The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1919-06-05
1T MAKES A DIFFERENCE

IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE
Mankind seldom appreciates what we know
as our common blessings" The sunshine and
the shadow, moonlight and starshine, green sod
beneath the feet, blue sky overhead, placid lake
and cool meadow, pure air and linpid water.
These are our inheritance, natures gift, thru
the ages, to the sons and daughters of men.
Possibly because they come without money
and without price we fail to appreciate them full
ly. Thus the matter of electric light exercises
our minds more than sunlight; the long "dry"
spell that starts July 1, next, looms greatoi to
some of us than the untal!!ng supply Of pure
water. Yet were pure water to vanish it would
cause more misery than the loss of all other
liquid drinks can in a century. No man needs
to own a lake to take delight in it, nor does the
possession of a rich meadow give to it's owner
the sole right to enjoy the beauty of it.
In this land, in addition to the coromon bles-
sings that we possess, there has been added an
other, through the form of government adopt
ed by the Fathers of our Country. That is the
power and the right to vote. In some lands this
is missing, in others it is unequal]y distributed,
a fraction of a vote being given a poor man and
many votes given to the rich. IL others again
the right is limited both as to persons who may
vote and the offices they may vote upon. In
such lands men constantly struggle to wipe out
the limitations and guard jealousy the small
right which they already possess.
Probably because our land makes the right to
vote almost universal, We do not treasure it or
appreciate it. It is like sunshine, air, water or
any other of our common blessings. That may
account for the fact that twenty thousand vot-
ers failed to exercise their right-and their duty
as citizens-at the last June primaries and why
twenty thousand more failed to "come up to
scratch" at the polls last November.
We know that an epidemic of influenza af-
fected both elections, but in all past elections
there has been a large number of citizens who
failed to vote. If any man fail to use any of
his muscles or limbs the unused one will atrophy
says: "Use it or I take it away" If too many
of us fail to use the God-sent right to vote, we
stand in danger of losing it.
Most men love their country and would lay
down their lives to defend the very right that
they now flout and neglect. What they once
were Indifferent to, when challenged or threat
ened with it's loss, will become marvelously pre-
cious, and they will give their blood to redeem
What will you give for your right to vote?
One might as we'll ask, what will you take for
your country and it's free government? There
is no price. AS the Gallilean asked: "What
should a man give in exchange for his life?"
Men have shown patriotism by dying for this
land, by giving or lending their money to sus-
tain it, by abstaining from taking unjust profit
when they might have, by giving their time and
labor to aid it. That does not end the test of pa
triotism. The last test is that a man shall do
ever the simpler duty-the duty of being inter-
ested in his government and of recording his
vote at each election.
One vote won't count, anyway? Twenty
thousand men said that last November-and it
counted. Love of country, of liberty OF your
government counts and there is but one way
now to show that love and loyalty, and that is
to vote June 26th and at every election there
after.
The secretary of state decided to nave the
ballots printed right, after forty or fifty deter
mined farmers sat around Bismarck watching
to see if he made a crooked move, and spring a
mandamus suit on him if he did. These farm
ers do not appreciate the old-time game of poll
ciples of a western poker game. The tale runs
that a "tenderfoot" had "set-in" and lost so
steadily that he began to suspicion that the
game was not just according to Hoyle. He
watched and soon caught the dealer handing
himself two aces off the bottom of the pack.
Afraid to challenge the dealer, he nudged his
neighbor and said excitedly: "Look at that
he dealt himself two aces from the bottom of
the pack" But the neighbor eyinced no sur
prise or annoyance, "WelP' said he, wasn't it
his deal?" Under the old-time political regime,
the man in power dealt himself the cards he
wanted and nobody questioned his privilege. 1T
was his DEAL" But we have changed the poll
cal game and the farmer is watching to see that
the old-time politician gives us a square deal.
IF it is "class legislation" to help the lumber
men, the hardware dealer, the plumber, the
electrician, the mason and the carpenter
then the farmers legislature is guilty when it
passed the Home Building law, for that meas
ure will mean the building Of more homes in
the state. If it is sclass legislation to SO ar
range our affairs that merchants may do a larg-
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