The Punta Gorda herald. [volume] (Punta Gorda, Fla.) 1893-1958, 1916-03-16
A Family Affair


family, you would not come out
on the street and talk about it IN
public, would you? And if you
and your family have under dis
cussion some project or PROPOSE
ton concerning your mutual IN
terests, such as the purchase OF
another home, or going into a dit
ferent business from that in which
vou"a engaged--in other words.
if you had an argument in your
family about some private matter
and all of you did not agree,
would you go down to the post
Office and tell all about it to the
crowd gathered there?
Now that is the way, in the
humble opinion of The Herald, to
look at the affairs of small com
munity like Punta Gorda. II
there are any differences OF opin-
ion, any disagreements that may
be tinged with unpleasantness.
why should The Herald relate the
circumstances to its many read
ers abroad? If several citizens.
for example, complain that the
town marshal is neglecting some
If his duties, and if the complaint
S just, why should readers in
New York and Chicago be in
'ormed of it? Wouldn't it be
better to go to the marshal per-
ionally and kindly admonish
him?
If the street committee of the
council has neglected the cross
ngs until dangerous holes have
appeared in them, why advertise
he fact in Tampa and Jackson
lille, in which places The Herald
las a good list of readers? If
he sanitary inspector has over
ooked some dirty places, why
lold him up to the scorn and in
lignation of The Herald's sub
,cribers in st. Louis and Cincin-
natl?
Isn't it better to settle these
matters amongst ourselves as in
family? Go to the offenders and
in a friendly manner call their at
tention to their errors? And if
they disregard friendly re-
monstrance and cOntumaciously
persist in their remissness, would
it not be a good idea to call con-
ference of the citizens and adopt
a few formal resolutions notify
ing the offending officials that
they are expected to do their duty
or resign? AT any rate, it is the
view of The Herald that these pri-
vate differences in the family
Community should not be aired
to the outside world with the pos
sible result of causing people a
broad whom we wish to come here
to regard us as quarrelsome lot
and to give us the go-by when
they visit Florida.
The policy Of The Herald is te
present the bright side of condi
tons in Punta Gorda and to lg
more any petty differences tha'
may exist amongst our people
Some of the papers friends, how
ever, think that it ought to "tea
the hide off" of every official o
town or district against whom
any plausible complaint of neg
lect of duty or incompetence ma,
be brought. If the paper per
sistently pursued such policy, ]
would not be very long before
would have to cease publicatio.
for want of support.
| A weekly paper in Sarasot
which adopted the aggressive
policy that a few friends wan
The Herald to adopt, is now ur
! able to pay its bills. 1t is the OF
ly one of the half-hundred G
more village wceklies that com
to this office that has been cor
spicuously "aggressive;" and a
: the others seem to be prosperin'
And it cannot be possible tia
none of the villages from whic
d these papers come have no Off
: ials that are remiss or incomp
tent.
The writer hereof has been
S the newspaper business over thi
n ty-fve years, and he knows VIII
J he is talking about.