text: X nur Chance ÎH tflE ■H rlDWlV. Î / ?.. ■AMJL S&S' •& * ✓ t Ba s. m nit ?. % » n rf 7 ^ I« <0 I have toe in* HU. mind He By JOHN F. THORNTON. JR. (From the American Boy, Detroit). REMEMBER distinctly the parting words of my old schoolmaster that Jane morning my class graduated. "What are you fellows going to do now?" he asked. "I suppose every one here has several ideas of what he would like to be fluttering around in his head. It's pretty hard to decide between them on a day like this — when the fish are biting up in "Old Sandy." "My advice to each one of you is to get your fishing pole and carry the question along with you. Near the shores of "Old Sandy" you will find schools of pollivrogs. Learn a lesson from them. "These pollivrogs are to their way to frogbood. Too fellows are on your way to manhood. But the pollivrogs are not in any particular hurry. I don't think you'll find them trying to leap around and lift their voices like frogs. As a matter of fact they are going to manure several different shapes before they settle down into frogbood. For the present, however, they are content to go right on being pollivrog. "You fellows are in the political stage. Your powers and abilities are only half realized. Look around before you decide what you want to be or do. In a few years you may become aware of qualities in your makeup whose existence you never suspected. At the same time, abilities that you think you now possess may fade away. Take your time. You may save yourself from the fate of a miss. You've heard of them—the doctors are unhappy because they are not lawyers, the chemists who would be of great service to the world as if these wise words to many boys, as now with a new application, are now with a new application. A man with Horatio Alger, Jr., and the picturesque qualities of some of our men who left the farm in the city. The whistles of a locomotive among the hills makes him years for the city, bristling with opportunities. He seeks upon the glistening rails as the one a venture to his opportunity. He is shown right now. A few years ago, a big city was the place for an up-and-coming young man. It needed him, and he was prepared to reward him with money and position. Today, however, the story is never seduced." "A more reliable has passed a ton to the city." Any of our deep thinking economists and public writers. "She has spread herself thinly over a large area. The future of the country has to its undeveloped small cities and towns." Are you looking for a proper opportunity? Examine that little old "one hens" town of yours, before you think of buying a one-way ticket from it. There are many ambitious, and very wise, young men who are deliberately tearing the larger cities and moving into towns such as yours. I visited a country store in a typical small town of the West. The owner is a young man. Ten years ago he left the town and went to for a "real job." But he had not worked long before he realized that it would be many years before he could get the end of the job. He wanted to create and build up a business of his own. The death of his father called him home to care for his mother, and he got a job is a general store of the town. It was a terrible grind. The work was not backbreaking. But the daily round of little things to do—the same dull routine, hour after day, week after week, got wet. Weighing out a bagful of oats, wrapping up a handful of that—it was hard work it was not interesting. Did this young fellow settle down and wear Into the rut? He did not. He began to look around to see if he could to the owner that he advertised. Snorted the owner. "What for? Why—if it's a town where you know we're here. And open for business all the time. Put more anything in stock that they'll everilize! What for? He answered, "Excepting the farmer's stock." "Why not throw out a small amount of merchandise?" "We depend on the farmers for the bulk of our trade, and we've got to carry a lot of everything. No—get a lot of it—we'll go right on with our line of Cheyenne, you know, and we'll go right on with our line of Cheyenne, you know, with its haunting odor calico, soda crackers, horsewomen did most of the business's service to meet their buying habits. Who could afford to buy large city stores, or seat Municipal the Jobbers and many city-Be brought back a large lot of the store's, ill as men and other women wear. Then be fitted in the face from which oil and ten-penny sails He And carrying old His first You of He had So he way to and skunk traps and a lot of other odds and ends. The other merchants of the town predicted rain for The youngster. So did the banker of the community. "He'll never be able to compete with the city stores," he said. But the young merchant surprised them. He sent letters to a list of prospective customers. The women's wear was sold in two weeks. From that time on, he gradually turned the old general store into a women's and children's store. He did not specialize on clothing. But he limited his stock to those things in which a woman is naturally interested—clothing and house furnishings and groceries. And he advertises. That is one of the main reasons for his success. The town alone could not support his store. One new business idea he uses is very effective. He has appointed "agents" in the surrounding small towns. Their work is in report to him weekly, on printed forms, any information that will put him in touch with new customers. If a girl becomes engaged, or a couple is married, he knows about it, and is after the business that usually results from such events. He knows also whenever a new house is built, or an old house is remodeled, or a new family moves into his territory. In seven years this young man has built up a business that is known for miles around. Seventy-five percent of his business is done with farmers and their families, who drive or motor in from points fifty miles away. That is the reason why, during the past year, he has been able to do a business of more than $7,000,000 in a town whose population does not run much over 2,900. Hundreds of small towns hold similar opportunities for young men. If ever there were "golden opportunities," small-town merchandising boards than today. For American farming is fast becoming a mighty fine paying business. Wealth is actually increasing faster in the rural districts than in the cities. And the American farmer and his family are no longer satisfied to exist on the very best necessities of life. They are buying luxuries and conveniences in large quantities. The introduction of electricity alone into farming communities is creating a tremendous demand for electric churns, washers, irons, fans, and vacuum cleaners. Water system, porcelain sinks, wall paper, paint, and Tarnish, better house furnishings—these are only a few of the