The Green Forest tribune., 1917-11-30
BEATINIC TIE C,ANE.

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 the 1o"o"ihs ,Ati.IC. utc take. from |" sPo>cu niaue ny ,iafiy '. oloan before tie travgling lnei . us- Soclalloh heiG NuN. I6, 1917.
 Mir Hoover has said-'The Licens- ing Plan Is to protect the patriot from the Stacker.
 Inns presupposes that there are sidchele In er:il5 5tment n trade jd5t as there are slack CTS in enlistment in war. Ihe draft age" is the only dis : tlnctlon. One owes his service exactly as the other. But there is no ques- ton that there are slackers and slack CTS. For that reason the Patrio t must be Ion guard night and day, Eig;iantly and with an eye that nev- CT sleeps. The Patriots duty is to ''nail'' the stacker. The patriot will work ''for the cause" and forget him. self in this crisis.
 Saturday night last meeting and banquet was held in Independence, kan$as, at which there were ln at tendauce all of the jobbers of South eastern Kansas as guests of the tray cling salesmen. There wasn't a slack CT there. There was neither 8 critic or an objector. There was only one flag displayed. The Stars and Stripes were nailed to the wall in full splendor. There were men there who had been in business for forty years or more, such as w. M. Wade. There were men there who had come from Ger many. notably Henry Baden. who settled in Independence fifty one years ago, and there were others there who came from Germany; but there was only ore flag and it would have done your heart good to listen to Henry Ba- den talk on patriotism and loyalty.
 This was a travelling mems meeting and there were Irshmen, Swedes, Americans represented All they wanted to know was ths:- when will they call us and what do they want us to do ? We are ready
 When the Government sees fit to en- list the traVellng men in the reserve" If police department they will find the most efficient body of men in their support and the most enthusiastic warriors i'll upholding their ideals and principals for food conservation which could, under any circumstances, be enlisted in the cause of demo. cracy, to the end that food will win the war" and famine defeat it. The quicker the travelling men are called npon the better it will suit them.
 There are many meetings being held all over the country. Rasolu- tions are being passed. Sacrifices are being made and services are being ea- gerly offered to the support of the of the people But still we find in 1 isolated places and in the seeming forgotten swamps of trade the slimy stacker peeps up his foul and shiny copper head and squints around for his prey. The proiteer, the specula- ator, the hoarder, the man with money in the bank who seeks to enrich himself at the expense of the needs of the people; all of them hope to find a means to beat the game within the law. Gentlemen, .'it cant be did. :" Let that soak in. The ar my of patriots will look out for that and they have hob-nails in their boots.
 If any man has it in his head that he can work out any way to beat the game he is a stacker If any man thinks that with shreWdness and cun- ming he can finn hole in the Rules and Regulations through which to Wiggle to an il!egitimate profit and escape penalty on technicality- he is a Slacker Any man who seeks to take the letter of the law and prostitutes it's spirit to it's own gain is a stacker. The dodger is stacker.
 
 The man who talks loud and holds a mental reservation for his own ends i is stacker. The man who puts his individual pocketbook so close to his eyes that he can't see beyond it is a stacker. We are in war and your pocketbook belongs to your country.
 But any man in legitimate trade is short-sighted indeed if he cannot see that it is to his own interest, If not his own loyalty, to work with and for and by the Food Administration. Unless he does So "The millions of wage earners upon whom the successful prosecution of this war most depends will demand absolute government in- tervention and control and no matter what the plan may be expensive or in- eXpensive-it would put you out of business. ," The Food Administration, at the moment, recognize that the Wholesale Grocer is a real economi- cal feature of distribution. It is up to us to retain that idea-It can slip at any minute. There is no foolishness L. I