The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1911-07-31
BENNINGToN. WI. Jul 81, len
sPAReo ATTACKS THE GIRLS


sPARGo ATTACKS THE GIRLS
John Spargo, who spends his sum
mers at Old Bennington, made an out
door address in front of the court
house Saturday night in which he
made a raw and uncalled forattackon
the young women who are the orig !
inators and promoters of the historl- |
cal pageant to be given here August
1916. In the course of his remarks
Spargo said;
Locally our better classes never
fail to reveal their fear and their
contempt of the working people. Take
the forthcoming pageant as case in
point. The celebration OF the one
hundred and tftieth anniversary of
the settlement OF Bennington might
have been and should have been made
the occasion of a great folk festival
in which all would share and rejoice.
But, instead, the snobbsh better
classes have made it class affair.
1t il not intended for the workers. 1t
is to be a festival for the snobocracy,
our local Goldfish aristocracy. The
workers are TO be excluded just as
surely as if there were an order post
ed up that no working people will be
admitted
thousands of our workingmen,
heads OF families, earn not more than
a dollar and half day. Hundreds
of them less. Such wages are a
shame and a disgrace to our civiliza
ton. But, imagine the workingman
earning such wages, having wife
and two or three growing boys and
girls. How can he be expected to az
ford fifty cents for each OF them to be
admitted to what ought to be great
popular celebration This absurd
charge for admission proves that it
is the purpose of the privileged class
to exclude all the common people.
THE working people OF Bennington
ought to assert their dignity and in
sist that they who make Bennington
what it is, whose class have made 1t
in the past, shall be recognized as
the people who have the greatest
right to make the celebration. I'm
less the prohibitiye tariff is removed,
let the workers boycott the whole
thing. If the master class wants a
celebration, let the members of that
class make it, but let the workers
keep out"
Spargo's speech Saturday night was
advertised as an address on Social
ism but it is evident that this part of
his remarks has nothing to do with
socialism, but has to do solely with
a local matter and for that reason his
remarks were more out of place than
if they had related to his topic for his
statements are untrue, his deductions
wrong and his remarks an insult to
a group of young women who are
esteemed and respected by every de-
cent man and woman in Bennington.
A little history of the pageant
movement shows the complete error
of Mr.. Spargo's statements. Several
young women, including working girls
some of whom work for a dollar and
half a day or less, feeling that the
15Oth anniversary of the town should
be observed in some way, showed
highly creditable pluck and public
spirit by calling a public meeting to
which every man and woman in Ben
nington was invited.
| The meeting was held and those
present agreed with the young wom-
en- who called the meeting. The idea
of pageant was entirely new to the
meeting but they had proved success
full in other places and as none had
been held in this section the meeting
voted to try it,
Everybody in Bennington was in
vited to that meeting and there have
been repeated invitations to all who
desired to take part In addition
every child in Bennington has been
asked to appear on the stage in the
last scene and to see the entire pro
duction free of expense.
The Banner today also prints a
letter from Mr.. Spargo along the
same lines. The Banner regrets to
advertise to the people outside of
Bennington that anybody could or
would make such an outrageous and
unwarranted attack on a group of
young women. whom all who know
Anything about the matter know are
sincere and earnest in their efforts to
help Bennington, We print his letter
only so that he cannot say that he
was denied a hearing.
The statements MIR. Spargo makes
In his letter are as untruthful as
those he was guilty of in his address.
Rates from 25 cents to one dollar are
not prohibitive or in any way calcu.
lated to exclude anybody. The ex-
pense OF the production is large and
not small and attempted free page
ants in other places have proved
failures. Results always show that
people do not value things that cost
nothing, Especially is this true
when 1t comes to attracting visitors
from out OF town.
The promoters of the pageant even
went to the trouble OF making their
plans and proposed prices public and
inviting criticism but they were so
manlfestly fair that there was no
criticism until Mr.. Spargo made his
| atlempt 70 stir up dIssensIon and ha.