Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1913-03-29
Press Comment.
TRAILING the TRUSTS.


New York Globe: BY all odds. the
fiercest branch of the federal govern
ment Ia the department Of justice.
When It comes to running down crimo
and tracking svildoers to their lairs,
the high-browed, lawyers are the boys
with the sharp swords and the heavy
guns.
All through the Taft administration
there came from this department the
barbaric, not to say cannibal1stic
shrek and yell:
I'VE are about to catch trust! We
have got it on the run! Well carve 1t
into little pieces in the dark of the
noon"
And now comes the announcement
from the democratic attorney general
that the trust Investigations which
were begun by the Taft people will be
continued with great strenuosity and
bellicosity.
There ia a regular formula by which
you can recognize this villain-the bad
trust. If 1t plays the violin at o'clock
in the morning and eats It's eggs with.
out bacon, If its voice has a hollow and
raucous tone, II it wears silk socks
and hemp collar, If 1t uses birthstone
instead of soap, then 1t Is a trust that
should be pursued over every hill and
down every smiling valley Of this fair
free and frenzied country.
Nobody has yet discovered where a
trust lives. Some say in Wall street
and some say in an open field In Colo
RADIO. Hundreds of expert agents OF
the department Of justice have worn
out million pairs OF shoes and
twenty seven Pullman sleeping cars IN
pursuit of the trust. ~
In several instances indictments
longer than the bible have been torn
from the mouths of jurors who were
not sure whether they were trying the
trust for bigamy or horse stealing
They coughed up those indictments
with all the pleasure and ignorance OF
Hottentot trying to eat green peas
on a two-pronged fork. But Is there
ANYBODY in Jail? With one accord. the
iails rise up and remark that no trust
is vet in their midst. Has any trust
lost money? In a great song OF de-
light, the banks inform the nation that
no financial losses have been had
What's the answer? ",.a
Even Solomon Would Be Puzzled.
Chicago Record Herald: The battling
sisterhood present a problem that com
pletely battles the British statesman
The home secretary is criticised for
brutality by the women, who object to
forcible feeding; to balance that
charge, he is accused of weakness by
such logicians as Mr.. Shaw, who say
that if the women won't eat they
should be allowed to starve as men un
doubtedly would be. Theoretically
there is no reason for treating women
differently from men, but in practice
it simply can't be done, and the
women know 1t. 1t is childish to In
| woke logic in the present difficulty
| The government has to admit tacitl.
that there is one law for women ant
another for men, repugnant as the ad
mission is; furthermore, it can
ignore the fact that the motives ami
mating the furies are, from their poin
| of view at least, idealistic. If possible
it must keep any of them from making
martyrs" of themselves, and to do sc
It faces the necessity Of turning then
loose until they recuperate-a 'clums!
method, to say the least. Altogether
it seems a problem of the most per
picking sort 1t is easy enough for {
| tory to 1eer at the muddle-headedness
Of the liberals, but what other govern
ment tory or radical, in the circum
stances would be prepared to deal will
such situation more effectively.