George Washington's Presidential Proclamation from 1795 Re: Thanksgiving

This was published in the Columbian Centinel on January 1, 1795.
---------------------------------
Published
BY AUTHORITY,

A PROCLAMATION:
By the PRESIDENT of the UNITED
STATES OF AMERICA.

When we review the calamities, which afflict so many other nations, the present condition of the United States affords much matter of consolation and satisfaction. Our exemption hitherto from foreign war – an increasing prospect of the continuance of that exemption – the great degree of internal tranquility we have enjoyed – the recent confirmation of that tranquility by the suppression of an insurrection which so wantonly threatened it – the happy course of public affairs in general – the unexampled prosperity of all classes of our citizens; are circumstances which peculiarly mark our situation with indications of the Divine beneficence towards us. In such a state of things it is, in an especial manner, our duty as people, with devout reverence and affectionate gratitude, to acknowledge our many and great obligations to Almighty God and to implore Him to continue and confirm the blessings we experience.

Deeply penetrated with this sentiment, I, George Washington, President of the United States, do recommend to all religious societies and denominations, and to all persons whomsoever, within the United States, to set apart and observe Thursday, the nineteenth day of February next, as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer: and on that day to meet together and render their sincere and hearty thanks to the great Ruler of nations for the manifold and signal mercies which distinguish our lot as a nation. particularly for the possession of constitutions of government which unite and, by their union, establish liberty with order; for the preservation of peace, foreign and domestic; and for the seasonable control, which has been given to a spirit of disorder, in the suppression of the late insurrection; and generally for the prosperous course of our affairs, public and private; and, at the same time, humbly and fervently to beseech the kind Author of these blessings. graciously to prolong them to us – to imprint on our hearts a deep and solemn sense of our obligations to Him for them – to teach us rightly to estimate their immense value – to preserve us from the arrogance of prosperity and from hazarding the advantages we enjoy by delusive pursuits – to dispose us to merit the continuance of His favors by not abusing them, by our gratitude for them, and by a correspondent conduct as citizens and as men – to render this country, more and more, a propitious asylum for the unfortunate of other countries – to extend among us true and useful knowledge – to diffuse and establish habits of sobriety, order, morality, and piety – and, finally, to impart all blessings we possess or ask for ourselves, to the whole family of mankind.

In testimony whereof, I have caused the seal of the United States of America, to be affixed to these presents, and signed the same with my hand. Done, at the city of Philadelphia, the first day of January, 1795, and of the independence of the United States of America, the nineteenth.

George Washington, President of the United States
Edmund Randolph, Secretary of State.

Giving Thanks

It’s that time of year again. When we get together with friends and family and stuff ourselves with so much food that we resemble the turkey we’ve just consumed! I’m often amazed at all the time, preparation, and cooking that goes into making this meal so perfect and how quickly it’s over with.

Every year I find myself overwhelmed with making grocery lists, shopping, or if traveling, making sure we have everything we need to make it to where we’re going and back.

As a young child I remembered learning about how the pilgrims and Indians sat down to eat and gave thanks for their many blessings. Every year in elementary school we’d put on skits with some children dressed as pilgrims, some as Indians, and one special child who was given the glorious task of being the turkey! The real excitement to us was having time off from school and getting to eat lots of good food! As kids, we weren’t caught up in the whole 'giving thanks' concept.

As a nation, we are really blessed and dare I say spoiled. We have a tendency to constantly gripe and complain because we want a bigger house, a better car, a better job, more money, and the list goes on and on. It seems as though our happiness is based on what we can obtain and whether we get more of it or not. Now before you get the stones out, I’ve been just as guilty of doing the same thing.

