The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1919-09-12
CLUB HOUSE FOR
Miners Opened
Louisville Gas And Electric
Company Dedicates
Building.
PRES. MCDONALD TALKS
Echols, Ohio County Home
Of New Innovation For
Miners Welfare.
PRES. MCDONALD TALKS
(Courier-Journal.)

Echols, Ky. Sept. donald Nc
Donald, vice president of the Louis
vile Gas and Electrical Company, ant
a minstrel troupe made up of EN-
plOyes of the company, were guests OF
miners employed by the company al
its opening of the community house
erected for use of the miners. The
mine at Echols furnishes coal for
operation of the compauy's power
plant in Louisville.
After speaking of the purpose of
the operation of the mine and the
work Of the men in charge, Nj. Nc
Donald said:
81 wish every one of you miners
could carry in your thoughts the pic
ture of $4,000 homes brightly lighted
and full of comfortable families. All
of them would be dark if coal for the
boilers should fail to come.
"Our company has built this corI-
munity house at a time when nearly
everything was hard to get. We have
built il because we want to keep at
Ech0ls the very kind of people who
are here now We want to provide
place where men can gather in peace
and comfort; where church services
can be neld; where Sunday-school
can be taught; where dances and
lodge meetings and all the various
things that bring people into closer
contact with each other can take
place
If Tor any reason, the work Of
mining coal is delayed or made diff
cult, / want you to know that the Of
fcers OF the company have keen in
terest in correcting every fault as
soon as possible.
This is a big work-too big to be
interfered with by anything trifling.
In fact, 4 man had better set fire to
a dozen houses in a city rather than
leave that city in darkness. Before
the darkness had passed away many
houses might have fires set to them
and many lives might he taken by the
human vermin that come out of their
holes in the darkness.
Il do not intend to talk to you as
farmers, or as coal miners, or as Dem
ocrats, or as Republicans. l am go
ing to talk to you about something
that is more important to each of you
than your trade, your property or
your politics. ! am going to talk
TO you as American citizens.
America to-day is the most pros
porous of all the countries on earth.
For many years America has been the
freest country on earth. 1t is easy to
see why America is prosperous. She
produces in great abundance all those
things that the rest of the world is
anxious TO buy-wheat and meat AMI
coal and iron and a hundred other
things
'.But why is America free? 1t l. |
because more than a century ago our
forefathers fought for their freedom /
and established it on the sure founda- /.
ton Of self-gOvernment-equal rights I.
to al and exclusive privileges to /
none. 1t was a great experiment.
81 often think that the American
people have been like children raised T.
i'm a comfortable home. They think |
that food and clothes and warmth an! /.
shelter come as matters Of course and I.
tney forget tha constant effort Of the /
father and mother who have provid- .
ed these things.
Our people have left that freedom /
and safety and order are matters of /
course, and they have hardly realized .
that it is our great Government that |
has provided and preserved these |
things for them.
We must not think that because
our Government has been established |
and has stood for / so years, because |
il has weathered foreign war and civil
war, that il needs no care and no at
ten;ion from its citizens. Foreign en-
emies are not the only enemies that
free government have to contend with.
Always there are people who are
sheltered and protected by the Gov
eminent, but who think that they see
some advantage in avoiding some part
of its responsibility or in resisting
some part of its control,
There is only one basis for free
and prosperous country, That basis
is Justice for all equal rights for all,
exclusive privileges to none; the right
of a free man to engage in any law
ful occupation that he chooses, and to
pursue it without fear that he will be
molested by either the Government or