Edición Número 182, Girardot,Noviembre 5 de 2022:-THE EFFORT (EL ESFUERZO)
THE EFFORT *
[EL ESFUERZO]
EL ESFUERZO Serie 1ª, Girardot, 1º de
septiembre de 1906, Número 1. Editorial.
(The following text is considered the first
editorial of a newspaper within the history of journalism of the city of
Girardot (Cundinamarca) and is attributed to its founder and owner, ANIBAL
VILLA NAVARRO. The compilation and notes are the intellectual property of
CARLOS ARTURO RODRÍGUEZ BEJARANO, an investigation OF journalism in Girardot)
The name of this
modest periodical, which we today acknowledge without harboring any other
desire than to serve the permanent interests of commerce and industry in the
country and particularly in this region, corresponds to the conviction that it
is the duty of every Colombian to contribute, by the means at their disposal,
to work for common good the advancement and prosperity of the Nation.
Especially today that it needs the help of its good citizens to react quickly
and profitably to overcome the prostration in which it finds itself, for
reasons that we all know, that duty is essential and urgent. For our part, we
try to fill it, as it is our most ardent desire, and we invite those of our
fellow citizens in whom the flame of patriotism has not been extinguished, to
carry out with determination and firm will the effort that at this moment
demands the health of the Homeland.
The serene
analysis of the evils that afflict it, easily leads us to the knowledge that
the genesis of these same evils has been no other a bastard spirit of
imposition and intransigence, generator of viciousness and discord between
brothers, who day by day, have been weakening the physical and economic
energies of the Nation, breaking their bonds of cohesion, and, even more
seriously, depressed their moral level. And in the presence of this situation,
knowing the cause that has created it, will we still hesitate to adopt the
remedy that sound reason and prudence advise to prevent catastrophe? What,
there is no heart, there is no feeling, there is no virtue among Colombians to
depose hatreds and quarrels for the sake of the Homeland and raise instead the
banner of noble and sincere brotherhood?
It is necessary
to convince ourselves that evil resides in the social mass and not in those or
other governments; that it is not to these that war must be waged but to the
vices and defects of the people who elect them and whose moral physiognomy they
represent. The Government of a country where feelings of honesty and dignity
prevail in the majority of its inhabitants will also be dignified and honest;
and when it is not, it will stagger in the void and collapse to the thrust of
its vices and mismanagement. This is why we believe that the effort of
Colombians should be directed to stop and avert the symptoms of moral
degeneration that threaten the existence of the community. And there is only
one means to achieve this; seek regeneration in the fertile sources of work.
Yes, work that purifies the soul, invigorates the body, creates wealth and is
the basis of all happiness.
In the current
state of the country, the development of national industries provides an open
field to all activity. Agriculture, above all, presents flattering horizons:
agriculture, when in our fertile meadows and mountains it can be established on
scientific bases with the help of modern machinery, will be an inexhaustible
path to restore and invigorate in a short time the economic forces of the
Nation, to give impetus to trade, activity to other industries and welfare to
society.
It is known that
all good, every triumph of progress is the result of a persevering effort, of a
firm will, of a sustained work that consumes energies like a lamp consumes oil
to produce light. Therefore, the sacrifice that this work imposes on us will
not be sterile, because by providing for the needs of domestic consumption, we
will get rid of the heavy tribute that we pay today to foreign trade and the
country will be able to take its products beyond the borders. It is fair to
recognize that the promotion of our industries and especially the agricultural
sector, is seen by the Government of His Excellency General Rafael Reyes as a
point of capital importance in the economic plan that is proposed to develop;
and in this respect let us think that it would be happy to make provisions to
encourage certain crops with the payment of premiums, and to exempt tools and
machinery from import levies.
At the same
time, and as a complement to these directives, it would be appropriate to
obtain from the railway and navigation companies on the Magdalena River a
considerable reduction in freight rates for the fruits of the national agriculture,
because, as is known, only in favor of cheap transport can the exchange of them
be verified. It is not hidden from us how difficult it is to make a provincial
newspaper interesting and enjoyable when, like this one, it is published in
place where they arrive on the same day that the newspapers of the capital
leave, which have at their service numerous sources of information and high
capacities to illustrate matters of public interest; but since our main purpose
is to contribute to the development of the commercial movement of this city and
to make known its importance, even through the publication of advertisements,
we believe that from that point of view this publication will be of some use,
and therefore we claim for it the attention of the public.
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*NOTE: [The
newspaper EL ESFUERZO was founded, directed and managed by Aníbal Villa Navarro
its owner, and Marco A. Gómez its editor. The first issue circulated on 1
September 1906 and the last on 24 January 1907, for seven editions in total;
the initial six editions were printed at the Imprenta de Marco A. Gómez, in
Girardot. The seventh, in the Municipal Printing Of La Mesa, administered by
Jorge A. Mutis V. It circulated as a fortnightly during the six initial
editions (September 1°- November 15); the last one ended up orphaned. The
causes of its death are unknown. Until today, EL ESFUERZO is recognized as the
first newspaper that circulated in Girardot, elaborated, written and printed by
citizens who lived in the city and who dared from a great professional,
intellectual, political and ideological height, to start the long journey of
reflecting the history of Girardot, or to be more humble, a moment of its
history, or a story by Girardot recreated from the eyes of a cultured man of
his time. Every story has an end. GIRARDOT, the second newspaper in the history
of Girardot, founded by Marco A. Gómez in 1908, recorded the disappearance of
this leader: "MEMENTO: GIRARDOT records in its columns a testimony of
respect and gratitude for the memory of ANIBAL VILLA NAVARRO, founder of
"EL ESFUERZO" the first newspaper of the city deposits a crown of
evergreens in the humble tomb of that remarkable and strange being who, like
the magicians of distant times, devoted his life to searching among fierce vermin
for a remedy for human pains and sold his existence in that eagerness."] (CARLOS ARTURO RODRÍGUEZ BEJARANO)
____________________
COMPILADOR Y
ADMINISTRADOR: CARLOS ARTURO RODRÍGUEZ BEJARANO
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