Newspaper Page Text
SCOTT COUNTY KICKER
VOL. XI.
BENTON, MO., MAY 25, i912
NO 25.
THOUGHTS FOR THE THOUGHTLESS
What Political Parties Stand For.--How Industries
May be Taken Over Without Confiscation.
Scratch that dust out of your
eyes, Mr Average Clttoen.
tor age thp masters of your
ore hi have been blinding .voii.
In 110 Other way could they live
in luxury and ease, while you toil
ano sweat nmi starve.
The.v must f(,i you.
Th,i must pump you fun or
faie, education thru their prow,
schools Juki pulpit and from the
lecture platform,
Dope, dope, dope aomethtng to
put you to sjpapl
They must opn vines you that
vou ara enjoying the bleealng or
the "best and most enlightened
government under the sun." and
put thp loud ikmIhi on Liberty ami
quality befOT the law.
They must teach that "what
alwa.vs bae been always will bo."
that God wants it so. else it
wouldn't be ko.
They must tenth you that hu
man nature la bad. and thnt for
this refl ton people cannot live in
peace and happiness, but must
forever claw ami fight and coin
pete They tench you to be "good."
nnd contented, ami ou will (ret
yours WHEN YOU ARE DEAD!
The.v don't believe, a Word of it.
Their aotlone prove it.
Capitalists do not claw and
ri(tht ami compete They com
bine
in to any bank in the county
and then to any other bank in the
enmity and see IT the "aecommo-
dfltlone" are
not exactly the
same
The bauker'a aeeoclatlon is re
sponsible for that Like the rail
roads, thej have combined to get
all the traffic will bear" While
in their limited circle the.v are
doing exactly 'what the Socialists
want to extend SO as to include
all
The Socialists are not trust
bustera, They say the trust is
the natural and economical devel
i pment of eoclal conditions, ami
that to destroy them would set
back the JiaiuLs of time imprac
tical if not Impoealble
To go iKick to the ox cart and
Wooden plow and the one-man
tools of ti century ago would
mean to pitch overboard the rail- !
road, theuteam plow and the fac-
torj
While they do not seem to real-
Ite it. yet tliat is exactly what;
the trust-buetera propose to do
Thej want to "restore competi
tion "
Where?
ot among labor for there it
is in abundance.
Except among the unionists the
laborer! have no combination
And w here the unionists ask for
n living wiiitp the.v find massed
ngalnat them the powers of a
tyrannical capitalist government I
the courts, the police, the sher
Iff, the army ami JAILS !
w hat then?
Well, the socialists say that the
truata are a good thing for those
on the inside. They are the nat
ural development of our economic
ay stern.
And since the trusts are a good
thing for tho.-e on the inside, let's
all get on the inside by owning,
the trusts Instead of allowing1
the trusts to own us.
Next month the two great po-1
litical parties will hold national
conventions to nominate candi
dates for the presidency
This shell-game is financed by
the big capitalists Rockefeller.
Morgan & Co., will be in both of j
the conventions up to their eyes
Things wUI go as they dictate.
What will the Democratic par
ty stand for in 1918?
What will the Republican par
ty stand for in 1018 ?
Nobody knows except the ad-
vanoed thinkers
Both will stand Tor CAPPITAL- i
HM the right to rob labor.
Hut they wont put that in their i
platforms Oh. no!
Instead they will put in a lot of
.meaningless dope obout equal i
rights to all ; special privileges to
none." and about their interest
in the welfare of "labor and capi- (
tal." and their "Identity of in-
terests." etc , , ,
But everybody knows, or can j
know, what the Socialists Will
stand for in 1912
Vhov will stand for exactly the
same thing that they have stood
for form the beginning the co
operation of a'i society.
Thev are fighting for a pricri-plo-not
for Jobs and men.
Look at your Republican party.
Where is the principle involved?
It is all Taft and ltooevelt - and
If what they say of each other is
true, neither is fit to be consta
ble of this township.
Then look at the Democratic
side-show. Where is the principle
involved? It Is all about THE
MAN just as it Is in the Republi
can cb'cus.
