The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1914-01-25

side-steps and the city council side-stepa
and every one else side-steps and the cul-
prit remains unseen and therefore I'M
whipped
"A benevolent despot. II he 10 honest
and capable, can manage q city better
than can nifty men niiing dozen dr.
ferent ofhces- But the recall should be
put on him and kept on him. / would
run a big city or little city with one,
two. or three, men. at the most. wouid
consolidate power and accountability, put
ting into his or their hands all legislative
and executive authority.
He Took His Hammer AIong.
"Then the eye Of the people would
be on q single spot. While the people
are looking at one place. under our pres
ent loose and scattered scheme Of gov
ernment some deviltry In likely TO
break ont at another spot. Nobody can
watch dozen rat holes simultaneously.
A woman complained to me by letter
that the new cement curbing In the
street where she lived was bad. I
didn't send an inspector but went myself.
"A workman. I found. had whispered
the word to her. Such information was
ambiguous. I got q hammer and went
to work.
Hammers are the tools with which, to
discover hollow persons and hollow side
walks and curbs. Every few yards I
would hear an empty sound. beat down
a whole block of fraudulent curbing In
side of an hour. Just SMASHED 1t in and
left the pieces In the gutter. The next
day I went back and examined other
streets. School boys, not knowing my
name, asked what was doing. / en-
lightened them.
Get stones / said. find the hollow
places and put an on them with
chalk
"A good part of one section Of the
city was marked up within twenty-four
hours The contractor came roaring into
my office.
"'This thing he yelled. has got to
stop. I'll shoot the next boy who
monkeys with my work
Good / said, That's the way to
talk. Get q gun, hurry right along and
shoot just once. Ten minutes later you
will be hanging from the nearest tele-
Phone pole
'WeIl, all the curbing after that was
as solid as the eternal rocks. mention
this episode because IL illustrates the
soundness of one of my favorite state
ments, which Is: Put the people them
selves on guard. But they must believe
that what they reveal or what they find
will be honestly acted on at once.
LAS 1t Is, the people say: oh, what's
the use. We go down TO the city hall
and are treated like cranks or tramps
Everybody is playing politics or taking
graft. We are referred from this ONCE
to that and are made to feel that we
are meddling with other mems business
ard are outside our rights
Where Everybody L. Statesman.
'I am an incorrigible and inveterate
champion of a government by the people
directly applied" Senator Lane continued.
NO agent business for me, unless the
agent is under a microscope all the time.
We don't buy a store or a factory, turn
1t over to a superintendent and then let
the Investment lie dormant in our mind.
We demand reports and We look over the
books and we are in the office or there
abouts to see that the hired men are on
their jobs.
Government by the people has been
tried in my State. No matter what is
said, ii has been a success. The voters Of
Oregon can compel the passage Of laws
or the repeal of laws already enacted.
1t is asserted that persons who do not
pay taxes can vote oppressive bond issues