The diamond drill., 1917-12-22
NO CAUSE FOR THEIR POSITION.

Some or our good friends down al
Florence have taken emphatic excep-
tion TO an item that appeared in these
columns a few weeks ago relative TO
Investigations that were made at
Florence by the U. S. government.
Last week we published a protest
from the Florence Council OF De-
fense and In last weeks Mining news,
Editor Youngs taks us roundly to
task for our interference with Flor
ence affairs. Says that we slander
the good people OF Florence. Now,
friend, nothing was further from
our intentions than the slandering of
the GOOD people down there; what
we did hit at was the bad people. OF
course our friend claims that there
are no disloyal people in his commun-
ity. Well we hope that his claim Is
true, but II there isn't it's the first
place that we have heard Of that
hasn't some of them.
Our friends sarcastically say that
they suppose their neighbors haven't
any dlsloyal, which Is a back-handed
way of saying that Crystal Falls has
its share. You bet II has, neighbor.
Instead Of pampering these gentle
men by hushing up any accusation
we swat 'em on the head every time
an opportunity presents. And, we're
going to continue swatting 'em just
as long as a syllable OF disloyalty is
uttered in our midst, and IL we hear
of any more OF II at Florence or in
any other place we're going to take a
side swipe at the vipers wherever
they may be.
The American newspapers have
work to do that is second only to the
work done by the boys In the trench
es. They form the second line of
support. 1t is up to all of us, Neigh
Dor Youngs, to keep our powder dry
and take a potshot at any sniper that
we discover trying to shoot our boys
in the back. And that means, take
a shot at them no matter in what
position they may lie hidden or what
degree of eminence they may have
attained socially or commercially
About the first song that we remem-
ber Of having been sung to us in our
cradle days was Civil war song ded-
icated to the copperheads Of the day
by the boys at the front. 1t ran
something like this:
Tell the traitors all about you,
That their cruel words we know,
For in every battle they kill our
comrades,
BY the aid they give our foe"
We need a song of that kind today
addressed to the newspapers OF the
nation, which, like the Mining News,
elects to keep under cover the dis
loyal utterance OF its community for
the sake Of local pride" That's the
greatest encourager to disloyalty that
can be devised. or course these peo-
pie don't want anything said about
their actions. That's the way the
German propaganda works-in the
dark. Won Papen and his brood did
not want anything said about their
acts. either. They didn't take any ad-
yertising space I'm the papers OF the
country when they set out to commit
gladly have paid the press to keep
still. So will those who are disloyal
to a lesser degree. They don't want
anything said about IT, Get the spot,
light on these boys. That's the way
to shut their mouths; you never can
change their hearts
Yes. we have the l. w. w, but you
noticed what We did to them didn't
you? Nor did you find us getting
peeyed when our neighbors told about
our bad nest" We advised them 10
whoop II up harder, for the harder
they hit the more effective our taps
became. No. don't think, friends, that
we have any longing to say anything
slurring about the good people OF
Florence; we know that there are
many good people down there. be-
cause we've lived beside them for 30
years.
Now as to our Quitting In" as was
suggested in the published articles.
II We had butted in every time thar
we were asked to do 50 by Florence
people and by former Florence peo-
pie, We would have had an item every
week for the past six months. The
article that we published some few