One year in particular I was working at our local hospital in the admissions department and I was grumbling to myself about how bad I had it. Poor little me wanted a new car, a better house, new furniture, a better job etc., and everyone had it better than me. You get the picture. Just think of the old Hee Haw song 'gloom, dispair, and agony on me' and you’d have nailed my mood that day! A moment later a young lady and man came in with an infant in tow. The lady was wearing a paper mask that covered her nose and mouth and after checking in they went to the other side of the waiting room where no one else was. I asked my coworker why the lady had a mask and was told that she had cancer and was undergoing treatment. Fifteen minutes later another lady I’d met the previous week came in and was having a finger amputated because of a spider bite. Later that day a man came in who was having a leg amputated because of diabetes. This is pretty much how the rest of my day went. I’ve found that it’s really hard to feel sorry for yourself in a hospital because you realize very quickly how blessed you really are.

That night I went home and thanked God for so many things that we take for granted like my health, my body parts being whole, for every breath that I am able to take freely without a machine, for the food on my table and a roof over my head, for my family, for my car that is so dependable, for my sense of humor and joy, for clean, hot running water to soak in, for the bargain I got on ground beef at the store, for the freedom to worship where and how I want freely and without persecution. We have so many freedoms and liberties that people in other countries can only dream about and we get so busy with living the American dream that we rarely stop to take time to consider all we do have and to be grateful for it.

This year as you celebrate Thanksgiving, enjoy the time you are able to spend with friends and family and the abundance of food you are fortunate to have, but remember to take a moment as a family and give thanks for all that you have been blessed with. Especially those things that money can't buy.

Gun Control

Are the intrusive questions that Barak Obama is asking potential employees of his administration a hint of a possible future ban on firearms? Will there be an all out assault on our 2nd Amendment rights? I'll have an insightful article addressing this and more...coming soon.

In the mean time I thought you might get a kick outa this clip.

Costs of Economic Development

What are the costs of having an economic development program in Batesville? What will we be spending the tax dollars on, and how do you determine the amount that you spend? These are two very important questions, and ones that are the most common from people who want to know more about a proposed tax. The last thing I want my tax dollars doing is being spent on something that will not be of benefit to both myself and other citizens. Government as a whole has over time taken tax dollars and spent them on things that have not benefited tax payers, and in fact, have benefited the governmental entity, and in turn, have benefited no one. What is different about this effort is that your tax dollars are going to be spent on things that will positively effect jobs. Period. The group of people that have committed to being on the initial board of the non-profit group that will make the recommendations to the Quorum Court are people that understand business, they understand what it means to do business well, and they will apply their experience to this process.

What makes that important is that too often we may expect our governmental agencies to make business decisions when they are not necessarily geared to do so. That is no slight to any of our governing bodies, but they specialize in ordinances, legislation, protection, and services. Think about it this way; if government existed to make a profit, something would be terribly wrong with that picture! Enter in this group of business people who understand what it will take to grow business. They understand, based on their industry segment or service sector what success means, and what we need in our community. We have purposely worked to get people from all across Independence County from our various employment areas that understand this. It’s the balance between government and business that we need. The two must work together to be successful, and if they don’t, we will be successful in doing nothing.

The cost of economic development varies, but its important to realize that we have to prioritize these monies to what our needs are. Right now, its important that we assist local companies that have expansion projects or needs for retraining. Currently, we have some employers of all sizes that are doing well and are expanding and will be adding jobs to our local economy. Success in economic development requires planning, and not just for the addition of jobs, but the kinds of jobs. We have a very diverse local economy that we need to have someone with experience in doing this in other communities come in and help lay a vision with this board to determine what our strengths are and what we will need to be doing to be competitive and retain, recruit, and enhance the jobs in our area. We will not sit idly by and let people come to us looking for assistance in their expansion efforts, in their efforts to bring a new business to our area, or looking for some training assistance. We will seek those out, and will solicit from the community the needs of our employers so we can utilize these funds in a responsible manner.

The price that we pay for this kind of effort is priceless in that the steps we are taking to take care of ourselves will pay off in the long term. The money that we will be offering companies with this tax goes a long way in their minds in that we have money that will help them in either the retention efforts or their expansion. But once we all begin to work together on this effort and we all know that we are taking steps forward to secure our future that is an investment in this community that no company can ever make, no person can ever contribute to, because it is larger than that. An effort like this is our county coming together through a collective effort that we all say without hesitation we are going to do something about our future, and we are going to start now. The reality is the communities who have the resources to market themselves, to put incentives on the table along with the state, will be in the game and will vie for jobs that are out there. Even in these challenging times, there are companies looking at growing.

