The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1919-05-12
THE COUNTRY is CURSED
WITH PATERNALISM


The legislature would save the PEG.
pie an immense amount OF money III
it would thin out the horde of inspec-
tors. demonstrators and agents that
are swarning over the state so thick
that you can hardly fire off gun
without hitting one. Half of these
people are superfuous and more than
half are ompetent.-Ocala Star.
In the above quotation from the
Ocala Star the nail is hit squarely on
the head. When a man is lifted by
the vote of his fellowmen slightly
above the average of mankind, he
shortly becomes imbued with the idea
that he has been commissioned to
"uplift" the rest of humanity, and he
he always finds enough supporters of
his fantastic ideas to enable him to
foist them on the general public.
Hence we have a host of inspectors,
travelling about the state and draw
ing on the treasury for expenses and
salaries, of whom the Star truly says
| "half are superfuous and more thai
half are incompetent" We have ho-
tel inspectors, and pure food inspec-
tors, but our hotels are very much as
they were before there was any Gin
spection," and we are still buying cot
tonseed oil under the impression that
we are getting olive oil. The whole
system is an imposition on the pub
lie, and an insult to it's intelligence.
It is part of the paternalism which
is becoming rampant all over the ma
ton, the idea that the people must
BE- protected from themselves. We
have been making places for host
of political parasites and tax-eaters
whom the public must support, and
whose main object in life has been and
is to draw their salaries with regu-
larity, regardless of services render
ed. They are happy if they can
grab off a sinecure, or "cynosure" as
our good governor denominates it,
and enjoy period of feeding at the
public crib. They are not essential in
any way to the public, but are. moth
ing less than warts on the political
/ body.
| Home demonstration agents are
travelling about the state to teach ou1
women how to do things which they
have been doing in better ways ever
since they were children. 1t is rank
/ paternalism gone mad. Some time
perhaps, it may dawn on the minds Oh
these benevolent gentlemen who are
SO much exercised over the welfare
of the common people, that they are
pretty competent to take care OF
themselves and don't need quite 50
much extensive uplifting" and high.
brow education. If>a hotel is filthy
and insanitary the public will give il
the go by in favor of better anC
cleaner hostelries, and the condition
will gradually better itself. 1t will
De survival of the fttest. We are
getting too much supervision these
days. Government is attempting tt
dc too much for us. We are relying
on the strong arm of the government
to smooth our pathway to the de.
struction of our own initiative. We
are growing about the burden OF
taxation, and at the same time treat.
ing with complacency the very
things which make burdensome taxa
ton necessary. 1t is time for
change.-Tampa Times.
] The Times might add to this that
the average man elected on a plat.
form of retrenchment and economy
has no sooner fitted himself into his
official chair than he shows far more
readiness to listen to those who want
to spend the peoples money than tt
those who desire to save it.