The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1912-09-19
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.
(By Clyde H. Tavenner, Special
Washington Correspondent of The

1
ed their employees in return for
sufficient protection to allow them
to overcharge 90,000,0O0 American
consumers on every article OF cloth
ing they buy, is revealed in the ar
rest at Lawrence, Mass, of William
M. Wood, head of the Wooden trust.
Mr.. Wood is charged with placing
dynamite in the house of his SIS, ST
and 81 a week foreign millworkers
in an attempt to dscredit their
cause while they were on a strike
last winter as a protest against
reduction in their wages.
Mr.. Woods arrest is worthy of
the attention of every man, woman
and child in the country who wears
woolens. Because of the fact that
Mr.. Wood and his fellow WOODEN
trust magnates contribute heavily to
republican campaign funds, congress
has been in the habit of placing the
tariff on woolens high enough to
keep out all competition, so that
the wooden trust could be free to
charge any price they desired, up to
the limit of the ability Of the people
to pay. The result is that Ameri
cans are paying from thirty to one
hundred per cent more for WOODEN
! clothing and blankets than the resi-
dents of Great Britain pay.
The story of the career OF Mr..
: Wood provides a curious paradox.
| He is the Oppressor of $50, 200 mis-
cradle New England textile workers;
few years ago he was one of item.
In his youth he felt the sting OF
| hunger himself; but now he is pitt
| less in his thoughts OF his employ
ees. He has grown enormously rich,
! but declares that from 81 to SO a
week is enough for those who labor
in his mills.
1t is said Of many captains of in
dustry that they are ignorant OF the
conditions of those who earn their
| fortunes for them; that if they
knew the distress of their employees
they would seek to remedy it. Not
so with Wood. He knows. Their
distress he sees. Their cries he
hears.
Woods father was Portuguese
Jew emigrant. He labored in a cot
ton mill and died of tuberculosis, a
disease common to cotton and wool
spinners. The fathers name is be-
lieved to have been Alphonse LeHair
! or LeVair.
When the wooden mill employees.
which are composed of AZ different
nationalities, most of whom cannot
speak in English, went on a 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
| h,1n 10 CT Mr.
Woods agent beat the women, and
mothers arms when the children
were about to be placed on trains.
Thus did Mr.. Wood 'protect"&his
employees. F&'f 81
Are the American people willing
to continue to contribute to Mr..
Wood by paying more for shoddy
than good wooden 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
ject. That day comes on November
5.
Republicans for Wilson.
Thousands of progressive repub-
licans will vote for the democratic
nominee for the presidency, in the
opinion of Rudolph Spreckels of San
Francisco, close friend of Senator
LaFollette 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 govern
ment, and shall continue to make
that fight within my party; but l
feel it my duty to support Gov. Will
son at the coming election, believing |
it to be the only proper course left |
open for one who is sincerely inter- |
ested in the establishment of pro-
gressive legislation in our nation at !
the earliest moment.
To-day l held conference with |
DR.. Harvey w. Wiley, who stands
out as the foremost figure in this
nation as a protector of the lives
and health of our children, and he
informs me that he is opposed to
the election of either President Taft
or Theodore Roosevelt, because both
failed during their administrations
to properly support the fight against
the rich manufacturers of harmful
foods and drugs"
Roosevelt Overlooks Himself.
Mr.. Roosevelt declares that
Barnes, Penrose and Guggenheim
work hand in hand with the big in
terests. This in all true. How
about Mr.. Roosevelt himself?
1t was not at the solicitation of
Barnes and Penrose and Guggen-
helm that Edward H. Hartman rails
ed a political corruption fund OF
100000. 1t was at the solicitation
of Theodore Roosevelt.
1t was not Barnes and Penrose and
who, according to Dr..
Harvey w. Wiley, bucked the Pure
Food Law. That was done by Theo-
dore Roosevelt
1t was not Barnes and Penrose
and Guggenheim who failed to bring
the machinery of the law into play
to send Geo. w. Perkins to the peni-
tertiary for violating the Sherman
law in organizing the illegal harvest