Champ Clark, Missouri's "favor
It son." is a man devoid of prin
ciple. Two years ago he Bat as
temporary chairman of the Mis
souri state convention. As a sop
to the "reform" element of the
party Joe Folk was Indorsed as
Missouri's choice for the Demo
cratic nomination In 1912. To
make it good and strong, ao there
could be no doubt as to their good
faith, they put It in the platform
What next? ,
Why, la 1912 Champ Clark ap
pears as the machine candidate
from Missouri and drives Folk
! from the field in the first round
Do you want such a man for
president 7 Would any MAN be
guilty' of such treachery?
Reader, I know It is almost be
yond the belief of an honest man
tint our public men have sunk so
low It reminds me of conditions
Just prior ftp the downfall of the
Roman republic. Of those condi
tions Mommseii. Ithe German his
rlan, wrote:
"To be pool' was not merely the
sorest disgrace and the worst
crime, but the only disgrace and
the only crime For money the
statesman sold the state; the cit
izen his freedom nnd vote. For
money the lady of quality surren
dered herself, ns well as the com
mon courtesan. Men had forgot
ten what honesty was; a man
who had refused a bribe was re
garded, not as an upright man.
but as a pet son a! foe "
In Scott county the Kicker is
regarded as a "personal foe" be
cause it refuses to be bribed thru
official printing But let us re
turn to the state Democracy and
reproduce a plank from the plat
form adopted by the Domocratlc
state convention at Jefferson
City, Sept 18. 1910. in which the
Hon. Champ Clark was a promi
nent figure:
"in the battle for good govern-
I ment we commend to the Democ
racy of the country the leadership
ur one who has been at all times
foremost In the fight, and whose
j work as Circuit Attorney of St
l.ouis and Governor of Missouri
accomplished so much for political
ami practical reform, which, like
a tidal wave, is now sweeping
. over the vh.oie country Conser
; vative as an administrative offi
cer ami pi cgressive in legislation.
I he is the foe of all grafters, the
: friend of all honest toilers, and
will make 'the doctrine of equal
rights a living
forca in govern-
men i i nere ore tne Democracy
of Missouri presents for nomina
tion for Jieident in 1918 Joseph
W. Folk. AND PLEDGE TO HIM
ol r HEARTY SUPPORT."
What tort of "hearty support "
did they pive him? They just run
: their steam roller over him and
flattened him out
But they never tire of deceiving
you. They bay Folk is now cam
paigning for Clark, I doubt It If
j he Is. he is doing it for money .and
is no letter than Clark
But let's get back to what the
Socialists propose doing with the
trusts They tell us about the
sacred rights of property and
the injustice of confiscation
When it is for the benefit of So
ciety, conn-cation is perfectly
proper.
Ask the railroads
In order to retain the right to
confiscate your farm or home for
,
terminal or other purposes, the
railroads pose as quasi public.
L'ncle Sain voneluded that black
silvery was dangerous to the ex- i
isteuce of a free government, and ;
ne coimscated the property of
the -lave owners ,
Over in Oklahoma the people de
cided that the manufacture and
sale of booze was not to the best
interests of society and they con
fiscated the property of the booze
manufacturers and dealers..
But there are better ways to
take over the trusts than by con
fiscation The people could take
over the oil business, agree to
pay its full capitalization, and.
at its present rate of earnings,
hand Rockefeller the price in two
years without raising the price
of oil to consumers, or lowering
the wages of employes On this
subject Oscar Amringer. the fly
ing Dutchman from Oklahoma,
writes:
Confiscation is one way of ac
quiring other people's property.
But it may not be the better
was abolished in the
colonies of England. Portugal and
Spain by paying an indemnity to
the lave owners. In the long run
this was cheaper than the Ameri
ca a way. for the freedom of these
five million chattel slaves, valued
at one billion dollars in 1861, has
cost the American people by this
time about ten billion dollars in
money, hundreds of thousands of
valuab'e young lives, seas of blood
and rivers of tears After all, the
price was too big to pay.
We Socialists, who understand
history, are not pledged to con
fiscation and, for the sake of ex
pediency, we are perfectly willing
to pay the trust owners for their
property in their own coin.