On December 9^th, everyone in this County will have the opportunity to voice their opinion on this matter and cast their vote. As a community I urge you to, as one group of citizens, vote yes for a priceless investment in our collective future, and one that will reap dividends for us, our children, and our grandchildren.

What Economic Development Is and Does

Over the next four articles, I am going to outline what I believe economic development will look like going forward, and how this relates to the vote on December 9^th for an economic development tax.  I want to do this so that the readers of this article will hopefully better understand what I do here at the Chamber, and what I envision we will be able to do with this tax.  As it goes with any vote that increases a tax on the citizens and goes to a governmental agency, there is automatic questions that arise, and justifiably so.  I am that way, and believe that as citizens we should question our government in ways that we don’t always agree.  That is our right as American citizens and anything other than that would be disappointing to me. 

Economic Development is as broad as it is wide.  It is an all encompassing phrase that at times can be hard to understand.  It’s a phrase that a person can twist to fit to what they think it should be, or what they think it should be for.  As a rule for my position and what I do here, economic development is an effort I undertake to either retain, enhance, or create jobs for the people of Independence County.  If what I do fulfills any of those three criteria, I believe I am doing my job.  As with any job, that I have or that you have, you need tools to do your job.  I have talked previously about incentives, and the need for them in our competitive day and time.  I wont talk too much about that in this space here, but I will say they are an important part of what I do.  More importantly, and what comes before incentives are ever offered, is making sure that those outside of Arkansas are aware of us, that we exist, and what the characteristics of our community are.  The core characteristics of our community will make us competitive almost immediately once they are brought out in the open and shown to site consultants, and others who could be interested.  But there is a literal cost in producing those materials, to send those out, and to create those materials.  We will have to market ourselves to the outside community so they know we exist, and that we can deliver what they are looking for. 

Another aspect that is important that we as a community understand as well as the outside is what our strengths are as a county.  I will advocate for a trusted and experienced group to come in and help us formulate a long term strategy to recruit companies to our area.  I have an idea of what would be great types of industry to recruit to our area.  But, I would be doing a disservice to you, the taxpayer, if I spent time and your money on things that would end up not being a good fit for us, or that we don’t have the resources to attract.  We have to know what we can attract, what is a good fit for us, and what we need to plan for.  In 1986, Jonesboro did just this exact thing.  They brought in a firm who told them about the industry they could attract, and what they needed to do to ensure that.  I will advocate we do the same so that we don’t waste one taxpayers dime on efforts that do not provide a solid return on their sacrifice.

Economic Development is also helping companies around the county as they work to increase their workforce, or make improvements that will aid in them remaining competitive and as a result staying in business.  Since the Copeland announcement, I have had several calls from businesses about monies available to help them in their expansions.  I have told them about this effort, and they are in support of it as well, and understand how it can help them.  The board that will work with the economic developer will make the suggestions to the quorum court about projects just like this, and we will be actively seeking out companies to help, to invest  your dollars in to, to help them create new jobs, help them keep jobs here, or help them in other ways.

The other reality about economic development is looking to the future, while dealing with current issues.  It would be a disservice to the taxpayers if these leaders did not look to the future and think of what needs will be.  These funds can be used to issue bonds for purposes related to economic development, and that can include new road infrastructure, industrial park, or other improvements for the community to make it competitive long term.  This is a key part of what it will take to be competitive, and to enhance our community for the good of the taxpayers.  All of these things will be done will transparency and reporting to the public.  Any taxpayer of Independence County will be able to view records about our efforts, minutes of meetings, and have an understanding of what is going on with their money.  They will be able to view financial records, and know what their money is being spent on.

Its important to understand what economic development is, what it does, and I hope in today’s article I have outlined the key areas of this proposal.  Please contact me if you have questions about this or any other article on this subject.