The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1917-04-21

no WOIst uHueT any Otuer BONeTH-
ment? Is 1t not true under our
present laws that with great prog
ress comes great poverty? Change
economic conditions by better
laws and a better distribution Of
wealth so that the least of our
people will feel that they have
something to fight for.
Criticism of any public official
may be the illuminate that will
set off cracked brain, but that
il no argument against criticism.
failing Bouck White. or denounc-
ing Maurer, who didn't say what
he is supposed to have said. or
charging the pacifists with being
unpatriotie and saying they ought
to be Jailed or expelled from the
country, does not dispose of the
question OF pacifism or militar-
ism; nor does il instill respect for
the flag or for our institutions or
our system of justice. Are we so
dull or so uneducated, so lacking
in courage. so devoid of all his
torical information and all
knowledge, that appeals to the
People (around election time, the
Mob at other times) will under
mine government, law and order,
and bring on a revolution?
We do not want the kind OF
men described by Edwin Mark
ham. "the man with the hoe,
brother to the OK. with the brutal
Jaw and slanted brow, from whose
brain the light has been blown"
We want men and women who are
individuals and who know how to
think and come to conclusion;
who are not overawed by the idea
of the State, nor of officials In
high places; nor by the ideas OF
the majority or the doctrines OF
a church; men and women who
are not afraid to be in the minor
ity and to speak when others re-
main silent, and who stand for
justice to all.
The radicallsm of today is the
conservatism OF tomorrow. The
ridiculed. satirized, radical plat
form OF the populist party of
few years ago is today the plat
form OF both the great conserva-
tive parties, and much OF IL is law
the direct election of United
States senator's, rural credits,
child-labor legislation, control of
public-service corporations, etc.
The ownership of all public utili-
ties is on the way. Men with the
dust of dead laws and dead the
cries in their eyes and mouths
and brains should not be permit
ted to attempt to shackle the
brave spirit of those fighting for
a new and better life, for living
humanity.
Hostile theories correct each
other, and error of opinion may
be tolerated where reason Is left
free to combat It. Sometimes
bricks have to be used instead of
pebbles to rattle" the mental
windows OF men controlling the
government.
Woodrow Wilson recently said:
1.-THE only thing that ever set any
man free, the only thing that ever
set any nation free. is the truth.
A man that is afraid of the truth
is afraid of life. A man who does
not love the truth is in the way
Of decay and OF failure. / have
such an inveterate confidence in
the ultimate triumph of the truth
that I feel, with old DR.. oliver
Wendell Holmes. that the truth is
no invalid and you need not mind
how roughly you handle her.
She has got a splendid constitu-
tion and she will survive every
trial and every labor"
All individuals should get into
the battle for justice, economic
freedom, equal opportunity for
all. special privileges for none:
take sides, act, do. Even IL you
are wrong, when the dust of bat
tie rises, the sky will be clearer,
the air more invigorating, the
brain quicker to absorb facts and
draw proper conclusions. Must
governments be changed? Take a
hand. You revere the revolu-
tionists of old, and you are in
/ heritor of their work. Why not
leave an additional inheritance te
your children? Fear not the
charge of radicalism, If your MIND
and conscience lead you in tina
direction. Not alone in the quiet
of the students den are ques
tions of men and government
solved, but also in the highway,
of life. Go. like Socrates. ques
tioning, testing. valuing all things
Go, like Pericles and Scion, to tn,
market-place and the lawmakin,
bodies.
Milton well said, "Give me tn,
liberty TO know, to utter, and 3,
argue freely according to con
science. above all liberties" Wen
dell Phillips said, eff there is any
thing that cannot bear FREE
thought, let II crack" olive
Cromwell said. mo good govern
ment has anything to fear from
paper shot"
| The freedom OF the press shoul,
not be throttled: freedom O
speech dies in a day, but its de
NAL shackles the race.
II IN n IT