The question now arises, "How
will the Socialists do this?" Let
us take up. for illustration. Stan
dard Oil This concern, a perfect
monopoly. Is (capitalized at $100,
000,000. It makes a yearlv prof
It of about S50.000.000. Now let
us suppose that we have a major
ity of Socialists in congress, and
these men. decide that the Stand
ard Oil company shall become tiie
property of ICncle Sam. and shall
be run like the postal department
not for Jthe profit of the few,
but to serve the many They will
rend uncle Sam to John D. Rocke
feller, and he will say;
"Rocky, the boys down In con
gress have decided to buy out
your grease business "
"What's that for?" says Rocky
"Oh," says Uncle Sam. "the
boys say that at one time you
were all Tight; you organized the
grease business, (you eliminated
! the fOOlllh Waste, Strife and com
petition But or late you have
j become the durndest nuisance we
i have in the country , for. instead
lor sticking strictly to the grease
business, you have gone into the
government business also your
' right hand bower. ArchboM. runs
a regular correspondence school
j with senators ami congressmen.
! When the people or Ohio elected
! that grand old patriot, .loe Kor
nker. a man who bled and died
for his country . to the L". S. Sen-
ate to Nerve them, you came a
i round and greased his palm, ami
j instead of Nerving the people of
I his state lie became your hired
hand The people of Texas sent
that brilliant nnd eloquent young
Democrat. Joe Bailey , to tie a
knot in the tal' of the octopus,
and you dipped Joe in coal oil and
he lias done your dirty work ever
since The boys say its got to
stop You have got to go out of
the government business, and the
only way We can put you out of
the government business is by
putting you out or the grease
lne-s. for you are only in the gov
ernment business to protect your
grease business."
"Well" says Rocky, "an allwlse
providence has entrusted me with
the running of the oil Industry,
1 cannot relinquish this sacred
trust "
"Well." says Uncle Sam. "the
boys in Washington say that if
you don't eil out peacably they
win pass a prohibition law pro
hibiting you nnd everybody else
from manufacturing ami telling
coal' oil and gasoline, and the.v
say that if we do that we can
buy your gieie business aa cheap
then as we can now buy the Anheuser-Busch
brewery in Oklaho
ma City."
John I) la one of those long
headed business men we read n
bout in the Sunday school books.
'and before ilocky goes out of bus
iness without getting a cent, as
I Anheuser-Busch did in Oklahoma,
'he will say. "L'ncle. 1 think I'll
! take the hundred million "
Now comes our Republican and
i Democrat Doubting Thomas and
says. "Wei1, and good: but where
are you boys going to get the
money from.
Well. boy s. Ml tell you Uncle
Sam runs a great money facto
ry in the city of Washington.
1 where lie makes all kinds of mon
ey, and as long as he puts his
j name to At, it is good money. The
boy.s in the great money shop
work by the day and not by the
piece, and they don't care a con
' tinental how many cyphers they
! put behind a ligure They'll just
as soon make a thousand dollar
bill as a one-dollar bill
: Uncle Sam Kteps into the shop
some afternoon and says. "Boys.
' I have just bought the Standard
'Oil company from Rockefeller 1
want a hundred million dollars of
j tho.-e new. two-per cent gold
; bonds the kind you made when
we bought the
Panama Canal
hal'-past three
property It's
now. we quit at Jive, .now oe
sure to have that hundred million
in bonds ready before quitting
time, and don't you spend more
than 7" vents' worth of paper on
the eld ereezer. "
Well, five o'clock conies. Uncle
Sam turns the hundred million of
bonds over to Rocky and the boy s
go home for supper Rockefeller
has the money and Uncle Sam
has the grease business
Well." says our opponent, "you I
have got it ail right enough, but
how wil you run it?"
The answer of the Socialist is.
