The Commonwealth. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1911-1914, 1912-12-13
oPrINIsN ANp PEssIMIsM.


oh deHri E'Ehgd Susie. ! wish
/. it wasn't time Co 20 home I love to
be here where there's fun"
WHY asked Nettc. Don't you
have and fun at homer Can't you aud
Winnie play sing and dance. and
sometimes make candy2 Isn't your
Papa and Mama GOOD
YES Papa and Ma are good" Susie
replied slowly looking tboughtmlly
out of her neighhor's window toward
home. Minnie is good too. I guess "
what is the matter at your house2'
asked Nettie approaching the mhap-
Ply child, while Grace the younger
sister, dropped her playthings and
looked on inquirinely
Pa justs reads and talks all the
time about awful things, reads about
awful bad capitalists and starving
strikers and mean police, and then
he talks to ma about them. Ma she
shakes her head and says It is a
shame and awful She looks 80 sad
and looks just like she'd cry There's
going to be a great struggle. Ma and
Pa says so. They say we must be
brave and make sacrifices. Them sac.
rifices are bad times a comm, for
they make Pa and Ma afraid when
they talk about them Sure, we're
all going to starve and freeze for the
big capitalists has all the coal and all
the things to eat. We're Just awful
miserable"
ooh Susie!" protested Grace, who
had now moved away from her play
things. 1--WE are glad every day.
Papa is always glad. He sings and
whistles all the time, and nothing can
happen to us when he is glad. He
comes home from work, and makes
lots of fun for me and Nettie. Mama
is happy too. She laughs great big
laughs when Papa plays with us.
Come over here, and We'll give you
some fun"
Susie looked doubtfully at the hap
pier child. "Pa and Ma thinks the
capitalists will get everything, may
be-" continued Susie. "and if they do,
we will starve and freeze. Pa and
Ma belong to the movement. They
look afraid all the time. know they
never had any fun. I wish there
wasn't and movement nor capitalists,
then I believe we would be happy"
"Oh, poor Susie!" exclaimed Grace,
alphabetically. mo miserable move
ment will get us. We don't belong
to nothing miserable. Papa and Mama
are always glad, and they wouldn't
let anything get us. 1t must be they
own a movement and don't belong to
one. He's a socialist too, but he
laughs and laughs lots Of times"
"Oh my Pa and Ma are socialists,
too, byt they don't laugh" replied
Susie. Winnie said the other day
she's a socialist now, and she says
I'll be one. She reads and reads
about capitalists, and she don't laugh
now. neither. She's gettin' the move
ment bad"
Nettie. the oldest of the trio, had,
for few moments been listening and
thinking. Papa wouldn't let us suf-
fer" she said with assurance. He
wouldn't let anything hurt us.
heard him one day tell Mama that me
and Grace must not worry about the
big things he calls problems. He said
little boys and girls should be happy
and not think about big things till
they grow big. My Papa told Mama
that only the glad are strong, and said
we must grow up glad so we can be
strong Oh I know this is true, for
when I have fun I feel so strong that
I could lift anything, and the other
day when Papa came home and said
another socialist was elected he turn
ed a handspring because he was
just glad"
Susie turned to go. 81 hate the
capitalists" she said, "and the So
cialists. and the strikers. I hate eY-
ervthing that won't let me and Min
ME and Pa and Ma be happy" And
with a look of bitterness she walked
across the lawn toward home. At her
own gate she paused, and looked back
at the house she had left. Maybe
Pa and Ma amt got the happy kind OF
socialism" she said to herself. !
guess that's it,"