Goodwin's weekly : a thinking paper for thinking people. [volume], December 09, 1916, Image 1

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

Image provided by: University of Utah, Marriott Library

                
Vol. 27 SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, DECEMBER 9, 1916 No. -22 .1
The Shake-Up In England
T LOYD-GEORGB has finally gained his point.
! ' We have long suspected that he was ohsessed
with the idea of undermining the Asquith rainis-
!try to the end that he himself might assume con
trol of the government. Our suspicions have
confirmed.
' England's new prime minister is the most pic-
! turesque personage in all the empire. He is gifted
with many of the qualities of true greatness, and
. he possesses on the other hand certain traits of
character that would severely handicap a less am-
bitious and self assuming man. He has been a
jf . storm-center in politics ever since his entrance
into the arena. His rise has been remarkable, not
only for its rapidity, but from the fact that he
deliberately set out to trample down British tradi
tions and he seems to have succeeded all along
the line. -His success is due, partly to the tre
mendous driving force of the man himself, and
partly to the fact that he is not overly scrupu
lous in his dealings with men and measures. In
our opinion, he would pay any price for power.
At the outset of his career, Lloyd-George was
the fearless champion of the common people the
X self-styled commoner of the day. In the old days
he challenged the crown and dared the nobility;
today he consorts with the crown and is accepted
7 in the highest court circles. He has long since
lost the support of the labor element, due to his
driving tactics in marshalling the industrial forces
of the empire to the support of the armies, and
for one cause or .another has alienated almost all
of his former friends. And since his accession to
the cabinet he has been a thorn in the side of the
ministry and a constant source of discord.
The break in the cabinet was inevitable. It
was made so through the machinations of the new
prime minister, ably assisted by his formidable
ally, Lord Northcliffe, and the latter's powerful
papers. At no time was Lloyd-George playing a
lone hand. Never ,did he abandon a friend or a
faction until he had secured a new one more use
ful to him than the old. The exigencies of the
situation which England has been facing for the
past two years has afforded him a rare opportu
nity to test his matchless talents and to exploit
(his enterprise and ambition to the fullest extent.
The man is a marvelous organizer and England
is desperately in need of such a man. Hence his
elevation to the premiership. In our opinion, he
. t could have been equally as useful in the position
ji which he previously occupied, had he chosen to
jj ) work in harmony with his associates. We be-
lieve that the real big men of England thought
so, too, but they were helpless when he forced
the issue. It remains to be seen how he will
fare.
Lloyd-George has been a pitiless critic in his
time and he may expect to be assailed on every
side by- those who disagree with his policies and
who personally dislike him. Asquith is still im
mensely popular throughout the kngdom and the
ex-premier's friends will naturally resent his fall
in fortune, becauso of the manner in which it
happened. The real test of the man has come.
It strikes us that his only salvation lies in prose
cuting the war on all sides in prompt and vigorous
f
fashion and in gaining, if possible, some substan
tial successes along the battle line. Otherwise,
he cannot long hope to hold together the discord
ant elements of the home government.. The crisis
in England has not yet been reached.
The Eleemosynary Sugar Trust
FOR the past fortnight the pages of our local
dailies, the papers of the state and surround
ing states where the sugar industry Is an impor
tant factor in the industrial life of the various
communities have contained numerous articles
announcing that the farmers who raise sugar
beets are to be greatly benefited a year hence
through a voluntary advance made by these com
panies in the price to be paid for beets when
the next crop comes along.
This was naturally to have been expected, fol
lowing the deal made by the sugar companies
with the Democracy to turn over several western
states in the recent election, providing that the
party of free trade would leave the duty as it
stands on sugar from other countries. But dur
ing the course of the publication of the series
of articles telling of the generosity of the sugar
companies, a long editorial appeared in the Dese
ret News, the chief organ of the sugar interests,
which in its time dishonored, Macchiavelian way
asked the railroads to reimburse the sugar com
panies for the raise they have promised the
farmers, containing in the request a demand for
another dollar in addition, and ending with a
