Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-06-23

is all they can hope for 1t is the wage
OF all nations, from the Indian ryot,
at fve cents a day, to the American
laborer at dollar and half. They
each get the existence to which they
| are accustomed, and the American
laborer is no unhappier, on his bacon
and beefsteak, than the ryot on his
rice. AS long as they get this exis-
tence, they will not revolt because
Standish Vandraken is devoting his
life and money to unconcealed dissi-
patton. 1t is nothing to them. They
are the people to whom is transferred
all the results of life which the classes
above will not bear; the being grimy,
the being manned, the growing callous
and brutalized. The classes above
them get certain good things out of
HE; In fact, they are paid for their
eforts In the currency of life instead
or the currency of existence; they
can AFFORD to hire class below them
TO have grimy faces, that they may
nave clean faces; to be, in fact, their
scapegoats. They never recognize
i their own CRIME on the faces of their
i scapegoats-it Is too scattered for
Identification; so they do not recog-
nize any part of themselves in class
they see as little as possible. Above
them comes you class of great capital
lists, the plutocrat class, who in their
turn, see as little of the middle class
as possible. In your class, again.,
they cannot see the defects of their
own lives reflected, because again, it
Is too much scattered 1t is as though
man never saw himself reflected
as a whole in one mirror but frag-
ments of himself in fragments of mir
rors, and, thus seeing, never realized
there were smuts on his face But i'm
agine state of affairs where man
has invented method of passing on
to some other man all the defects of
his life, SO that he can look with a
smile into any mirror, and then, after
years of defective life, unexpectedly
meet his scapegoat, and see on that
wrecked visage the reflection Of his
own grimy soul. His impulse would be
to stamp it out of existence to
break the mirror!"
Vandraken let the paper futter to
the floor
That's strange!" he muttered
Here's chap putting forward as a
suppositious case the very thing
have done. These things must be in
the air, unless Won Tarsenheim has
been talking of his invention. Perhaps
he has" He picked up the paper and
continued reading:
The danger, then, to the existing
social system of America is this: The
great middle class, who are the real
motive power Of any country may see
themselves and the consequences of
themselves reflected in Standish Van
draken of course frightfully exag-
gerated, and carried to extremes, but
still in mirror. 1t is the result of
conscience which may start reform
wave, a fury of egophobia among the
American people, which will sweep
away everything in mad rush to get
back to the simple, wholesome at
mosphere which is their real ideal!"
That psychological author has GER
tainly been making study of me-"
muttered Vandraken. "As far as I
can see, the life am leading makes
me benefactor, a reformer, species
of Martin Luther. But that won't pre-
vent Bulpitt & Co. from trying for my
scalp, unless l get Bulpitt's first
He rang the bell and sent for Ben.
That faithful detective was watching
+. at the door of the palace and had
noticed Bulpitt go out He was aware
that he had been calling on his master,
therefore noted him thoroughly.
"Ah, Ben,' said vandraken to the
detective, genially, "that was denger-
our man you admitted just now.
was in terror Of my life"
Come, Mr. Vandraken, you must be
joking! That was Mr.. Bulpitt, the
American footwear king"
! THAT king has sentenced me to
death, Ben. He is going to have me
assassinated because l won't go back
to America and abandon my evil
ways"
"You will have your joke, won't
you, Mr.. Vandraken?"
But it's fact, Ben! He is going
to turn my case over to the strong
arm department You ought to know
what that means"
(. Ben nodded, and looked serious.
81 told him 1 would put a price on
his head. What price would you sug-
gest? I had thought of getting you to
arrange the matter with one of those
anarchist societies. AS head of a
soulless corporation, they can con-
4 denim Bulpitt to death, and would
make liberal contribution to the
funds of the society-say ten thou
sand pounds"
"Lor', Mr. vandraken, you must be
joking!"
Joking be damned!. I'm serious,
Ben. That chap, Bulpitt, will arrange
1 for NV demise if don't arrange for
his first But if you don't think it's
any business of yours, I'll get some
body else to, look after it for me-
ooh, of course. if it's a case of your
life against his, I'm bound to help you,
sir: but it do seem a little what you
might call cold-blooded, answered the
detective. sulkily. Still, know some
of these anarchists little crowd
that used to be in New Jersey--they'd
be glad of the job. But they're mes
sy lot. these anarchists; they think
nothing of blowing up whole ship
inst To oet one man {"