The Elk Mountain pilot. [volume], October 25, 1923, Image 2

About The Elk Mountain pilot. [volume] (Irwin, (Ruby Camp), Gunnison County, Colo.) 1880-19??

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The Elk Mountain Pilot
C. T. RAWALT, Publsher
MRS. FERN H ARNOTT, Local Editor
Entered as Second Class Matter at the Postoffice at
Crested Butte, Colorado.
Advertising rate cards furnished on application
Subscription Price, $2.00 per Tear
THE beautiful editorial headed “The First Storm”
which we reprint elsewhere i!s pood enough to reprint
many times as the years go. We acknowledge with appre
ciation Judge Shackleford’s thoughtfulness for letting us
have it.
NEW YORK has barred the Ku Klux from that state.
'Hie Empire State has torn the masks from the cowards
and that means thei<r speedy dispersal. That is the right
way to get rid of them, Outlaw masked organizations
and invoke publicity as to their membership and the Ku
Klux is a goner. Mighty few men are depraved enough
to admit that they belong to that organization.
THE Paonian reaches our desk for the third time
under the new management of Garritson & Son and after
mature deliberation we unhesitatingly give it as our
judgment that the paper is much improved. It contains
more news, better news, is better prepared and displays
tihe community life in a more attractive manner. Gar
ritson & Son are men and PRINTERS.
WHEN Magnus Johnson begins to discover that the
United States government is sound to the core—that
there is no graft in legislation—that the Executive is be
yond the reach of flattery or intimidation—that the ju
dicial department is incorruptible—and that Congress, for
all its faults, is honest—when he makes these discoveries,
he will say so, says the Washington Post. And the Wash
ington News copies and comments: “When and if.”
FROM one of the Delta papers we reprint a letter
from a local boy in the navy, who writes home of the
Japanese earthquake, His account is very interesting,
particuarly because it is that of an eye witness and the
truth. The stories which were printed by the dailies de
veloped that some of the most artistic and versatile liars
of the age covered that calamity. Their stories varied
greatly and later it developed that a censorship was es
tablished to prevent printing the truth. It is becoming
more and more impossible to trust anything one reads in
a daily pafc>er any more.
WE have conversed with some of the jurors who ,
tried the man Kochevar on a change of venue from San ,
Miguel county. Kochevar was charged in company with
two other men with the murders of which we are now
hearing so much. Two of the men were convicted in
Telluride. Hired detectives built a web of evidence
around them for a price. Kochevar felt that if he could
get before an unprejudiced court and community he
could prove himself innocent.. He made good in this
county and the jurors with whom we havq conversed, say
if the evidence that convicted the other imen is no bet
ter than that presented here against Kochevar, they
should be pardoned at once, In other words it looks as if
the two men who were convicted were railroaded because
the detectives had to earn their money. V.
THERE seems to he a deliberate intent to so press
the prohibition question to the as to cloud,- and
perhaps completely obscure, groat, questions affecting
the well being of all citizens, fifg Business sees in Pro
hibition a splendid stalking camouflage their
raids on the public pocketbook« "Whenever thei Denver
tramway or water company wanted to put over a big
steal in the old days, they had their tools start a crusade
on the unfortunate women of the streets. After driving
them from one district to another the crusade would stop
and it would be found that while 1 the public attention
was called to that silly spasm of reform, some big corpor
ation had grabbed off a franchise or copped a couple of
new streets. The same identical tactics are being played
now on a bigger scale. If sufficient numbers of people
can be interested in new and enticing methods for en
forcing prohibition, Big Business expects to be able to
nominate for office two tickets which will run against one
another and which will amount to the same thing which
ever is elected,
WORD reaches us from Denver that the plaintiffs in
errror, our County Commissioners, who are now before the
Supreme Court on application for a reversal of Judge
Logan’s sentence of removal from office, have filed an ap
plication for an oral argument before the court and “On
account of Illness of their Attorney ask that same be put
off* to some time in December.” It occurs to us that
these coses in which Dr. Geo. L. Sullivan is the mainstay,
are just about ruining the heretofore good health of our
friend C. J. Moynihan. Every time a case against that
gentleman either for distilling whiskey, selling the same
or for malfeasance in office comes up for a hearing it
brings on a case of illness so severe that he has no troub
le in convincing reputable physicians and Honorable
Courts of his physical inability to conduct the case at
that time. But as a step to save Mr. Moynihan from
physical collapse we insist that these cases be
brought to an early decision, even if some'9n*.Qt* jqore of
the associated attorneys in the cases to
act for their chief. Mr. Moynihan is heiiffc vigorously
pushed for National Republican Committeeman, a posi
tion he would doubtless fill with ability, and it is a burn
ing shame that his health should be permanently inpaired
by the nauseating character of these suits.
