The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1910-01-12
who is the "Knocker. /"
Continued from First Page. J

hkCsI
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Offering II premium and you bite, and
later ON yuu see where you got bit. But
the next time he comes along he has
something different and you are again
taken in. Another one sees bright
picture in newspaper or catalogue
with colossal description of the article
and you hurry letter after it at once.
We are all guilty. Let us be reason
able enough 10 acknowledge IT. But"
says the Objector, 81 have right to
speLd my money where | please You
certainly have; it is your own and it
would be o reIarious law, and one con-
Trajectory 70 free people in a free gov
ernment that would take away such a
righi; but wo have no more right to
live in a community and enjoy the
privilege Of earning livelihood and
enjoyin all the pleasant surroundings
it is affording us without contributing
our best in every possible way TO main
tain IL, than the horse thief has to ply
his trade; for l fear the community
will soon place us in our proper rank.
Supposing we all patronized some other
community for everything, how long
the man who sat down on keg of pow
der and then lit it with a match. If.
under these conditions, we would be
Immediately ruined as community,
must we not suffer from partial con-
dition. OF course we have our excuse,
ard we are able to justify it by our own
selfish reasoning The murderer has
his excuse for committing his crime; so
there is no trouble for us to give some
excuse Where ignorance is bliss tits
folly to be wise," so it is useless for us
to discuss excuses. What we should
resolve to do is to stand by our COM
munity and build it up to business
basis such as we desire for our accom-
modation and it will rise to just that
plane exactly. Some want to tell us |
that 1t is those that control .he factories
of our community that are knocking" |
It, but they are not injuring it half as
much as the citizens who are taking |
the money they earn rom our commun-
ity and spending it 10 build up the
other place. Some of these same per-
sons will tell us if our factories were all |
running everything would be all right;
but suppose the five hundred employees
would do like we do, spend their earn
ings elsewhere, what advantage would
1t be to our community. We should
reason together and if possible stop the
downward trend we are suffering as a
community. Our community is capable
OF furnishing us anything reasonable if |
we are willing TO stand by it. If we are
not willing to stand up for all that we
are capable of doing to make it better
we should get out and give room for
some one that will. But the trouble is
there is no community wants us when
we are robbing our own. They have
no room for parasite any more than
we. The murderer steals upon his vic
tim in the darkness, putting the dag
ger In his back, destroying his physical
life, but we go behind the screen and
put the dagger in our community, de-
stroying its commercial life and of
course we are Respectable Murderers,"
Decent Knockers" and "Honest Graft
ers." Let us do our duty when we have
the opportunity, for If we allow our
actions to continue to tear down our
community it will rapidly lose its vital
ity, SO its restoration will be impossible.
'Knocker," who is innocent?
ONE OF THE GUILTY.