things that are selling heavily in the rural districts. An expert has figured that the American farm market has a wealth of $89,090,000. Part of that market is around you. The chain stores are paying out from the cities. The mail order houses have secured quite a hold on the farmer's trade. But if you decide to build up a business in your community, you need not worry over their competition. The mail order houses give no better values than it is possible for a local merchant to give. And a man or woman always prefers to trade with a friend whenever that is possible. The young man with a capacity for friendship and a goodly share of brains and energy has every assurance of success in small town merchandising. But merchandising is only one of several fields in which the small town offers excellent opportunities. The president of one of our big Pacific coast banks devotes an unusual amount of time to the development of his employees. One day he called two clerks into his private office. "I believe," he said, "that you two young men are going to make good at banking. But you need a little broader experience with banking problems than your work here affords you. In a big place like this you know, you are liable to lose your sense of perspective. "I have made arrangements with two of our correspondents. There is a job awaiting each of you in a country bank. On these jobs you will be called upon to do a little of everything. You will become banking factors. When your education is completed there is an executive position for each of you. You have a week to think it over." The young men thought well of the proposition, and disappeared into the 'hushes." But the president's plans were awry. Neither man returned to him. One wrote him a long letter in which he listed some of the advantages of a small-town job over a city job—the cheaper living cost, the more healthful surroundings, and the to make more intimate friends. The other in a telegram, quoted Caesar, according to Longfellow: "Better be first in a little Iberian village than second in Kane." There are something like thirty thousand banks in the United States. More than three-fourths of are situated in towns of less than ten thousand population. It is in these small town banks that many of our future banking leaders are being formed, for here a new idea in banking is being developed. As one before has said, it has been found good business to take interest in people as well as from them. In other words, the bankers of the country are going out of their ways to help their clients to grow richer. I could mention many instances of the rise of young men in the banking world because of their shyness in this direction. But space permits of only in a certain Eastern farming community there were, a few years ago, two banks. They were very strong competitors. A young man in one of the banks said to the cashier: "This is just so much money in this community. Both for a while here are falling over each other, trying to induce farmers to bring their business to them. We have a great many good accounts already. Why not roll up our sleeves and help our depositors to become richer? If non-depositors see us doing this they have the best argument in the world for bringing their accounts to us." The farmers of the community were hard workers, and intelligent. But they had no leader. Without a single "by your leave" the bank as sumed the leadership. It organized a "Farmers' F orum." On the bank's recommendation the farm ers employed a "field demonstrator." thoroughly grounded in the theory and practice of scientific farming. The fédéra! government paid half the expenses of this "soil doctor." He spent his time traveling from farm to farm, making soil tests and advising the farmers regarding the products best adapted to their acres. The bank purchased a carload of purebred cattle, selected by a gov ernment dairy expert. These were sold to the farmers at cost. That was three years ago. Today, that com munity is one of the most prosperous agricultural districts in tbe country. There is oniy one bank. Tbe business of the competing bank has been taken over by the "iive" bank. The young man is president of the enlarged bank. He has been offered a vice presidency in a large city bank, with a salary double that which be now receives. He prefers to remain in tbe "bushes." He. too. would "rather be first in a Littie Iberian village than second in Rome." On a trip last year through one of the richest agricultural sections of the Middle West, I was continua!!y hearing the name of one man. I call him Jim Ingalls because that is not his name. Five years ago be was an overworked reporter on a big city daily. His work did not seem to be getting him anywhere. There were half a dozen men ahead of him in the line for promotion, and tbe best that he could hope for was an assistant editorship in about ten years. When his two-weeks' vacation period rolled around, he made a trip through the rural districts of his state. He did not return to the city. For in a little town he found the subject of many day dreams—a run-down country newspaper for sale. And into it he put every cent that he had managed to scrape together on his city job. Not a very promising "baby," you say. But Jim Ingalls had a vision of possibilities. The town was in the heart of a prosperous farming region that was well populated. Most of the farmers had a big city daily delivered at their gates. There was a growing community spirit among the county dwellers. Jim saw the need for a real community newspaper. The first thing that he did was to improve the appearance of the paper. Then he toured the county, and created a chain of correspondents. Railroad agents, school teachers, doctors, lodge secretaries. Justices of the peace—everyone in a position to gather news was supplied with stationery, and given free subscriptions. There were few who did not consider it a privilege to send in news items. He gave up foreign news entirely, leaving this to the city dailies. His news policy has always been one of intensive reporting of the affairs of town and county. His correspondents pour in to him every week a steady stream of the gossip and chitch at every hamlet and crossroads village. If Farmer Porter's wife holds a pie social, she knows where she will find a full account of it, and her guests know where they can find their names in all the glory of print. Farmer Lawler and his neighbors are interested in the hay, grain and forage reports from upstate. They look in Jim's paper for them. He keeps close tabs on the developments at the county experimental farm, and nothing gets by him at the meetings of the county agricultural societies. The paper's circulation is now nearly four times what it was when he took it over, and it is recognized as a valuable advertising