The midland journal., 1946-10-11
lLOOKZNC
KG~E AHE4D
BY GEORGE S. BENSON
presideNt--HardiKg College
Seary. yArkaSsas
Proved by Use

Inventors and builders of ma
chimes speak a forceful language.
Once l heard an engineer discuss
ing a new invention his firm was
about to manufacture and sell. 'It's
fit to use," he said, "but not per-
feet. Well sell a few hundred of
them and work the bugs out" In
other words-with a great many
people using the thing, he could
learn from their complaints how to
make it better.
Sometimes the first model of de-
vice is too complicated. In other in
stances, it might need attachments
to make it serve its purpose bet
ter. AS Don Quixote remarked,
''The test of the pudding is in the
eating" Practical service to the
public is the final proof of an inven-
tion's worth. In service, defects
come to light; in service, improve
ments are suggested.
Usage Will Tell
Now I want to point out that this
principle is just as rightly applied
to governmental devices as to
mechanical ones. In service is pre-
cisely where statesmen find out how
good their theories are If a law or
system proves to be a nuisance,
the public will be quick to discover
it, and if they are permitted to ex-
press themselves, will say SO read
lily.
This is why advocates of this and
that brand of Socialism avoid tell
ing the history of socialistic expert
ments. Most of them have come
to such dismal ends. In theory they
are very pretty but in service they
don't work. Accordingly that's why
l go before meetings week after
week and talk about the high stand
ard of living in America. The Amer
lean system actually works.
Revised Early
Fathers of this republic, back in
the 1770's when they wrote and rati-
fed the Constitution of the United
States, certainly did not imagine
that they were drawing up the speci-
fications of perfect state. They
understood from the beginning that
they would have to try it out in serv-
ice and "work the bugs OUT 1t
was grand piece of work but it
has been changed-and improved.
Trainers of the Constitution ex-
pected changes soon, and they
came. The first addition to their
masterpiece was added in less than
a year after its ratification by the
18th state. Even these statesmen's
supporters did not consider their
work fiawless. 1t is not fawless vet.
but there are two things about it:
1t is the best form of government
ever devised, and subject to change
now, as it was then.
A Flexible Plan
Americas economic system, free
private enterprise, the only one
compatible with our Constitution as
it stands, can lay no just claim to
any dreamer's idea of perfection.
To prevent the strong, the shrewd
and the rich from taking advantage
of the weak, the trusting and the
poor, many restraints on business
have been made into laws. Here is
the SYSTEMS virtue: 1t can be
changed.
Private enterprise is not new. It
is far advanced in that process of
government based on usage. When
adopted in America, it was fit to
use, and it grew better for $50
years. 1t has nurtured a society
where the poorest citizen is rela-
lively rich in contrast to the exploit
ed pawns of dictators. Here every
body has freedom, time of his own,
comforts of living and, above all,
opportunity unlimited.