Goodwin's weekly : a thinking paper for thinking people. [volume], August 17, 1918, Page 5, Image 5

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

                
GOODWIN'S WEEKLY 5 IS
I ra SPECTA TOR I! I
I 1 treading on
1 ) 1 1 tl10 loes of a
1 Z. I very dear per-
I I
' I , ji sonnl friend, I
j i IfrriSFTM- 3 am tempted
to relate a bit
of conversation between two reput
able citizens, which occurred on the
morning following the big public
reception accorded the French mis-,
vi$ sion in the Tabernacle.
"Were you at the Tabernacle last
night?" the one inquired.
"Yes, and it was a most inspiring
affair," replied the other.
"Who made the big talks?'
Why, in my opinion, they were
made by General Pau and Senator
Pose."
Which, of course, prompted a
hearty laugh at the senator's expense,
but most surprising of all was the
fact that the observation was made
by a good Democrat. Since then I
have been scratching my head in a
vain attempt to figure out just what
it was that thiB particular fellow
"wanted of the senator in the past
; that he couldn't get.
I
T UT I attended the meeting in the
- Tabernacle also, and gained a few
impressions of my own. In my humble
opinion Senator King was truly elo
quent that night and made a rip-roaring
patriotic speech. He may have
seemed a bit stagey to some of his old
' friends, but not to me. His heart was
in every sentiment he uttered on that
occasion, else I am no judge of hu
man kind.
But this granted, then his stirring
speech only goes to show how delight
fully Inconsistent a Democrat can be.
While listening to his logical presen
tation of how America came to get
into the war, and why she is going to
see the thing through, I could not help
recalling another stem-winder of a
speech that the senator made In the
Salt Lake theatre on the eve of the
election two years ago. At that time
f&he failed to make any mention of "our
debt to France," and I naturally as
sumed that in his opinion, and that
of his party, the statute of limitations
had long since wiped out that time
honored obligation.
I don't know how it impresses oth
ers, but every time I hoar some
shouting Democrat tell the people
about how we are now paying our
debt to France, I get a pain. And I
have also noted that this is the fa
vorite text for all our local orators
Vhen we happen to be honored by the
presence of some Frenchman. It is
bad taste at best to mako any ref
erence to this matter, and especially
so for any American who participated
in or approved of the inglorious Dem
ocratic campaign of 191G. One would
think that their own sense of the pro-
prietles would stop them from making
us all look like monkeys every time
we turn out to personally honor our
French guests. .Silence is sometimes
golden, and we will do well hereafter
to emulate the French in failing to
refer to this most delicate subject.
HpHE other day Harry Joseph hand
J ed me a red card that he claims
to have found on the road up Pacley's
canyon. It is of anonymous origin
and addressed to the working men of
Salt Lake. I quote it in part:
"There are thousands of workers in
the jails of the masters of the United
States today. Under the present sys
tem we have to fight through the
courts of the masters, and free our
fellow men, because they are for us
and we are outside for them. You
know these workers are in the bas
tiles for no other reason but for be
ing true to their- class the working
class. Therefore it Is up to you wage
workers to free your fellow men and
yourself.
"The hour is at hand when you
must do some thinking for yourselves
and become interested in your own
welfare.
"Every commodity has increased
from 50 to 100 per cent since 1917.
The only commodity you have to sell
is your muscle, or labor power, which
has only increased from 10 to 25 per
cent. Why? It Is because of a lack
of proper organization among your
class. He that does not produce, but
exploits those who do produce, is
well organized. In his organization
lays his power. If through a short
age of labor power the master is
forced to give a small advance in
wages, he immediately proceeds to
raise the cost of living, giving with
one hand and taking away with both.
"Let us get our heads together and
best him at his own game. We can
do so only by shortening our hours
of toil and forcing him to better con
ditions. Your economic power never
was as great as at the present time.
By the workers solidifying we can
gain a six-hour day longer hours are
for the machine not for the man. A
brighter day for you will shine; we'll
have no more damned overtime. Boost
for a six-hour day and free access to
the tools and industries."
The above Is a fair sample of the
stuff that is being used to fan the
flames of class hatred these days.
Part of the poisonous argument seems
fairly plausible and therein lies the
greatest danger. But what is to be
said of the miserable creature who
won't work overtime and only wants
to work a sixhour shift in these try
ing times when the shortage of labor
which already exists is the chief con
cernment of all civiliatlon? When the
soldiers are put on six-hour shifts and
maneuvered on the safety-first plan,
then it will be high time to listen to
what the scrubs and the slackers
have to say. But not before.
