The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1911-05-03
YAKIMA ON
EVERYTHING
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Continued from Page ~
thorough. but to discredit what has
been done. If one sincerely desires
progress in the way Of better things,
instead OF criticism he will give his
help in the accomplishm of the
things wished for. Reform always
progresses by degrees-everything
cannot be done in day.
Obstacles of Progress
"One of the obstacles to the pro-
81 ess of righteousness everywhere Is
the mistaken view that it injuries a
city or state to prosecute wrong do
ing. l ave heard men deplore the
exposure OF public corruption because
it hurts a city; have seen men OPP
pose the enforcerl ent of law against
gambling and liquor lawlessness he
cause ii Injuries the state | have
heard men object to prosecuting
trusts and monopolies because it
hurts business. Such views are en-
tlrsly false. No city can be injured
by the enforcement of the peoples
laws; to do otherwise is to substitute
the viii of the official for the laws
of the people, and that is tyranny.
No state can be hurt by opposing
grating; to do otherwise is to con-
nive at. it. There is no secret rem
edy for evils of this character. They
cannot be cured by hiding them. The
disgrace Is not in their correction,
but in submission TO them with su-
pine indifference.
off ic Iyo'1 For n 1tsp1ov tic
virtues and not parade it's faults. hut
it should not be forgotten that tho
highest civic virtue is in the over
throw of civic dcpravity Grafters
whether in st. Louis, Philadelphi
Chicago, San Francisco, or Pitts
burg, always endeavor to have it APP
pear that a fight against them is a
Islander against the city in which
they operate. Criminal wealth when
assaied always tries to hide behind
the skirts of legitimate business. and
claim that business is being attacked.
According to their argument srafters
should never be assaied lest some
assume that all in the city arc graft
ers; and lawlcssncss in busin oss
should not be fought lest it be sus-
oected that all business is lawless.
Demand for Courage
I'm the work before you there Is
no use for the sword, but there is a
stern demand for that courage shown
by Americans ON so many battle
fields. The split they exhibited rs
soldiers of war, we should show as
soldiers of peace in the noblest work
nj nj hc 1oE
the supreme and sublime effort to
bring little nearer day by day. the
time whom brotherhood and charity
shall rule instead of avarice and
greed when special privilege in
every form shall be destroyed, and
equal rights to all onthroned as the
ruling principal of public, and the
guiding principle of private life.
THE most conspicuous fault of
national, state and municipal gov
ernments in the United States today
is that they arc governments by the
few and not by the people. There
has been improvement in the last
few years, but there remains much
to be done in the direction of better
things.
There is still too much aggressive
sclfishncss and avarce and too little
aggressive patriotism If the patriot
ism could be made as aggressive as
the rottenness the problem of good
government everywhere would be
solved by the people taking the gov
eminent in their own hands. IF cor
ruption exists anywhere the people
are to blame. If corruption is to be
eradicted the people alone can do it,
What is needed is more OF the kind
of patriotism that fights for city,
state and country every day; the kind
of patriotism that will go into the
battles of peace as readily as into
the battles of war.
IF a government anywhere neg
lects the people it is because the peo-
pie first neglect the government. The
law abiding people are in the ma
iorty, and there is hardly n COM
munty in the country of which this
cannot be said. They are usually
quiet though while the lawless are
so vociferous as to deceive many as to
their mum Der. A majority of the peo-
pie are honest and want good gov
eminent, but do not as a rule, work
for it, while the minority are per-
niciously active all the time. The
lawless stand on the street and talk
for their side, while the lawabiding
are timid and unobtrusive. A dozen
lawbreakers can make more noise
than five hundred law abiding citi-
zens, but they do not count for much
against the united efforts of the law
abiding. They are always active how
ever, while the average good citizen
becomes active only occasionally.
They surround an official and sing
him the siren song of the good poll
tics of serving them instead of the
public. 1t is always easier for an Of
fetal to serve the gang instead of
the people. Unless the official he
srong he will be led astray by their
al5lring promises.
Bad Men United
when the lawless get a bad man
in office they support him in all the
evil that he does; but when the law
abiding get man in office. too often
they are ready to criticise him, and
leave him to fight the battles without
their active aid. That is the trouble.
Good men are divided and bad men
pre unitod If eoOd citizens could