We will run it with the same
people who run it now " For. in
the Standard Oil company, as in
every modern industry, the sepa
ration between ownership and la
bor is perfect. Those who own
the business do not run it. and
those who run the business do not
own it. It is immaterial to the
12.001 employes of the Standard
oil company whether they work
for Uucle Sam or for Rockefeller
They may mot know all of Uncle
Sains nephews -nd nieces, but
neither do they know the stock
holders of the Standard Oil Co
From the unanager and super
intendent, expert accountant and
auditor, chemist and salesman,
cleir on down to the tank-wagon
driver, they are all hired hands
All tney want is a good job and
regular pay Uncle Sam has al
ways been a better boss, paid
higher wages and gave better
working conditions tlian any
other boss, jji this country.
Uncle Sam .v ill en 11 all these
working people together and say
"Boys, 1 have bought Rockefel
ler's grease business. From now
on you are working for me. 1
ask you to work for the same wa
ges and the same hours as you
did before for a while. I would
like to rai-e your wages, but can t
do it Just now, because I owe
that old skin-flint $100,000,000,
and the money has got to come
out of ithe business.
"And then he will turn around
to the consumer and say. "You
have bean in the habit of paying
ten to twenty cents a gallon for
coal oil or gasoline We are go
ing to cut down that price by and
by. but Jiot untU Rocky Is paid."
Well, do you think that the
boys would run away from their
Job Just because we got Socialism
In the grease business? Do you
believe that Che Republicans and
Democrats, who voted against It,
would run away from the old Job
Have you ever hoard of a Demo
crat oi' a Republican who ran a
way from a government Job? Is
it not a fact that they are run
ning their legs off. clear up to
the second knuckle, just to get a
government job? And so it will
be perfectly safe to assume that
i they W'll hang on to their jobs
and g've to L'ncle Sam the same
faithful ervice th roriucrl,i
give to Rockefeller
Now. ir the aami beop'e who
j worked for the Standard oil will
work for the government for
' the same wages and tin- same
number of hours, and ir the pro
duct is sold for the same ii Ice to
; consumers, then it follows, as day
follows night, that the profits at
j the end of tiie year Will be the
same as before, and athce these
yearly profits just equal about
one-half the value of the Stand
ard Oil company, we are able to
j give to Rockefeller the hundred
i million dollars at the end of the
I Mcond year and he returns our
! bonds.
I From now on we have Socialism
I in the grease business proper
Dividends and interest are ab
' olisbeil Ever.V one o' the 12,000
employes of tiie Standard created
la surplus for tiie stockholders o(
'about 84.000 a year But there
are no more stockholders to DC
paid' no more melons to be cut
The profit will be divided among
the producers and the consumers
! L'ncle Sam could take tttt.OOO out
or that 64.000 to increase the
1 wage of each worker, giving him
12.500 a year instead of 8500,
and he Will still be able to distri
bute 122,000 times two thousand
dollars among the consumer in
the form of cheaper coal oil, gas
oline and axle grease
FREAKS OF THE LAW
Capitalist law is a muddle of In
cons. steiicie-., mystery and lion
sense About all there is to en
forcement Of SUlil law is fees QV
lawyers and officials Right,
fairness and justice have little to
do with it
A most ridiculous case Mine iip
in the Cape county circuit court
at Jackson a Cape Olrardeau
barber was being prosecuted for
shaving people on Sunday The
case was tried several times h.
juries In justice courts as the re
sults of mis-trials. All the time
the costs and lawyer's fees were
piling up Finally the case came
up in the circuit court and. of
COUtSO, it is agin the Jaw to work
on Sunday
There was no way around i:
and the jury had to assess a fine
and made it one dollar '.
Juries are sworn to be governed
by the law "not apmmon horse
sense If they had bs.n permitted
to use common sense the man
would have gone free All around
him the railroads and steamboat
hands were violating this law
aiso the telephones, express mes
senger and even the government
itself by hauling and delivering
mails But under our system of
enforcing the law any man can
be singled out and made to obey
it though every body else v iolates
the same law.
