BRIGHT AND INSPIRING.

Waikato Times, Volume 102, Issue 17277, 13 December 1927, Page 11

BRIGHT AND INSPIRING.

HOW HE FOUND AMERICA.

MR. STRACHAN’S OBSERVATIONS. “I found America an inspiring country. Its cities are clean and bright. There is little evidence of poverty. Its people arc friendly, everyone seems cheerful, life goes on with a swing,” Mr J. E. StraChan said at the last meeting of the executive of the Canterbury Progress League, when reporting on his recent trip to the United States.

“America-—I mean the United States—is perhaps the world’s frankest and most naive expression of the characteristic spirit of'modern western civilisation," he said. “I say western because xve recognise that there is in the world an older, and perhaps more stable civilisation that wo call Oriental. Meantime w’esteni civilisation is dominant. What is it? What, docs it stand for? Whither bouhd?

“These questions I found myself forced to ask over and over again as L travelled in America. I found the same kind of people in America as I know here, the same business policy, the same ways of spending time, the same ambitions, the same divisions of society, the same interests, and somehow the spirit of our civilisation seemed to be more frankly expressed in American life than it is in ours. Any thoughtful American will give you his answer to the last question, ‘Whither bound?’ ‘We don’t know,’ he will say, ‘but we’re on the way.’ And perhaps he will add (lie cheerful injunction one hears , everywhere in America, ‘Watch your step.’ “It is inspiring because of the direct attack it makes on problems wc spend months talking about, and because of the cheerful and apparently careless way in which it will embark upon a stupendous experiment, lis vitality is wonderful. Its genius for practical and efficient handling of big problems is unquestionable. I ' realised these things in America, and yet I could not rid myself of the feeling that there was something fundamentally wrong with it all. Deserted Farms. • “When I saw the deserted farms, I got a hint of it. When I visited American schools I thought I had a clue to it. Whpn I spoke to earnest men in Universities and Research Departments of State, men of clear vision and sound judgment, I was convinced. American life is fast losing an element that is essential to the health of any community arid to the soundness of any civilisation, i.c., direct and intimate contact with Nature. “Now I am tempted to speak of this as an educationist, and because I am interested in the moral, mental, and cultural aspects of this maladjustment in the life of the people. lam convinced that Nature will exact dire retribution. We as a league of practical business men will he; interested in the more material aspects. There is emerging an economic maladjustment which is perhaps x of more immediate concern—l mean the economic maladjustment of the primary and secondary industries, the economic maladjustment of the city?to the rural environment. Economic Exploitation. “America is not peculiar in this respect, but it is peculiarly typical. The British Empire shows the same maladjustment. Economic exploitation since the industrial revolution has been wonderfully successful, hut it has been blind to its twin dangers. “I found in America, as 1 expected, that American scientific research and American business enterprise have done a tremendous lot to raise the economic status and standard of living of the average American citizen. I also found —and for this I was not quite so well prepared—that the average American farmer has not benefited proportionally, and that he is to-day actually worse off relatively and absolutely than he was twenty years ago. Now this is in spite of the fact that most of the scientific research has been and is connected with agriculture. Now this extraordinary state of affairs needs some explanation, and this is the explanation that many American economists are giving. Mot Organised. j “A clue to the situation is found in the fact that research and education are at the back of all American progress. But research and education arc ineffective where there is no organisation through which the results of inquiry oan be applied. Now it happens that city communities arc better organised than rural communities. Hence we find that modern scientific knowledge has been most effective in building up big business organisations in'the cities. The farmers are not organised. They buy individually, they work individually, and for the most part they market individually. “The Republican policy of the country is dictated by big business interests, and is one of industrial development mainly along manufacturing lines. One. plank in that policy is a high protective tariff resulting in an all-round increase in the cost of living. The American statesman justifies this by asserting that wages have increased at a greater rate than costs, and that, consequently, the people arc better off. JBut while this is perfectly true of the city population, it is not time in the case of the agricultural worker. His local market for farm products has certainly increased, but prices of farm products have not increased in proportion to general costs. Drift to Cities. “The cities are continually being recruited from the country. Girls and boys of the farms are being educated in rural schools, and then going off. to give their services to the city. The city has not paid for their education, but the city reaps the benefit of it. Under conditions such as I have described it is always the- best of the rural population that drifts to the city. The worst is left to carry on the farm. In many parts of America the mental and physical calibre of the rural population is declining. Thatis why the more earnest economists arc wondering whether they have not begun too late with their work of trying to help the farmer. They are, to put it bluntly, dreading the appearance in America of the hopeless peasant farmer of Europe.”

“The surest index of character is the voice.”: — —Disraeli. But sometimes a cold is so bad that you lose your voice altogether. Don’t let mild weather deceive youl The germs of colds arc always on the move. Be prepared, and take Baxter’s Lung Preserver. Safeguards your health, and prevents coughs, colds, and all chejt and lung troubles. Builds up the ‘constitution, too. Famous for over CO years as a tried and trusty remedy. All chemists and stores. Generoussized bottle 2s 6d. Bachelor size Is GcL *