SCOTT COUN
.;
JL
VOL. XI.
BENTON, MO., OCTOBER 5, i912
NO 44.
KICKJbK
m
THAT OPEN LETTER AGAIN.
If it is Agin "the Law" in Scott County to Publish Re
corded Facts, the People Should Know it.
People ought to be kept Inform
ed as to the Conduct of public af
fairs, but they BBS not. They are
only permitted to have such -Information
as those In nuthorlt.v want
them to have as a rulv "With jia
tronnge public officials ami law
yers control the press if they do
not own it outright. And even if
they did not, It would be difficult
for one on the outside to net on
the Inside of things.
However, for years the Kicker
has been telling Its readers of the
iuecr things happening in Scott
county, but It has no accurate
knowledge of the misuse of public
money except In the matter of
public printing.
Relieving it to be, very wrong to
misuse or squander public funds,
and hoping to stir the then newly
elected' prosecuting attorney to
investig itlon. I addressed to him
an 1 pen letter In June of last year
exposing the conditions in the
printing department of tile puMlc
service and requested him to ex
plain why such conditions remain
ed unmolested.
But there was no rep!, v.
' I repeated the Inquiry and insis
ted on an answer-
'Phis resulted in a series of per
seditions and legal oppression in
which I was ordered to detach
my private sewer from the publti
ewer; to remove my Btotra from
a aide it root leading to a . nd
story, when a permit was on ree-
ord granting me permission to put
them there, and then a libel suit
in whl ii l am able tot prove every
statement made by their own re.
cord, Tlint is all I propose to do
in October, and if they can frame
up a jury that will punish a man
for publishing recorded facts. I
can't help it.
No doubt they considered these
persecutions a sufficient answer
to my inquiry it itu't. At
the risk of another $12,000 libel
suit that letter Is again reproduc
edwith the udilitipri dLhe num
ber of the book and payfe of the
county court records Where the
iiiosccutiiig attorney, or any oth
er citizen, can find the
the facts related.
evidence of i
If the people's attorney again
I snores this inquiry, and he comes
around and asks for your vote,
ask him why he is silent on the
Kicker s exposures? And I might
add here that I have notice no im
provement since he took office.
Here is the letter. Read it care
fully and ask yourself if an ex
planation would be out of place:
To John McWilliam8, Attorney
for the people of Scott County : I
You are the peoples' attorney, '
arc you not, John?
You receive from the peoples',
treasury S700 per year don't you,
John?
What Tor?
What service do you render the
great mass of tax-payers In ex
change for that $700?
Think hard and answer!
Oh. no ; it is not for prosecuting
what arc called 'criminals," In
such cases you get fees.
For Instance, at the last term
of Circuit Court you got $120 or
more for listening to twelve men
plead guilty to felonies to say
nothing of what you got out of
minor offenses.
Then the law must expect and
the people have a right to ex
pect SOMETHING In return for
that $700 salary that is paid to
you.
Let me tell you what I think
that "something" is. And while I
nm telling it I feel sure you will
not be us narrow as some, and
imagine tnat tnis is a personal
. . , . i ..i
matter for you know better.
You are paid a salary of $700
per year to look after and de
rend the Interests of the people
all of the people of Scott
county. You are their attorney.
They are your clients. It Is your
duty to see that they are not Im
posed upon ; that the money they
pay into the public treasury Is
properly applied; that every of
ficial complies with the law, etc.
Isn't that true, John?
Of course It Is. But how are
you performing your part of the
contract? There were some peo
ple who believed that you would
not allow things to be done just
because "that's the way we've
always done it."
At the April term of Circuit
ourt you sent ten working men
to tbe penitentiary. I did not in
quire as to their being working
men yet I know that no other
kind are sent from Scott county.
