El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-11-14
ROCK THE
BOAT; SIT TIGHT
Ex-Mayor Sweeney Gives
Advice On Reconstruc-
ton To the Rotarians.

Jos. O. Sweeney, exmayor Of e
Paso. recently returned from a trip to
Washington, told FL Paso Rotzrians
Thursday at their weekly luncheon
al Hotel Sheldon that the greatest
danger following the war is that of
rocking the boat"-too much Bolshe-
rickism, as he said.
Judge Sweeney was the principal
speaker at this. the first meeting
since before the influenza quarantine.
C. A. Martin. the new president. pre-
sided. and the attendance was ex-
tremely large.
Judge Sweeney said:
Internal Problem Now.
The external war is won and end
ed. the internal problem, hid in the
smoke Of battle. now looms more
threateningly even than before.
The defeat Of Prussianized Ger
man autocracy has secured the world
against a tyrannical reaction. what
viii guarantee il against Bolshe-
visky anarchy
The great question OF the future,
with which all others are connected,
is the economical production and the
just distribution of wealth. This is
universally recognized to be the one
DhELllc1 LEGALlE Q4E1AlOns uAL We must
fully recognize all the various ele-
ments that enter into it. None viii
deny that labor is the producer OF
wealth, and that the laborer is worthy
Ct his hire, has the sanction Of COM
mon sense and common justice, as
wei as OF holy writ. but do we feel,
IS it an ever present part OF our con-
eeptions, that organized society is
equally essential and that without
such society all production must nee
essarily cease?
Society. the ssPlant.y
In the broadest. and yet most &C
curate sense. organized society Is the
plant which the workman uses as
the instrument OF his production: he
can no more dispense with it than he
can with the vast aggregation OF
instruments and machinery that are
assembled IN the various factories Of
the United Steel company.
Without this plant Of organized
society, wealth can be neither pro-
duced. distributed nor enjoyed and
he. who by lawless violence. radical
innovation or Utopian theory. trans
lated into action. impedes. Injuries or
destroys this great plant. the erec-
ton OF centuries and of countless gen
erations, is the enemy Of the work
man as much as is the theory crazed
anarchist who plots TO destroy all the
machinery of all the factories in civil
lization.
watch aFslse Prophets.y
we have the assurance OF the Cos
pei that in the days just preceding
the millennium, false prophets will ap-
pear everywhere upon the earth /
preaching new doctrines and each as
sertinE that in his alone is to be !
found salvation and so we must ex-
pect that the frantic apostles Of in |
who have destroyed Russia |
and who are now threatening what is /
11H Of y :
tators in our own saner, because !
freer. land. That there must be-that |
there viii be great fundamental and /
enduring changes IN our social and I
economic system is palmer even than I
the hand that traced its mystic warn l
ing on the walls OF Belshazzar's pal /
ace and there is no heaven inspired /
Daniel to interpret and expound, but /
by the aid OF that providence, whose !
handiWork is seen throughout the 1
now. We may hope that II we de- I
vote ourselves to our duties that in 4
this case are also our interests. man 4
kind VIII again be victorious, but per i
haps after a long and Bitter struggle. /
over the powers Of destruction and /
4ePIan5g Must Remain.
I an not vain enough one moment /
10 dream that I plainly recognize all, ]
OF even large part. OF these trans
pendant duties. but, one is plain, as
distinct as If traced in living flame
heavens. we must not permit that /
great plant OF which I have spoken TO
be destroyed or even seriously i'm
peded in its life sustaining fune-
tons.
NO theory. however plausible. can
be entertained. much less concreted
into action. that will block the move
nent and disarrange the functioning
Of that great plant OF production and
progress that we call organized So
ciety.
True in Ell Paso.
Here IN E Paso, a moments re-
Election will teach US the truth OF this
assertion, uncounted wealth, score
upon score OF millions OF dollars are
invested in the great trunk lines OF
railroad that pass through, or "a
date from this point
L for any reason. revolution or
permanent Industrial Reorganization,
It becomes impossible to operate
these railroads with profit and safety, i
they viii cease TO be wealth and the
very arteries OF life. but become long /
strips Of unused. rusty and worth
less scraps and this valley with 49,
600 civilized and vigorous. II not al
ways prosperous and contented in
nabitants. VIII become the desert that
Il was when NY parents brought me
to il near two score years ago.
Is Big POwerhOuse.
From the picture Of what Is now
occurring in Russia and what we may
imagine might conceivably occur here.
even as IL has occurred in the neigh
boring republic. we foresee what viii i
be the fate Of civilized mankind il j
q