Goodwin's weekly : a thinking paper for thinking people. [volume], January 24, 1914, Image 1

About Goodwin's weekly : a thinking paper for thinking people. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1902-1919

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Goodwin's Weekly I
VOL. 22 SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, JANUARY 24, 1914 No. 5 H
f GOODWIN'S WEEKLY
Under the Management of J. T. Goodwin
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Boston Building, Salt Lake City. Utah.
The Speech From the Throne.
PRESIDENT WMson on Tuesday last read to
congress what may be termed his first regu
lar message. It Is faultless in diction, the style
all through Is of a-finished scholar and writer.
After some generalities, some of which, it
I seems to us, are founded on hopes rather than
facts, tho President makes a direct statement
which is important. He says: "What we are pro
posing to do, therefore, is, happily, not to hamper
j or interfere with business as enlightened busl-
ness men prefer to do it, or in any sense to put it
under the ban. The antagonism between business
and government is over." Nothing need read fairer
than that. But he said the same in substanc
before he was President, and since then he and
Mr. Underwood have interfered in the business
1 of many men, hampered them immensely and
heaped upon them the ban of pursuing a business
that no longer has a profit in it. This will be
more and more apparent as the months roll on.
Will he explain that by saying that such business
men are not enlightened?
His fixed purpose is to break up private mo
nopolies. That has been one of Mr. Bryan's hob
bies for years and there has never been any
debate over such monopolies as are an injury to
t the business of the country. But there are private
I , monopolies which are not only not wrong, but
a great benefit.
j The President's idea of breaking up of inter-
i ; locking combinations is" good. But are new laws
; needed for that? We had thought that the courts
had been busy for months in just that work.
He predicts that the laws to be passed will
j checkmate the banks that have been engaged In
that business, and give -a new impetus to indus
! trial, independent management. But where will
the money come from, and if obtained, will the
' men who use it be any better than the bankers
were? Where are "tho new men, the new blood
i and tho new spirit" which he speaks of to come
l' from, and where is the money that they will
; bring? He says the railways have been injured
by the way they have been financed. But the
chief wrong was done when most of them were in
the hands of receivers and could not bo extracted
without vast amounts of money and the few who
had the money dictated the terms. In the same
stress would not the same thing be repeated?
But we are glad to see that tho President at last
has been able to see that to persecute railroads
and destroy their credit is not good business.
His discussion of that question is the very best
part of his message.
The President's idea of a commission to help
handle the trusts seems to us d, especially
if a fair number of real business men can have
places on the commission. His expressed idea
to meet the people half way is good, but that did
not 'happen to be in evidence at all in tho anti
tariff legislation. His discussion of the status of
owners of stock in a corporation is not quite
clear.
Wo fdo not wonder, for It Is a complicated
question. For instance, there is a vast body of
men in this country that rejoice when- they see
a railroad "cinched," as they call it. But wo re
call that Mr. Harrlman once said that anything
which hurt the roads he controlled hurt 800,000
stockholders In those roads.
'The striking featuro of the message is the
bid all through for the support of business men.
We have no idea that Mr. Wilson intends to
lean any more on the business men of the coun
try in the future than he has in the past. But
business men make public opinion, and a favor
able public opinion is a great help to a part
in or out of power.
Not So Bad.
TV7E have a pessimistic friend who sees little
ahead for our country but disaster and sor
row. He Insists that society is drawing apart;
that the rich are drawing to themselves much
more than their share of the country's wealth;
that the poor see this and are already band
ing together for protection which will soon ad
vance into plunder, and that the situation gives
us all to see how the French revolution was be
gotten and the bloody harvest that followed.
We confess there Is much cause for appre
hension, the very worst feature being the spring
ing up of such multitudes of men who in simu
lated sympathy for the poor are spreading dis
content and hostility to order and law in tho
land.
-Still our faith is unshaken in the ultimate
triumph of the right.
