Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1921-12-19
Internal Insurance

Important address delivered, by
.indrew F. West, LID, dean Of
Graduate College of Princeton,
Princeton, N. j., at the Fifteenth an
aual convention Of the Association of
Life Insurance Presidents in New
York city on the afternoon Of De-
ccrnber 8; 1921.
iRsure Our Nation.
I The game of grab" is an old game.
/. is not pleasant to think of many
of the attempts at clean up" i'll
business at the expense of our gov
crnment during the war. The rushes
for fat jobs, some of them honest and
some of them shady, were in sharp
contrast With the self-sacrifice of our
people generally. With the inevitable
enormous wastage and the opportuni-
ties born of necessity, it is certain
that there were many chances for
dishonesty and that these chances
Tere often taken.
And now that we are entering on
the perid of slowly restoring things
10 q peace basis, there is still evil
cent the desire in many quarters to
make at least one more quick "clean
Iup," even at the risk of a possible
Iuick "get away and all at the ey-
I-rense OF others, before consenting to
:ettle down to proper and normal
conditions. Why? Many answers
IAN be given. But the one bottom
reason is that the love OF the AL
mighty Dollar is stronger than the
fear of Almighty God. Is this to go
on without check, time after time? Is
it, to become the real nature of our
i American life? If it is, our national
future is already fore Swallowed by
che fate of other nations who yield
ed to the brutal materialism which
teaches that to make a good living
is better than to make good life.
| OF course, there are many who do not
really care what happens to our ma
tioE SO long as they are successful and
secure 1t is the old story over again
Of the, American caught, in ,Switzer-
land at the. opening Of the war. He
refused to. help others to- get out and
said::rse'I don't give "a damn what
happens to anyone use, so it don't
happen to me-" His attitude reveals,
as in a flash Of lightning, the truth
Of Calvin Coolidgers remark that the
greatest disaster to any man or ma
ton is prosperity without character"
It was IN response to this convic-
ion that your great association was
formed, with Grover Cleveland as it's
first executive. head, to, make and
keep fotir vast. business strong: and
sSrrtd by keeping 1T clean and there
oS always fully serViceable for safe
Guarding your fellowmen. And as
you succeed in this continuous effort
YOU contribute to insuring the moral
health of our nation; the greatest
thing any: Of us can do. 49,,
In the present situation. many
think that all we have to- do to re-
store confidence and prosperity is to
"heer loud enough, and to- make every
thing all right by saying it Isl all
right Nell, il. talk would save the
world. it is saved now. IF blooming"
a4d ''hoasting,' would DO. the work of
die world, the; work us already done.
But facts EaR Etubborn things. Cheer
ing and ,taAiSg Aave their valuable
uses, but they will not feed mouths
or pay debts. 1t is work, .steadXswork,
honest work, Intelligent work which
holds the master-key of..human life.
'"1fe that will not work, neither shall
he cat" is still as true as when it
was written nineteen centuries ago.
The war has brought in its train and
enormous increase. in self-indulgence,
II, desire to get the most money for
the least work, or for. no work at ALL
The productivity Of American la
Dor is much less than the capacity
Of American labor,in nearly, all ranks
from lowest to highest. The. just
leisure forself-improvement which
EVERY man should have is looked on
as. justly licensed idleness. Joy-rid-
ing and the movies will not restore
the tone and energy or our people.
any more than talk and cheering will
set the wheels of industry h'umming.
War-shattered France is hard ut work.
Defeated Germany is hard at work,
with millions of her laborcrs giving
an extra hour free for the Father
land. And the huge energies Of
America. are only partly at work.
Why? Because something in US is
being weakened
America was settled by sturdy
stocks, men and women Injured to
hardship, faced with the task of sub
DUNG continent, inventive in the
midst of necessity, willing to work
hard, pricing the freedom they had