Lancaster Farming. Saturday. May 19. 1973 10 Business or Government - Who Should Run America? The magazine, "Saturday Review of The Society." in two separate articles presents a debate concerning the question of whether business or government should take the lead in meeting our social needs. Mr. Peter F. Drucker, sociologist and authority on the U.S. business system, takes the view that the resources, creativity and productive power of private business will have to be utilized in meeting social goals because the job is too big for government. Mr. Edward K. Hamilton, the deputy mayor of New York City, though agreeing with Mr. Drucker on many points, takes the position that in the case of many social problems, "Thereis no substitute for a massive federal investment of money and manpower." There seems little question but what both government and business will be increasingly involved in many social areas. Whether the emphasis is on total dependence on government action or on utilization of the private sector will have much to do with such things as levels of inflation, degrees of economic freedom and, in general, the political character of the country. Also, it will have to be determined if some of the goals which we have set are attainable. We are, for example, likely to always have some people living below levels of economic affluence which many people consider adequate. And being realistic about it, the itinerate farm worker is probably not going to have as good medical care instantly available to him as, say, the President of the United States. He wouldn’t anywhere else in the world either. In many of our national goals, a little touch of realism wouldn’t hurt a bit. Politically, the problem of achieving our big list of social goals is a tough one. The public is rebellious on the subject of higher taxes and inflation, but as Mr. Drucker points out, most of the people seem to want more public services and government responsibility for this or that. Very few want less. Government can’t achieve results in all the areas in which it has assumed responsibility without vastly increasing the size of bureaucracy, the level of taxation or inflation. Probably, it can’t attempt the job without increasing all three. Mr Drucker’s view overall is that we are not going to see any shrinkage of Outrage is a commonly-used word to describe consumer resentment toward rising food prices. It should be directed toward the acts of politicians who are striving, by every means, to block cuts in government spending. But most people seem to want the good things that government dishes out without recognizing that they must be paid for. Present-day prices of food and everything else merely reflect the inevitable collision between a nation that has accepted living on the cuff as a way of SUMMIT, MISS, SUN- “Federal aid means federal control." WESTBY, WISC, TIMES “The three ‘C’s’ of traffic safety are Caution, Courtesy and Control Lose any of them and you could be in trouble, especially if you lose contrab and control of your temper is just as im portant as control of the vehicle ” LA SALLE, COLO, LEADER “If the Misdirected Outrage Grassroots Opinion government but that it is inevitable that we will see government utilizing to an ever larger degree the talents of nongovern mental organizations, particularly business".. .to help carry what is rapidly proving to be an unbearably heavy load for the taxpayer." Mr. Hamilton expresses the opinion that if we have not solved some of our problems it is because we haven't spent enough on them. We have long had a hybrid economy, part public and part private. He.points out that we already utilize the contracting device to enlist the services of private enterprise, as Mr. Drucker advocates, and says our failure to achieve all social ends is not because we turned our backs on the private sector or that the right “. . .mechanisms have not yet been devised.” Mr. Hamilton suggests the failure of government in many social programs lies not so much in the inefficiency of govern ment as it does in the difficulty of the tasks undertaken, such as changing life-styles, motivations for self-ijnprovement, en trenched housing problems, etc. He says we are only now learning to measure the effectiveness of social programs and should get on to the business of devising*.. . incentives to promote the general welfare" instead of arguing over who should do the job. In summing up, one can only observe that common sense is still a priceless ingredient when it comes to running the affairs of a country. The price of perfection will be prohibitive whether government seeks to achieve it directly or tries to pay the bill for hiring others to do the job for it. Great improvements can be made and are being made. There is no escaping the fact that as more of the individual's income and freedom is taken away for use in achievieng broad national goals, however laudable they may be, the more regimented our society will become. How far we wish to go in that direction is a matter for the people of the United States to decide by the power of majority public opinion. That opinion will be formed as each of us determines what social improvements we really want, how close to perfection we want to come and how much we want to pay for it. life and the immutable natural law that nothing is free. There is no mystery about rising prices in today’s inflationary' economy. What is amazing is that America’s production and distribution system, from farm and factory to consumer, continues to turn out abundance such as the world has never before seen. Un precedented, inflation-breeding govern ment spending and the growing size and oppressiveness of our centralized bureaucracy would long ago have sapped