Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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' I The Wateree Messenger 4 ? 1 n ? _ ; Published Every Tuesday bjr ' CHAS. W. BIBCHMORE, Prop. \ - Entered fa Second Class v Matter at the Postoffice at Camdeb, S. C. ; ? v Subscription $1.50 A Yea r in. Advance Tuesday, March 8, 1932 VALUES THAT MONEY CANNOT BUY ?Sometimes we wonder what would be tb* effect if things should go on about as they are now indefinitely. How much worse off would we be as a pe:>rle if the present standards of income should prove permanent? It all depends, it seems to us, on > where you stand when you look at the world. If you're standing on a dollar-mark things are pretty bad right now. But there are other points of view. Why do we want prosperi ty to return? So we can all have more money. But if we had more money, what would we do with it?' It seems to us that during those boom years when money, for a lot of people, was easy to get, it proved to be pretty hard to hold. And from what we saw and heard and read a bout what people did with their mon ey, especially people who had never had any experience with money be fore, it didn't do many of them much good. On the contrary,, it seems to us, it. was a genuinely bad influence. And is there any reason to believe that people, speakinpi generally, would get any more lasting value out of easy money if boom times came. back? We think not. Of course, we want everybody to have a job. We not only hope that but we expect that conditions will change so that there wll be no unem ployment to the extent of wide-spread distress and privation. And we re alize that there will always be some people who will have more money than they know what to do with, and who will continue to 4pend it foolish ly., But it does seem to us that in the effort to make everybody rich our system has not succeeded in making anybody very happy; and we wonder whether we have not somehow, as a ?people, lost our grip on the more en during things of life in the struggle for the mighty dollar. There are spiritual values which are immensely more important than riches, which are not at all depend ent upon wealth, which, in fact, Are likely to be destroyed by the possess ion of more money than is needed to keep the body warm and fed. Per haps these lean years may prove to have had a disciplinary value in turn ing people's thoughts away from mere pleasure to the soberer but more important things Qf life. THE SALES TAX A general sales tax on every com modity except the staple food-stuffs appears to be inescapable. Revenue must be raised \to pay the nation's running expenses,, and there are few sources of taxation that will not have run dry before the mounting cost of government will have been met. The sales tax is rather painless way of making everybody pay his or her share of governmental costs. If it is levied in such a way that every body who buys anything realizes that part of the purchase price goes for takes, it may have the effect of mak ing the ordinary citizen tax-conscious, and that will be a good thing. The ultimate consumer pays the taxes now, but he doesn't know it. The. average man thinks there is some way of taxing the rich which cannot be passed on by the rich to the poor. There isn't any such sys tem possible, and the sooner that is generally realized, that all taxes bear heaviest upon the retail pur chaser, whether he buys a pair of shoes, an automobile or the rent of a home, the sooner the ordinary man will begin to take an interest in pub lic affairs and demand more effici ency for his tax money and greater economy in public office. WANTED: TEACHERS OF HUMOR 'xv ; ' .. ? I once h^d some correspondence ?with the alumnae secretary of a wom an's college, an estimable lady seek ing to raise more money for her in stitution,, which it well deserves. Our letters developed quite an in teresting exchange of ideas on edu * cation, until I made the mistake of sending this comment: "1 am a believer in women's col leges, and I think they receive much leas than their rightful share of leg acies and gifts. But I sometimes think they have pushed their scholas tic standards too high, and are ap plying them too rigorously. Two oi the most successful and attractive middle aged women of my acquaint ance are college graduates. They have been a source of pride and ser vice to their alma mater. Yet, if th* present standards had been in force in their day, and had been as anbitrarily applied, both of them would have been thrown out of col lege at the end of their first semes ter. They were poor students, but they are great women." I added rather facetiously: "After all, a majority of college girls are goiAg to enter the profession of ma trimony. My idea of a college pro gram would be to teach them to look after their health, cultivate their sense of humor, and then add what-, ever amount of book learning they could absorb without spoiling their good looks." This stopped the correspondence. The lady regarded me as lacking in seriousness, and wrote to me no more. Yetr l have the temerity to publish the comment, and to add