Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1912-09-20
WASHINGTON NEWS.
By Clyde H. Tavenner, Candidate for
Congress Special to this Paper

W. IholI cmpiOyeS m reUuIn f0r
Sufficient protection to allow them
to overcharge 100000 American
CONSUMERS on every article of cloth.
ing they buy. is revealed IN the ar
lest, at Lawrence, Mass, Of william
NJ. Wood, head Of the woOHen trust.
Mr.. Wood is charged with placing
dynamite in the homes Of his IS, S.
and 81 a week foreign millworkers
In an attempt to discredit their cause
while they were on a strike last win
ter as a protest against a reduction
Of their wages.
Mr.. Woods arrest is worthy of the
attention Of every man, woman ard
child in the country who wears WOOL
ems. Because Of the fact that Mr..
Wood and his fellow woolen trust
magnates contributed heavily to Re
publican campaign funds, Congress
has been in the habit of placing the
tariff on woolens high enough to
keep out all competition, so that the
woolen trust could be free to charge
any price they desired, up to the lin
it of the ability Of the people to
pay. The result is that Americans
are paying from thirty to one hun
dred per cent more for wooden cloth
ing and blankets than the resident
Of Great Britain pays.
The story of the career of Mr..
Wood provides a curious paradox.
He is the oppressor of 10000 miser-
able New England textile workers;
a few years ago he was one of them.
In his youth he felt the sting of hun
ger himself, but now he is pitiless in
his thoughts CT his employees. He has
grown enormously rich, but declares
that from 81 to SO a week is enough
for these who labor in his mills.
1t is said of many captains of in
dustry that they are ignorant of the
conditions Of the workmen who earn
their fortunes for them; that if they
knew of the distress Of their en-
ployes they would seek to remedy 1t.
Not so with Wood. He knows. Their
distress he sees. Their cries he
hears.
Woods father was a Portugese-Jew
emigrant. He labored in a cotton
mill and died of tuberculosis, a d.
sease common to cotton and wool
spinners. The fathers name was be-
lieved to have been Alphonse LeHair
or LaVair.
When the woolen mill employees,
which are composed of AZ different
nationahties, most of whom cannot
speak English, went on strike, the
fathers and mothers decided to send
their babes and little children away
TO friends in other cities in order
that they might not suffer from hun
ger during the strike. Mr.. Wood s
agents beat the women, and tore the
little ones from their mothers arms
when the children were about to be
placed on trains. Thus did Mr.. Wood
protect" his employees.
Are the American people willing
to continue to Contribute to Mr..
Wood by paying more for shoddy
than good woolen clothing sells for
in England? Or do they want the
tariff on woolens reduced? There is
only one day every two years when
the consumers have an opportunity
to express themselves ON this sub
jet. That day comes on November
Is.
Republicans for Wilson.
Thousands Of progressive Republi-
cans will vote for the Democratic
nominee for the Presidency, in the
opinion Of Rudolph Spreckels Of San
Francisco, close friend Of Senator La
Toilette and long prominent IN the
Republican party Of California.
Il have given many years Of my
time and support to the progressive
Republican cause and to honest effort
to eliminate political bosses and bring
about the establishment Of a just and
truly representative government, and
shall continue to make that fight
within my party; but l feel 1t my
duty to support Gov. Wilson at the
coming election, believing It to be
the only proper course left open for
one who is sincerely interested in
the establishment Of progressive leg.
islatiOn in our nation at the earliest
moment.
To-day held conference with Dr.
Harvey W. Wiley. who stands out as
fhe foremost figure in this nation as
a protector Of the lives and heakh
Of our children, and he informs me
that he Is opposed to the election OF
either President Taft or Theodore