The commercial., January 08, 1915, Image 4

About The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?

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Holered M -.)-' Pf ffice Bt U,,lon CUy Ten
nessee. as secod-class " matter, ;,
Marshall &'Ihird, City- Tcn-
FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 1915.
Announcements.
4 For Trustee.
trKSON -Wears authorised to amiounce W.
J a Ellis') Jackson a candidate for Trustee of
5." -i., tv subject to the action of the
SSSScrSlccUou nrst Thursday in
August, 1916..
' s Needed in Tennessee. ,
An editorial- from the Memphis Com
mercial Appeal in this week's paper
drives with some mighty jgood sound
sense at the things that are.needed to be
done by the Legislature and by the peo
ple of Tennessee. The State debt, the
schools and the fee system, as well as
other things, should have due attention.
There is no fustian about this matter.
The old machine needs overhauling from
stem to stern, aud some of the parts
need' renewing altogether. We have out
grown our constitution. .We need new
pants. Our knee breeches have been
worn too long. And these pants need
tobe made good and strong from some
thing like corduroy material. There
should not be too much sentiment about
it'either. Many a good question has
been carried on the crest of enthusiasm
fimvnrimts much too far. The
till uw.....'"
school question was boomed aud boosted
unfil it exceeded the speed limit, and
the grafters began to operate. We have
some time ago become reconciled to the
division of the State normal school for
for each erand division of
r viju""-1!
the State. It was not necessary and
incurred an extra expense to the State
without an equivalent advantage. But
to add a rider to the act providing free
tuition in the common school branches
to children from other counties was
totally unnecessary ami uncalled for.
That the State in going to the expense
of providing tuition and quarters for
children outside of their own counties
moves the State normals over into the
pork barrel class as far as the points at
which they are located are concerned.
This is a mistake and the Legislature
should fcorrect it. Every penny that is
Dot needed strictly for teachers' courses
should revert back to the counties where
it belongs. No money should be allowed
whatever for your children and ours to
attend the normal schools except for
those who are taking a course in the
teachers' branches, which cannot be had
in the grammar and high schools at
home. The branches that are taught at
home should not be given free In the
State normal schools. It is an extra
expense unscrupulous politicians and
pork barrel lobbyists have saddled upon
Tennessee and should be repealed. -
Our Superintendent.
C. L. Ridings was re-elected last Mon
,day Superintendent of Public Instruc
tion for Obion County, beiug indorsed
by the County Court for the fourth term
in that high office. Mr. Ridings has
filled the office every day and hour he
has been in it with exceptional ability
and he has worked hard against ob
stacles to achieve results. Success has
crowned his efforts in the grade and
efficiency of the schools, but opposition
to the progressive spirit has retarded
fcirn some. He wants the consolidated
graded schools aud the high schools.
He has been unceasing in his efforts
along these lines, and it must be a
splendid commentary upon his person
ality and qualifications that he was
elected in spite of a reactionary spirit.
The day has come when good graded
scltools are demanded by the literary, (
the commercial and industrial world
the civilization of the twentieth cen
tury. The high school is also in de
mand. The avenues of life are calling
for young men and women who are
prepared, 'and the old imperfect system
will not meet this demand. Mr. Rid
ings wants Obion County to take a bet
ter stand for graded schools. He is
ambitious in this desire and his ambi
tion deserves the moral and substantial
support of every citizen of the county.
We should car more for the prepara
tion of our children for life than a
dowry of land or money. Train the
mind of your son or daughter, and
if there is any metal in them they will
show it; but if left in idle luxury the
consequences are almost invariably fail
ure to measure up to the needs of the
. ff-too often to a life of disgrace.
Hold up the hands of your County
rwrintendent and your teachers, xuey
may be a little mistaken sometimes, but
in tlia main thev will be right in their
efforts to establish and standardize our
public school system. .
Rainess conditions are reassuring
r. a rpnort bv the United
States Chamber of Commerce.
Our State Legislatures.
fieTPtyiessee and Alabama Legisla
tures open to-morrow and the Arkansas
Legislature next week. '
YVhetlmr it is ' to be.' the same old
crowd of lawmakers working the State
and the same old crowd of politicians
working the lawmakers remains to bo
seen.