covert threat that unless they complied with
the sugar companies' request they might expect
a state commission that would make them do bo.
something that is unnecessary, has proven a fail
ure in several states, and does little ibut provide
soft berths for politicians who are looking for
reward.
The News editorial is a remarkable literary
product, along its usual lines when dealing with
such matters, beginning with a profuse apology
to the railroads, telling how friendly it has al
ways been to them, then going into a discus
sion of rate discrimination, though failing to say
why Utah sugar can be bought cheaper in Chi
cago than it can in Salt Lake, and all the time
keeping in mind the object in view in response
to the will of its masters; a reduction in the
rates on sugar more than sufficient to cover the
increase in price, which through the goodness of
their hearts, the companies are going to pay the
deserving farmers.
The News calls upon the railroads to rid their
records of the blot of discrimination which is so
seriously affecting the sugar companies, of
which leaders in the official family of the News
are also important officials. Speaking of blots,
we wonder how the sugar companies would look
if the story of their records from their inception
were published. It would take more water than
the sugar companies contain to wash those rec
ords clean.
Coming from such a source the article in the
News is readily discounted by a public fully. cog
nizant of the fact that whenever the News ex
presses concern for the public, especially when
sugar enters into the discussion, it does so only
with the object in view of serving ita masters
The Control Of State Institutions B
THHE proposition to place all of the state institu- H
tions under the control of a single board or M
commission is not at all novel. The Democrats M
have no patent on the idea. Neither did it origin- ,H
ate with Dr. Calder or Dr. Gowans, notwithstand-
ing their eagerness to submit the scheme to the
incoming- administration and their insistence upon
its adoption. A certain school of Republicans M
have been advocating bucIi a move for years in H
one form or another. M
Governor-elect Bamberger should put on his H
spectacles and scrutinize the scheme from every H
possible angle before he undertakes to put it into M
practical operation. At first thought, the proposal ft
to centralize the control of the state institutions is M
strongly appealing. These institutions, seven in M
number, are now governed by separate and Inde- H
pendent boards and the only centralized control H
exercised over them is the somewhat perfunctory H
power to pass upon their expenditures, which H
rests with the state board of examiners. Each 'M
institution is managed separately and apart from ,,H
the others. Their policies are determined by their H
respective boards of control and, with the excep- jH
tion of the "University and the Agricultural Col- H
lege botli of which now have a fixed tax income, H
they are absolutely dependent upon the generbs- H
ity of the legislature for financial support. Hence H
it follows that during the sessions of the legisla- H
ture these institutions become intense rivals in H
the scramble for appropriations, and it sometimes H
happens that certain institutions profit at the ex- H
pense of the others. This is the one bad fea- JM
ture of the present system. 'H
A central board of control would undoubtedly JH
put a stop to this form of rivalry and should JH
insure a fair share of the appropriations to each IH
institution. That is, provided the central board II
is strictly Impartial and avoids indulging in fa- iH
voritism. Therein lies the- real danger, and fully JH
sensng this possibility there has been a general ffl
disposition in the past to reserve all such prefer- JH
ential powers to the legislature. H
In all probability a central board of control, if H
given full purchasing powers for all of the institu- ijlH
tions, could effect certain ecenomies in the mat- 111
ter of supplies. Still, as a rule, most of the pur- ll
chasing for the state institutions is now done by ll
contract or wholesale, and the question has been II
reasonably raised in the past as to whether the II
actual saving effected would bo sufficient to even jl
cover the salaries of the members of the board of ? I
control. If economizing in the matter of pur- frl
chases is the real object in view, then why not IF I
create the office of state purchasing agent with ft I
full authority to purchase all necessary supplies, Kl
not only for the institutions, but for all other state ft I
offices and enterprises? kI
The more we consider the scheme, the II
less we like it. It will never do to abandon the HI
system of separate control altogether. The busi- HI
ness of determining tho policies of the respective HI
institutions and of supervising their conduct in- HI
volves details too numerous and varied in char- HI
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