the vitaility of a lesser nation. value of the dollar doesn’t stop dropping and the cost of merchandise doesn’t stop rising we may be forced to carry mer chandise to buy money.” MORRIS, MINN., TRIBUNE; “Somebody was speaking about taxes the other day and how extremely high they are when the Old Timer said he could remember when he was only his brother’s keeper. Now he says he’s his Uncle’s keeper, too ’’ I- • I I NOW IS •s 1 I THE TIME . .. Max Smith County Agr. Agent Telephone 394-6851 TO BE ACCURATE WITH CORN HERBICIDES Many corn fields will be sprayed tor weed control in the next few weeks. There are almost as many different corn weed killers as there are corn varieties; each of them has to be evaluated for its particular job in the weed control program. Spray applicators are urged to become familiar with the different ones to be certain they are using the herbicide that will control their particular weed problem. Also, be sure that the amount and timing is correct. The amount of atrazine per acre should be kept to a minimum if fall grain is to be planted in that same ground. The * 1973 Agronomy Guide is a very good reference publication for all kinds of weed control. TO MAKE PLANS TO HARVEST QUALITY FORAGE Seldom has there been a time when it is more important to harvest the maximum amount of. top quality hay or grass silage. Most hay mows are empty and silage supplies getting low. This means that whether the hay crop is to go for hay or silage, it is very important to get it cut at the right stage of maturity and to get it into storage with a minimum of nutrient losses. The weather conditions may be a problem for making top quality hay; the alternative is to make the crop into low-moisture silage, making use of field conditioning and a “HANG IN THERE!” Lesson for May 20,1973 kckirtunrf Scripture: Isaiah 40:25-31; 2 Corinthians 4:15; 12:9, 10; Phi* lippians 4:10*13. Devotional Reading: Psalms t 4. “The hero,” Emerson once said, “is no braver than the ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer.” Courage is often a mat ter of “hanging in there” long enough. This is also true in terms of re ligious faith. Per sistence and re fusal to give in are often the ele ments that win the battles of faith. Defeat is often attributable to the fact some- one did not hold Rev. Althouse on quite long enough. So close, yet so far Near the top of Mount Wash ington there is a marker on the trail to show the spot where a woman climber lay down to die. On a clear day, her decision seemed ridiculous: she was no more than one hundred steps from the summit and a shelter cabin. But she had not climbed the mountain on a clear day and that fatal day she saw only the storm and its dark clouds all about her. Tired, frightened, con fused, she gave up and lay down to die within a stone’s throw of the cabin that would have saved her life If only she had kept on! How many tragic stories have ended under similar circumstan ces’ People have met disaster or wilting period to get rid of the excess moisture. Special at tention should be given to forage harvesting ahd every effort made to get the job done at the right time and to harvest the maximum pounds of feed nutrients per acre. TO STORE WOOL CLIP PROPERLY Wool prices are higher than last year but not near as good as predicted several months ago. However, it is suggested that local producers shear their sheep soon and store the wool in a clean, dry place. This is very important if the wool is to be sold through one of the nearby wool grading places. The one in Berks County is set for June 13 at the Reading Fair Grounds, Reading, Pa. The one at Carlisle in Cumberland County is usually the week following Reading. The wool graders will look for clean dry fleeces tied with the flesh side out and tied with paper twine. Good handling and care may mean several cents per pound more for the wool. Additional information is available from our local Ex tension Office. Put Safety First In Patio Doors Today’s consumers are not only quality conscious, but safety conscious as well. For instance, when selecting patio doors, homeowners look for safety glass that will not shat ter into dangerous shards if broken. Ponderosa pine patio doors now offer safety glass as a standard feature. perished without knowing how close at hand was their help or their goal. Unable to see ahead, they have given up and suffered defeat unnecessarily. What they have needed in most cases has been the power to “hang in there” just a little longer. Often the key to victory or sal vation in cases such as these is our faith in God’s grace. We can keep going, keep hanging on, if we know that God’s help is suf ficient for all our needs. It is this trust in God’s power that enables us to persevere. As Isaias puts it; He gives power to the faith, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:29-31). Actually, we do not need to ask ourselves whether we are equal to the task, for God himself sup plies what we need. “My grace is sufficient for you,” promises the Lord, and what this means is that we will receive, if we qccept it, resources equal to our needs. “I can do all things in him who strengthens me,” says Paul. He can “do all things” because it is God who strengthens him, who gives him what he needs. Knowing this, often we can “hang in there” longer, long enough, to see the problem through, to outlast the danger, to survive the crisis. The knowledge that his grace is sufficient for all our needs, and our trust in that grace, give us the power to go on Based on outlines copyrighted by the Division of Christian Education, National Council of the Churches of Christ in th« USA Released by Community Hre>» Service
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers