Show for meditation by bj LEONRD LEONARD A BARRETT I 1 OUR GREATEST ASSET TN N WHAT does the real wealth of 1 our country consist in the assets of banks savings accounts and increased capitalization in business does it consist in our natural re sources like coal oal oil and gas or in the product of our large western farms from which come coine the staples of life Is our greatest national asset to be estimated by our increased population or by out our ever expand ing policies or the acl cl entitle disio discoveries verles by which health Is ili preserved and prolonged strange us as it may seem our greatest national as set does not consist in any of these things in spite of the arguments of economists notwithstanding our greatest asset cannot be estl anted milted interns in terms of intrinsic values but must be measured in terms of moral ideals only a cursory study of history proves the correctness of this statement nations whose chief asset consisted cowd sted of material possessions are no longer extant while those whose e wealth Is invested in the character of its occupy an imbor tout tant place in the progress of our rood mod ern world the stability of our coun conn try rests upon fri moral orill principles ex pressed in the lives of its people permanent progress dent demands ands that 4 be directed by principles and ciol ill 1111 chani chanick cs not quantity but quality de ter mines the pernia pernin nence of elvi liza tion our greatest asset is not ehatt lb ib but people and the most factor in people tire are the moral norms which are priceless above rubles nibles he who steals oteala my purse puree steals trash but be who steals my good name takes not only that enriches him but makes me poor indeed when the birthday anniversaries of statesmen like lincoln and washington recur we remind ourselves of that in which the permanent wealth of our country everything else inny mil go but the which they left iq i must forever corpier abide the n i los j hirji lir Ji foundations upon which rest whatever Is worthwhile 1 in our present national development tf th tb spirit of true nationalism as practiced by them thel n becomes the dominating purpose of our citizenship we shall continue to go forward and in time be become conle in the words of alexander Un Ua mllton the pillar of fire that shall pilot the race onward to its millennial glory ft 0 1929 western newspaper Newa pacer union |