VICTIM OF WAR MOB AWARDED DAMAGES
KOSKI, a naturalized Finnish workingman, who was
brutally manhandled by a war mob in Red Lodge, Mont.,
in November, 1917, has been awarded substantial damages
in a verdict returned on October 6, against six of the
prominent citizens who led the mob, according to advices
received by the American Civil Liberties Union from
Harlow Pease of Butte, attorney for Koski.
Koski was taken from his home and family by the
so-called “Citizens Committee,” and subjected to flogging
and imprisonment when he denied being an L W. W,
The facts received considerable attention at the time.
Federal Judge George ML Bourquin, who sat in the
case, ordered a verdict of guilty against three of the de
fendents, and the jury of conservative business men in
cluded three others in their verdict The judge admon
ished the jury that patriotism is not a valid excuse for
lawlessness.
“Mob, law and lynch law,” he declared, “mean the dis
solution of government and if juries give heed to the
specious plea of patriotism and refuse to vindicate the
victims, they inspire distrust in orderly government and
will be responsible for the anarchy and overthrow of so
cial order which must follow,”
SUNDAY NIGHT MUSINGS
By c. T. RAWALT
UNDER the guiding hand of a half-baked preacher
in Salida, the Ku Klux Klan are preparing to organize.
This means unly .one thing: That friction and trouble
will take the place of orderly law enforcement. No man
can advocate the organization of hooded thugs to take the
place, of peace officers elected by the people, without ad
mitting his belief that our form of government is a fail
ure. The Ku Klux boast of their being law abiding and
every act of their organization as well as its name, “In
visible Empire”, is a certificate to their being unmitigat
ed liars. We are not in favor of mobs to enforce laws.
We denounce both Ku Klux and their opponents, the
Knights of the Flaming Circle, organized to combat the
Klux. Personally, we have perfect faith in Pat Hanlon
to keep the peace here, and in our courts to enforce the
laws if infractions occur. We are sorry Chaffee county
does! not feel the same. It is probable that the slimy
Klux snake will crawl across the range and invade Gun
nison some day and we hope Pat will jail the first mis
creant that appears on our county’s soil wearing a mask.
—Gunnison Empire, Oct. 18, 1923.
The editorial above, printed last week, seems to have
called forth the following letter:
Salida, Colo* Oct 24, 1923.
Mr. C. T. Rawait. Publisher,
Gunnison, Colo.
Sir:—
I want to inform you that I am the half-baked
Preacher you mentioned in your editorial of recent date,
and I want you to prove that I am the preacher who is
organizing the Ku Klux Klan in Salida, My attorney ad
vised me that you can be sued for libel, and unless you
6rove that I am the preacher organizing the Ku Klux
lan in Salida, I surely will take further action.
I trust that you will act like a real man in this mat
ter. Yours truly,
H, RALPH BIXEL.
Dear Brother Worker in the Vineyard:—
It appears to me that you have not read my editorial
You apparently gave it as little atten
tion as you do other things, for instance the merits of
the Ku Klux Klan.