What offense had these men
committed? Oh, they were needy
and took a little food or clothing
in a way the law forbids. They
weep hunted down like wild beast
thrown into prison and are now
la Jefferson City. This ought to
teach others that stealing should
only Do Clone III uuge uiiuu&B iu a.
nice, suave, polite way, by men
in good clothes who go to church.
I do not know the combined
stealings of these ten men who
are now In tbe penitentiary, but
I feel perfectly safe In saying
that tbelr combined stealings did
not equal tbe graft In the ballot
Job of last fall. ,
I bear It tainted tbat there is
huge graft In other departments
as well as In printing, but I can
not say about tbat. But when It
comes to printing, then I Know 1
Therefore I shall call your at
tention to a few leaks along tbat
i 1 I I , . . . 1 . . n ..
tin that as the people's attorney.
I think you ought to cork up.
What I am about to relate Is
neither rumor nor guess work,
but RECORDED FACT3. You can
verify the materia! points by ex-
amlnlng the record of the county j
court's doings.
Dp November 1902. election bal
lots were needed. I waited for
the county clerk to ask for bids
as the law directs. No bids were
asked for. A special term of the
county court was In session and
I went over to make enquiry. 1
was told that a bid from the
Kicker would not be considered.
I tendered a bid to do the work
for S90. It was rejected and the
then court house organ took the
work for $375. This was an off
year. See county court records,
book 1 1 , page 330.
When this action was exposed
public sentiment condemned it. At
j the following election the ballots
I were ordered let to the lowest
I bidder. Judges Heisscrer and
: Anderson were on the bench. The
i Kicker took the work for $75.
This was a presidential year ' they now gauge the cost of prin
when each ticket contains the j ting?
names of eighteen presidential i However, the financial state-
electors and, therefore, requires
a larger ballot than at the pre
vious election when 8875.00 was
paid, or TOOK. See count; court
records, book 12, n ine 129,
In 1900 the tickets were again
let to the lowest bidder and the
Kicker did the work fur $44.73
an off year. This Included pub
lishing the ballot In two papers
us n! tne bni oi UHJ4. see coun
ty couit records, boo'-: 18, page 4 l
i In 1908 'the party" went Into
the newspaper business. Of course
1 had no hope of getting a chance
at any of the work then. How
'ever, when the copy of the bal
lots arrived It was discovered
that the court house organ was
t not equipped tc do the work. The
j county clerk then came over to
see me about it. I told him that
j the time was too short that I
had made no calculations on do
' Ing the work and could not get
! it ready in the short time allow
! oil. As n blind, the work was a-
warded to the Sikeston Democrat
at $13.". but it was really done
by the Cape Girardeau Republi
can under the supervision of the
court house
organ. Tins was
presidential year and the price
charge! was only nbaut 850 more1
than it was worth. Seo county j
court records, book 13. page 401.
Last fall the law was again ig-
nored, with the result that the1
ballot job cost the tax-payers
8258.07 or about three times as
much as it would have cost had
the law been compiled with as It
was in 1904-0.
I offered to duplicate that Job
that cost the tax-payers $258.07
for 50. No one seemed to tli'iik
that I was bluffing and my offer
was not accepted. Say, John,
might it not be that this very
liberal "appropriation" was made
Just after election to cover some
of the expense of sending out the
thousands of copies of the organ
sent out Just before the election
to bolster up the waning strength
of "the party?"
When J. J. Astor, of Chaffee,
signed tbe bond of a workiugman
that the authorities seemed to
want to convict, his solvency was
questioned although he had
sworn to It. Wow I A special
grand Jury was ordered and As
tor was indicted. Now, If "the
party" did not have the selecting
of the grand juries I would sug-
gest that a peoples' grand Jury
might find something wrong in
wuut i am reiuiiug, uui so iok
as "the party" has the selection
. . . x f i. ...
