The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1911-12-08
The Mcnamara Plea and Its Effect
On Society,

On society.
The Mcnamara confession will do
more toward lettering social condi-
tions of the country and of the world
than any event of recent years, for
the reason that it establishes an hon
est premise upon which society may
build better, and higher and broader
standards of community interests be-
tween the persons of different for
tunes in life.
A long and severe struggle to con-
troll and put down predatory wealth
and eliminate corruption from politics
has been in progress with more or
less success for number of years,
by which our political and social
standards have been generally raised
to a point where there is now admit
ted to be a premium upon honesty
and integrity, even in politics, except
in certain localities where the bacilli
of individual interest in public affairs
have not as yet had time, or the fer
tile brain matter in which to properly
terminate.
But in spite of this unrelenting
struggle for better conditions and
higher standards during the last ten
years, in many respects conditions
have become worse, principally for
the reason that many reformers either
innocently or with criminal intent had
laid false premise for their theories
and doctrines of reform.
The convictions through the courts
of the manipulators of wealth Ccap-
ital') in so many instances had salts
factorily established to the satisfac
ton of the public that the acts of
these persons required the closest
scrutiny, and made it easy to con-
vince the gullible masses that certain
momentous crimes with which GER
tain manipulators of labor were
charged by the hirelings of the manip-
ulators of wealth for the purpose of
clearing the way of their enemies and
furthering their powers and unholy
schemes.
The result of such belief could but
react against the good that might be
accomplished by the real and honest
work being done for society by the
untrammeled hand of justice, which
has in a measure been bringing the
one class of criminals to justice.
Conditions of mind in many had
reached such a stage that conviction
in the cases altos Angeles, without
confession, would have been accepted
as a miscarriage of justice, and the
convicted criminals would have been
held up to the world as martyrs of
capital.
Under the circumstances, it was far
better that Meyer and Haywood were
acquitted, even though they were
guilty, than to permit them to have
been held at martyrs; and it seems
providential that their case should
have paved the way to catch the Nc
Namaras in the nets of justice leading
to their pleas of guilty.
The better minded people of all
classes (Which constitute the rank and
file of our citizens, whether members
of organized labor or not) can now
get together upon honest premises
and clear the criminals from power
wherever they may be found, whether
in politics, manipulators of wealth, or
manipulators of labor; and by a gen
eral condemnation of criminality in
private life, as we'll as public life, the
result will be better for all and the
present strained conditions of society
in this country will gradually abate
the wave of crime, which, so marked
now, will then lose its present pro-
lection and encouragement and we
will be better prepared to lead on in
the so-called reformation of the world
for which some seem disposed to cred
it us.
A friend asks: How are we to know
whom we can trust? We select the
Pest man on the ticket and he either
proves to be without courage, or in
some cases, proves to be without
scruples.
Now, let us think out loud" a min
ute and see if we can not find a So
luton. In the first place, if we take
proper interest in the primaries we
can name the man who goes upon the
ticket; it is possibly better to select |
a man who is we'll known, and whose
antecedents and associations and ha-