The fact is we are living in an
advanced stage of anarchj We
have no law worthy of the name
except as it is handed to us fiom
day to day by those in authority
If you have no "pull." and those in
authority want to "get you.
they will find the way If you
"stand in." you can kick any law
in the face and feel perfectly safe
More and more people are get
ting to understand how our jus
tice machine is worked, and when
enough of them understand, they
will change it The Jackson Item
is a Republican paper, but it sees
the farcical nature of our system
of so-called justice and comments
on the barber s case as follows:
"The enforcement of the law Is
a humorous thing when it is crit
ically analyzed For instance
nere is a man fined for shaving
another person on a Sunday . vv hile
lie and every other barber are
permitted to keep their shops p-
en on Sunday mornings to give
baths to their patrons and also
have their boot-blacks there to
shine the shoes of all who want to
spend a dime for that purpose It
is hard to discern the difference ,
in the "wrong" between spending
a dime or fifteen cents for clean
ing the face, and cleaning a man s
shoes "
NATIONAL SOCIAL
IST CONVENTION
The National convention of the
Socialist party was in session last
n ee. tti 1 imi.iu.i pons muu iiouuua- j
ted Eugene Debs of Indianna for !
president and Emil Seidel. of Wis- I
consin, for vice-president
The Kicker will print the plat
form adopted next week. How
ever, the Socialist platform does
not change much. Fundamentally
It is always the same
Fundamentally the platforms
of the capitalist parties are also
always the same, but thf.v man
age to bury their foundation un
der a mass of words and catch
phrases so that it is scarcely dis
coverable by -the average voter
One day I met a laborer, with
a oapirtalltrt mind, who waa dress
ed in rags as I have dressed
many a day 00 the brickyard
and aa I waa then dressed. Hie
rage fairly fluttered la the air.
Every rag seemed to be eebamed
of the other and appeared to be
trying to get as far apart aa
possible Of course I mentioned
Socialism to him and to lnartantiy
threw up Ma head in holy horor.
"Why." said he, "Socialists want
to. divide up." "Dont trouble, my
friend." aald I. "about dividing
up. I have enough rage of my
own without getting . any of
RLX'KER RETURNS
lion Thos. j-'. Rucker, former
'editor and manager of the Scott
I County Democrat, was brought in
by Sheriff Oober Thursday of last
week, on complaint of the Peoples
Bank of Slkeston, charging him
: with obtaining money on a bogus
! check, ami lodged in j til l i s.
Rucker a 'so came ami wn 'riven
to the home of Recorder stubble
field. 1'ossibly the Klckei' was iii er
ror last week iii its statement
that Rucker had been located by
the Hankers Association Prose
cutor McWllllama said that it is
his understanding that he surren
dered to ttie Massachusetts au
thorities, saying that he was
"guilty and was tired of running
from himself" Another correc
tion that is due is in regard to
iiis coming here I said he w is
' rescued from the jaws of the Ar
kansas penitentiary
While there were reports at the
time on which such a statement
might be based, yet 1 know noth
ing further than that he was iu
the clutches of the Arkansis au
thorities on a charge of embezzle
ment, and the sentence should
have read, "released by tiie Ar
kansas authorities
While Mr. Rucker has grievous
ly Wronged me. yet 1 haw no de
sire to wrong him now that he
is m the clutches of the "law Hi
is a victim of the system he aup
ports, defends ami votes for lie
was brought here to run the
Kicker out, and to do this he
thought it necessary to "g the
gaits And that is Impossible on
a small salary
Friday morning i called on
Prosecutor McWIIIIams and asked
I' the amount of bond had been
fixed He said he had talked over
the phone to Judge Parsons, of
Slkeston, who said 81.000.00 bit
that ne (McWllliamsi considered
this too high "We usually re
quire a bond of rrolll 8800 to
0500 in such cases, nald the pros
ecutor, "and sometimes less
Asked what tne penalty was, he
said from two to seven years
or course the law works differ
ently with different people Per
haps that is the fault : the law
A few years ago i built a fence
where a fence . ; iod f,j:. 50
years, ami r. w(tu all other
fences in t le 111 ighborhood, At
that time 1 doubt if there was a
fence In town that was not In
the street Vet I was slngll I
out. taken by a deputy she; ::
before a drunken magistrate and
fined isiu I appealed to the cir
cuit court ami my bond was fixed
at THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS
If the prosecuting attorney
(.Frank Kelly 1 thought that too
high he Jidn t say ao In the cir
cuit court he dismissed the case
But 1 was fleeced t. the t um 01
a lawyer's fee
Last summer when the author
ities concluded to destroy my
stairs after giving me permlssli
to build them, I undertook to en
Join them and have the matter
hea ril in the circuit court. Judge
Kingsbury, before whom the In
junctions proceedings were pi nd
ing, fixed the bo:.d at FIVE HUN
DRED DOLLARS Vou were the
attorney for the authorities, Sli
McWUIlama Did you consider
that bond too high'.' I filled t -and
then THE INJXUCTI0N WAS
DENIED
Saturday morning Mr Rucker
was taken to Slkeston In Record
er R L. Stflbblefield's automobile,
where he waived preliminary
hearing His bond waa fixed at
S00. which, was filled shortly
after his return here in the eve
ning, ami ne is stopping will nu
(wife at the home o Recorder
Btubblefleld.