n wouia ue oniy a waste ui tuu
and expense unless the peoples
-attorney takes bold. And l am
1 2? ,vr. it':, nr
Mnmliii. "4Ha rtant-v TniamA
i tueooi pcopie ioi iMiiwiui lui v
and continuing to vote for it
and it is in tne nape or openaiug
their eyes that this article Is
written. But, John, you were e
lected as a "good man." It is
now up to you to show the people
that there is only wind In the So
cialist contention that there is
nothing In electing a "good man"
on a capitalist ticket I
I thought that the men to
whom we had entrusted the man
agement of our public affairs
were a little reckless when they
paid $49 for 18,000 primary
ballots and a few sample ballots,
when Stoddard county paid only
$26 for 40,000. But when I learn
ed tbat Stoddard county paid
only $56 for 56,500 general elec
tion and 11,800 constitutional a
mendments ballots combined, the
primary Job looks Insignificant.
Stoddard county paid $56 for her
election ballots. Scott county
paid near two and one-half times
as much for FEWER Ballots. -see
county court records, book 14, on
page 437
say. John, are you going to
1 , J ,! A-,.
stand for your clients being buco
ed like tbat and still take their
money? You may say nat this
occurred before you entered of
fice. You didn't say tbat about
tbe poor devils that were "sent
over the road." Some of those
were sent for crimes committed
last year.
Another thing I might call at
tention to : Until 1908 at least a
pretense was made at awarding
the public printing to tbe lowest
bidder. The notice published by
County Olerk McPheeters was al
ways indefinite. My Idea of coun
ty printing Is tbat It Includes all
printing that Is paid for out of
the county treasury and that
seems to bo a reasonable view.
But the clerk would specify a few
Items. such as the financial state
ment, board of equalization pro
ceedings. and then wind up with
"and the publication ol notices
that may be ordered by the court.
-See county court records, book
18, page 181.
Unless you "stood In," how Is it
possible to take chances on such
an indefinite, scattering shot as
! that? The court orders ditch no
i tlces printed for which sometimes
I aonrt mmm nU It nn
the inside should get the public
printing on a notice like that, it
might and probably would be
held to Include ditch notices. The
only way provided by law for
paying for public printing Is by
THE SQUARE. But, so far, only
"iumb bids" have been asked for
! on an lndlflnite amount of work.
J It Is claimed that they don't know
i what a square is Will you please
investigate and tell us by what
sort of a sawed-off yard stick
ment was one of the items speci
fied In the notice of three years
ago, and the Denton Reeord was
awarded the county printing for
the year 1907-8 at $88 or seven
dollars per quarter.
Now listen: In May, 1903, the
Benton Record published the fin
ancial statement. For this and
other similar printing din ing the
quarter the Record was allowed
SEVEN DOLLARS 1 Go see the
county records John. In that
year the court house organ was
established. In 1909 It cost your
clients 805 to have that state-1
ment published, and in 1910 It j
(.est them $120. See county court I
records, book 18, page 44U: book
14, page ."Ii. and book 14, page
400.
Say, John, don't you think you
overlooked some when you made
up your spring delegation for
Jefferson City?
Last winter the superintend
ent of schools wanted a pamphlet
printed with pages 6x9 inches,
and asked for bids. The organ
bid the work in at 68 cents per
' page. A little later the circuit
clerk had a pamplet
printed
the circuit court docket. He did
not ask for bids but handed it to
the paper he helped to organize,
Those pages were only one-half
the size of the pages of the school
namplet, yet the tax-payers
paid nearly double or $1.20 per
page! See county court records
book 14, page 620.
Surely the appropriation Ma
chine is liberal with some. Not
so with all. Let a poor person go
to them and they will split hairs
over wnetner to anow nun k
. .i ,i o ,.t. 1Q nontn a rt.nr for hifl
t n mm r.. v,ii0
EffiTT. Tm -TS- ? "n
Uliuu Uiuu isuw uv v - v
very much grieved because the
cnii rt hnd cut his allowance from
&a ) in ftR nap mnnth I He was
told, he said, that if he wasn't!
satisfied he could. go to the poor
house.
