The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1912-06-13

tnlnk tDaJ We can WltnStanu q great
evil better than our brothers across
the sea. Do you want to raise your
daughters in a clean, enterprising lit.
tie town with it's advantages for edu-
cation and social life, or do you want
to be forced into a city fat where the
hurdy-gurdy plays on the sidewalk IN
der your window and the foul air Of
the fetid mart takes the place of the
violet-kissed zephyrs of the dingle and
the dale? And, worst of all, do you
want to realize that your children,
born In q fiat, will neve know the
joys of the country as a country heart
knows them?
Think of what you have had to fill
your life with ~gladness: A pretty cot
tage Struggled away among the woods.
possibly a brook sings nea by and
the cool, fragrant woods is filled with
claytonias and hypaticas, bluebells and
forgetmenots, trilliums and ladyslip-
pers, in season. Above you the sky
is blue, and fascinating clouds float
idly. The breeze is fresh, toying with
the fresh fringe of the blossoming
trees. There is hope and inspiration
and qualification in every breath. The
people about you are considerate and
sympathetic. You help each other.
There is q bond between you that sue
cors the weak and helps the erring
brother. You are not without blem-
ish, but you are nearer the perfect life
than the city jewellers ever can hope
to be.
Fancy your daughter living in a
thirty-lat building along with thirty
other families, piled on top of each
other or across the hall! The rooms
are cave-like and the only sunlight that
gets in is from the narrow front and
the unsightly rear. Supplies come
daily from the shops, for it is a day to
day existence in the city, and after
you get the habit you 10Y every
spring or fall, and sometimes both.
Think Of sending your daughter into
such a life!
Think of her rearing a family under
such conditions with no home ties. For
uOW Cdl IlIslS pS uOLlS lIGS "hSA thc
family moves every year?
One of the sweetest bits in your
memory is the thought of the old
home, the place where your father
lived and where your mother twjned
her roses on the porches. You always
will be better and happier for the
thought that this was your home.
What about her children, your daugh-
tiers? Will they look back in their
ch~eckerboard careers and be proud be-
cause they lived in Hennessy's fat one
year, the next in the Arcade, the next
at the corner Of Armour and Wabash?
l don't think so-and neither do
you!
Suppose, then, you do what you can
to keep the selfish interests that are
at work, from saddling this country
with parcels post. Suppose you or
ganize the women of your community
and get out and fight the influence that
will tear down the country merchant,
the country town and the country
home, tearing down with it what you
love and jeopardizing the happiness
and the longevity Of those who are
your own flesh and blood!
And about the first thing you will
have to combat is the statement that
the express companies are behind the
opposition to the parcels post bill. /
presume the express companies are
against the parcels post just as the
mail order houses are Cor it--but this
doesn't change the situation sc far as
you and l are concerned, Parcels
post is not wrong because the express
companies are fighting tit is wrong
because 1t will tear down the country
town and the country folk. If the ex-
press company is over charging-and
there can be no question of this-let
congress correct the error. What can
the people expect Of their plan Of GOV
eminent If the men they send to make
their laws are not honest enough and
brave enough to wipe out a system that
is overcharging the people. l am MT
in favor of an express company that
neutrality-suspicious. are you. But We
are not going to be hoodwinked into
being for a monster evil like the par
cells post simply because something
else Is wrong. II the express compa-
MES are not what they ought to be it
is a disgrace to American lawmakers.
a disgrace to American voters, for n
men do not work honestly in congress,
the people should see to it that they
are not rehired on election day.
Woman, don't let the men talk 10
you about things that ought to be DOR
but cannot be done, at Washington.
Everything that should be done can be
done II the lawmakers are honest ard
earnest. II not, it is time for you ~
help make them so.
Go to your leading club woman and
interest her in this fight against The
pacels post. Organize against it. Talk
with your leading citizens and knew
the truth! Don't delay. This is the
most important issue to the residents
OF the country that has been under
consideration during your lifetime. "
Means the life or the death of the pres
porous country town. Are you for
your town or against II? What you do
now will prove where you stand.
BYRON WILLIAMS.