Meanwhile, are they to be permit
ted to run at large and scatter the
seeds of discontent and sedition on
every hand? Is there not some way
to apprehend them and mete out the
punishment they bo richly deserve?
To advocate the organization of vigi
lance committees and the liberal use
of hemp would be, perhaps, to go as
far outside the law as these traitors
are themselves, but the only way to
successfully fight the devil Ib with
fire. Unless sound-thinking citizens
have a care, the day will come when
Americans will be pointing guns at
each other.
THE Democrats seem to have made
a good start for the campaign in
their choice of a county chairman.
Dave Dunbar Is nobody's fcol when it
comes to playing politics; he is said
to carry just as big a bag of tricks
as the other fellow; and besides, he
is a good hand at pouring oil on the
troubled waters. Moreover, if I am
correctly informed, he takeB charge
of the campaign this year without be
ing perplexed with the thought of
where the necessary campaign funds
are going to come from. Rumor has it
that the money has already been
raised from monthly assessments of
all job-holders. If this be true, then
he ought to experience a whole lot of
fun in being county chairman. Also,
the only trouble I can possibly see in
store for him, is that of figuring out
a legitimate way of spending the big
amount of money that is oupposed to
be already on hand.
Then this thought comes: Dave Is
one of Uncle Sam's dollar-a-year men,
having supervision over the sale and
use of explosives in the state. By
virtue of this position, does it not
give the Democrats a monopoly on all
the red fire and hot air and all the
other combustible material that are
usually resorted to with abandon in
the waging of an old-fashioned cam
paign? In other words, the new Dem
ocratic chairman has the say as to
who can use explosives and who can
not, and this would seem to give his
party an unfair advantage over the
opposition. So that it would seem
that, in fairness to all, my friend
Dunbar ought to resign one position
or the other.
WHICH suggests another campaign
speculation: I happened to hear
an Indignant citizen cussing the Cor
rupt Practices act the other day in
no uncertain fashion. He is a man of
big affairs, heavily Interested In the
mining industry, and vitally concern
ed over the outcome of the proposed
tax amendment that is to be submit
ted to the people this fall. He Want
s' - iTfiBBMn-T- numrrni rrnttr , i , iaMjagaMMgj
ed to know why he couldn't spend j
his own money to properly present H
his side of the case to the people not H
to buy votes, but in the way of edu- H
eating the people while tho governor H
and other state officials travel on tho ;H
taxpayers' money up and down the
state making no secret of their cam- 1
paign for the adoption of the said H
amendment. I couldn't answer him, H
nor can any one else, for there is no H
justice in such a state of affairs. tH
Then he wanted to know how the iH
situation could be remedied. That is il
quite simple. All that is necessary is H
for the level-headed citizens of tho H
state to get together this fall and H
send the right sort of representatives H
to the legislature. These legislators H
should be pledged beforehand not to H
pass any new legislation, but to pass H
their time reviewing the asinine leg- H
islatlon now in effect and to repeal as H
much of it as is possible in the short H
space of sixty days. And to make H
sure of this, the next legislature H
ought to be composed of men whom H
no person or no party can control. H
Why not pass up the demagogueb and H
the propagandists and the profes- H
sional politicians this year, and send H
our biggest and sanest men to the
state house next January? H
H
IT 1b small wonder that our local H
business enterprises which must de- H
pend on a share of outside money to H
get by are experiencing tough times H
this summer. The railway adminiB- H
tration ,of course, has done every- H
thing in its power to discourage H
travel, which as a Avar measure is
open to argument. But we have our- H
selves to blame for much of the loss
suffered through the absence of tour- H
ists this year. Other places. seem to M
be enjoying a fair business from this M
source, while we are practically iso- H
lated. H
But what more can be expected M
when the report is allowed to go out M
broadcast through the coutnry that all M
oiir resorts and places of amusement M
are closed, and that the town, by or-
ders of the Economy Commissioner, M
goes to sleep at sundown every even- M
ing? Of course all this has been cor- M
rected, but the damage was already M
done on the outside. The tourists are M
passing us by this summer. V
"James," said Mrs. Mellow to the flfl
man servant, "can you find out wheth- II
er the tinned salmon was all eaten EH
last night? I don't want to ask the IH
cook, because she may have eaten it, H
and then she would feel uncomfort- H
able." H
"Please, ma'am," replied James, "the H
new cook ate all the salmon, an' no H
matter what yor was to say to her ?
you couldn't mc her more uncom- fl
fortable than she is now." Baltimore H
American. H