Now, Mr. McWilliams, I have
placed before you some facts that
appear to many people and my
self to be very wrong. As our at
torney, will you please tell us If
we are wrong? If we are right
then will you please tell us why
these conditions remain unmolest
ori If wa a pa riirht and such stu-
I pendous graft is going on in the
j printing department of the pub -
uc service. Is there any reason
to doubt that it is going on In ,
other departments;
i-i Huea.lv oi u iullil uiL-auov mi c
I speak of printing because tnat
. - .. - . - . .
I n my nne of business ana i
I KNOW What I am talking about
w ..,..
s to other
matters l ao noi
mi , AnnAHtM . V. n
kt v".. mw. uuu,i",,,"-?r
puoiic printing i neea not quote
i to you, but I will print It for the
benefit of otners:
Sec. 588. Officers
to procure
best rates. In procuring the pub
lication of any law, proclamation
order or notice, as in tbe next
preceding section mentioned, the
public officers SHALL ACCEPT
OF THE MOST ADVANTAGEOUS
TERMS, NOT EXCEEDING the
rates limited in the preceding
section."
The preceding section refered to
limits the amount that may be
paid to $1.00 per square for the
first Insertion and fifty cents a
square for each additional Inser
tion. If I understand the law, an
official has no right to pay more
and It is bis sworn duty to get It
as much cheaper as he can. He
"shall accept of the most advan
tageous terms tbat can be ob
tained," says the law.
Am 1 right, John? If so, then
why Is tbe law not enforced? If
I am wrong, will you please ex
plain what this law means? Both
pages of tbe Kicker are at your
service.
When an official takes office he
makes oath tbat be will uphold
and obey the law. If be 'then wil
fully and knowingly violates tbe
law, Is he not guilty of 'perjury
in addition?
Being my attorney, as well as
the attorney of all other tax
payers of Scott county. I hope
you will throw some light on
these conditions that appear to
me to be wrong. By so doing I
feel sure you will greatly oblige j
those who furnish tne caan to
foot tbe bill. Respectfully,
PHIL. A. HAFNER.
Subscribe for tbe only Kicker.
WHAT THEY DO.
The deceptive, hypocritical char
acter of capitalist officials was
very clearly revealed In this state
in the non-enforcement of a law
passed by the last legislature to
gradually withdraw the convicts
at tlue penitentiary from the con
tract labor s, stein.
The state's prison is little e'sc j
than n peonsjgo or slave camp, j
From all over t I xt: t Work peo
ple are gat "ore i in on this or that
charge and. because the? have no
money t' hire a good lawyer, thej
are sentenced t I hard labor "or
whom? Not for the state, but for
the profits of th" trusts that have
factories there. The result Is that
much of the stuff we use Is con-
vkst made in direct competition
with honest toll.
The last legislature sought t.-
put a stop to this but only grad
ually, of OOUrse. To stop a wrong
ngainst labor and diminish prof
It! for the masters all at once was
too much for tlie legislature to
attempt.
The first 300 hundred of these !
COnMets should have been with
drawn from the trust shops last
spring, but it was not done.
The tiaist applied to the court
for an Injunction and got it.
Your attorney-general, E, v..
Ma jui'. who wants to befyour gov.
ernor. paid no attention to it. He
let the trust win by railing to a -pear
in court to defend the law,
Hence these convicts arc forced to
continue to make profits for the
trusts In violation of law.
But organised labor took the
matter up and demanded an ex.
planatlnn from the governor, the
attorney -general and the warden
of the penitentiary,
They had none.
But the attorney-general got
busy and had the court to re-open
the case about like you'd open a
can of sardines, I suppose. The
matter !s "t for hearing In No
member AFTER THE ELECTION
Then he will likely forget it.
