Many Good Men Are Suffering In These Hard Times, Says Editorial, July 12, 1921

Hard Times

We walked up the street yesterday and met a man in downcast spirits, blue and despondent. We talked with him a long time about the whole situation, and we hit upon the discovery that he was broke, in debt, and losing money every day. It was pretty hard to realize that this man was telling the truth for we had known him a long time, and he had always been regarded in the community as being prosperous, and even wealthy. But he had met a come down, a set back, and he was taking it as sorrowly as he could. He was just on the verge of quitting, and letting the whole works go to the devil.

There are a number of men in just such conditions in Dunn today. Low cotton prices and the great business depression has played havoc with our wealth, our credit, our worldly possessions. Money is not denied to be tight and almost unobtainable, and who of us is not in debt and unable to pay out? Jobs and work are scarce and those which we are able to obtain pay little. We get just one half as much to write this stuff as we would have been paid two years ago. But what’s the use of grumbling or growling or of lying down? The best thing to do is keep our eyes pen and take advantage of every available opportunity, and something is bound to open up that will put us on our feet again. The quitter never gets anywhere, and the grumbler and growler has a hard, hard road.

After all, the extent of our bank roll is only material, and happiness coming from our worldly wealth is only material happiness. Franklin K. Lane, one of the greatest men the country has produced in recent years, died a few days ago and left an estate of just $10,000. He made a great deal of money in his time, but the majority of his life was spent in serving the public, in helping other people, and as a consequence his wealth did not accumulate. Why can’t we learn to live more as Franklin K. Lane lived, rather than thinking only of our own wealth, and losing our balance when we do not get quite as much as we are accustomed to.

From the editorial page of The Dunn Dispatch, Monday, July 12, 1921