The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1922-10-12
THE IDEAL OF NATIONAL
UNITY

There is accommodating evidence for
encouragement in the general condi- |
ton of the country. By every stand
ard of comparison we are already in /
an era of great peace time prosper
ity. There are incidental and tempo |
rary difficulties. From minor obstruc- /
tions of this kind our economic life is
never free, but they can not hold /
back the impending advance of pros
perity. Business in manufacturing /
centers is fiourishing. In some of the !
great basic industries wages are adj /
vancing. The market for the pro
duets Of the field and farm appear to /
be secure.
We are prone to magnify the bless /
ings which we suppose go to others, /
and minimize those which we know
come to ourselves. Oftentimes com
parsons are misleading. The man in
industry thinks his compensation
meager, his living conditions ciroum-
scribed and monotonous, while he
longs for the freedom of action and
greater opportunity for success which
appears to him to exist in the tillage
of the soil. The man on the farm is
disconnected with the long hours and
the laborious requirements of his
work, oftentimes at a low rate of
compensation, and the exposure of
himself and all the results of his in
dustry to the unprotected peril of the
elements, so that the certainty of pay, !
the short day, the sheltered surround ,
ings of industry, seem to him more at /
tractive. 1t is probable that each
would become much wiser if temper
arily they would exchange places. |
Each would find that while there are
advantages in all occupations, there
IS no road to success without toll, (
sacrifice and self-denial. In the ex-
emplifcation of these virtues the
farmer has no superior.
The economic life of the nation,
whether it relates to commerce or
banking, to industry or agriculture,
or any of our great enterprises, is
less dependent on the attitude of the
government toward the people than it
is on the attitude of the people to-
ward the government. We have
grown great, and rich, and prosper
GUS. We are in possession of those
mighty powers which come from
wealth, from science and invention
and from the organized resources of
and men.
The financial experience of our
own land and of all the world teaches
US that there will be times of great
prosperity and times of comparative
depression, but that the general eco
nomic welfare of our country has all
the while increased. 1t is elementary
that this depends on the stability of
our government. AS our country is
sure of prosperity when the farmer
IS prosperous, so our government will
have ample support while the farmer
supports it. His willing sacrifice in
time of war, both in bearing arms
abroad, and in the support of our
military forces by his efforts at home,
has amply demonstrated his patriotic
devotion to our institutions.
1t is apparent that those who would
destroy our institutions, who do not
believe in ordered liberty and the con-
stitutional guarantees of individual
rights are always seeking to gain
their ends through the disorder of
economic and industrial conflict. So
long as we maintain the ideal Of ma
tional unity, of common interests and
the necessity of the individual seek
ing his own welfare in the welfare of
the public, and maintaining his own
liberty by maintaining the supremacy
of the public authority, these efforts
VIII fail. Our danger lies in submit
ting to an artificial division into
classes, and groups and sections
which are each trying to secure sue
cess at the expense of the other. It
IS not enough for man to belong to
class; it is not enough that ne be at
taehed to section; it is not enough
that he be q manufacturer or a farm
er, success in all these things requires
that he be first an American Faith
full himself, the farmer has the right
to require faith in others. Attempt
ing to dominate no one himself, he
has right to resist attempted domin-
alton by others. Mindful of his own
duty towards the public welfare, he
has a right to remind others of their