At the str.t" Federation of Lab
or held at Bedalla recently, the
Federation took notice, and the
Bedalla Liberator gives this ac
count of what happened:
"The first action taken by the
convention was the adoption of
resolutions calling upon the gov
arnnr and nttornev-goneral Why
the convict labor law enacted by
the last session of the legislature
which provided for the gradual
withdrawal of all state convicts
from private contract, was not
being complied with, It was plain
ly evident from the discussion
that followed the introduction of
the resolution that the union men
of Missouri will b'-ook no political
maneuvering on the part of the
politicians from putting Into ef
fect the law now on the statute
books relating to the employment
by the state of all its convicts.
"Answers to letters sent to the
warden, the governor and the at
torney general reJatlVt tc. this
matter, plainly showed that each
endeavored to shift the responsl
bilitv unon the other for the. min
enforcement
or the convict lauor
law. The attorney general stat
ed in his telecram that ttie war
den of the penitentiary had told
him
that injunction suit nan ueen
instituted ntrainst him last sprini:
and a default judgment had been
rendered against him. This judu-
ment, however, had been set aside
on motion of the attorney general
and that a new hearing will be
had on the Injunction at the Nov
VOtnber term of court. "
Yes, November '.
But that old trick of putting it
off until after the election, and
then letting the trusts l ave their
way. is getting wh'sKers on it.
1 But what else can plute set
vants do?
BIG BUSINESS IX POLITICS
. .
ill i.iiii ii. iaa l K.-.
; - " " nP Kinlran of mod-
IZXZrXZ is: ' The !
, a -tlcal reformers is: 'The
r;- - :- Xni.aeta ma- v
driven out of Doimcs.
II I K uualllt o3 iutt i von 1 1 1 uu -
- . , . , ;
given to
the
heralding of this wonderful "re
form" principle. Our president
thereby makes an admission
which has taken our Republican
friends a long time to make that
the big business Interests actual
ly are In politics.
But how are you going to drive
the big business interests out of
politics? Tne industries are inex
tricably woven Into the life of the
nation.
Then is It not evident that the
principal function of government
Is the proper adjustment and reg
ulation of the Industries? How,
then, is it possible to keep the
owners of the Industries out of
politics?
It cannot be done.
You may drive them to seek cov
er.but they , will find some means
to control all legislation that ef
fects their business.
Socialism makes no such Insane
proposition as driving the big bu
siness Interests out of politics.
Socialists know that the owning
class always has been, and al
ways will be, In politics. Today
this owning olass represents an
Industrial oligarchy of a few
monev lords: therefore It Is only
natural and inevitable that these
few men should control Industrial
legislation.
If the people want to drive
these few rich parasites out of
politics, that to a different ques
tion; but you cannot drive their
business out of politics.
If we want to drive tne lew
capitalists out of potttloe and put
the people In control of Industrial
legislation, the one and only thing
to do to for the people to come
Into ownership of the looustriea
inustrl.
E NCOU R A Q I NO OUT U X ) K .
From every quarter conies the
news of the awakening of the
masses. The plutes are almost
beside themselves, and In their ef
forts to stop the agitation they
club, arrest, imprison only to
find" the fires of revolt steadily
gaming on tiieiu.
The Bull Moose performance ha
not swallowed Socialism, as t:.
masters i-a i expected, RooseveH
will not get a Socialist vote. "1
course he will not maio near-Socialists
who would hnve voted for
Debs rather than Taft i Wilson
but voting for i 'is docs not
make ;i So ilallst.
But we a re mak ing w ( I a LISTS :
by the thousands every day and
the vote in November will show
it. Never were the mass 's so eag
er to listen, and never were the
crowds so great -t Socialists
speakings.
