Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1912-10-03
WHAT Gam POLITICIANS dor

WHAT CAN POLITICIANS Dor
TO read the debates Of congress.
and all the speeches Of candidates
for office, anxious for notoriety,
salary, Prerequisites" and power, It
might be supposed that the coun-
try had arrived at desperate con-
dition, where good work could no
longer command its price, and where
that aggregation Of the whole peos
dies savings called capital" en-
ercised the bitterest oppression up
on all the forces which can make
capital reproductive. Every politi-
clan has remedy. The remedies
are all different. and the fact that
the disease they profess to cure is
not proven, makes no difference. II
the voter has not q grievance, any
competent politician is prepared to
supply one.
What can the politicians do to
give us better railroad service? Gu.
passenger service is not surpassed
/ anywhere in the worn
speed. frequency, comfort or cost
We carry people cheaper for longer
distances than the railroads OF any
other country. Our committing rates
for the workers In the cities are
actually lower than those OF Euro
pean state-owned railways, which
grant concessions out of the tax
payers pocket. Our freight charges
are lower on the average than those
OF Germany, where the state-owned
railways are used, professedly, to
build up the national commerce,
playing favorites and politics all the
time. In point Of service there is
no comparison. To any other coun-
try the system seems marvel OF
cheapness and efficiency; but the
politicians cannot let 1t alone.
They have appointed endless COM
missions to regulate 1t. Rates are
forcibly reduced on almost any de-
mand; while the interstate COM
merce commission, to say nothing
OF the state railway boards, auto
matically suspends every advance,
however reasonable. Where is the
grievance? 1t is something vague,
an invention Of politics; and the
politician says he can redress 1t.
But what can the politician do?
Our farmers were never so pros
porous. The unearned increment Of
their land has been enormous, and
every consumer is paying them en-
HANGED profits In the price OF their
products. It Is difficult to see what
grievance they can have. But he
would be poor politician who could
not invent one. Labor is highly
paid, because 1t is scarce. Never was
the demand greater. The only man
who does not work lie not the OPP
pressed unemployed. but the ineffi-
Gent and dissolute unemployable.
Where is the grievance? And what
right has this particular class, Of
all Others the most worthless. to
dictate the government Of the coun-
try?
Never was the country more pros
porous, Or the standard OF comfort
higher. Never was private charity
more intelligent, discriminating and
far-reaching Every employer is
looking for workers who are worth i
large wages. The belief in good
pay for good work is maxim Of |
modern efficiency And yet the poll
iticians have an inexhaustible sup ,
ply Of grievances. The thinking and
working part OF the people OF the /
United States. incomparabIy the
greater part, in invited to perpet- i
uate agitation In the delusive hope
of millennium based upon ignor- |
ance, sloth and self-seeking. But
the inevitable question must surely
occur to every thinging man, Ii
What can the politicians do for
uss
Why should the American bust
nessman or farmer desire hi
changer