THEY WHO DANCE MUST PAY FIDDLER People Cannot Take More Out of a Community Than They Put In. COLLAPSE IS- INEVITABLE Town Will Not Survive Long If its Commercial Structure Is Torn Down Faster Than it Can Be Built Up. (Copyright, 1917, Western Newspaper Union.) He who 'dances must pay the fiddler. That is an old saying which is full of trulh. The primary idea in this saying, say-ing, of course, is that one cannot have any pleasure without paying for it in some way, but this. Is not the only sense in which it may be construed. It means that we cannot pursue any foolish policy Indefinitely without paying pay-ing for it in the end. No man can overtax his physical strength indefinitely without risking risk-ing ultimate disaster. Dissipation or overwork may be continued for a time without any noticeable results, but if continued for a sufficiently long time the inevitable comes to pass. The laws of nature cannot be violated with impunity. If one takes out of life more than he puts in, if he tears down his physical strength faster than' he builds it up, he must eventually pay the fiddler. fid-dler. What is true of the laws of nature Is equally true of econpmic laws. The people of a community may for a time tear down the commercial structure of a town faster than they build it up without meeting disaster, but it cannot be continued indefinitely. In the end they must pay the fiddler. Exhaust Resources of Community. The person who makes his living In a community, receiving the money of (the community for his labor or the products of his labor, and then spends his income outside of his community Is helping to exhaust the resources of the community just as the man who expends his energy through dissipation dissipa-tion or overexertion faster than he builds It up is exhausting his physical resources. One man may do this, of course, without noticeably affecting the economic strength of thejeommunity, but when a dozen men or women do it the effect becomes noticeable and when a hundred do It the resources of the community become exhausted Jo the point where collapse Is inevitable. Those who are responsible for this situation sit-uation may think that they have profited profit-ed individually by their actions, but they have not realized that in the end they must pay the fiddler. There are some persons who seem to be able to get through life without much effort. There are some who proceed pro-ceed on the theory that the world owes them a living and they proceed to collect col-lect it. They take what they can get and give nothing In return. Such persons, per-sons, however, are not very numerous. Most of us must pay for everything that we get. Some may have to pay more than their share and these are carrying the burden of those who get more than they pay for. The fact remains re-mains that, as a general rule, one cannot can-not have much worth while without paying for it. The merchants of any community are the backbone of that community, so far as its prosperity and progress are concerned. Individually there may be some of them who do not exert themselves to boost their community, but collectively they are the men upon whom the living of every person in the community depends. The success or failure of an individual merchant may not be of particular concern to the people of a community, but .the success or failure of the merchants as a whole is a matter of the very greatest great-est concern. Provide Market for Farmers. The merchants of a town, In the first place, provide a market for a large part of the products of the farmers In the territory surrounding the town. They buy the produce of the farmers in small quantities, in accordance with their need, and some of them buy In larger quantities for shipment to foreign for-eign markets. If the merchants could not do this there would be no market at least for the small quantities except at ruinous prices. If the farmers could not realize a reasonable profit from their products, there would be no money mon-ey for them to spend and there could be no money to pay for your products or to pay for your labor. It Is therefore, there-fore, of the greatest Importance to every ev-ery member of the community, whether wheth-er a resident of the town or a farmer In the country surrounding the town, that the merchants be enabled to provide pro-vide this market for at least a part of the farmer's products. Every dollar sent away from a town to a mall order house helps to diminish the ability of the local merchants to provide a market for the farmer's -products or to do any of the many other things which the merchants of every town do for their community. Business In a community cannot be conducted on a one-sided basis. A man cannot tivke out of his community a good living for himself and family and give nothing In return. He may do so for a short time and get awny with It, but In the end he must pay the fiddler.