The independent., 1907-02-14


The robin hasn't tuned it's throat,
haven't heard 1T sing,
But Adler has my OvercOat.
And that's a sign OF spring.
Let all things be done with charity
l Corinthians xvi:4.
Every man has a notion that his way
is the right way IL 1t were otherwise 1t
might be difficult for him to get along
with himself and not occasionally fall
out and have row. He may do things
as he was taught when q boy, in which
case he will modestly give the credit to
his father, and manifest his loyalty by
declaring that fathers way is good
enough for him.
Back in the state of New York, where
the soil is very rocky and poor but al
ways an abundant rainfall. it was long
ago discovered that to get the best re-
suits in raising potatoes, it was necessary
to set the rows a considerable distance
apart and 'hll them up" that there
might be plenty of earth for the new po-
tatoes to set and to develop in. The
same system will not work we'll in Ne
are apt to dry out in the wind and sun,
and the spud fails to fill out and mature
properly. The better way in this soil
and climate is to plow deeply. thoroughly
pulverize the soil, plant early, putting
the seed in at least three inches below
the frost line, then drag and level the
ground with a roller When it comes
time to cultivate the same plow used in
the cornfield is entirely available and no
other cultivation is demanded to insure
the largest possible crop. And such great,
luscious tubers, with skins that pop open
when boiled. Did you ever cover one
with Goldfish gravy. shut your eyes and
bear down upon it like blizzard against
a haystack? If you know of anything
better it is probably so high priced that
the poor cannot afford it. But you can
not convince a native Of New York that
the way father prepared for potato
crop there is not the way to prepare for
one here More often than otherwise he
despises you for even making such
suggestion.
We not only desire that people shall
do things our way, but we want them to
think as we think, to believe as we be
lieve, and we are apt to blame them If
they do not and cannot.
You and I believe that county option
is a measure of temperance reform: so
do the brewers and diStillers, else they
would be in favor of it themselves They
maintain that under the license system
there is less drinking than in the COM
munties where the lid is on, but their
contention doesn't stand the test of rea-
SON The manufacture of booze is not a
phillanthropic enterprise 1t is to satisfy
a popular demand already existent or to
be created. A system that will extend
the general thirst is the one that meets
the world over.
Has anyone ever spoken of our old
friend Anheuser Busch as a man who did
business pro bono publico? He had a
railroad built TO his palace in st. Louis
so he could be put aboard the train with
out having to be ioilted down town in a
hack. Who cares fer expenses when there
is an assured income of fabulous proper
tions from the sale of something that
makes a multitude of headaches, and of
heartaches, and does nobody an atom
of good under the shining sun?
But what has this to with the text?
The vote in the senate stood twenty to
eleven in opposition to letting the farm
ers have anything to say on the question
of license or no license in the counties
where they live Maybe the majority is
in the right in this matter. If the farmer
doesn't like to do business in a town
where there are saloons he has the privi-
lege OF hauling lis oats to the one that
has none We who believe in county
option may feel like abusing the twenty
i'm the senate who voted against the meas
ure. but It Is charitable TO believe that
they did what thev thought was r"ht.
and there may he the ghost OF q possibil
ty that they were right. Possibly these
powerful temptations are thrown In the
way OF man To test his manhood III he
stands up against Ii like a rock against
a tornado. and never gets scratch. good
for him: " he tumbles into the gutter
as many have done and viii do as long
as the opportunitv exists and IS clothed
In the garments Of legality and fespccta-
blllty. we'll. God pity the wife and little
ones Thcy don't get much anywhere
else
I am not very much Inclined To- say
Harsh things when people do not think
my way,
For 7 am sure 10 put aside all inkea
7 make mistakes as we'll as other folks.
Men cannot " they would be of one
mind
Aud Il we're folly then. to be uukind
Because my uaighhnr doesn't seem "a see
The matter w the Hight snat CLEANS on
me.
This " my prayer. and shall be- while I
STAY
pear lord, dlrec, my steps along the
way