I did not say that you were organizing the Salida
Klan. I did not say that any preacher was organizing
that body. I imagine if organized at all it will be by
others than residents of Salida,
You say “I am the half-baked preacher you men
tioned.” How come that you identify yourself so posi
tively? Personally, since! receiving your letter, I have
given much thought to that matter. In the classic ver
nacular of your co-worker, Sam Jones, “It is the hit cur
that yelps.”
Now your attorney gives evidence of being a man
of learning. You can sue me for libel. Also you can sue
me for most any crime or misdemeanor in the calendar.
All you will have to do is swear out the complaint. Prov
ing it, however, may turn out a more arduous task, For
example I did not mention you in my editorial unless the
description “half-baked preacher” identifies you above
all others. This you seem to assume.
After mature deliberation of two and one-half hours
I have concluded to stand pat, on my editorial and your
letter, but warn you right now that if we ever go to the
legal mat on this matter I am going to set up as one de
fense that my editorial does not describe you accurately
enough for the establishment of identity. I am going
to introduce your letter in support of the fact that you
are not nearly half-baked; yet.
IF the prohibition party nominates Henry Ford for
president, and he accepts it, Thomas A. Edison and other
friends of “the richest man in the world” will not have
to worry and we will be able to retain Mr. Ford in the
commercial activities of the country.—Grand Junction
News.
The News chortles too early. Henry Ford is his own
platform* his own party and his own best campaigner.
His campaign has been made for years. It is so indelibly
planted in the hearts of the American people that; it is
very doubtful if the endorsement of any body of n>en and
women can harm him. If Ford is a candidate there is
nothing but a fusion of all parties and interests that
could beat him and then it would take colossal fraud,
such as defeated Bryan in 1896. Like Thomas Edison, we
do not want Miv Ford wasted on a job that dubs by the
hundred are willing to take and prdbably would do fairly
well if they had it. Ford, the industrial collosus, the
pace-setter for modern industry, the example for intelli
gent business men to follow, has a wider field for his
ability than the White House. If it were absolutely cer
tain that electing Henry Ford would be accompanied by
the election of a house and senate in harmony with him,
then the country might be able to afford to remove him
from his present sphere of usefulness, There are many
men in both the Democratic and Republican parties
whose election will not 1 impoverish industry of its great
est .asset. We are in favor of. one of them. But the ed
itor who is silly enough to thinik Henry Ford’s candidacy
a medium for jokes ought to be classed with those who
smoke in powder houses.- Every joke made about Ford’s
running for President brings supporters by the hundreds
to his standard.
<~> <->
“AUNT POLLY”
TWENTY years is twenty years. In these days of in
competent labor, a man or woman who serves the public
continuously and graciously for twenty years is a marvel
Such a servant is Miss Mary Dawes, “Aunt Polly”
of the Co-Op, Telephone company, who has held down the
switch board at Paonia twenty years on October 9th, and
as a recognition of her faithfulness, the company on that
day presented her with a twenty dollar gold piece.
“I serve,” seems to be her motto, and never a favor
asiked of Aunt Polly, but she grants it. Nothing is too
much trouble, and her voice is as sweet and cheerful as
ever a voice could be.
We have never seen Aunt Polly but we have had
countless accommodations at her hands. And we know
her at once by that sweet, kindly voice.
Good luck to you. Aunt Polly, and let us add twenty
golden wish os for your continued health and happiness,
and remind you that we treasure in our hearts twenty
golden memories of kindly acts performed by you for us.
—Delta Independent.
We can imagine with just what sincerity the Inde
pendent editor wrote the above. Unlike him we have the
memory of a very close personal acquaintance with Aunt
Polly. To her more tihan to any other person the Co-
Operative Telephone Company of Delta county owes its
succecss. We have known very many nice, accommodat
ing telephone girls, Nearly all are entitled to public
commendation, but not one whom we have ever known
has so unbroken a record of service well performed. Aunt
Polly’s sweet personality had a power of induction that
sweetened the tempera of all who used the lines. Bad
service when it occurred was divided by the knowledge
that Aunt Polly was doing not only all she could but as
much put out over the fact as the subscriber. We can
endorse every word the Independent prints about this
admirable little woman. Aunt Polly is a priceless pearl
among the thousands of jewels who serve the public.
