Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1908-12-02
Outside Point of View

One of the sidelights during tn.
(! Morse trial in New York City. was the
published statement of Mr. E. p. Mox-
! ey, bank examiner. He said in sub
stance that "the great white way" l.
e.. Broadway, was responsible for the
actions and downfall of Morse, now
] sentenced to the penitentiary. This
i-milionaire. on record as CIV
! ing as a little present of a several
thousand dollar automobile to an ac-
tress friend of his, and convicted II
appropriating other peoples money
! lived the life Of hundreds of fast New
| Workers. He made money fast and
I Spent it faster. He has landed in the
states prison wearing the convict
stripes. Mr.. Moxey thinks Broadway
!, with its extravaganza. responsible And
this view will be generally accepted
| And while not all fast New Workers.
are criminals. and only a small num-
Der are dishonest, it is very much Of
question whether or not the whole
society of these United States are not
strolling the paved streets of Broad.
way.
right in Iowa, from the smallest burg
with two score of inhabitants. to TO-
600 Des Moines, are we not all going
the gait? And the word "all' includes
the smallest salaried clerk as well as
the best paid railroad official. 1t in
cludes the lowest paid employee, as well
as high priced bank president. Preach
er and parishioner. Hired girl and
mistress. Farmers as well as mechan-
les. Professional men and laborers.
Each and all are on Broadway" in
this sense. We are all spending too
much of our income. And nearly all of
this comes not for need of necessities.
but from desire TO live and spend for
l,xurhs the amount some one else
does. AS a rule. and this is the unfor-
tunate and impossible endeavor, with
our beer income, we try to emulate
those fortunate enough to possess the
champagne income.
To Illustrate. one will see on the
streets of Marshalltown next Sunday a
$500 automobile driven by man that
mortgaged his home to make the pay
ment necessary to get possession of it.
machine. whose owner can as we'll af-
pay for bicycle Last Sunday on the
streets of Marshalltown was an outfit
of horses and carriages filled with
well dressed family. and when he drove
by some one sneeringly asked, WON
der If he has had his city water
turned off this year?" There is a clerk
working for SIS week in one of the
Marshaltown stores, who owns and
wears SIS dress suit, only wears
white kids once. and always orders a
carriage when he invites a lady to at
tend the theater or go to some society
function To be sure these are extreme
cases But we have such men here in
town and every city in Iowa has the
like. And these men only desire these
things, only indulge in these extrava-
gancies. because some one better off
and able to do these things are con-
tinually their "object lessons
ITS the custom when one strikes
this vein of moralizing to lay the fault
or source, the cause, at the door of the
female sex. It's our wives. our sisters
anu even OuI lIpIlClS liIdI oil z w
blame There's grain of truth In it,
but just the same the male turkey
likes to put on style. Strange to re-
late, in the kingdom of nature it is the
male that is bedecked with colors
while the female is modestly clad in
sober brown or drab. Just why no one
has seen fit to transfer to woman the
high colors in tha Broadway parade,
will not be touched upon in this
screed, but this fact stands out. The
average woman and her children are
extravagant and get on to Broadway
as soon as possible. because the aver
age man wants them there He kicks,
but just the same, gets his wife 5000
sealskin coat if his neighbours wife
owns one costing $3.50. And if Jones'
wife entertains dozen at pink tea,
ne hires The Odeon figurative-
Y and has the seats foored
,ver for dance, when his wife
'entertains." All this is only a recital |
IF conditions as they exist. The RENE
ly of course IS easily pointed out. It's
lon't. But then am I going to send |
NY children to school in home made
clothes, when Smiths children are
dressed in the latest styles from Chi
,ago? Well, I guess not.