The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1910-03-15
ANSWERS HUMANITAS.
Mrs. Ethel Thomas Invites Humanl-
tas to Willowbrook.- Conditions
at Newberry o. Z.

Dear Mr.. Humanitas: Am making
nv most graceful bow to you, ana
acknowledging your compliments
with smiles and thanks. In the first
place, my letter to the legislature
was not intended for publication, and
was only one Of many protests that
were sent to Columbia at the sa ~.
time. But, somehow, the papers get
i.oid of everything-do1 + they?--
ani sometimes We get bef'": lie pub
Ii: end become targets fv: criticism
when least expected.
In all good-nature, please allow
me to say candidly that I thought
your first communication to The Her
aid and News indicated bias and pre-
iudice. Perhaps I would have aas-
wered if Aunt Jerushy hadn't, and
I thought it probable that the editor
would object giving his valuable
space to US for controversy. hope
Haunt Jerushyis last attack Won t
cause you to sulccumb under IN IN
surmountable day-mare,-a "whore-
son lethargy," as Falstaff calls it.
Poor old soul-she doesn't mean to
be rude. I'm sure.
/ Several readers Of The Herald and
News are still under the impression
that your views are antagonlstlc to
our interests, and have insisted that
I "shoot back" at you; but really,
that is extremely difficult since you
are safely hidden in ambush behind
nom c!e plume,- neither do I know
the character Of your ammunition.
In short, will frankly admit that l
may be dull of comprehension, for !
certainly do not understand your log
ic and rhetoric.
People who for years have been
closely allied with cotton mill work
and are familiar with every detail of
the average mill life, are hard to
convince that their health is "sys-
! tehatically impaired or lives short
ened" by mill work. Not being in
timately acquainted with the scienc-
es, they are guided by reason, COM
mon sense and a God given instinct.
which is strengthened by practical
experience.
Sensational writer's from the north
have for years been giving reins to
their imag1rations, pioturing condi-
tions which do not and never have
existed. Special agents Of the gov
ernmeht have imagined bhat there
is a sort of secondary slavery in ex-
istence in the southern cotton mills
and ara going about now, trying to
relieve that situation. People would
T.: not go to cotton mills we're they not
thoroughly convinced that they were
bettering their conditions. They
would not stay there if experience
did not verify their expectations
Yet, these utterly false and sensa-
tional articles concerning imaginary
evils Of mill life, are swallowed as
a sweet morsel, and fanatics who are
preying on public sentiment through
such rot, are growing rich. They
would have the world believe that
our work is a drudgery and our liv-
es burden. That We are afflicted
with an irdisposition to do anything
else or be anything; total deadness
and distaste; a suspension of vitality
numb soporifcal good-for-nothing-
ness; an ossifcation all over; min ID
stupor, etc. 1t is enough to stir the
indignation Of an intelligent people,
What can we do to relieve the sit
uation in Illinois and Massachusetts
.As a bright little boy in West End
Baptist Sunday school said Of the
heathaD recently, "Tell 'em to come
to Newberry,' those oppressed wo'
men in Illinois, I mean-not the hea-
then!
And Humanitas, you surely would
not have US believe that Louis D.
Brandeis has had absolutely moth
ing for his services to those women?
In this day Of "Greed" every man
is looking after ''the almighty dol
lar" and if he served without re-
compense, it was because his teles-
copic vision saw a side issue along
the track, where the reward would
be double what his services were
worth. That quotation from his
"brief," masterpiece though it may
be from a scientific point OF view,
is ridiculously absurd and has been
proven so by practical experience
which is a good antidote for mlsap-
,,lia1 SCIENCE or twisted ideas.