Western news and the Libby times. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1920-1933, 1929-12-19

IL /, tUHt is dDsoiuifiF iaihls i'ut fi''ff
no sense in having 10 perform sonl
deadening and grinding toll fm il "
~ have all the .rills never work
for them challenged Burton sudden
~. "What about me-"
you are young and The field OF
your life Is yet In the distance" re
piled Davenport slowly and sohery
"You have had gifts; but II is mol
YET the time for you to know that
every gift bears its esponsibility."
"l-rm afraid I've never thought OF
that" faltered Burton In rather
stifled voice after moment. but
what has the battery to do with this?
"Why. don't you see? Every inven
ton that reduces the labor necessary
to produce things Is q step toward
that leisure for the race"
YES ! can see that" acknowledged
Burton She was just the least bit
disappointed at so prosaic a culmina-
ton to an argument that had aroused
her Imagination. But his next words
rekindled her.
"And this little battery, multiplied
a million times" went on Davenport.
means power; power direct, without
the human toll and labor now neces-
sary to produce 1t. Thousands OF
men work underground digging coal !;
thousands more are transporting it.,
handling 1t, placing it under boilers
An army is digging or conducting oil
wells; another Is chopping wood; still
another Is building dams for water
power. And think still further Of the
vast numbers who manufacture and
handle and deliver the implements
and Instruments by which these raw
materials of power are turned into
the power itself--steam engines, dy-
namos and all the rest. It's tremen-
dousr p
Her eyes were wide, staring unsee-
ing down the moonlit aisles. She was
seeing imperfectly, for her expert
ence could not furnish the requisite
nation-these swarms of liberated
men. coming up grimed from under
ground. from the factories, from the
ends Of TIL. earth. dropping the obso
ete tolls Of a clumsy circumvention.
millions OF Them repeated Daven
port, "reeased for the production Of
that which oar bodies and our souls
actually consume
They'd lose their jobs" she object
ed. Gould they get others9"
1t would mean biz REIMBURSEMENT. F"
acknowledged Davenport, "but you
must remember that II would not hap
pen all at once. and every big
change means readiustment The
history of industry is full of such re
adjustments. Every invention that
has reduced the amount Of labor nee
essary to produce any given thing has
caused such REIMBURSEMENT. Just look
at the things done now by machinery
that were done by hand hundred
years ago. Look at-the row the cot
ton gin made. or wehying machinery
Same thing on a smaller scale. In
the long run"
Eyes, in the long rum" she agreed,
"but the present, the immediate pres
ent Is what am thinking Of"
1T would mean REIMBURSEMENT" he
acknowledged again. land 1t would
mean hardship and sacrifice In some
cases. 1t Is by hardship and sacrifice
always that the great things OF the
world are bought. There Is hardship
and sacrifice In war, but men undergo
1t gladly for a cause. There Is hard
ship and sacrifice in pushing out into
the wilderness. But always when the
hardship and sacrifice are past the
world has advanced. 1t LIS an honor
to have been chosen"
II doubt If the coal miner out Of a
Job would appreciate that fact" she
proposed, smiling little whimsically,
a little tenderly, at his exalted face
In the moonlight. ut would look to
him an undeserved injustice"
''Who of us does appreciate our real
benefts?" replied Davenport. "The
thing done for ourselves at the ex-
pense of others sets US back; the
thing done for ourselves without harm
to others sets us forward little way !;
the thing done for others really helps
us on"
II seem to remember cases where
people have prospered amazingly at
the expense Of Others" she said. still
a little quizzlcally.
He stared at her in open amaze
ment
GOOD Lord" he cried. you aren't
one Of those people who thinks that
all development and all evolution for
all eternity are started and finished
for keeps In this earth phase OF our
existence !"
"What do you believe about it?' she
countered.
81 know very little OF what be.
lieve. It's too big for me. or anyone
else. But ] do know few things. ]
know that when ! get out Of here !
shall go right on working and right
on developing through work. And |
do know that every time an opportu
nitv comes along, and sdpstpn Il 81