medium. Jim no longer has to worry over his income. But he has made more of his paper than a mere chatterbox of the county's gossip. He realizes that, in his little newspaper, he has a powerful tool. And he uses it to encourage the dwellers of the county to carry out the improvements which will add to the comfort of all, and make every town a better place in which to live and bring up children. There are openings for a great many more "Jim Ingalls." In the United States there are about ten thousand centers of population where newspapers are published. There are about twenty-five hundred daily newspapers, and nearly six times as many country weeklies. Our smaller communities are beginning to awaken. There is increased political activity within their boundaries. And they need fearless, independent local papers. Which brings us to the question of the small town boy and politics. The young man who plans to follow a political career can do no better than to begin at the bottom in his own village, township, or county. By local authorities, he will learn how to handle human nature. And he will learn to be practical. Let not the young man think that participation in small-town affairs will stunt his growth. If he is destined for larger things, a few years will find him, as a matter of course, functioning on a larger scale. And a record of things done—that new school for Beaver Hollow, the park at Four Corners, the new municipal lighting plant, or the new railroad branch—all will serve as recommendations when he goes before the voters. American Institutions the Growth of Our Own Soil and Unlike Others J. BEVERIDGE, Former Senator from the First District By ALBERT In the growth of our own American institutions, a system of government, taxes, and other governmental acts, is essential. The American courts to strike down and enact laws or enact laws for the government of the United States, because such acts are unconstitutional. It is one of America's original contributions to the jurisprudence of the world, and, thus far, it has been rejected by every other nation. Another example of fundamental principles, all other countries, the law of "constructive treason" exists, by which a citizen or subject can be convicted upon circumstantial evidence, sometimes of the flimsiest nature; and by women even men or women in periods of excitement is in peril of death from personal enemies who may seek this method of securing revenge. In America, however, it is not possible to exist, but instead the American doctrine is that treason must be a direct overt act, and must be proved by two witnesses to the same overt act, or by confession in open court. Still another example of the difference between American institutions and those of other countries is found in what is called the contract clause of our Constitution, which forbids any state to pass a law impaling obligations of contract. This doctrine has been one of the most powerful factors in American progress and material development. Our American economic and social system is founded upon the sanctity of the plighted word—founded upon good faith—founded upon the equality of contract. The root of the whole matter is that the purity and wisdom of popular representative government rests first of all with the citizen. "I believe in earning the right to exist by living constructively." By MARTHA GLOVES McKELYIE. Wife of Governor of Nebraska. It should cause no surprise that I am able to keep up a twenty-one room home without servants, prepare all of the family meals, tend to my child, and still do my best to attend to my social duties as wife of the governor of our state. I run my home systematically, and have the housework done by 10 o'clock. Then instead of wondering what I will do to pass the time, I work on a rag rug, a big correspondence; cleaning closets, pressing clothes, or grooming myself, as all wives do, I suppose. I answer about forty telephone calls each day and accept as many invitations as possible from people and organizations who will understand tardiness in a governor's wife when she says she is sorry but she had to put the laundry to soak. I try to live up to the traditions of my ancestors, who believed in service and earning your own right to exist by living constructively. I live three months of each year in the woods, primitively close to God's production and his dans, and this keeps me humble for the rest of the year, with my feet on the ground. Business of the World Would Stop if Mathematics Were Wiped Out By PROF. DAVID E. SMITH, Columbia University Let us imagine, if we can, that by some mighty cataclysm there should be wiped off the face of the earth tonight every book on mathematics, every mathematical symbol of every kind, every written page or written sheet on which a trace of mathematics appears, and every machina for computing or recording numbers. What would happen? Every mill in the whole world would slow down, and every large concern would close until it could replace its accounts, its statistical material, its formulas for work, its measures, its tables and its computing machinery. Every submarine would try to guess its way to the nearest coast. Every ship on the seven seas would be stricken with blindness and would wallow helpless, awaiting the probable starvation of its human burden. Not a rivet would be driven in a skyscraper in New York city, because the steel girders would have lost their numbers; Wall Street would close its portals; the engineering world would awaken tomorrow morning to a living death; the mines would shut down and trade would relapse to a condition of barter as in the days of savagery. The United States Today Needs More Homes and More Home Owners. By S. W. Strauss, President American Society for Thrift. Home ownership is one of the best examples of thrift, and many families have gained their first thrift experience when they began saving money with this worthy end in view. America today needs more homes and more home owners. She needs not only added housing facilities, but the stabilizing influences of wider home ownership in our social and economic life. The man who owns a little piece of ground and the roof over his head gains a deep appreciation of property rights, the orderly process of society, and the constructive influence of thrift. He has a tangible example of the beneficial qualities of economy. He has a solid rock on which to stand in times of stress. He acquires a sense of proprietary independence that cannot fail to add to his own rightful self-esteem. It is to be remembered that plans for home ownership are to be undertaken with due prudence. First of all, make the resolution that you are going to have your own home: then save, plan and act in accordance with these worthy thrift impulses and the dictates of good judgment. 