, Legislators have been fooling the peo
ple for a long- time, " They promise re
form in the summer and forget it in
the winter. ,
Preliminary to the Tennessee Legis
fature the politicians have gathered in
Nashville. They are not concerned in
constructive legislation so far as any
one has heard. , .
Their business is to pull for offices for
friends aud to put in a lick that will
strengthep their machine.
As long as we have political govern
ment we must have politicians. Their
degree of usefulness is measured by
their intelligence, capacity, selfishness
or unselfishness.
The Legislatures of most of the South
ern States would have long ago ruined
them except for the increase of pros
perity that has come to the people from
a fast developing country.
The State Legislatures in this section
are chiefly conspicuous for their inef-j
ficiency in managing the business affairs
of their States. They are quick to un
dertake debts, but forgetful of the pay
day.
The C4overnors of Alabama, Arkan
sas, Mississippi and Tennessee are con
cerned in securing money to pay float
ing debts. Now and then they are
compelled to go to New York to ar
range for renewal of bonds, which work
the Legislature has neglected.
In Tennessee this year there is splen
did opportunity for constructive work.
The debt of the State should be ad
justed and settled.
The convict lease system should be
abolished and the convicts should be
utilized for road building.
The fee system should be thoroughly
overhauled.
In the counties of Shelby, Madison,
Montgomery, Davidson, Hamilton and
Knox the enormous amount paid to fee
officers should be turned back to the
taxpayers and the officials should be
placed on salaries.
The excess of fees officials in Shelby
County receive over what they are worth
is approximately $150,000 a year. This
amount of money put in schools and
buildings would be of some use.
The normal schools of Tennessee re
quire larger accommodations.
These normal schools are doing a
blessed work. They afford opportunity
at a minimum cost to young men and
women to equip themselves thoroughly
for the business of teaching.
If the West Tennessee Normal School
had another large dormitory it could
accommodate 1,000 pupils. Its present
caoacitv is about 450.
The University of Tennessee ..should
ho onlnroerl in all its branches. Given
adequate support, the university's facil
ities are such that no young man or
woman born in Tennessee need go be
yond this State to secure a thorough
education in law, medicine, pharmacy,
engineering, the humanities or agricul
Tho nnii-prsitv'a aencultural depart
ment should be extended so that it3
ar-tivitips could eo into the remotest
tiamlpt-.
In order to educate the people of
Tnnw into better farming methods
we have got to take the education to
the door of the small farmer and the
tenant. ,
The State should provide for a lab
oratory where the serums for cattle,
hogs and horses could be manufactured
n nil t ry.m rl.f.rppnfirt3 could eo through
the State and teach the people how to
use tbem.
Pr.mnlaint has been made and justly
so against some of the output of the
present plant.
Passing from agriculture to living,
the State board of health ought to be
o.onfm-wrl. and it should be encour
aged to co-operate with the teaching
corps of the state in poinung me way
tn UoHor nrimltlVP WOrK.
The State board ol education snouiu
l,n sn rpo-nlated that no partisan politics
1,1 ha nnwiilprp.(l ill itS WOrk.
Arkansas. Tennessee and Alabama
learned a severe lesson during the year
1914.
All of these States have been exploit
o,i h tVioir nnliticians for many years
The real things of importance were
neglected.
red fourteen caught
.u ,,oior nnrtinn of these States on a
one-crop basis. Had their Legislatures
and leaders displayed the activity and
the intelligence ot tnat oi vYiscoua.u
ir.n.oinrTnn. means would long
ago have been afforded the people
through education to so arrange iueu
of liwintr that thev would have
bad an income from a multiplicity of
sources instead of a bare living irom
The United States Government sent a
commission to Europe two or three
years ago to investigate land banks and
agricultural loans.
