The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1899-03-04


CENTEES OF SOCIALISM ABOUT THE GREAT
LAKES.
/. The Aitgeld wave. 2. The Debs wave. 5.
The Pingree wave. a. The Jones wave. 5. The
johnson wave.
ed in the wave washed borders of the
middle states? Or Ices the cold cur
rent which sweeps down from the mys-
tic depths of Lake Superior bring with
it some subtle influence which prompts
men to preach of the brotherhood Of
man and to establish potato farms or
vacant city lots?
If neither chance nor current, then is
it that these disciples of advanced pol
itics have chosen the lower lake re-
gions as the best fitted for the scene of
their labors in something after the
fashion that Wordsworth. Coleridge and
Southey took up their residence in the
lake district of Cumberland and West
morland, where they founded what was
known as the lake school Of poetry?
Perhaps the least known of these
leaders in the lake centers of socialism
is Mayor Samuel M. Jones OF Toledo.
His socialism is of the practical, ev-
eryday sort. He has no fine theories
which he does not attempt to put into
practice.
Mayor Jones made his money largely
in oil, laying the foundation for his
present fortune in the Pennsylvania oil
fields. He is also the proprietor of a
big manufacturing concern He pays
good wages and at the end of each year
makes each of his employees a present
of a check for from s to 10 per cent of
the entire amount he has received dur
ing the year. He is not a party ex-
tremist. but, in the eyes of his friends.
IAN enthusiastic socialist in the true
sense of the word"
While little is SAID about it he con-
tributes perhaps five times his salary
as mayor to the poor of the city, doing
it in an unostentatious and quiet way.
He is a musician of no mean ability and
has achieved a reputation as a speaker
upon industrial subjects. He is con-
tinually besought to speak in various
cities over the country. He owns what
is known as Golden Rule park. where
open air meetings are held, with good
speaking and good music in summer,
and Golden Rule hall, where the same
programme is observed in the winter.
Suppose we imagine each one of the
men mentioned to be a force center
from which radiate waves of socialistic
ideasi Just see from how many differ
ent directions would these waves inn
pinge on the agitated ether about To-
ledo-Pingree on the north, Johnson on
the east, Debs in the south Inc Altgeld
in the west. Is it any wonder that the
spirit of socialism pervades Toledo?
Think of the pillows of unrest that
come rolling down on Toledo from up
Detroit way! The activity of Governor
Pingree never ceases. Month after
month he keeps up the fight against
trusts and monopolies. He has fought
the street railways, the gas combina-
tion and the railroads tooth and nail.
1t has not been altogether a windmill
fight, either, for he has cut down street
car fares, reduced the price of gas and
forced railroad rates down.
His potato farming idea, which has
gained him more fame than anything
else, was introduced merely as a side
issue. He put it into practice as an ex-
pertinent in handling the city poor prob
lem. 1t has been widely ridiculed. Yet
dozens Of cities have adopted this same
plan, and it is estimated that Pingree's
potato patches annually save Detroit
taxpayers from $50, 900 to $50, 600.
So the origin of the lake school of So
ciaIism is a subject worthy of inquiry