Evening star., 1933-01-02
A Running Start.

-Four complete and two half days OF
rest and recreation in the ten days be-
tween December "a and January 5
should constitute an excellent spring
board from which to make grand and
glorious plunge into the business OF the
new year. Whatever else may be said
Of the beginning Of 1888, there can be
no complaint on the score OF hurried
launching. In effect there has been
nearly an entire week for warming up,
for pulling nerves and muscles together
for prodigious effort.
And there can be no question about a
mighty effort being needed. OF course,
some rest is necessary, but work is far
more important. Constructive thought
and devoted labor are imperative to the
solution Of the vast and tremendously
complicated problems with which man
kind at the present moment is faced.
There can be no idle waiting, Micawber-
like, for an automatic readjustment OF
the causes of the depression. There
can be no reliance on mere capacity to
blunder through to the desired goal OF
prosperity, progress and peace. Only
by conscious endeavor can humanity
achieve victory over the losses and sor-
rows of the worldwide slump.
The depression itself. perhaps, has
been a kind Of preparation for its cure.
People have learned in its bitter school
the penalties Of extravaganza, careless
ness, pride and greed; learned how
surely and remorselesSly these faults
lead down to disaster. They certainly
also have begun to appreciate the prac-
tical values Of earnest but modest en-
terprise and decent but cautious living.
They know by this time the costs Of the
sirE of boom periods OF industry and
finance and the dangers of unjustihed
expansion. A very definite gain has
been made along the line of psyche
logical preparation for happier days.
Cynics have discounted the posi-
bility OF nations and individuals to make
new starts. There Is a notion current
among them to the effect that come
backs" are rare and incomplete. But
history contradicts that idea. At the
height of the French Revolution pessi-
mists spoke of civilization as having
been destroyed in that country and
prophesied the irremediable collapse OF
French nationhood. Again, during the
American Civil War apostles of despair
pretended to believe that the new re-
public OF the west was about to dis
integrate and disappear. In both in
stances the critics were mistaken.
France produced Napoleon as her
answer to the doubters; and the United
States, under less colorful, but more
Trustworthy leaders, won back in few
decades all that had been sacrificed in
the four years OF internecine strife.
AS for individuals, the biographical
dictionaries are bursting with stories OF
men and women who at one occasion
or another were apparently beaten into
the dust and yet with new courage and
new determination managed to rise
from failure to achievement and success.
One biographer has pointed out that
the career Of Abraham Lincoln was q
sequence of diSappointments, yet who
can question the grandeur Of his con-
guest Of circumstance?
It has been said that fate has way
OF mistreating human beings to the
point Of extreme cruelty, and then, II
the person so abused has been able to
demonstrate capacity to come up
smiling" grants him unlimited faVors
and rewards. There may be merit In
the thought.
In any case, there is no reason TO
lose hope. That would imply surrender,
and there is no advantage IN weakly
submitting to misfortune. The new
year represents a new chance. The
American people will make the most OF
the opportunity. They understand the
agnificance Of q running start.
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