Henderson daily dispatch., 1937-08-26
BUSINESS EMERGING FROM
THE DOLLHOUSE.

Unless signs are misleading, bust
ness and business men are regalnlnS
the respect and confidence of the
American people.
In the lush COS, the plain citizen
came to believe that all blessings
flowed from business. 1t was creating
and distributing the good things of
life in record breaking measure.
Wages were higher than ever before,
pay rolls longer. Abundance was so
commonplace it had no distinction OF
political party. Every man was his
own good fairy A plurality of chick
ems in pots. of cars in garages, was
no news on the American front.
Easy money in farm lands, stocks,
in resort properties, brought about
the bleak '30s. The high speed proved
unsafe. We STUMBLED, ELL, received
scratches and bruises, but. nothing
fatal. Like the spoiled child who
lashes out at the tree he runs into, we
pouted and looked for victim. We
dashed out a. the machinery of trade,
at the car which we drove into the
ditch.
And there is no hate like that of
friends who fall out. The ugly convic-
ton festered in the minds of millions
that they had trusted business and
that business had let them down.
Now we, the people, must always
have a rainbow We are always about
to be blest. This is an emotional
necessity to human nature. The more
dazzling the hope held out, the more
adulation we give. tine promiser.
With business repudiated, and a
vacuum created, politics became the
Great Promiser. Happy days are here
again! The Government will make
YOU secure against the vicissitudes of
Dame Nature and her difficult child,
Human Nature. 1t will provide higher
prices for what you have to sell, low
er costs on what you have to buy. It'll
make your electricity, build your
houses, relieve you of the duty of
helping your relatives and neighbors.
Let Washington be your brother
keeper!
We knelt Lefore our new idol.
Business, through it's leaders, har-
ried in it's own right, did not take
time to argue it's case. 1t expressed,
on the run to office and plant, its
skepticism of parlor magic. Politics
promptly accused business of being
against the detectives. "Oh, you see,
business, greedy and selfish, approves
of sweat-shops, child labor, low wages
and long hours" Too many of us ntlrs-
ing a grudge, were only too ready
to believe that business men were OPP
posed to higher standards of living.
What if the record of American
business in raising standards of liv-
ing, measured by any rule, reminded
of Aladdin's lamp? No matter. Bust
ness seemed now to be "agin" the
things most of us wanted.
Business in its clumsy way was
only trying to say, "Sure an acid bath
will take the dirt off, but also the
skim" When it wanted to argue about
a road-map, it was accused of not
wanting to reach the destination.
Today, we, the people. are becom-
ing a little skeptical of our new idol
We catch glimpse, under the skirt
of feet that look like clay. We like
wise glimpse the ominous shadow OF
a bill-collectos. We wonder if, after
all, when the better and permanent
way of living is brought, the delivery
boy will be lusty platform promiser
or the old-time business entcrpriser
1t is a propitious time to speak out
boldly the faith
That American business as whole
is simply the total of the thousands
of businesses we all know, and in
which mos of us are engaged. II is
not an ogre in another state. -.
That American business is moro
progressive and sorviceable than tina
of any other land, whose alien doc
trines we are urged TO adopt.
That we can finally re'y only upol
business to provide The things we nees
to make the better Ives we want.
BY Merle Thorne, Editor, il Nation:
Business
There are lots of us who would
lilo +o he able to send our wives Il