Americans So Lazy That Jobs May Move Overseas to Hardworking Germany, Aug. 20, 1919

From the editorial page of the Wilson Daily Times, Aug. 20, 1919

Laziness

The longer we live the more we are of the opinion that laziness is at the bottom of all the troubles in the world.

An industrious person is a fairly good person because that person is thinking about his or her work, and ultimately will develop a high order of efficiency simply because experience and contact will acquaint them with the requirements of their position. They will keep out of mischief because an idle man’s head is the devil’s workshop.

Industry is the handmaiden of loyalty, punctuality and enterprise, and kindles all the latent faculties for full development.

A lazy person, it matters not how talented or cultured, never accomplishes anything for he generally puts off everything until tomorrow and that day never comes.

In these days with every attempt to increase wages and get away from work by shortening hours, the days are not long enough to accomplish anything, and those who are up early and on the job late cannot connect with any body or anything and he perforce is compelled to transfer his activities to another day and so the whole structure of labor and effort falls down.

But as production is increased and mouths to feed are increased, the prices soar, because the cost of production increases. The question is how much can a man stand to pay and what should be a fair compensation, and since everybody is flying from work, how can a basis for a fair remuneration be established?

You hear people referring to the German menace. Well, why not? The German people less of all in the world are not thinking of how little they can do but of how much they can do. They are efficient people, and none will dispute that fact, working 12 hours in their factories, they will be able to undersell the other nations that must depend on high wages based upon an ever increasing cost of production. Then why should they not attain commercial supremacy? They of all the nations in the world will bring the rest of the world back to a realizing sense that the world is growing lazy, and that it must hustle to keep up with the Germans.