Tk rooaaura witu nna preatlv favored
hv President Wilson. The reserve-bank
bill crowded it to the rear.
hp Ippislators of
of the'udi tQviwj tJand,banJs
i . .1. ... :il ..l.t l,r. uionl.
scueme mm win cuauio luou i.v c... .
to own land to buy it and pay for it,
not in three years, but in 15 years.
ot rifionlH in Southern cit
ies have built their homes through build
ing and lan associations, ine rate oi
interest is high, but at the enu oue
owns his own. The huilding and loan
association does a good work, iuere
is nothing of this sort for the tenant
farmer. .
- nna nf the tragedies of some of the
Southern States is that the number of
people who work land and do not own
it is constantly increasing. - -
Ownership of land does much toward
making a sturdy, strong aud buoyant
people. Tenantry makes for thriftless
pess, and loss of hope, .
tu npnnlp of Franco and Germany
. ii u tr- -
to-day are sustaining a tremendous war
against eacn otner. ine area oi mu
country is not as large as Texas, but
the people who work the land own it.
The landholding classes are contribut
ing the sinews of this war, both in men
and money.
Their tracts are small, but they are
so thrifty that they are stronger finan
cially than the 100,000,000 people of the
United Sfates.
The lawmaker cannot legislate pros
perity, but the lawmaker can remove
many of the obstacles that are against
prosperity, and they can so legislate
,w.,t nilpr trip laws the peonfe may
moro easily work out the problem of
healthy and moral living. Memphis
Commercial Appeal.
:::q::::::::: :::::::'
HAVE YOJU. TRIED
o
.
ERS
EY
CREAM:
FLOUR
AsK Your Grocer for it
NONE BETTER
t a
!CvSSi-
p.
County Government.
In the current number of Farm and
Hsrbprt Quick makes some
pungent remarks on the question of
county government. In beginning his
article Mr. Quick puts the pertinent
question: "How's your couuty govern
ment?" He then proceeds to say:
"I have never yet seen an American
citizen who was proud of his county
government. If there is a county gov
ernment in the United States of which
its citizens are proud I should like to
hear from that county. I should like
a photograph of the county officers who
are responsible for such exceptional and
blessed conditions.
"I don't say .that there is no such
thiug, but I do say that I have never
found it, and 1 have been a stuuent oi
the question for many years."
Mr. Quick cites some investigations
of county fiscal affairs in which woeful
conditions of negligence and graft were
discovered. He is sure that similar con
ditions exist in many other counties.
He quotes Bailey B. Burritt,- general
agent for the New York Society for
Improving the Condition of the Poor,
as saying: "I am more or less opti
mistic about county government, but
my optimism grows out of -the fact that
at the present time it is about as bad as
it can be, and any change will be for
the better."
The voters in the comities, Mr. Quick
says, are not dishonest and the average
officials are not fools or grafters. They
are merely trying to govern without the
proper tools of government. If you
make the conditions favorable for bur
dock, burdock will spring up; if you
make the conditions favorable for thiev-
erv and favoritism, these things will
. . . . x . . . . ,
spring up." Mr. Quick reiers to goou
results that have been secured in cities
whpre the commission form of govern
ment has been adopted. In closing his
artice he writes:
Qahnke-Walker filing Co.
" fa
Ask us for prices when selling your grain, g
CHARLES WARD
UPHOLSTERER
High-Class, work in Furniture
v Repairing and Rehnishing.
First-Glass Work Guaranteed.
Prompt Service.
Leather Work a Specialty
Box Couches Made to Order.
Concrete Block, Church Street; fire-door
west of Metcalfe 8 Laundry
Telephone 438.
$1 Pays for the Commercial 1 Year
E. P. GRISSOM
THE. OLD
RELIABLE
GROCER
-TWO GOOD LINES-
Golden Gate
Teas and Coffees
Chase & Sanborn's
Teas and Coffees
THE VERY BEST THE WORLD AFFORDS
FRESH MEAT MARKET THE- BEST
Meat, Flour, Sugar, Coffee
Everything:!
All handled in an up-to-date, sanitary manner.
No order too large. No order too small.
'
E. P. GRLSvSOM
TAKE LIVrVER-LAX AND
FEEL WELL,
Don't suffer from the ill effects of an
inactive liver, such as headache, indi
gestion, constipation, lack of energy
and low spirits, when for a little money
you can get a remedy of proved merit.
