Goodwin's weekly : a thinking paper for thinking people. [volume], December 07, 1918, Page 2, Image 2

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

                
HI 2 GOODWIN'S WEEKLY
Hpy PRESIDENT WILSON'S JAUNT.
TO the lay mind it is' incomprehensible why President Wilson,
having decided to attend the peace conference, should have ap-
Hl pointed any delegates. He at least knows how much deeper and
Kf more profound he is than any or all of the others he has named,
HUg and as it is no trick for him to overthrow traditions, why did he not
Hl quietly explain in one of these familiar White House bulletins, that
H$ he was going alone because no matter how Democratic he might have
'Igi been in making the world free for the Democrats, that his soul rested
HgK serenely on a higher plane than theirs, that if civilization is to be
Hp tolerable it is entirely up to him, and that there would be no neces-
f sity for anyone else to attend the Peace Conference.
His admirers would have taken the explanation as a matter of
m course, and-others would have accepted the statement with the usual
K awe that has been manifested every time his ink or oratory has been '
.; called upon when it seemed to be the psychological time for limelight
Jf, and laudation.
UP What in the world will our delegates to the conference have to
HK do with President Wilson present? Had he dispensed with the others
Ku such an act might also have obviated the necessity of taking along his
Hf1 princely retinue including the fifty cooks that accompanied him on
Vi the George Washington. We wonder how many thousands during
H; the war let one cook go as part of their financial sacrifice.
j President Wilson's policies must be supreme, and he has stated
V that he does not want to be embarrassed in carrying them out. Ap-
H j parently defeat can embarrass him, as evidenced in the late con-
A gressional elections.
H I Of course his superiority over everyone at the peace table will
H readily be manifested ; in the presence of the professor, their elemen-
H'j tary schooling will result in a complete expose of their mediocrity,
H and for that reason we cannot understand the necessity for such a
Hl , gathering so long as Mr. Wilson is on the job.
H j It would be taking too much for granted to assume that our dele-
H ! gates could be trusted to properly represent America at the confer-
Hr' ence without the presence of Mr. Wilson, so why they were ever
Hf appointed will remain a mystery. Their inferiority is perfectly clear
Hm in the president's mind, and it should be in the minds' of the American
Ry people.
tl We do not know that the president has any quarrel with God for
H. failing to endow others with sufficient intelligence to cope with the
Hf situation, but in any event his plain duty was to stay in Washington
Hiv during this momentous session of congress, and turn a deaf ear to
Hjl the siren call of Pomp, instead of planning to take advantage of an
H opportunity to display his pedantry.
Hg Woodrow Wilson is riding to a fall, and the third leg of the
HL trip is being made aboard a transport headed for bleeding France.
Hf OPEN THE TOWN.
Hj HP HE attitude of the state officials who are trying to stamp out
HL J- the flu has become unbearable, and there is an undercurrent of
Hv protest growing stronger every day that promises to develop into a
H I tidal wave that will sweep the next legislature off its feet unless the
H laws governing the appointement and powers of the State Board of
H Health undergo a radical change.
H There are not a great many people who know that the State
H' Board of Health can do about as it pleases, that even the governor
Ht can have little or nothing to say regarding the restrictions placed
Hjjf on the people of the state, and that a Martinet in an epidemic like the
Hf present one can, if he chooses, do irreparable financial damage, ruining
H hundreds of men operating on small capital, and causing tremendous
Hf losses to wealthier men and concerns.
H By the law passed in 1907, there are seven members of the state
Hp board, and the law so reads that most of them can prepetuate them-
H.i selves in office, for only one member can be appointed each year, and
Ht it would take seven years to organize a complete new board. 'That
H'd is almost as assinine as some of the rules laid down by the chairman
H I and the members.
H I This business of keeping the theatres, schools and churches
B J closed, restricting sales, and making other restrictions has broken a
lot of men, has -deprived many more of employment, and has caused
more unnecessary suffering than could possibly be chronicled. If the
least common sense had entered into the consideration of the subject,
we might bear it in silence, but nearly everything in relation to- it
has been unreasonable to a marked degree, and we in common with
others indignantly protest.
It is encouraging to read every morning and evennig that the
situation is improving, and note in another column that the number &
of new cases is steadily growing. It is encouraging but hardly con- m
vincing. And why shouldn't there be an increase? Except in hospit- 'j
als, there is no strict quarantine put on a patient, and there should gM
be just as much as in a case of smallpox or scarlet fever. The fami- 'Wf
lies of those afflicted are allowed to see them, and come to town in w!
the course of their daily work. There is no restraint except on the Jp
people who are trying to carry their business through that part of '$
' the year which should be the busiest, and the rank discrimination 1 '
that is being shown, should, we believe, be an excellent cause for j& '
damages against the state. 7 II
Influenza is in the air, and we are under the impression that no j!
more people would contract it than would if the town were wide . Jt I
open. How do the worthies explain the cases on that ranch where la
thirteen people came down with the disease, and none had left theap
ranch, and no one had come to it for thirty days? A parallel case isT
that of the two sheepherders in the Duchesne country who had seen-; !
no one for a similar period and both died of the flu. Possibly they.vA
were in town and went to the theatre last August. I
If a shot in the arm is a sure preventative, let's go. Inoculation i
would certainly be better than stagnation, not to mention the incal-'J J
culable losses being sustained by so many. There are lots of mer- I
chants who are not taking in enough to pay the day's expenses withr
out figuring the cost of their goods, and when they come to pay for
their merchandise what is going to happen if they are not wealthy,," &
or cannot borrow sufficient funds to meet their obligations? rfjfh)
And why should Salt Lake be the only town on the map where ;$3tt
such a condition prevails? No other city has been closed for nine v
' weeks, and there isn't a logical reason for this situation having been
handled as it has. We mention Salt Lake being on the map, but it 'jf
isn't so far as theatrical people are concerned, for they are shooting j1
them straight from California to Denver, and figure us with the
dead, in the meantime trying to keep their organizations intact here, Jjt
in the event that we ever come to life again. JM
If Dr. Paul would talk for publication, we believe his remarks jm
would be very interesting, for it is practically cerjtain that he, at
heart, is not in accord with the edicts of the dictator on the hill, any 0p
more than are the majority of Indignant citizens. ',J&
Open the town if only for a week or two as an experiment. We jSa ,
venture the prediction that the results in mortality and financial dis- JS
tress would be no worse than they have been during the time theJW
State Board of Health has relegated our city to the garbage can. f'Xgf
THIS MASK BUNK. jjH
'MUhuH
THE wearing of masks consisting of three or four layers of. EUJ
as a preventative for influenza is sheer nonsense not to mention
the fact that the practice is insanitary, if not absolutely dangerous. Jk$
Influenza is miasmatic, and when a gauze mask becomes moistit ,
is more dangerous to the wearer than if it were not worn, because
of capillary attraction. M
One need not be technical, it is only necessary to use a little conjs'
mon sense to see the danger in the flu mask. Nature intended that
the air taken into the lungs should be warmed in passing, but withw
mask on, it is impossible to take in enough air through the ndsjjKjjUw
and one must breathe through the mouth as well. The Jungs are' noty
prepared for the resultant shock of cold air. , f M j
There are several reasons why masks should not be worn. Doesrj
it stand to reason that the mask is bound to rapidly become a dirt5j
thing with the filth om without, and the effluvia from withintjlj
spread over the face and the inner surface of the mask? ,,I
There's something else to consider. In measles the physician dil
covers that the patient has what is called a measly eye. Whenajng!
one is afflicted with influenza it often sh s in the eyes, andtlr