PERILS OF EASE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9210, 13 April 1908, Page 2

PERILS OF EASE.

1 — AN AMERICAN WARNING. (" Washington Post.") " Th.at prosperity breeds hard times is an accepted theory of many students of political economy and the theory of government, and out of this I have d©-, duced a new theory which, in my opinion, explains the periodical business depressions which corns to this country," i said Mr Conway M'Millan, of Philadelphia, at the Raleigh. "My theory," he continued, "is that the wonderful productivenees of our soil leads to hard times. This seems paradoxical, but if isn't. Serious business depressions do not occur in Britain, France and Gernnany, the \three leading nations of the world. Any ime of those countries could be placed in the State of Texas, yet England is the dominating commercial power of the world, France the foremost capitalistic nation, and Germany the leading i manufacturing country— the workshop !of the world. With their millions ot people herded together in a limited territory, the people must necessarily keep constantly at work. They cannot afford to have even occasional lapses of industry, and, while it is true there is a great army of unemployed in London, a large proportion of the people are always employed, and they work long and faithfully, making the earth produce all it is capable ot producing: but they have to work for it. Here in America, with its vast extent of territory, the people have only to spend a short time in the cultivation or exploration of the earth,, and, as it by masio, it is mad© to Z™ d UP*" treasures or to blossom. .Result: lne people grow prosperous; they become intoxicated with their prosperity until they reach the state where industrial disease germs are bred— the germs ot envy laziness and extravagance. Why, just think of il>-tho PWPj?.^"^ spend the interest on £20,000,000 a ■year in shooting the chutes. In .England the germs of hard times have been extirpated, because there, is not^°f™ enough for them to thrive, and the earth requires too much working. " We are a great people, because our country is great ; but what could we do in competition with the three great Powers Jf our 80,000,000 people were compelled to make a living in a territory the eizo of Tefcas? We are too new to bo a great commercial power; we lack the frugality to become a capitalistic nation, as Trance— capital is only the conservation of energy ana earnings-arid we are not industrious enough to compete with Germany as a manufacturing nation Ido not believe the depression which » said to be present in America at tins time will last long, because the tendency of prosperity is always upward toward© a permanent basis, and consequently business depression becomes of shorter duration as they succeed cycles of prospority. Eventually we shall attain a permanent prosperity, but that will be when we have become more experienced and have conquered the germs ot panic— envy, laziness and extravagance." mmmmmmmm^ mm^ m^ m mmmmm^mm