
erything BY which we live is the re-
sult of work. Stop work, and poverty
Etd pAElsky sesaI IIss
Work b feSlS sIe eg : III
goes to make life worth living.
TO understand Europes condition
today one must stop and realize that
the war stopped production. The re-
suit is a shortage of everything. There
isn't enough food, there isn't enough
raw material there isn't enough coal.
The whole story is told in the word
Poverty.
Oaly Cure Is in Work.
There is q cure; the prescription can
be written in a single word Every
one knows that word, but knowing the
word and adopting tie word are differ
ent matters. Before We can get DacK
to normal life this word mTst ind
root in the consciousness of the peo-
pie. We must realize that the world
will continue sick and grow sicker un-
less this prescription is taken. Fur
ther, we must know that if we delay
taking this remedy it will be longer
time before we get well. The pre-
scription is work. Every effort should
be made to make every man will to
work. Every employer must not con-
tribute to unrest and provoke idle
ness by refusing to negotiate with his
men. and into this negotiation he
should go with Il friendly spirit and Il
willingness to compromise. The en-
ploycr who meets labor with the
thought in his mind rhat he is better
eouipped to fight than labor, because
he has a surplus and can eat and be
warm, while labor has been living from
hand to mouth and will starVe, Is
shortsighted He had better get the
idea out of his head that you can
starve men into submission. There
was day when that was true, but
that day has passed, never to come.
The man who depends upon his abil-
ity to turn a key in the factory door
and go off on Il vacation, imposing
his will on his workmen, will discover
that these men stopped certain
gent" late Of Pottsdam now Of Hol-
land, from doing This very thing 10 the
world. He may wake up some morn
ing to learn Il new definition OF the
word fight.
One thing that people do not realize
is that the men who fought the worlds
fight for freedom are the men who are
now complaining that they are not
getting square deal. Who made up
the fighting men of the war, the rank
and file Of the armies that stopped the
prussian Push? who were the great
majority of the volunteers and the
conscripted men numbering millions
who went to the front for the lilies?
The teamsters, the shophands, the mill
workers, the factory hands, The coal
miners. These We the same men
who are the center Of the labor prob
lem.
Mr.. Employer, you are dealing with
px.soldicrs. Please don't forget Il.
rhey fought for you. You wouldn't
have any business today II it hadn't
been for them, ana when you think of
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