this firm conviction: that the world does not need more knowledge as much as it needs more humor. Do you remember the famous ses sion of the Cabinet at which Abra ham Lincoln presented the ETmanici pation Proclamation? He preceded it by reading one of the humorous essays of Artemus Wiard. He laugh ed until" the tears came and then, looking around at his associates and finding them all solemn, he exclaim ed: "Gentlemen, why don't you laugh? Wiith the fejtf-ful strain that is upon me night and day, if I did not laugh I should die; ahd you need this med icine as much as I." Do you recall the passage from \ International Sunday School Lesson, March 12 ? JESUS COMFORTS HIS \ . DISOIPLiES John 14:1-18 , Rev. Samuel D. Price, D. I). We are At/ill In the upper room where the Paseover wan celebrated. Then the Sacrament of the Tx>rd's Supper wan instituted after Judas < / left to complete hfe? act of selling > Jesiw for thirty pieces of silver. Be fore they went out into the night Je sus made the most celebrated after dbmef addresm of all ?time. For the fbll content read John 14, 16, and 16, And follow this with a atudy of what in reality i* the prayer of our Lord, aa recorded in John 17. All these meaeagea are rich in spiritual teach ing and afford comfort in tlmea of most" severe need. Do not confine v your study to the limited lee son text indicated above. There ia much about htaven In direct teaching in our chapter. f . All the dtacplea were greatly dis turbed in mind for they wet* aware of aome momentous event that was >: ''' ' '' - V about to take place. In the midst of thin company Jeans stands with per fect mental and spiritual poise. It is a serious mistake to think that one who is highly spiritual cannot face the affairs of life in a most practical manner. Because of His personal equanimity there is a sublime chal- j lenge in the opening words: "I?etj not your heart be troubled." Reason for this confidence on the part of the disciples was grounded in dual faith in both the Father and the Son. Hris very being is a pledge that all that He had taught about the future state was so. Thou nil he was about to go away In physical person He would always be Intimately with them as a Spirit They could talk to Him just as really ns during the past three yearw. They Would be alble through Hflm to work even greater Bpiritual miracles for the good of man. There would be a wondrous compensation to Hlft' going away In the fieah as they would e?<( perience the active present of the tiuu* Spirit. I Stevenson in which he points oat that it is the little differences, not the big issues, on which marriages are wreck ed? To look across the table and see a blank expression on your wife's face, when you are convulsed wiyii laughter ? that, he says, is a test that I few marriages can stand. I was in Mexico with Ambassador j Morrow when Will Rogers arrived. I saw how wonderfully his humor dis armed the suspicions of the Mexican officials and opened the way for all the good work that the Ambassador did later. Having this in mind, I offer two constructive suggestions : 1. That the President make the following appointments: Ambassa^ dor to England, Will Rogers; Ambas sador to Germany,, Bugs Baer; Am-' bassador to France, Irvin S. Cobb. ' 2. And that John D. Rockefeller or Edward Harkness establish and endow at each leading college a Pro fessorship in Humor. AUTOCASTFR. WASHINGTON BUREAU Special to The Messenger Washingtor,. D. C? Maiv'/t 8. This is as good a time as any to present a picture of how the "state of the nation" looks as seen from here. I What follows is an abstract of na tional opinion on the economic situ ation, chiefly, but also touching the political situation, as expressed by more than 1,800 representative busi ness men in confidential letteis to W. M. Kiplinger, one of the best posted sources of information at tfle capital. The tone of the letters is generally constructive. There is an absence of the hopelessness and "all-e>one" fool ing of two months ago. And the conclusions drawn from them are these: Sentiment and confidence have im proved in the past few week?, in spite of the fact that very definite signs of business improvement ap pear. Credit generally is not much yeasier, but there are confident* ex pectations that it soon will be easier. Recent Government moves to bolster business are regarded hopefully, without any stronn belief that polit ical measures alone will help busi ness. The writers of these letters largely agree that President Hoover's stand ing with the public is slightly better, with his chance of re-election improv ing, but still questionable. Local relief situations are satisfac tory in most communities, but alarm ing in a few ^ big oities? where relief fund crises are expected in Ajpril and May. Federal aid for this situation is disliked, but state aid is expected in the worst spots. There is general criticism of heavy governmental expendiutres and a de mand for economy. Even those who profess dry sym pathies report that anti-prohibition sentiment is growing everywhere. The general expectation as to bus ness is that there will be no perma