If there are any good Demo
crats iu this county suffering
from that hallucination known as
"equality before the lavv. ! want
them to keep an eye open and see
how "the law" operates in this
ease as compared With it.s opera
tion in the case of a poor devi!
whon. necessity has drive:.
! tak
a little food or clothing
IN "FREE a M ERIC
Last week Dr Reltman ol Chi-
eago was kidnapped from a Sal
Diego hotel, taken to it ranch SO
milee away, made to kiss the flag
and was then tarred ami feathed
j and told never to return to the
' county all in the name of patri
otism and law and order
Of course a forcible kissing. w ith
, guns and clubs drawn, is sure to
I cause anyone to have respect and
j reverauce and love for the "bail
' ner of freedom ami justice "
Reituian is an anarchist and was
travelling with Kinma Goldman
In the various cities they talked
to those who w anted to hear them
and paid for their coming They
have the same right to believe in
anarchism as President Taft baa
to disbelieve in the divinity of
Christ. Only two years ago Miss
Goldman was banquetted by the
"best people" of St. Louis after
one of her lectures. At San Diego
lost week she escaped being tar
red only by escaping through the
basement of the hotel.
The press dispatches do not say
that either Dr. Reitmau or Miss
Goldman had violated any law of
God or man. They were at their
hotel in peace and quiet-disturbing
no one. They have a right to
believe in anarchism it they want
to and the national constitution
and the constitution of every state
guarantees to them the right to
talk It if they want to.
Miss Goldman escaped thru the
basement. Dr. Reltman was kid
napped and tarred. If they are
anarchist, then what will you sav
of those who kidnapped and tar
red a law-abiding c'liien?
Subscribe for the only Kicker
APPEAL wins FIRST ROUND
As related iu last week s Kicker
the Appeal to Reft 11 won in the
first round with the government
An attempt was made to prove
by an ex-convlct, that the appeal
I editors had attempted to bribe a
witness to leave But th( Btor.l
of the ex-convict was s thin and
contradictor; that it wouldn't
stand -even In a hostile court it
proved nothing, except the low
, character of men high ia author!-
, ty the "ItonorabJes
j After the collapse or t: , r -.r-t.
the government a attorney disap
peared from the court for si vei 1
i day s to drown his troubles w ith
'snake medicine The casi was
put over until November on ac
count of witnesses. 1 rom the fed
eral prison that could not attend
at this time This was done by
agi cement
During the week that the case
was set for trial over 40,000 sub-
acriptiona u, the Appeal w ere re
ceived. The papers has now over
i a half million subscribers or a
, bout five times as many hti either
ithe U lobe-Democrat or Republic
! And the plutea are stili unhappy
and keep right on boosting its
circulation by their oppression
ami tyranny,
Jueer. how dull is ti.e plute is
lon and in tml From 1 circulation
comparatively small a few . ears
ago they have, by their persecu
tions, made it the most widely
read paper in the nation
CHILDREN AND FOOLS ARE
YE ALL.
By Samuel W. Ball.
