The Ogden standard. [volume] (Ogden City, Utah) 1902-1910, 1909-08-14
WHO is RESPONSIBLE.

In the year Of our Lord. 1892, after
20 years of waiting and discourage
ments; after repeated attempts TO en-
{ list assistance In what was then deem
cd "a financial scheme OF a diSordered
mind" and after encounterlng as
many Columbus finally sue
ceeded. and set sail on the Srd day OF
August with the object of finding a
shorter route 10 the shores Of Cathay.
After a tcmpestuous voyage OF two
months and nine days. with a mutin-
Gus crew. he landed on one of the
Caribbean islands. Supposing that he
| had found an East Indian archipela-
GO, he fell on his knees and thanked
God and took possession Of everything
! in sight I'm the name of Ferdinand and
/ Isabella of Spain. So we see the spirit
! Of land grabbing Is not OF recent
origin. When he returned to Europe
With the news, there was n hurried lit
ting-out OF ships by practically all tho
European powers, and mad race 10
the new country, each yieiug with
each other I'm the cndeayor TO get in
on the ground floor" and grab all
| that had not been grabbed. They
were very naturally mistaken, how
ever. because Of their ignorance of the
country and its extent 10 which they
had come But through the hurry and
excitement Of acquisition, they were
led IN various directions. and but few
years elapsed before the eastern and
western shores had been trayersedp
and many inland sections had been
penetrated: when they came TO real
iZe that 1t was not the East Indies, but
[
ed Then began the struggle for SUI
premacy. and IL was not until 1920 that
the old regime was dehed and the
seeds # real liberty were planted on
the American continent The coming
of the 'Mayflower" and the pilgrim
Fathers" is set down as the begin
ming of real religious and civil liberty.
Before they disembarked, they held Il
meeting in the cabin of the Mayilower,
and passed a set OF resolutions. prom
ising one another, in the presence OF
God, equal laws and fidelity 10 the
general good. the principles of free
democracy. This meeting of the Pill
grims was the pn1totype. and the res
olutions they passed constitute the
model upon which our commonwealth
Is based This was a great and good
| beginning but II has been an ardu-
Gus task TO maintain the standard
Under this model Of self-GOvernment,
our country has developed with ia.
pidity beyond all reasonable eXpeCta-
t!on: but as our resources have deyel-
oped and our wealth has increased. the
spirit of cupidjty has keep pace in its
development alsc. until today we mud
men. as we'll as in the times of Co
lumbuS. discovering things; then
standing br1zcnly in the face of this
latter-day enlightenment, and thanking
God that men such as WE" have
been made the custodians of the
wealth of the world" Gold, silver.
coal. lands, Forests and almost every
thing of any value have been grab.
| bed by these godly (2l custodianS.
| And, To such an extent has this spirit
: been developed, that when the ordi
nary soul mas the temcrity to ask
! for a little OF this accumulated wealth.
he is denied as far IA possible. and
the foreigner is imported who does
not demand so much This is readily
/ observed if one Will but walk our
streets and notice who are doing the
work on our public improvements
Our paving. guttering, laying of pipes
of various kinds-who is doing it.?
| You will need q microscope If YOU
wish TO discover one single little Am
/ erican citizen among the bunch; eX-
! cept, perhaps 4 foreman now and
then. Who is doing much of the rail
road work of an unskllled or semi
skilled nature? Foreigners. And cor
pOratiOns and contractors of all kinds
are employing this cheap foreign la
Dor just as much as they think the
| people win stand for. Why? Because
OF that greedy disposition to make a
| dollar more, even though a fellow cit
i2en starve because OF It. But the eX,
cuse is made that white help (and |
say white" advisedly) cannot be had
No, not for the price offered Our
people are neither dogs nor hogs. they
will not gnaw n bone nor eat slop
They demand better things of our civ
iliZation The most of these hire
lings' Will stand TO be quilted" and
"bTow-bcaten" by the taskmaStcr. to
be underpaid. under-fed, underclOthed
and housed like cattle, while MEN
viii not. 1t seems to me that the
business men of the country would
wake up and take a hand in this mat
ter; for these foreigners. as a rule,
buy only limited supply OF the coars.
est clothing 1--we on the cheapest food
and nct much of that and send most
of what they do earn out OF the coun.
try. while on the Other hand. If our
own people were employed at good
wages. their business would be very
materially increased II seems TO me
that it would be greatly to the ad
vantage of our business interests To
join with the honest working men i'm
the demand for the abolition Of the
contract system on public works, and
that the national, state and munich
pal authorities be required to make
employment direct and At wage suf
hcicnt to enable The workers To live
Ike human beings and that none
should be employed except he be an
American citizen We would then geD
what we pay for; as we do not under
the present contract system VIII
viii be the first to join with us in try
Ing the experiment? Think OF the
thousands Of dollars OF Ogden's pay
roll that IS sent ont of the country
every month. and then tell nc II yor
wonder why business Is not better?
Who. then. is responsible for these
conditions2