nent general recovery until fall, when the new crops come in, though there will be improvement in spots before then and nothing worse than has al ready been exiperienced. The most hopeful factor reported is the declare ation by Henry Ford that he will shortly be running to capacity on a new car. Merchants' stocks are greatly je. pleted everywhere and the declcs cleared for ra/pid action whenever the public mind changes and people be prin to buy again. The opinion in general that the middle and upper olasses could apend more and cause a biff improvement if they did so. These people are in a position t6 change suddenly, and may do so. The ware earners and lower economic groups are up against it, however, and no increase is. expected in their purchasing power for a year or two. Unemployment has diminished in a ferw localities, hut there is not much improvement in the nation as a whole. There is general agreement thai the farmera are the heaviest suffer ers of any single class, in the matter of diminished p u r c h a sintf power, although actual want and privation are less. in the farming dis trict* than in the cities. Many be lieve that permanent improvement must await better prices tor farm products, which are so low as to be shocking. Retail prices., however, continue too high, in the judgment of most of the reporter*. Much critioisn) of the banks is ex pressed. There are too many small hanks, and they have placed too much reliance on. Investment advice from large city banks. There baa beentoo The Safest Place for Money ? By Albert T Reid If you buy this bond I will put the money to work and make jobs and prosper ityfor you mucn competition among banks for business, causing lax banking meth ods and failures. So these reports run, but they do not generally expect a solution of business troubles main ly through the credit route. Many borrowers admit that they have had too much credit in the past. Th*> expectation, however, that the banks will soon be able to relax their credit tightness will creat? * better feeling and make business less hazardous, al most all agree. Politically, even democrats con I cede that there is an improvement in i Mr. Hoover's position. It is recog nized that he has received more than his share of criticism and now there is a reaction beginning. His recent appointments of IXawea, Mellon, Mills and Cardozo are commented up on favorably. But even his ardent friends do not pive him at this time better than a 50-50 chance for re election. In the Bast Hoover senti ment is dominant, and on the Pacific Coast it seems very strong, while the Miseissipi Valley, from the Ohio to the Rockies, is generally "sour" on Hoover. The Democratic candidates for the Presidential nomination most gener ally mentioned by the 1,800 business men are, in this order: Baker, Roosevelt, RJtchie, Garner Smith. That is as good a summing irp as can be made at this writing of the state of the nation as Washington sees it. 4 ? Feast Dates Movable feasts are those churcli celebrations which, depending upon Raster, may vary as to dnte within fixed limits. Immovable feasts are those which full always upon a cef tain calendar date, such as Christmas, ffi a general way, Thanksgiving day may be considered n ^movable feast. MARCH 17. 1891 I Mr. Dodd Adams, the only son of | Maj. and Mrs. Samuel R. Adams, died on last Thursday night after a brief confinement to his bed. His death was somewhat sudden and unexpect ed, and is greatly regretted through out our entire community. ' To the , bereaved parents we know of words sufficient to convey the deep sorrow , which we feel for them in their great misfortune. A manly younr, man, ' who was still in lxis teens, has be^n taken away, and his genial face will bfe seen no more, nor will tAe friendly grasp of his hand ever be felt again! i ? * i Married. At the residence of S. N. Newman, Trial Justice, on the 9th of March, 1891, Mr. Henry Moore, of Kershaw bo Miss Laura McPherson, of Mc Kays, Trial Justice S. N. Newman officiating. I Mr. James Powerg, formerly of South Carolina, but of recent years a resident of Alabama, was married recently to Miss Jane Raley, of Ker shaw. I Canvassing committee reports $20, 000 subscribed for the establishment of a^ manufacturing enterprise in Camden. I <Jorresrpondenbs report roads and bridges over the county destroyed by ! heavy rains. ? A fifteen year old son of Mr. Jos- } eph Young? of Westville, died on Sun day, the first inst. J. W. Coibett, Mayor, called for bds for leasing the Camden Opera ' House. I News dispatches from China state 300 pirates, robbers and other crim inals beheaded in Kevantung pro vince. The French resident was shot and decapitated. Other Europeans ' managed to escape. i I Gold Minos Worked Long Ago The gold mini's of South Africa have apparently been worked from antiq uity, and must In ancient times hfeve supported a very large population and a much ldghor civilization thnn it has known up to our limes. Sena Your Job Printing To The Wateree Messenger BUD 'n' BUB By Ed KRESSY \ ? / j' \/>V 7 ^ v - v- . //f V. 4< - *y>.x ?; f i .. jrmnsmsm-ir-f $8$ Xvfefe:.,; Iv^MfeVra