There .s more than ( nough
wealth for ali. Nature la rich
There is co houaeleaa w-;glit so
pess.misfie as to tice'.a t. at In
this country there la let enough
for subs.stence, for comfort and
for luxury 'for every Inhabitant
of the land.
Ye; at no time in oui country,
aor .a any otner, have the great
mass of (population had :iough
to eiat eiiuagM to wear, nor have
they been prope.-iy homed. In
those w.jiKierTu. Utopias pictur
ed .n fury taies, perhaps such
thing have been, but not :n our
pr"o.ac world or reality.
Cycles oome and go, ages of
proaper.ty give way to age ,,r
greater opulence, but never has
it been recorded taat the chil
dren of men have bea saff.cient
ly hoased or Clothed. No matter
how barbar.c, nor-how civilized
hunger, wh.le other gorge am!
revel jn the products of our toil.
One n:-ght think that the own
ers of the earth -would be sat.s
f.ed with the contemplation of
oar humility vand our self-abnegation.
But ao. they hurl at us
the.r insults. We are not :ndus
tr.ous. we are not economical
we are net temperate ; we are ig
norant, we are .ndifferenu
To;lers of the ages, you who
btlilded these fair cities, you who
till tne farms, you who transport
the g.xls. you Who del e into the
dark earth for priceieas jewels,
can you (much longer rema.n so
engrossed in the production of
wealth that you will not demand
to enjoy a little of it?
Aptly has K.plinp cried to us
"Children and fools are ye ali."
we have been most of us have
been forced to go Without the
riecestr.ties for comfortable ex
jiteuce. Worners and thinkers, dream
ers and doers, we have produce i
by the thousands. We hai e given
the best that we had. We have
created wea'th beyond our most
extravagant dreams more then
enough for all. Still most of us
live iu want. The hovel and the
shoddy and the coarse and unpal
atable are .our porton-
We riee ear.y, tod hard and
Long, work fir rn to the night,
with what result? Mere subsis
tence. Self dehiial sai'-ri'ie.-' renunci
ation and conteutment with pov
erty have been our sav.ng irtues
Virtue demands thai we deny
ourselves everything that maVes
life worth living save hard and
unceasing toil. Spirituality re
quires that "we smile in content
ment in our rags and dirt and
IS IT LAW I IR A.N'.VRCil V
j If theiD ,8 anything the people
have an bundance of, it is law:
In Missouri we have three big
.books ail full of law. Thoii we
have the national statutes and
the ordinances of the cities and
1 towns. And we keep stead. ly a t
it making more law!
We have over 16,000 different
j rules and regulations, that we
call laws, governing our dally
factions and Ignorance of the
least of these is no excuse for
their violation 1 Could savagery
or barbarism be more cruel and
' unjust especially when the laws
! are so muddled that mem who
I make law a life-study cannot un
derstand them?
Some Unfortunate citizen is ar
rested for violating some rule or
law of which he was perhaps ig
norant or did not understand.
He ia dragged Into court. If he
is poor he seeks "the mercy of
the court" and pleads guilty or
the court appoints an attorney
to defend him, which practically
amounts to the same thing. If he
is able he hires a good lawyer
and fights.
The caee is called and the law
yer 00 one aide can find just as
much law to support his case as
can the lawyer on the other side.
But the Judge or Jury maatea a
GUESS ait what the law means,
and one elde wine and the other
elde appeals to the Appellate
Court, where three mea sit aa
Judges. Two of these Judges hold
the law to mean one thing, and
the third holds It to mean Just
the opposite. This is the common
result They can't agree on what
is law, yot you and I are suppos
ed to know the law and ignor
ance will not stand if plead
ed by us. We MUST know 01
suffer the consequences.
Next the ca,se is taken to the
Supreme Court, where nine judgea
sit. Five of these hold the law to
mean this, and the remaining
four dissent and hold the law to
mean fcomoth.ng else! But the 5
to 4 decision stands bs the law
until the court reveres itself.
Hence it is not what is written
in the statutes that is the law,
but what the courts say.
