El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-02-28

1t to the administration now in power.
The jingoes are doing their best to
drive the American people into the
same military policy as led the Euro
peans into their present mess If pre-
paredness meant defence against war,
why is 1t that Germany, with the great
est military machine in the world, was
the first to declare wari Answer: Sim
ply because this machine had become
the master Of the people instead Of its
servant, and had to be used or de-
stfoyed.
However, I care but little about the
moral consideration involved in any
discussion for or against preparedness.
Economics and industrial considera
tiOns alone tip the scales, and whatever
power yields control Of the economic
and industrial conditions Of any ma
ton, holds that nation in the hollow Of
its hand. So the question is: Who holds
the economic and Industrial power of
the q. So
Do the workers of this country hold
such power? Do the farmers2 Do the
small business men? Most emphati-
cally they do not Then, do the gov
erning officials Of the L. S. hold il?
They do not. nor can they do so until
such time as majority of those exer-
cising suffrage in the U. S. declare
that this government shall exercise
supreme control over all property and
commodities upon which the nation
depends
Men Of the class Of Morgan, Rookie
Teller. Vanderbilt and, yes. our new
Baron AstOr, absolutely control the
economic conditions under which we
live, and can with impunity defy our
government to interfere with them as
facts of very recent origin amply prove.
Why. then, should the workers, the
farmers or the small business man,
hight for a country they neither own
nor control2 British, German, French
and Russian nobility (sic) are heavily
interested in the industries of this
country. Shall we fight for them? l
most assuredly will not.
And now for economy, which is con-
nected with the above.
i am a substitute railway postal
clerk and as such have encountered
personally the grand results of econ
omy as practiced by the present ad-
ministration through the post office
department in particular Just a few
instances will suffice to show the
One man on the Tucumcari and FL
Paso run, a helper, was arbitrarily
taken from his job and put back on
the substitute list-a reduction in sal
airy. Another man was asked to give
up his job under the same conditions,
but took his case up with his congress-
men and senators and was never both
ered thereafter. A man Just trans
ferred TO the Big Springs and Ell Paso
run, $1,000 Job. was arbitrarily re-
moved from a $500 job-a reduction
OF $500 per annum. I could quote you
a thousand other cases in the railway
mail service alone il space permitted.
j refer you to Urban A. Walter. P. o.
drawer 1892, Denver. Colo, for further
information. Not a substitute has been
appointed to run in about three years.
was II necessary to remove these
men, 70 cut the crews on various trains,
70 arbitrarily reduce salaries? For pur-
poses OF economy, yes; for the good or
the service, positively no. The moral
erect on employees has been disastrous,
as can well be attested by anyone in
the confidence of the clerks Hundreds
or crews throughout the United States
are coming into their terminals stuck"
unable to complete the distribution OF
speeding up orders issuing from head
quarters. Business men served by
lines arbitrarily cut to save expenses
and thus save the face Of the admins
lration have vainly sought to get relief
from the department. I am told that in
informed that the postOffice depart
ment was running the mails-not the
business men.
In the face OF this what civil SER
wee employee do you suppose should be
falling all over himself to help prepare
his country for defence, or give his
life into the keeping Of those who care
less for him than for their dog?
Every political right as a citizen ex-
cept the right 10 vote is taken away
from civil service employe. Perhaps
! viii be asked to resign because OF
this letter. However II such should
be the case. I cannot lose much, but
Tor the sake Of the principle Of free
speech and the expression Of opinion,
l. would fight the case to the highest
court in the land.
Just one more word in conclusion.