The border vidette., 1931-01-17
ON ENTERING The NEW YEAR

porous and progressive year.
Never have our resources, from
the standpoint of capital, men or
machines, been so great. Never
have We possessed such an
abundance of potentialities for
future achievement.
The nation is beginning to
emerge from the depression
wave" which engulfed US more
than a year ago. There is moth.
ing fundamentally wrong with
America, and our ills are of the
most transitory sort. One of.
the most hopeful signs for future
national stability and progress is
the vast amount Of effort now
being by leaders in all fields of
endeavor to tind workable eolu
tions Of our social and economi
cal prob.ems. Instead of being
either overly optimistic or stup
idly pestimistic they are ap
preaching them scientifically.
1t is trite to say that future
prosperity will be largely the re
suit of industrial development.
The electric industry, railroad,
automobile, telephone, mining,
oil-progress ia any one Of them
is connected with progress for
all other business.
Industry's great future prob
lems will be mainly those arising
from governmental policies to
ward business. There is strong
politically-backed trend toward
socialism in this country. Men
in high positions are seeking
some sincerely, some for the
sake of the political it makes for
them-to put the government
into various lines of business
and pass unnecessary restrictive
laws. The 1880 depression was
unquestionably largely the result
Of political agitation to discredit
industrial leadership.
Socialism in the United States
will succeed only if tho American
public fails to recognize that it
is violation of the spirit of our
constitution. and q denial of
those social and economic rights
and liberties laid down by the
founders of the nation.
In the same category must be
included efforts to control the
habits and personal affairs of
our citizens through sumptuary
legislation. There is no greater
menace facing our people than
the growth in scope and increase
in power of an organized bureau
cracy. Its ultimate result will
be to establish a dictatorship of
oficeholders, which can be pre-
vented only by unceasing vigil
ance on the part of voters.
II the sole achievement of 1881
is start toward a return to
fundamentals in the relation be
tween government and ind dustry,
and the individual, it will be re
membered as one of the greatest
years in our history.
From the purely material
standpoint, there is no reason
why the new year should not be
the beginning of q new and
greater epcco. The machine
age bss become firmly establish
ed. Industrial and agricultural
mechanization is now an accept.
ed fact. Domestic life, aided by
ls Dor saving devices and modern
conveniences has reached new
standards of comfort. Commod
tiles and services that were once
only possessed by the wealthy
are now 10 reach of all. And
American workman, command
ing record horsepower, leads the
world in wages and production.
All that preceding genera.
tions discovered, evolved and
and perfected is ours to use.
No other nation ever had so
firm a foundation on which to
build.
But we must not lose sight of
the fact that the modern world
is a cooperative world in which
no nation can stand alone and
remote from the rest. A broad
and tolerant international spirit
is supplanting the insular ma
tionalism of an earlier day.
Friendly diplomatic and com
mercial relations between ma
tions are the surest guarantees
of world peace and progress.
The volume of our foreign trade
may, in coming years. mean the
difference between prosperity
and depression in the Uoited
States. Local prosperity de