The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1902-07-31
PEANUT POLITICS"
Councilman Believes That Strikes
Are Not Altogether Blamable
for Scranton's Ills.

That all councilmen are not of the
same mind as those who provoked The
Tribune's editorial on Peanut Poll
tics' may be CLEANED from the senti-
ments of which one of their number
delivered himself yesterday:
"It seems to me-" said he, "that the
colored preacher Andrew Jones is
right when he said that Scranton is
Doomed Like all great preachers and
prophets, he has Scripture to sustain
his remarks. But whether Scranton is
doomed or not in the light in which
| the Rev. Jones looks at our future, we
must admit that our city is doomed
to a great extent The reasons that
have to think this is that our city is
growing more cranky and hickey every
year. Men who grow that way seldom
die a natural death; most of them COM
init suicide or else are shot, hung or
die in the electric chair.
1.-THE quality of city is not better
than the quality Of the people that
compose it. There is a possibility for
city or country to commit suicide,
and it appears to me that our city will
kill herself in the near future, If we
won't change front and our method Of
dealing with her.
"a few years ago our city was In a
prosperous condition; life and activity
We're observable ON every hand. Today
it is like cemetery; no life. no activ-
ity. When noble men of purpose, wealth
and business ability come forward and
offer their service to restore life and
build up our doomed city some sore
head politician or a cranky editor will
msconstrue the real object and shout
franchise grab or council boodleism,'
or the like, and the first thing we know
the worthy effort is buried in the life
less cemetery, and the friends co of
the dear people dance with joy.
THE man that has an overload of
jealousy and cranky brains should be
stunned as we shun contagious dis
ease. He is the bitter weed that kills
society.
"a few days ago, read in the Scran-
ton Tribune an editorial article under
the heading Peanut Politics. l was
surprised to lca1n that the auditing
| committee disapproved of the bill sent
in by the recorder for detective work
done the time of the street car strike,
and the bill for detective work in con-
nection with the 'Colored club 1t
seems to me when the committee dis
approved the action of the authorities,
it opposed and upheld riot, vice and
immortality. The incident puts me in
mind of the small dog barking at the
big one. If the above committee will
study some of our great statesmen, l
can assure them they won't stay in
love with Peanut Politics. any longer,
and verify the prediction Of Andrew
Jones. In yesterdays Tribune, July %,
I noticed that another committee OF
council thinks that it knows it all,when
they turn down the plan of the annex
to city hall. I don't claim that our
building inspector is infallible, but COM
mon sense should teach people to think
that his taste and knowledge is far su-
perior to the taste and knowledge of
the majority of the committee, and
that his plans should be accepted and
approved. Some people think that the
carpenters strike, the street car strike
and the miners strike are the causes
of our city being in such a condition.
admit that they are to certain eX-
tent, but the worst strikers of all are
the men who strike against good law,
improvements and industries. Get a
move on you, gentlemen, don't walk
through the old ruts of the past, but
strive to make our city a model. Away
with jealousy, away with crankiness
and peanut politics.