The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1918-02-21
Thursday, February II, 1918.
THERE MUST BE NO OILERS IN
sHoSHoNE COUNTY.


which county and municipal officers
are called upon to suppress all forms
Of gambling and to rid the county o.
idle, indolent and productive mer
who subsist upon the operation o.
these devices, will meet the hearty
approval of all loyal and patriotic cit
liens. In fact, the defense league not
only calls upon the officers to perform
this necessary work, but it calls upon
every citizen to cooperate with them
and to report to the officers every
form of gambling, vagrancy and vice
of which they have knowledge. These
are matters that are covered by the
laws of Idaho and they should be
strictly enforced even in normal times
Why they have not been is subject
that need not be discussed at this
time. There are some things which
an easy-going and indulgent public
has submitted to without serious pro-
test in times of peace which are abso-
lutely repugnant to the spirit that has
now been aroused throughout the ma
resource and the service of every man
must be directed to the supreme pur-
pose of winning the war. To permit
the operation of games and devices
such as are enumerated in the resolu-
tons adopted by the council of de-
Tense, and which appear in another
column, is ia countenance condition
that is directly opposed to this pur-
pose. The government is appealing to
men, women and children to practice
thrift in order to buy war savings
stamps, Liberty bonds, support the
Red Cross and in many other ways
contribute to the prosecution of the
war. 1t is therefore utterly inconsist-
ent to permit system to prevail in
this county which absorbs the money
needed for war purposes and allows
1t to be used to support gang of
idlers at the expense of honest indus
try.
This is the war side of the question,
but there is a moral side that is most
serious to every citizen who Is inter-
ested in the welfare of the youth of
the county and the protection of the
homes. But these considerations seem
not to have been sufficient to stir the
public spirit to the extent Of demand
ing the enforcement of the law, but
now that the federation of the vicious
condition is actually weakening our
war strength and preventing the de-
velopment of the maximum efficiency
in support of the war, the patriotic
people of Shoshone county demand
that the deplorable and degrading
condition be stamped out Hundreds
of young men have already gone from
this county to offer their lives for their
country and hundreds more will soon
follow them, and this is true of every
other community throughout the land
We who remain at home have no
right to waste our time and substance
when those who are fighting our bat
ties are dependent upon our labor and
our productive capacity to maintain
them in the great fight they are max
ng in the cause of human liberty
Stop gambling, whether it be poker
n some closely guarded room keno
pool, slot machines or punch boards. !
rhe law forbds them and that is rea-
ION enough to suppress them. But if
urther reason is required it is that |
hey draw money from productive in |
lustry that is needed by the govern
nent, and provide sustenance for a
,ang of parasites who, deprived of
his means of living without labor,
viii be forced to go to work.
Another thing. This is no time for
Ulcers of the law to draw far fetched
distinctions between the duties Of
hose in the service Of the county and
hose in the service of municipalities.
he people are not in a mood to lis
en- to such explanations as an vx- {
use for failure to enforce the law. t
he defense league has called atten- $
ion to condition of law violation,
nd in doing so 1t has voiced the SEN
'ment of the loyal and patriotic peo-
lie of the county. 1t Is now up to the
Ulcers, both county and municipal, to In