Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1913-08-23
Are We Going Ahead or Back?

A Waterville friend calls our atten-
ton to the following editorial in the
Sentinel of one day last week:
| Our down river contemporary continues
| its attempt to fffghten the people of the
| third district by exhibiting the tarlf
| bugaboo which in the past has done tht
| Republican party good service but Mr.
| Burleighs newspaper has to go fai
| afield to find material for it's dolefui pre-
| dictions In it's issue of Saturday morn
/ ing the cry of calamity consisted OF
| quotations from publications printed IN
| Montana, Ohio and Kansas.
The reason that the Kennebec journal
| goes more than a thousand miles for the
| material for its editorials is obvious. II
cannot find the right kind of material al
| home. Maine manufacturing industries
are prospecting. Maine agriculture is
prospecting. Maine is distinctly not an
| object lesson for the purposes which the
| Kennebee Journal is seeking to accom-
plish. Therefore the resort to quotations
from newspapers printed in far distant
| cities and the accompanying resort to
statements of a kind to which the shorter
and uglier word might properly be APP
piled.
A sample of that kind of statement was
given in the columns of our down river
| contemporary the other day when ii de-
clared that there was dearth OF work
| in this country and that the United
States was filed with idle men hunting
for jobs. Even the fact that newspaper
| mas 10 regard LOT TIE tIuti - HD fNtdst
| for its making itself ridiculous.
Our thanks are due the Waterville
gentleman for there are some incon-
sisteneies in the Pattangall organs
logic to which we would call attention,
| having no doubt that it was inspired
or written by Mr.. Pattangall him
| self. Since the above quoted was
written, which might have been while
the editor of this paper was on an
expedition of inquiry in Somerset
county, the Kennebee Journal has
been dealing with issues less than one
thousand miles away. We have been
giving consideration to matters under
open discussion in several counties of
this district. We have had the pleas
ure of showing up the fallacy and
deceit of Mr.. Pattangall's near home
arguments.
Now we would come nearer still and
invade the Democratic candidates
home city, to prove the utter mac
curacy of his platform utterances on
the tariff. Mr.. Pattangall is telling
his hearers of the wonderful pros
perity" of Waterville mills, as indi-
Gated by the fact that the Lockwood
Co. is repairing its dam, and that the
Wyandotte Co. is operating its plant
| n ,or :. racant shutdown
On Thursday newspaper man
visited both these plants and heard
from the lips of company officials,
their version of the present situation
and outlook AT the Lockwood mills,
officials were found indignant because
of Mr.. PattangalI's pretense and the
Sentiners shouting and waving of
arms. Ii was stated that reconstruc-
ton of the dam had become absolutely
necessary because of decay, in order
to continue operation. 1t was declared
emphatically that orders now are
small and infrequent, and that If the
Underwood bill is passed decrease
of revenue and consequent reduction
of wages must inevitably result.
These mill officials told the Journal
man that many New England mills
| are now on the verge of bankruptcy
and if the present schedules become
| law some of these factories must go
| .,,t 80 t,rSinaoo
| At the Wyandotte mills they are
| doing a hand to mouth business in
| order to keep as many of their old
hands employed as possible. They
are running half capacity and have
been obliged to lay off many men,
because orders are not coming in.
Here, too. officials declare that reduc-
ton of revenue and wages must re-
suit, and the entry of cheap foreign
goods would necessitate the change
to cheaper grades and greater variety
AT home" We are aware without
asking, that prospects must be the
same. They could not be otherwise
The blare of political quack doctors
i who do not know or care about tho
ills of the patient so long as they
get the fee, does not change the scien-
tific effect.
! Maine manufacturing industries are
NOT prospecting at the present time
! Maine agriculture is prospecting be
! cause people have to eat, and cereals
are not of the long time order variety