OCR Text |
Show LOCAL PATRIOTISM AND CIVIC PRIDE What Lcya'ty to Town, Cou:iy an J ' State Means, and How it Develops De-velops Communities. "If my town is the best in. the county, it must be a good place to live." : "If my county is the best in Utah, it miret be about the best county la which to maintain ray home." , "If I have decided to maintain my home here. I owe" it to myself and my neighbors, to make my home one of which we all may well feel proud." If any reader cannot subscribe to the above sentiments, we are wasting valuable space, so far as he is concerned, con-cerned, and he Is also wasting his time in reading this article. ' Many a laugh has been created by the "moss-back" who rejects all improvements improve-ments In the home or on the farm, with the remark that "These things were goad enough for my father and my grandfather, and they ought to be good enough ror me and my children." chil-dren." ' i. . Utah does not need the kind of man who takes this stand regarding improvements, that go to make life easier and more pleasant, but Utah does need the man rmo will say: "The state of Utah was good enough for my father, and it. is good enough for . me and my children." There is room in- the state of Utah for a million such men, and every good citizen that is added to -the population of Utah increases the desirability de-sirability of Utah as a place to live, and increases tho value of every heme, and every farm already established estab-lished in this state. There may be room for differences of opinion as to the ex&nt that competition is the lifo of trade in financial and general business circles. There is, however, no room for argument on the question ques-tion of whether or not competition in the. matter of the establishment and improvement of homes is the work: of such progression. Surely, if the Utah as found by the pioneers sixty-five year3 ago, was a land of promise at that, time, the Utah of 1912 is a land of promise fulfilled. This is a sentiment that should appeal to the patriotic instinct of every citizen of the siate of Utah, and, moreover, it is a sentiment that should be spread abroad as far as our facilities will permit. During the next few years, the state of Utah will receive a vast amount of publicity through the work, of the Utah Development League and affiliated organizations. Especially during 1915 will opportunities come to let the world know that we have here a stste as fair as any in the Union, and one that is capable of producing grains, fruits, and minerals min-erals in--quantities that will support hundreds of thousands of settlers and homesteaders. Through the medium of hundreds of thousands of visitors, loyal citizens of Utah will have ample opportunity to correct false impressions which have been so widely distributed throughout the United States regarding Utah and her citizens. Utah has its capital city, of-' which- all citizens of the state should be proud, but of more importance than any ona locality is the general prosperity of the entire state. The spirit of boosting which has made so many of the states j of the west, and which is becoming more noticeable in the state of Utah than ever before, is a spirit that surely should begin at one's own home and from there extend to one's home town; to one's home county, and, thus circle the entire state. Many of the tov.is and cities of the northwest have discovered within with-in the last few yea.rs that the expenditure ex-penditure of one dollar to five dollars dol-lars fof each inhabitant every year in publicity work is a profitable investment. in-vestment. This is a lesson that Utah towns and comriiunities are beginning to learn and, although we may not be prepared to expend a large amount of money for favorable publicity, we can all expend a little careful thought and intelligent personal' effort towards to-wards disseminating the idea that our home town is about the best Httle spot in the best big state of the Union. "Talk may be cheap," but good work for our own community is an investment whioh unfailingly brings big returns in self-respect and also in dollars and cents. |