Marble Hill press. (Marbel [sic] Hill, Mo.) 1881-1923, 1905-10-20

and G.. A. Sander, are on the pro
gram for the discussion of impor
tant subjects.
THE investigations going on il
the big insurance companies il
New York, and the developments
remind us of what we heard an old
gentleman say some years ago II
telling about mean horse he once
owned, and among his other faults
he seems to have walked too fast
when he worked him to the pillow
and, said he, 1.-the faster he walked
the hotter he got" The more those
fellows investigate, the more they
find out. Just what kind of pun
ishment ought to be meted out to
concerns of such influence and f.
nancial power that play upon, and
betray the confidence of the public
is a hard question, but it certainly
ought to be plenty. Several of
the states, and Missouri among
them, are taking action which will
probably revoke the lisences and
stop further business unless the
funds taken from the treasures and
contributed to republican campaign
funds and paid to lobbyists, be re-
turned, and the resignation of the
officers is also demanded. Such
bold rotteness in the handling of
trust funds has rarely been outdone.
Something Doing in the Country
Under this heading the Washing
ton Post has for some time been re-
producing each week halfcolumn
ormore of breezy extracts from rep
resentative weekly newspapers from
the rural precincts of every state in
the nation, says the Atlanta Consti-
tuition. 1
Tho, obviously, no apology is
needed for the publication of such
a department The Pcs itself fgiyes
us in the following clipping one of
the clearest and most convincing
demonstrations of the genuine
worth Of the country weekly:
6 Co HalI IN,
cerpts from our country exchanges. They
are like the breath of new-mown hay to .
the dweller in cities. The country editor
has the art of direct, pictorial statement,
and his sense of news is always acute. A
newspaper pretending to give picture |
of the times cannot afford to ignore what
is doing in the country. A high moral |
purpose is served by reproducing items |
that smack of the soil. City people are |
mostly from the country and small towns. |
The items from the country press bring |
back to them visions Of happy youth and |
innocence. They renew half-forgotten |
acquaintances, they hear the COW bells |
and the village fire engines, and the |
sweet smells of the fields fill their stuffy |
apartments. How many polished graft
ers, politicians and speculative insurance |
financiers, reading these homely renain- |
ders of their days of childhood, have wept |
and repented, at least momentarily? How |
many men, Wearied with iostling, have |
taken heart again after seeing in a stray
item from "hore" 1ashlight of their |
progressf"
We would, however, go several
steps further than The Post in a can
did estimate of the country editor.
He is, of necessity and by nature, a
philosopher. The man who con-
ducts weekly newspaper does not,
as a rule, bother himself with the
cum bersome and questionable nice
ties of ''fne writing" his virile
thought, untainted by clumsy meta
phor or strained wit, springs forth |
spontaneously in the inimitable
hom-spun of the people. From his
vantage-ground of detachment, he
views keenly the vital events of on
rushing civilization, and his na1ve
or biting comments are not weaken
ed by the artifcialty Or the circuit |
Gus polish which often distinguish
and dilute the work of the metro |
politan.
For bluntness of thought and hon |
esty Of phrase, commend us to the !!
country editor. We have yet to see
one who cannot outpoint his aver
age city brother in those particulars. |
ALFALFA AS A SUPPLEMENT TO |
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