We believe that a special design was formed
in the creation of our Republic; that though its
beginning was in sorrow; though many sorrows'
have come to it since, and though many more
sorrows are to bo suffered; as from each preceed
ing great trial the great republic has emerged
stronger, so it will be in the future, because tho
world needs our country for a beacon and a
ballast, until the time shall eventually come
"when so exalted will be our flag, that it will
shine out a symbol of peace and strength to all
the world.
But the people have grown to depend too
much upon the government, to think, if not to
say: "Let the government cure the evils."
That is not the right thought. Were our
country to become involved in a war with some
strong foreign power, or should the present dis
content culminate in a civil war, each state each
city would be called upon to furnish men and
means to restore order and peace.
There are a few malignant diseases which
science has found means to prevent if not to
cure.
Why should not each state and city begin the
work of prevention, rather than to fail to battle
with a disease which might be fatal?
How much is Utah and this city her capital,
looking to the condition of the people?
What authority is there that can change tho
condition of the poor people in this city? There
should be a patrol for every block who should
report to some central authority every week tl
WlMlAl MMttlllllMMM llhi ITT ! MMn ! T "" w'I'1,iF fliirMMHMB M
conditions of tho poor, tho possibility of some H
places harboring criminals, how many earnest M
men are unable to obtain employment, what H
women whqse home privations and sorrow aro M
calculated to drive them into crime. With that H
done there should bo a means of relieving real M
distress and supplying labor to thoso who want H
to work and can find nothing to do.
The above is but an outline. It might cost H
some money but It would cost far less than a
war. And with that done in ovory city and 'state
there would never bo any war unless It camo from M
abroad. M
Were that the rule in both state and city our M
land would soon bo exalted In the oyes of all M
the world. fl
There aro a thousand other things to be done. H
The schools should be moro practical and more M
patriotism should bo taught in them. M
Generally speaking every American Bhould bo H
impressed with a conviction that it is duty to
be a perfect citizen with all that perfect citizen- jH
ship implies. M
The New Tariff Law. H
r UR friend Mr. Moylo was evidently in H
trouble when he essayed to give a Demo- jH
cratlc tinge to the Woolgrowers convention. Like H
Abraham Lincoln ho declared that ho did not H
know much about the tariff but ho forgot what H
else -Mr. Lincoln said in that some connection, H
which was: "But what I have noticed is that H
when wo buy goods from abroad wo have tho H
goods but the foreigners have tho money, whilo H
when wo buy goods at home we have tho goodB H
and the money," which made clear that Mr. H
Lincoln knew more about tho tariff than he pre- H
tended to, because tho money at home encour- H
aged homo men to create now industries which H
necessarily gave employment to many moro men, H
which men have to eat and wear clothing; they H
and their families, and thus helped all other H
industries. H
fWe have heard much talk in the past two H
fyears about how free trade would reduce the H
cost of living to tho poor, how especially, they
would have cheaper clothing. A prominent cloth- H
ing merchant has helped us compile some fig- H
ures relating to that branch of business. We H
find that without the aid of shoddy the wool clip
of the world provides each person outside of the H
tropics with fifteen ounces of wool cloth, or H
about a yard of light weight wool cloth fifty-
four inches wide, once a year. H
There are about 1,207 woolen mills in the H
United States. In these mills about 900,000 peo- H
plo aro employed, which would make 3,000,000 Lfl
people dependent upon the industry. About H
7.500 people are employed in selling this product. J
To manufacture these cloths into garments are
300,000 people representing moro than 1,000,000 H
people. U
There are about 700,000 manufacturers of WM
men's and boys' clothing. H
Tho average, well made suit requires about H
-three and one-half yards of wool. H
Tho new tariff law will make a difference of H
from five cents to one dollar per yard on woolen
cloth fifty-four inches wide, varying in weight H
per yard from twelve to fifteen ounces, mostly H
used in men's suiting. Tho consumer will get H
a suit at tho same price as formerly, but the H
quality ought to be a little improved. The textile M
world record is that there will be a saving on a jjM
1