Belt Valley times. [volume] (Armington, Mont.) 1894-1977, 1925-09-24
Owe Obligations
To Common 0aIth
Baekbone Of Commumisy Service
Found IN support Msrehanss Cave
70 Residents.


What do yOu owe your home town
Whatever the bill Is, none win bs
presented to yoa for payment. The
debt is an intangible one, no matter
how large It is. If you do not realize
the size Of it, nobody win try to tell
you You know what the town haA
done for You, and you know better
than anybody else what you ought 10
do for the town.
Two questions may serve to bring
the issue home to You.
When your wife and children were
critically i'll, was it the doctor from
the city who pulled them through?
You didn't even think Of calling
him. Your first thought was Of the
home town doctor, and he saved the
lives Of your dear ones.
Credit Is Extended
When you lost your job, who gave
You credit and tided you over the
winter?
It certainly wasn't the store in the
city that advertises bargains" for the
country shopper. The merchant on
~castner Street. or Bridge Street.
stood by you then. as he has for
Others, and as he win again some
time when the emergency arises.
If these things have not happened
to you, they have happened TO your
neighbors, and you know about them
Mere money cannot pay for disinter-
ested service such as the doctor and
the merchant render under the circum
stances. And they are not cited with
the idea of Weakening a feeling of
obligation toward those individuals
who render as signal service on extra
ordinary occasions. They are brought
ap, rather, with the view to making
every man, woman and child realize
his partnership in the community and
his responsibility in that partnership
which means 30 much to him.
Render Community Service
The doctor and the merchant are
not the only men toward whom 9th
ers in the community owe this OBJ
legation to maintain the community
as a self-sustaining entity. They are
simply given as examples Of how the
proposition works out concretely.
They are among the leaders who
have eOnsecrated what they are and
what they possess TO he service of
the town in which they live. and all
for the well-being Of it's people and
their future as community. On the
basis Of the law of compensation alone
they ought to receive some form Of
pay for their effort because even the
Bible comedies that the worker is al
ways uorthy of his hire.
The cure effected by the doctor
md the credit extnded by the mer.
:hant are two specific instances Of
benefits coming 10 the resident of the '
small town. These are not all the
benefits, for their number is IegsOn {
IN good times as well as hard times I
hey come, because they are not re- !
'tricted by the season Of the year OK {
limited to periods of necessity. Lake Il
the gentle rain from heaven about i
vhich Portia speaks SO benignIy in J
ler famous courtroom speech 10 Shy I
ock IN fsThe Merchant Of Venice. . ?
Ihakespeare's masterpiece these ben
fits fan upon @justn and UNJUST c
like. Nobody is shut out from their b
njoyment. h
Happy and Content Il
Happiness and contentment bring q
bOuk also a rich social life. You get a
Ogether with your neighbors In mo- t
nents of relaxation from your days Z
oil and enjoy intercourse with them.
'lubs and organizations unite you a. =
onds that hold you together for one &
urpose or another. o
A score Of other things might b.
nentioned, bat space forbids. For u
there Is the library. with It's o
ich storehouse of the worlds Iitera. +
ure. ALSO, there are the material z
hings that minister TO the comfort
nd welI-being Of the people. Among I
hem arn boncreta side waEks, corner A
glsts, police protection and q fire q
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