The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1902-12-06

uc UcDduCIcS HUI LI1t IuIIlUlcSt Su11Id80
Of his ward.
He is always elected by an over
Whelming majority. His selection at
each recurring election might as we'll
be unanimous. The tallies in his favor
are out of all proportion to the numeri-
cal strength Of his party in the ward.
The more money spent to beat him, the
greater the volume Of scurrility heaped
upon him, the more determined the re-
formers became in their efforts to down
him-the greater "Jawn" Powers plu-
rality every time.
OF course, the abuse helps him.
Everybody but purblind bigots and po-
ltical amateurs, recognize the fact that
political amateurs, recognize the fact
that personal vilifhcation becomes a
boomerang in the hands Of the crusader.
Nobody has ever been able to trace
mean, cowardly, or dishonest action to
"Jawn' Powers door. He keeps a sa-
loon and most Of the people in his ward
transact business with saloons
"Jawn's" saloon is not in the Nine
teenth, and so averse is he to trench
uron the advantages Of others that he
steadily refuses to open up ward
H6dOQudI AZ one ll1uG, Jane
Addams, Of Hull House, encouraged the
bright idea that the way to defeat
"Jawn" was to oppose him with another
saloon-keeper. There is no better wom-
all. no more unselfsh friend Of the poor
in Chicago, or in the world, than Jane
Adams. but the blunders of her fights
against Powers have become part of the
political jcke-books Of that city. The
decent, Republican saloon-keeper who
was chosen to whip "Jawn" was beaten,
of course, but the joke came out when
he called around next day and con-
graduated the victor.
'Twould have rooned me-" he said to
a reporter, "'twould have rooned amy
saloon-keeper in tn ward t'bate Jawny
Powers. Since tn campaign COM
minced, I haven't done a. days good.
The on'y night whin things lukked up
was whin Jawny himsilf brought tn
byes over t. blow 'em aft few
Founds.'
How does he do it? Why does he al
ways win?
Because he is one Of the people
amongst whom he lives. Because he
knows their weaknesses and their woes:
OCNoNoC AC WILL w AlVAC 4Ol poor
man than for rich man; because he
prefers to get job for the drunken
father Of a helpless family, rather than
to send him to the Bridewell; because
he will take the hand Of an ex-convice
and set the despised one ION his feet"
instead Of setting the police after him !;
because he will pay the fines of reck-
less young ruffians rather than see their
honest parents shamed out of the neigh
borhood; because, in his lavish and un-
systematic charity to the poverty
stricken people about him, he knows
neither race, creed, caste, political party
nor personal discrimination. When the
poor are without coal, he sends a load
and asks no questions, and no pay.
When friendless wonderland they may
be bad women, at that-when widows
or Deserted wives fall sick in their
squalid warrens, he sends his own doc
tor 70 tend them, and "there IL no BILL
, He gets licenses for hundreds Of Greek
and Halian fruit peddlers who hive in
his ward, he goes bail for the old
|clothes Jew and the Servian peddler
who run afoul Of the law before they
understand 1t. When the lawless young
linen Of his ward get too gay, he calls
|t6sm ~ and delivers an ultimatu1, He