The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1920-04-20
FOOLISH GOVERNMENT ADVICE

The department of agriculture has just IS
sued thirty-two page book on the 'Seiec-
tion and Care of Clothes" 1t was prepared
for the purpose of educating farmers wives
in matters of dress. A few citations VIII
show its absurdity, not to say Its Stiffness
One of the masterpieces is that clothihs
should always be comfortable and health1ul;
it must protect the body from cold, neat
moisture and rough surfaces, according 10
need" What person outside of govern
ment department does not have intelligence
enoupb to know all that this supreme genius
and author, probably city dude, tells the
people on the farms? Another sparkling gem
declares that "the lines of the clothing should
he in harmony with and improve the lines
of the body" Who is so silly as not to
know that? Farm women do not wear gar
ments which suit men, nor do they swathe
themselves as Bedouins of the desert.
Under the care of clothing the silli-
ness of the publication is more pronounced.
Some excerpts follow Generally little can
be done to undergarments except to patch or
darn worn places, to sew on buttons or work
fraved buttonholes'' "Women's dresses
may often be freshened and made to look
new simply by cleansing" mems hats
NAV be freshened by reblocking and renew
ing the ribbon" One citation from the para
graph on Comfort will illustrate the entire
text: "Socks and stockings may be of cot
ton, wool or silk, and should be long enough
not to cramp the toes"
The agricultural department is not the
only branch of the government, however,
and filled in gospel measure with cheap
clerks and cheap brains The joint commit
tee of the senate and house on public print
ing sent a letter to each member of congress
asking him to lay aside for one week the
government publications sent to him and
which he was accustomed to throw into the
waste basket because they were of no value
to him. More than 100 publications were
in the bundle saved by one senator. The
publications are taken from the waste bask-
ets by the janftors and sold, according to
an official statement, for 60c. a hundred
pounds. The white paper upon which these
publications were printed cost at least $12
per hundred The wastefulness of the gov
eminent in the publications which are worth
less, like that on the Selection and Care of
Clothes from which the excerpts above are
taken, is almost criminal The committee
has stopped the printing of 106 government
publications, and its chairman has announced
that the slaughter has just commenced.
The government has gathered in its service
great army of incompetents and callow
youths who, lacking high grade qualifica-
tions, turn to frocks and foolishness, not
being able to realize that the things which
they are just learning at public expense are
common knowledge with the masses. From
the Stiffness of the declarations it would be
hard to tell whether the author of the cloth,
ing brochure, who is being paid big salary
with tax money taken from the people, knew
whether the farmer wore a breechcout like
that of an African savage or a spiketaiI coat
and a white cravat like that of the dude OF
the white way. Yet he is given employment
at Washington.