WE notice that Rev. Caleb A. Ridley, Chaplain of
1 the Ku Klux Klan got rip-roaring drunk and was arrested
I with two quarts of whiskey in his poeession after an auto
mobile smash-up. These reformers are the real goods.—
I Creede Candle.
THE ETHICS OF JOURNALISM
By REV. JAMES T. COTTER
Gunnison, Colorado.
Joiftnalism is a public profession,
though comparatively recent, The
Press is a public institution, and must
necessarily have as its primary object
the welfare and good of society. The
invention of the Printing Press in the
15th century was certainly the great
est benefit to mankind in the diffu
sion of knowledge and truth. It is
still a powerful engine for good W’hen
controlled by proper laws, Buti un
restricted by moral principles, this
instrument for good has, and does be
come, a pernicious source of evil.
This is especially true of the daily
press and cheap magazines which are
brought within such easy reach.
Some one has well said that the
journalist, with the powers behind
him, has more to do for good or evil
than the members of any other pro
fession, in creating and shaping the
thoughts of the multitude. Compared
with him, the teacher, the preacher,
the artist, the politician, the man of
science are restricted, interrupted,
indirect in reaching the minds of
their fellow men.
Sociology has recognized the Press
as a wide-spread and growing profes
sion, and considers it one of the chief
organs of social control, and endeav
ors to lay down rules for its proper
government.
The Press must be regulated. Like
every profession an ethical code must
direct its actions. Moral principles
of truth, justice, and charity must be
the basis of its pronouncements, and
the guide of its authors; if it is to
continue in the field of public wel
fare, And the press becomes a per
verted organism when it does not
function for the moral welfare of so
ciety. Certainly as we glance through
the daily press of today, we are
forced to the conclusion that it is a
perverted organism, gone away from
the original paths of knowledge and
truth, trampling on the principles of
truth and justice, and leading astray
the minds and hearts of men.
Inasmuch as Journalism is a new
profession moral theologians as yet
have not discussed its duties at any
great length, much as that is to be
desired. It is necessary therefore in
establishing an Ethical Code for the
Press, to bring its activities within
the jurisdiction of the fundamental
moral principles of truth and charity,
justice and right.
The cardinal sins of Journalism to
day seems to be venality, dishonesty,
sensationalism, all three leading to
violation of the virtues first men
tioned. In the first place, our present
day publisher seeks financial returns
at any cost. To do so he must please
his special patrons, his political
friends and advertisers, even though
Conscience is sacrificed in the trans
action, He is a slave to venality
himself, and he enslaves the minds
and detforms the character of his
readers. The Editorials are a reflex
of his affiliations, and the general
reading matter is colored and dis
torted accordingly. In a word, the
venal publisher will sacrifice all
moral principles, truth, justice, and
charity particuarly, to secure finan
cial returns. So that the reader is
not getting facts, but a distortion of
facts in which he cannot rely. The
public i 6 thus imposed upon, and
false standards of life are created.
Truth, justice, and charity are vio
lated. Scandals are paraded at length
to satisfy and intensify a morbid cu
riosity and a vitiated public taste,
with a view to increased circulation
and the consequent financial rewards.
Such a propaganda of crime tends to
arouse the vilest passions of men,
leads to their downfall, depraves so
ciety, and sins against the law of
charity,
But the Press will answer that it is
just giving the public what they rel
ish. I deny that there is any genera!
demand to be fed out of intellectual
and moral cesspools, and if there be
any such, a foul press is making them
st,ll worse and polluting the atmos
phero f or the innocent, vitiating
the,r tastes, and finally contaminat
ing them with the contagion.