' As for the presidency, Taft is
already out of the running, To 1
an invitation to debate with
Dabs In Pennsylvania he tele-1
graphed his declination b saving
he was not making an active cam
paign. A few weeks ago it appeared as;
if Wilson would be a sure winner,
But his chances grow weaker is I
time rolls on. He Is labor 1
hater and a plute ' i n the
ground up just I ke Taft. T e
conservative or stand pat vote
will be spilt between them,
; Roosevelt Is out as a sort of s
catch-all for the discontented of
the old parties. He will get the:
votes of Democrats, Republicans
.and Populists who are not yet
class-conscious and believe that
things can be remedied by reform
and noise and this elen ent
threatens to overshadow both
Taft and Wilson,
i Against all this mass of confus.
; ion stands the Socialist party
with its cl ass-conscious, clear cut
revolutionary program of "Let
the Nation own the Trust-. - and
that the laborer Is entitled t I the
full product of his toll.
And the only arguments our op
ponents can produce is rotten
. eggs, policeman's clubs and jails.
I But there are not convincing,
j As a Socialist speaker In Montana
put it after being showered with
stale eggs. "Such arguments are
rotten."
The New York Farm Journal
took a straw vote among the
farmer s and the result was a plu
! rajity for Debs. The Cincinnati
i Enquirer took a straw vote of
i factory employes in Cincinnati,
and the
lead. B(
Itnlist.
Bttawi
j way the
result was nous m tne
til publications arc cap.
are said to
wind blows.
show which
THEIR HEAVY 0UX,
What is thle heavy gun fired into
the camp of the Socialists by the
plutes in these days of rotten con
ditions and general unrest ?
Think hard and see if you can
catch it.
It is the same gun that is being
fired everywhere In Europe, Asia
and Africa in heathen a.s well as
In Christian lands.
And it makes a loud noise that
j sounds like
Socialism Is Sgln re
hgion. "
! That is a miirhty irun to fire
! in among the ignorant who have
j been brought up on ghost stories
i and superstition.
But. somehow, it wont work.
After a time the very Ignorant
! reach a point where they question
! the divinity of capitalist religion
! if it stands tor their oppression
; and enslavement.
And the ridiculous part of it nl!
is that, according to capitalism,
i Socialism is not onl aurin Chris
! tlanlty. but agin all kinds of re
: ligions heathen or otherwise.
Go to India and you will hear
the priests of Buddha (and of King
George) telling their deluded fol
lowers that Socialism is agin re
ligion. Go to China and you will bear
the priests of Confuslus telling th
masses the same story.
Go to Japan, where a number of
Socialist agitators were put to
death last year, and th
dope is peddled out by the
sam?
racles
of the ruling class.
Go to Turkey and you will be
told that Socialism would destro,
that holy institution the Sultan s
harem.
Then come to free, enlightened
America aiid you arc told that So
cialism would create the harem.
But don't blame the plutes. They
are doing the best they can. and
control the pulpit as completely
as they controll the press and plat
form, and, according to capitalist
morality, they are entitled to all
they pay for.
SAME OLD SAME
Hon.Woodrow Wilson will speak
in .St. Louis October 5. This will
be a fine opportunity for our peo
ple to hear the next president.
Chaffee Signal.
Look over democratic sheets for
50 years back and you will find
the same dope always going to
elect the "next" president. Once
they guessed right and handed us
Cleveland.
They may succeed In electing
Tom Ryan of the Tobacco trust.
and August Belmont or Kotnscnim
& Co., as president and vice-presi
dent this fall. If so, Woodrow will
be installed as office boy at Wash
ington, D. C.
The wise men have nothing to
do but look wise and tell tbe work
people what Is good for them and
the suckers usually swallow the
nice, sugar-coated dope. But some
are beginning to gag a little at It
Subscribe for the only Kicker.
The Carpet
from Bagdad
A nwillly moving tale of dvftntUfl
BY
farold MacCrath
OUR NEXT SERIALI
W ATCH FOR IT!
A thrilling adventure ntary
woven around a holy
Moslem rug
The Carpet
from Bagdad
Watch for the
Opening
Installment!