GKIGSBY O JjlV-ViiXv-l-iAA. Will get
your liver right and let you enjoy bet
ter health and brighter spirits. LIV-
VER-LAX acts naturally ana enecuve
ly.' Has none of the dangers and bad
"after effects of calomel. . Sold under an
absolute money refund guarantee at 50c
and $1 a bottle. Each bottle is protect-.
ed by tne iifeeness oi li. jv. ungsuy.
For , sale by Oliver's Kod Cross Drug
Store. v advt
Stockholders Meeting. ,
f ho annual mefitinff of the share
holders of the Farmers Exchange Bank
of Union Uty,. Tetin., win do neiu iu
tha Konir hnildin? at 3 o'clock n. m. on
Thursday, Jan. 14, 1915, for the pur
pose of electing a presiaent, casnier auu
directors for the ensuing year.
It is requested that every stocKnoiuer
will be present in person, or by proxy.
E. E. White, Cashier.
38tf Harris Parks, President.
J. C. BURDICK
Wholesale and Retail
Reelfoot Lake and
Mississippi River .
Fish Game
Oysters in Season.
New location, East Main Street
Phone 185. UNION CITY, TEJNJN
Phones 204-230
Washington Ave.
,ln my opinion we shall never get
tno nnrth nf our road funds, our poor
funds, our bridge funds, our general
fundaor any of cur funds, nor shall
we geTthe kind of government of which
we shall have reason to be proud, until
we adopt something like the commission
form of government lor counties.
"Anrl tins v. How's vour COliniy kuv-
ornmontV A rfi VOI1 DrOud Of It.' 13 it
efficient? Is it honest? And if not,
what's the remedy, if I have not sug
gested the remedy?"
Several counties iu Kentucky have
voted to adopt the commission form of
government. They have done this with
the firm conviction that they cannot
possibly damage themselves in the tran
saction. In other words they feel, like
the New York man quoted by Mr. Quick,
that county government is about as
bad as it can be, and .any change will
be for the better."
The people do not pay enough atten
tion to the question of county govern
ment. Once in a long while they be
come wrought up bout something and
make their wishes known with empna-
sis. For the rest of the time "what is
everybody's business is nobody's bus
ness" and the county governs itself
with whatever assistance it receives
frqm officials who, too often, are indif
ferent, incompetent or more interested
in personal pickings than in the public
eood.
The people get the sort of county
government they permit. They not in
freauently make bad selections in choos
ing their officials; but they make a
worse mistake i not holding, their
officials to a stricter accountability.
This is not easy to do under the exist
ing system. It ought to be more fea
sible under the commission plan.
Louisville Courier-Journal.
Good Job Printing a Specialty Here
EAT OUR
10THER:
IT'S GOOD
i
MADE BY
BaSinlie's
Cafe
CALL YOUR GROCER OR
Phone 109
i
i in
in
j
1 1
mi
BREAD" I
in
i i j'
MILLING HOSPITAL
A Modern Surgical Institution
Graduate nures in attendance.
Rates reasonable.
Dr. W. A. Naming, Surgeon
Mrs. L. E. Rodecker, Supt.
Phone 41. UNION CITY. TENN.
DR. JAKE H. PARK
DENTIST
Office: Room 1, Nailling Building
TELEPHONE 136
UNION. CITY. TENNESSEE
Y0UNGBL00D VS7
YCUNGBLCOD & IfOUNGBLOOD
GRADUATE VETERINARIANS
All calls answered day or night.
Location Office and Hospital opposite Hou
se, tiuim.1 ,
Telephones Office 428; Residence 207
Union City, Tenn.
NN31 'AID NOINfl
JSaiprma Satm& ! mooH :9ogjo
XD31IHDW
tfOTAVl d H
N.,C.&St.L Ry.
u r A I VlMF TARI F.
Iave Union City.
. EAST BOUND
No. 5.-7.45 a.m. No. 3 S.05 p.nv
No. 93y.&o p.m.
WEST BOUND-
No. 62 6.47a.m. No. 4 12.50 p.m.
No. 927.10 p.m.