The Press must be regarded in the
light of a public official who enters
■ nto a contract with society to serve
them well. The journalist who serves
for consumption damaged goods and
poisoned draughts, who puts a pre
fmh
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ROME BEAUTYS, Extra Fancy, per box o_o;
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JORGENSEN’S
CASH GROCERY and BAKERY
Gunrison, Colorado
—
mium on venality, dishonesty, and the
livid presentation of scandals, breaks
his contract and is punishable by so
ciety. And the most efficacious form
of punishment to extend to a venal
press is to shut down on patronage.
Here it may be said that the public
who support a vile press; or read its
contents become guilty, through co
operation, of the same sins as the
press itself unless there be a propor
tionate cause in individual cases, ac
cording to the the theory of moral
compensation. (Priimmer O. P, Mor.
Theol.)
If those evils are to be remedied,
journalists and publishers must form
ulate an ethical code for themselves
like other professions, or public au
thority and public opinion must do so
for them.
Fundamental ethics and moral prin
ciples would demand that members
of this profession be first of all con
scious of their tremendous obligations
to public moral welfare. They must
be governed by the dictates of a right
conscience, be sincere and honest in
purpose, independent and courageous
in the defense of righteousness, timid
and judicious in the reports of wrong
doing, avoiding unnecessary details.
It should be the endeavor of the
Press to cultivate a refined moral
taste among its readers, and to re
strain morbid curiosity. The Press
should direct human minds and hearts
to truth and goodness, if it seeks the
welfare of society, On the other
hand, it sins against public morals by
creating a taste for the low and vile
in lurid exhibitions of the salacious
and sensational.
In fine, we might suggest two other
remedies to counteract the evils of
the Press, if the profession itself as
a body will not formulate a moral
code to govern its members and debar
This Takes a Power Plant
An electric iron is just about all an ordinary
electric plant can handle under the best condi
tions—
But it s child’s play for the 1500-watt Kohler
Automatic, with double the capacity of rrtost
plants and no storage batteries to be ruined by
overloading.
>’ ou want electricity without hobbles—all
the light you need and all the power you’ll
demand sooner or later—you want the Kohler *
Automatic.
Come in any time and see a mighty fine piece
of machinery at work Or telephone or write us
•or a demonstration at your home.
Jack Wilson Gunnison, Colo.
KOHLER AUTOMATIC
LIGHT
from their ranks the unworthy: First
educate the public mind and con
science by placing within their reach
a press that is noble and elevating to
mind and heart and based on the vir
tues of justice, charity, and purity,
and thus indirectly lessen the evil
secondly, educate the public mind and
conscience to make a united effort in
securing legislation that will empow
er our States and Municipalities to
exercise a rigorous censorship over
the publication and sale of books,
magazines, and the daily press, and
thus in a direct manner insist on an
Ethical Code for Journalism. An In
dex Expurgatorius would produce re
suits.
A Poor Bargain
“Bruddren and sistahs,” began Goat
Simmons, the gambling man, rising
in his place in the midst of the ex-*
perience meeting in Ebenezer Chapel,
"I was a sinner for many years, run
nin’ dis-huh-way and dat in puhsoot
o‘ de golden calf and never kotchin’
it, I swum in sin an’ wallered in
’nickerty, and got no sadisfaction fum
It. I sold muh birthright for a pot o’
message—l mean, a mot o’ pessage—
ar-sah!—a pess o’ mottage—well, any
how, bruddren and sistahs, whatever
‘tiwuz, I done got hell cheated out o’
me!”
“Rat-Snap Beats tlie Best Trap Tier
Made,” Mrs. Emily Sliaw Says.
“My husband bought $2 trap. I
bought a 66c box of RAT-SNAP. The
trap only caught 3 rats but RAT
SNAP killed 12 in a week. I’m never
without RAT-SNAP, Reckon I couldn’t
raise chicks without it.” RAT-SNAP
comes in cakes. Three sizes, 35c, 65c.
$1.25. Sold and guaranteed by Dr. A.
Taylor.
Old Papers— For Sale at this office.