The Carpet
from Bagdad
WORRYING ABOUT SOCIALISM
From the Coming Nation,
The Vermont election does not
seem to have exact!) settle i the
question as to what the Socialists
w:il do. The Ft. VI a.v ae, ind. News
making a comparison with two
.veal's ago says. "There was ll de
cided slump in the Socialist cte.
However, the News believes tin",
tne check will be on!. a tempora
ry one. o matter how the elec
tion may terminate, the result
will have the effect of stimulating
for a time the strength of th?
Socialist party, 1
The New York World thinks
that although the Roosevelt plat
form '-w.is drawn wita the Idea
that it would attract the votes
of the Socialists, yet In Vermont
the other day. the Socialist vote
doubled, It is Mr, Roosevelt who
has a grievance, not t he Social
ists.'" The Austin. Tex.. Statesman,
says that "there are many per
sons outside the Socialist part.t
who predict that it ithe Socialist
votei will be much closer to one
million, although the platforms of
tile older parties are nearer to So
cialism than the.v have ever been
before.
The Brooklyn Eagle also con
cludes that the result of the Ver
mont election shows thnt Social
ists Are not easily mislead and
concludes, "they are the cue par
ty which stands for its principles
without any hope of victory" a
sentence that is more logical than
grammatical'
The Brooklyn Eagle is worrying
because Hellen Keller has come
out a a Socialist and bewails "her
mistakes which spring out of the
manifest limitations of her devel
opment. ' If ev r Miss Keller
should be as blind, deaf and dumb
mentally as the editor or the
Brooklyn Eagle, we should fv!
that the time had really come to
svmnathize with her.
There Is much worrying ana
heart burning among Milwaukee
i capitalist politicians over the way
i the "non-partlson" plums have
been aiviaea me Mijwauaee r res
Press is especially bewailing the
! fnct that Wm H. Bafford a reac.
j tionary standpatter has licen
i chosen to oppose Berger and says :
i "If the interests who love him be
lieve that the r on-partisan lable
will servo to rehabilitate Mr. Staf-
. I., ,-,f tha AlMffWfltfl
l.ll VI 111 Hi, ,ti v . ...... v......
of the Fifth district and OOQVbUX
: it that he is the candidate who
can defeat the Socialists, they
tainlv will have a sad awakening
in November."
The Racine, Wis., Times agrees
with the sentiment and sermoni
zes as follows: "In the Fifth dis
trict the republicans and demo
crats are Invited to unite in elect
ing William H. Stafford, a stand
patter of the most pronounced
type, who during his many years
of service in congress never show
ed the slightest Inclination to re
cognize the people's movement in
politics, and who votea wnn tne
Cannon-Aldrich clique every time
the sage of Illinois cracked the
whip. On the non-partisan coun
tv ticket are representatives of
every faction of both old parties
Fusion may be a good thing. But
we'll warrant that Milwaukee
progressives will prefer to send
Victor Berger back to congress
rather than have Saffford in the
harness again. Berger's Socialism
can do no harm In congress, for he
Is in too great a minority, but his
honesty and constructive states
manship already has left its mark
In governmental affairs. The fu
sionists went too far when they
1M
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a
if
f
5
i
ill .
You Ought to Read
1 "
Ill ::
!
I to nelect a man who was
, opposed to Merger's theories.
I They chose one who opposes too
j many good ideas.
I The Wausuu Herald Is also
growing toed of 1 non-partisnn-!
ism" and in an oditorial tint has
been widely copied over 1vlscon
' sin. says :
it is the hardest thing In the
world for an outsider to work up
proper spirit or sympathy foe
the Milwaukee politicians In their
light against Socialism.
"While the sntl-Aoclallsts seem
to ii" desperately In Barn est they
put forth their efforts so awk
wardl) and Ineffectively that one
can r 1 1 t repress the suspicion that
they are lifting ;it the wrong end
Of the ! er.
