FUTURE OF AMERICA

Evening Star, Issue 19762, 12 January 1928, Page 2

FUTURE OF AMERICA

EXTRAVAGANCE AND WASTE. That the decline and decay of the United States, now the wealthiest country in the world’s, history, are possible, and that agencies or tendencies are already at work which, if not checked, may bring about America’s fall, are more than plainly hinted at by President Coolidge, in his address to the Union League of America at Philadelphia. The Press, eager to absorb his political reflections on the eve of the opening of Congress, have overlooked his observations and warning in tin's regard. The President, in a retrospective review of America’s rise and development, said that, rightly understood, there was no more sensational story of human experience. It resulted, directly from reliance on the initiative and freedom of the individual. It was the very antithesis of Communism, hut it raised the general welfare of the people to a position even beyond the promises of the extremists. Then came his warning, in clear and expressive terras. ‘‘The test which now confronts the nation is prosperity,”, said Mr Coolidge. “ There is nothing more likely to reveal the soul of ,a people. History is littered with, stories of nations destroyed by their own wealth. It is true that we have accumulated a small but a blatant fringe of extravagance and waste, nourished in idleness, and another undesirable class, who seek to live without work.”

This is the second time, within two years, that the. President has warned the nation against extravagance. As if to give point to his warning, the papers, on the same day as his address appeared, contained an account of a wedding, acclaimed as excelling in splendor any nuptial celebration in the history of the country. A pavilion, which cost £20,000 to build, housed a thousand guests. There was an artificial moon, provided by great lenses hung from the lofty ceiling, and myriad electric bulbs were so arranged thait clouds appeared to drift across the sky. The guests looked from windows as upon a calm summer night; although, in reality, outside the pavilion, rain and sleet were being blown about by a winter wind. Inside there were pillars of gold, and the walls were draped with rare tapestries and rugs.