Jasper County Democrat, Volume 21, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 May 1918 — THE HOUSE DIVIDED [ARTICLE]

THE HOUSE DIVIDED

“A (house divided against itself can not stand.” • . The words are true in all ages and with all peoples. x That failure will invariably follow disunion., is as- certain as that success results from unity of purpose and action. - b'ortu na te indeed is that town that is blessed with a citizenship that can come together as a unit whenever the town’s interest calls. It argues well for the breadth of mind of its citizens that they can see beyond their purely personal affairs and catch a view of prosperity in the large. But the real cause of disunion in the average town is not that its citizens are so deeply engrossed .in their own personal affairs, but that one is jealous and envious of another, one clique suspicious and distrustful of another. Not only this, but each is really willing to forego any advancement if by so doing the other may be thwarted. This is a deplorable state for any town to \fall into. It is sure

death to all progress, and not only that, but is invariably the direct cause of that town being left behind in the march of progress. We are well aware that all communities have their factions and their divisions of sentiment and interests. We are equally certain that this fact need in nowise deter the town from seizing every opportunity to further its interests in every available way. If men could once be brought to see that by thwarting the interests of the town through their opposition to a faction, they were injuring themselves vastly more than they .were injuring their community, surely they | would take a different view of things. The man who deliberately stands in the way of his community’s pro- ' gress is disloyal. Just now this word has an ugly sound, but we can use no other, because no other so well fits the offense. Placed in . broader circumstances, the offense would be magnified. No man’s personal interest and no man’s personal animosities can for a moment weigh in the scale with the welfare , of his community, and the man who permits them to do so is as truly disloyal as the man who "deliberately plots against his country in the large. There is a difference only in the magnitude of the offense. Fortunate indeed is that town which, . when any move affecting the general welfare is being considered, can drop its factional disputes and put a united shoulder to the wheel in the public interest. No man has the right to inflict his personal grievances on his community and compel it to suffer because of his own sore toe. Yet this is just what he does when he is not willing to join in with “the other side’’ in every matter that is patently for the advancement of the community interest. We have said that all towns have factions. Towns will always have them. This does not ihean~ that the town’s progress is retarded ny..them. in many cases the, factions serve but to stimulate rivalry in achievement. Where this is the case they are beneficial. A wholesome slogan for any Town would be: “Go after in opportunity and land it; then if we must sr rap, let it be oyer a divis'on of the spoils.”