Los Angeles herald., 1906-07-11
A SENSIBLE THEORY

A SENSIBLE THEORY
There is a whole meal Of food foi
thought" and of kind that Los Ange
les people would do we'll to sample al
this time, in some recent sayings of 6
distinguished American woman. The
woman referred to is Mrs. Sarah Plat
Decker president of the ahiliated wo.
mems clubs of America Mrs. Decker
! has advanced n theory which may be
described generally as the antithesis
of the Osler theory relative to old men
1t is the class of old men whose
earlier life has been at least fairly fruit
full In some line of endeavor, to whom
Mrs. Decker addresses her remarks.
She says: "All you men who have
achieved fortune. or even a good in
come, cease your money making
labors, but do not cease all labor. You
are the community's ablest citizens.
There Is work. the highest. best and
noblest, which needs you. Give your
efforts to the ennoblement Of mankind.
to the betterment of the community in
which you live"
Then Mrs. Decker comes to the point
of detail which makes her theory fit a
present situation in Los Angeles: BE
come the mayors, the councilmen, the
supervisors, the responsible officers of
your cities. Serve without pay or hope
of emolument, out of pure love of hui
manity, only for the opportunity it
gives you to make your state better,
your city thing of beauty, your civil
life pure and wholesome You can do
this because you do not need the money
which the wage of office would bring
you. You would get that best thing out
of life-the honor which comes from
right deeds well done"
Now for the local application. In
Los Angeles there are hundreds of men,
in the Osler class or near it, who are
content with such labor as is involved
in cutting coupons or otherwise adding
to means for swelling the volume of
their wealth. They are men. almost in
variably, whose long experience and
ripe judgment fit them for just such
stations as Mrs. Decker has indicated.
They are the kind of men, as a rule,
whom the people would gladly place in
public positions instead of such chronic
and usually unsavory office-seekers as
partisan bosses are wont to place be-
fore voters.
Just such men as Mrs. Decker de-
scribes are needed now-right here in
Los Angeles-to give their influence,
their time and their best efforts to the
rescue of this city from the clutches of
such professional politicians as Boss
Walter Parker and his associates. Every
voter who is worthy to be citizen of
Los Angeles would gladly cast his bal
lot for a respected citizen of the class
luded to rather than for such ready
made machine candidates as will be
ground out when Parker turns the
crank.
Unfortunately, the Los Angeles men
of ripe experience and ability favored
by personal success, are generally in
clined to be selfish in their consider
ration of the community. That is to
say, they dislike to disturb their per-
sonal comfort by assuming the role of
champions of the public. They are
averse to mingling with the class of
partlsans that surround the public
crib, and hence they balk at any sug-
gestion of making some personal sac
rifice for the benefit of their fellow
citizens.
But Mrs. Decker is right. Mature
men of standing, influence and proved
success, who have reached the Osler
period Of life, should demonstrate their !
in the world by doing for
the community just what they are pre-
eminently fitted for They should take |
the lead in the work of municipal re-
form in, Los Angeles that has just |
been cut out, and they should not |
finch at requests to allow the inde-
pendent ticket to be strengthened by |
the use of their names.