Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1906-01-22
OPEN CRITICISM
By the Phi|anthropc Union
Of Gardiner
Of Lotteries and Schemes" at
Beard Of Trade Fairs.
Stirring Address On Subject Before Union
BY Mrs. |. {. Richards.

iZat.onS OF Gardiner and Randolph WIS
held Saturday afternoon at Grand Army
hall with a large attendance
Mrs. Laura f. Richards. president OF
the union. opened the meeting and in
graceful terms thanked Heath Post. G.
A. f.. for its generosity in placing the
han at the disposal of the union and then
thanked also the ladies who were host
esses of the afternoon.
The topic of this meeting, which by the
members is held to be one Of the most
successful in the history of the union.
was related to the lotteries and
schemes" by which money is raised at
fairs. and in its direct reflection on the
Gardiner Board of Trade the subject be-
came locally sensational.
Mrs. Richards delivered the address of
the afternoon. and since she gave a most
comprehensive paper no further COM
ments are necessary. She spoke as fol-
lows:
was reading over the other day a dia-
lOeue of Plato which has always i'm
pressed me deeply. 1t is the Critic" in
which Socrates. unjustly condemned to
death, discusses the matter in his prison
with his friend Critic. 1t is the day be-
Critic. full of love for his friend and of
Indignation against the unjust judges
who have condemned him, tries earnestly
to persuade the great philosopher to es-
cape, as with his assistance he may easily
do.
Socrates. in his reply imagines the laws
and the government coming TO him in
person and asking him by what right
he diso0eys them. Tell us. Socrates, -
they say. what are you about? Are you
going by an act of yours to overturn us
the laws, and the whole state, as far
rs in you lies? Do you imagine that il
state car slbslst and not be overthrow
in which the decisions OF law have no
power, but are set aside and overthrow
by individuals?' They go on to remind
him how through them. byt the maria sc
istence; how they had educated him.
protected him. given him the privileges
of Il citizen. in short. made life possible
for him; and how in return they de-
manded and ought to receive strict and
unqueSticning obedience.
Listen. then. Socrates" say the laws.
Ito us who brought you up. Think not of
life and children first and of justice af-
may be justified before the princes of
the world below. For neither will You,
nor. any that belong to you he happier or
hOlier or iuster in this life. or happier In
another. if you do as Critic bids. Now
you depart in innocence, q sufferer and
not n dOer of evil: n victim. not of the
laws but of men. But if you go forth re.
i, turning evil for evil and injury for in
jury. breaking the covenants and agree
Inents which you have made with us, and
wronging those whom you ought least to
wrong, that is to say. yourself, your
friends. your country. and Us. We shall
be angry with you while you live. and
our brethren, the laws In the world be
low. will receive you as an enemy: for
they will know that you have done YOUR
best to destroy Us. Listen. then. to us
and not to Critic.
This. says Socrates to his friend. is the
voice which | seem to hear murmurinS
In my ears. like the sound Of the flute In
the ears Of the mystic; that voice. say.
is humnling ir my ears. and prevents mo
from he caring .any other And l know
that anything more which you may say
will he vairSt Yet speak if you have
anything to SLY"
Critic replies: Il have nothing to say.
Socrates
Leave me. thhen." says the old man,
to follow whithersocvcr God leads
1t was 400 years before Christ that
these words We're uttered. They ring as
clear and true in our ears today as if
cup of poison and laid him down with n
quiet heart to die. And l. seeking a text
for my little friendly sermon, could find
, 10 better one than this.
Do we know. do we realize. that We are
: regarded, and sometimes justly regarded
as n nation of lawbreakers? 1t is not Il
pleasant thought, but it is one that We
i must face. Rudyard Kirling, wrote T,
poem some year ago called THE Ameri
can," a terrible indictment Ct our nation
! al character in which trust and q be-
| lieve) falsehood are cruelty mingled; but
| it Is truth that speaks of
THE cynic devil ir his blood
| That bids him mock his SURVIVING soul;
| That bids him hout the law he makes.
! That bids him make the law he fiouts,
TILL. dazed by many doubts. he wakes
the drumming guns that-have no
doubts.
That bids him f1out the law he makes"
! Dear neighbors. we. in our mighty coun-
try. we in our beautiful State, we in our
breakers. That is the simple fact From
that spring many of the evils which be-
set us. A law may or may not be IL
good one. but so long as 1t remains law
u may rot be broken without loss. not
only to the community at large but to
the self-resncct and the morals of those
who break it
The worst danger to us Is that 1t is so
honest people. who break this law or that
: with open eyes. with quiet heart. We
an Know Instances of this. can quote
them by the dozen. Have you never
and sterling worth boast of cheating the
government by smuggling this or that
through the custom house" l have. many
tunes. We gave the men so much.
tney say, and had no further trouble
mat Is to say. they not only broke
the law themselves but tempted the law s
servant to betray his trust and showed
MN ne way to dishonesty.
fet these were coed people, whom moth
ing would have induced to appropriate
lot themselves single penny not right
Iuny pcicnE1ng to them.
no are the people who break the fish
ana game laws: laws designed and framed
10 preserve living creatures. for the sole
pehooi ana benefit of the human beings
who destroy them? Who are the people
! who buy "shcrt" Holsters at the sea
shore! Are they always ignorant ne sons
without intelligence to realize what the
eNtermnation of the lobster would mean
to the american people? l fear not.
lear .ics are sometimes our very best
ana wistst people, who know perfectly
well what they are about. whats the
use: they say. The HOLSTERS are caught
! might as we'll buy them as the next
man. And they buy them and nut a
cloth over them lest someone connected
/ with the government should see them
The same applies to the llouor law. 4
question too familiar to need comment
These and similar reflections have beeu
forced upon RE lately by n recent event
here in Gardiner Yn,, -, 49,, 7