"A s rule jiny man makes a
mistake when he prefixes nntl to
his title. He ought to stand for
something positive. The non-partisan
movement is merely antlflo
eialist that is. it stands Tor noth
ing itself. Socialism In Milwaukee
an Well b" sut sfied With its rf
forts when it tins reduced the vn:
tOUS political machines to tic ne
cessity of hitching together and
becoming a mere party of opposi
tion. "Maybe t - - Is necessary. We
don t want to judge our Cream
City brethern hlrshty. U"' cer
tainly it is unfortunate that in
the metropolis of the state the
place t'i which the people have a
right tu i'io! foi example and
leadership nothing positive, dl
ie"t and aggressive i to be seen
lino result of an) non-partisan, op
multl-pa t sin. movement is to
eliminate positive leadership.
Candidates have to be colorless,
tf they stand for an,t thing. :
even possess un isunl abilities,
the) arc objectionable to one ele
ment or another.
"Thus, while t:;" Socialists can
put their Iv-t f . t forward an
nounce positive programsstand
together unitedly in u common
cause, the opposition must iuu roll
and dicker ami eliminate and tern
porlce. Tii" nonpartisan mayor
does not measure up 'to Meldel.
The candidate for congress is not
near as big a man as Berger,
The
these
world cannot help noticing
differences."
In the recent Arkam
ell ctlou
the Socialists polled 13.122 votes
In 1908 the Socialist vote in that
state was "
,842 and In 1010 it
was 9,1116. 1:
vote of Arkan
1900 the Socialist
is was U7.
The single tax would be an aw
ful blow a 1 tbe tenant farmer and
the age-siae why. they d BV
en be deprived of to "liberty" v..
pay a poll tax.
WHAT IS LAW ANYWAY.
If there is anything that has
been pounded Into the working
class more than all else, it is re
spect for the law, the courts and
authority. If they can convince
the worker and keep him con
vinced that law and courts and
authority arc good for him, they
are safe for they are the law,
the courts, the authority.
But a great many work people
!are becoming convinced that the
law, the courts and the author
ity are only for their exploita
tion and oppression. The workers
build legislative halls where laws
are made, to their injury. They
build court houses in which to
: receive a prison sentence, or be
otherwise skinned. They build
prisons to be occupied by them
selvesturn the keys over to the
master class.
Smart people the workers!
What is so-called criminal law,
or justice, but a grart? A poor
devil is accused of violating some
rule or law and he is yanked up
before a superior (?) called a
' judge". Or course he Is guilty.
, Poor people always nre. Only the
rich can do no wrong.
The "judge" looks wise and as
sesses a fine and COSTS.
Don't forget the COSTS for
that is the important part to
the guardians of "the law.
Having no money the victim is
given a Jail sentence. The tax-
- payers foot the bill.
Now, scratch that old simlin of
yours and ask yourself who is
really being punished? Is it not
those who pay for all this Joke
' called justice? And don't the of-
i f icials get it all?
And that is wliat you vote for
when you vote a capitalist
ticket.
Of course you want to know
how this can be remedied. It can
be stopped by stopping the cause
of crime Ignorance and poverty.
You force men to become crim
inals and then punish them for
doing what you have forced them
to do.
Give these so-called criminals a
chance and they will be good
and useful citizens.
Society makes it a crime to be
loitering around idle. I mean, it
makes it a crime for a poor
man to do so. This law does not
apply to rich idlers. "Vagrants"
the law calls the men who can't
find a job and looks him up.
WhatVrlght has tbe law to
punish a v nan for being Idle un
less the law also provides all men
willing to work with a Job?
I want some "smart man" to
answer that?
But there will be no answer.
There to none. Capitalism rests
on "more men than Jobs." If
Lthere were not more men than
obs there would be ao competi
tion for the jobs and tbe work
ers could demand la wages all
they produced. Stones taste
would nothing toft for fJto
capttaltot and he tronld dtoan-
n
t.
M i
m