The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1922-01-12

Now the editor likes that Mr..
Wray has. or thinks he has, a griev
ance against this paper. He says so
in plain understandable English and
best of all he says it to the editors
face and not behind his back.
Mr.. Wray may and may not have
intended his letter for publication. 1t
is published for the reason that the
writer has given, not only the editor
of this paper, but the other business
men of this town, something to think
about. And the man who makes us
think is worth while, yes, and thou
sand times preferred is the man, who
with candor unmasks for us our weak
nesses and. shortcomings, to the msa
who feeds his grievances to the high
winds of gossip.
To err is human If the editor is
guilty as charged in the communica-
ton he has exhibited a human trait
that is as old as the race. Too often,
alas, the individual becomes entirely
satisfied with himself. In his SNUG
self-satisfaction he holds to the mis-
taken idea that everyone else is equal
ly satisfied with him and his works.
1t is a common weakness of man to
submerge himself within his own en-
deavors, to nestle comfortably down
in rut and stay there until he is
jolted out of it and brought to re-
newed realization of his obligations
to, and his interdependence with those
about him.
Probably this newspaper has neg
lected Mr.. Wray and failed to give
him the publicity to which he has been
entitled. He came here about two
years ago and purchased an unim-
proved ten-acre tract and set to work.
to convert it into a new nursery. Soil
and climatic conditions here were new,
to him and agricultural methods were
different from those to which he had
been accustomed Not all of his plant
ings came along as he expected. Of
tentimes he was forced to back up and
begin all over again. But he worked
hard, not only with his hands but with
his head. Disappointment and dis
couragments delayed but did not dis
may him. He kept plugging. He
made good.
This fall found him with all of his
tract under cultivation and growing
thrifty young nursery stock. This
winter he purchased an additional ten
acres. He set about the improvement
of it with the same spirit of deter
mination with which he tackled his
original tract and another year will
undoubtedly see it transformed into
neat plots of young fruit trees, berry.
bushes, grape vines, strawberry and
asparagus plants and other nursery
stocks.
The editor of this paper has tried
not to entertain any inflated ideas of
self-importance. He has always been
aware that should he dry up and blow
away the community would feel no
great void; neither would the Courier
Reporter suspend publication; and that
possibly the community and the paper
would be the better by reason of his
passing.
He has set about his work knowing
full well that when this community
shall have been made; when its de-
velopment problems shall have been
solved; when the age of maximum pro-
duction shall have been reached, the
verdict of the future will be that the
real builders were not the columns OF
the Courier-Reporter with their
"write-ups Of the high line ditch and
other big units" but "the country
people who dig in the dirt and produce
the crops" the men and women who,
starting as "misfits" with fortitude,
stamina and patient toll carved sue
cess out of adversely.
1t is a common tendency of US all,
and Mr.. Wray is no exception, to think
that we can run the other fellows
business better than he. Frequently
the editor finds himself thinking that
he could take this or that farm and
run it much better than the farmer