Ill jury trials, where Die mat
ter is M.a" the people, the jury
must agree Except in civil eases
if nine man sees it differently lie
can prevent any action by tiie
remaining eleven. There is no
verdict What is called a "hung
jury" results. But in the high
court four nusn may see it one
way and five another and the
one majority fires the law for
all of us
is THE BOl'THEAST
Catnbell Citizen After a ten
day s session the sjiecial grand j 1-
1 ry adjourned after finding 180 In
dictments among them some 40
against night-riders who had been
at work in the lower and of the
county (Some few or the Indict
ments were for Indictments for
perjury against members of the
night-rider gam: who appeared
before tne grand jury and swore
faleely These poor devi will
lose more defending themselves 1
these charges than they vv... i
have lost had they behaved them
selvea and paid Die rise in land
rents The way of the foolish
sometimes har d and sometimes de
served (Murel They ought to
have been good' slaves ami paid
the landlord all lie demanded Do
they not march and shout and
i vote for it ? Vou will not find a
Soclallat among them They know
bettei it s tne men who are "ed
ucated ' by the capitalist politi
cians and pres that cut such pa
pers as night-riding.) editor
Fredericktown Sewa Things
have taken a decided turn for the
worae in mining circles in this
county owmg. no doubt, to the
unsettled condition if affairs ail
lover the country There is noth
ing doing at the North American,
and at a meeting of the directors
of the Mine LaMotte Co, held at
the plant, it was decided to close
down indefinitely It la said that
labor conditions in the Flat Rive '
country are in a very unsettled
1 conditio:! The men are not sat
isfied with ti e recent advance iu
wages as posted bj the companies
and are demanding more money,
which the companies wiil re'ise
to pay.
loan Clippard'a wagon, loaded
with lay was discovered on fire
at Jackson, The wagon had bee.i
driven onto the city scale when
flames were noticed The wagon
was hacked into the street and an
effort made to extinguish tf.e fire,
but t.'iis was futile and the load
was driven across the street and
turned over It took quick work
1 to save the wagon and tesm Tz
blaze was started by hay rubbing
between the wagon tires and tbe
Iron fenders of the hay frame
Pemiscot Argue. At a baptising
conducted by the Holy Rollers in
Stoddard county sixty -five coc-
erts were baptised Trie meeting
was rather lively horse dro:i
ped dead soon after eoniing upot
the grounds; a fic.'.t took place
between an officer and a man re
sisting arrest in which a third
party took part, knocking the of
I fleer down With a pail, and anoth
1 er set.-to took placi between two
'other men tin the whole it was
a lively Sunday afternoon.
Campbell Citizen Marsha Har
din curried his blood hounds ovec
to f'iarkton Sunday morning to
trail some feiiows who had brok
en Into the depot Saturday night.
, The vandals entered the depot by
breaking out a panel of class in
the front Window, It seems they
were not looking for money, but
! thought there was some whiskey
irt the express room. Finding no
, booze they tore down the ticket
1 box and scattered the tickets up
'and down the railroad
las V Hai r. s. a miner at Bonne
Terre. was instantly killed while
j taking hold of a charged wire,
says the Kanuington Time Wai
' ting time to go to work, he and
a fellow-miner were disputine as
to whether an electric wire near
them was charged Harris thought
j it was not and. to satisfy his be-
lief, stretched forth his hand and
grasped it. He was 89 years old
and leaves a wife and two child
ren. Jackson Item. Saturday Mrs.
Uustav Penae discovered that $H0
in paper money which had been
placed in a wallet and kept in a
room, were missing. Mrs. Peniel
had received the money a few
days before from the sale of some
hogs. It is supposed that some
one who knew of the money enter
ed the house during ttie night, as
on the morning tbe kitchen door
was found open.
Dexter Messenger In about 30
days the oil company, which was
organized here some time ago,
will begin to drill for oil. Tbe con
tract has been let and the ma
chinery ia being gotten in readi
ness for shipment. As soon as it
arrives it will be moved to the
ground.
Tea, laboring man, ftonlallaan
wlU destroy tbe rented shack yon
are forced to call bom, bat If
yon ara willing to do haaf the
work yvou are new tasmg tt
enable pea to amudi g
i
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