The Holt County sentinel., 1893-04-14
Your Duty and Mine.

VII hSNtS stpo >sAs"[s
ny C. 1.
II PERSON pays yearly to Life In
surance, Odd Fellows Lodge, Fire In
surance, company sor some other and the
contingency happens whereby he is en-
titled to demand the benefit Of the policy
there is no secret made Of it; his friends
will even boast how promptly the com
pdny or society was in making payment.
Now the same person may have gone on
paying to the state or county a sum
yearly to sustain the poor fund during
all his or her life, and the forefathers oi
the person may have done SO for a cen
tury without any one OF the family ever
having derived one cent Of benefit direct
ly from the payments. We have known
Of families whose heads have paid year
iy, for eighty years or longer. sum to
the poor fund of counties, which sum, il
it had been paid to Life Insurance
company would have entitled each fam
lily to a large fortune. And yet, because
it 80 happened, that ''riches took WINGS"
as usual, and An old couple was left des-
tituto in one Of the families, it WAS
deemed a disgrace for them 10 retire to
the poor farm! II is true that the pub
lie opinion on many affairs is utterly
wrong and ill guided, but save in this
case. q shrewd common sense view Is
taken by il on all business. Here on IA
simple question Of SO much cash paid
for a certain subsistence, ignorance,
prejudice, folly interpOse to stamp the
recipient Of the subsistence as degraded.
Now this il q serious concern, because it
leads us to neglect and m:smanagemcnt
OF one Of the most Important and indis
pensiUle institutions Of modern society.
Who, for instance, would not hoot ut the
very idea Of letting our schools to the
lowest bidder: Such d thing could he
done only upon the theory that the
schools are contem;tible. But We give
the management oi the poor farms to the
lowest bidder! The thought that this is
SO, that We are 80 in,ifably mean and
childish in thus, ought to make blush
mantle our faces. 1t Ii dish Onest too
for it is an effort to sneak out OF our
contract. We miscail it charity, aims
giving forsooth. Charity, aims, after
thousands OF us have yearly paid taxes
to the poor fund by Il contract implied
conditional that il ourselves or others
are ever entitled to demand the relief
the relief shall be granted.
Our false View Of the poor farm or
home originated out OF the old custom
Of supporting the intirm poor by contri-
buttons or charity hospitals founded by
individuals. In those times the recip-
tents took the aims and We're veritable
paupers.
Strange to say however. that such has
been our bind stupidity in forming an
opini ion ON this, that to-day, it is con
siiered more respectable to be received
into some charity hospital or homo than
to go to the poor hous Consequently
the public, instead of TAXI ng IL pride in
It's own institution created and su stained
by taxes aud keeping an eye upon it by
frequent visits, utterly despises ard heg
'ects il, so that all manner al abuses
thrive under manacements. Now every
person should take "a pride in this noble
provision for the iBiirm poo. and visit
the farms and homes often and insist
that good managers at good salaries he
employed.
These remarks have been suggestedby
seeing repitition of that same old fraud
the letting Of the poor farm to the low
est bidder No doubt the authorities do
this as they are bound to do 1t, By stat
ute.
We might look for Just such legisla-
ton from the class III legislators We
select. Wretched, mean, miserly, sting.-
ness where all should he liberia! and en-
lightened, and waste and reckless pro-
iigality in things entirely unnecessary.
1t is to he hoped that the "lmtiRiiye
aud Referendum" advocated by HoIe
and Hpne at San Francisco and already
adopted in Switzerland and Australia
will sooB he adopted here and an end
put to misrepresentation government
over the people by jobbery and mono
poly.