Vernon Parish Democrat., 1920-09-02

DdeeJ 70 i've minutes IN any one place
has caused little stir in Leesville,
and, we believe, rightly so.
That some parking law is needed
must be admitted, for it sometimes oc-
ours that the whole street is Uttered
with cars 50 that anyone driving in
can find no place tostop the car within
block Of where it is desired to do
business.
To prevent folks from making the
street a garage for day. it is neces-
sary to limit the time to a period in
which an ordinary business can be
transacted. Five minutes, we believe.
IS too short time One is reminded
of the fellow who, in the middle of a
business deal, says. Excuse me min
ute. ! must go out and move my car
a block. He arrives back to has bus
mess place to find his business man
either gone, or doing business with
someone else.
Ii seems to be the concensus Of opin-
ion on the street that an ordinance is
necessary; but it is also agreed that
the time limit should be amended to
allow farmers and business men time
enough to eat lunch or buy fly trap
bout beng worried about the being
ested for violation of the law.
No one willfully breaks law; but
law like this makes one very. liable
- become innocently entangled. The
time should be extended to half an
hour, and then the law enforced.
X 3 * y *
Old time politicians and, especially.
the well-to-do classes, get verv much
excited about the nature of the Soviet
Government What is there about that
system of representation which fright J
ems them So?
The soviet system is merely repre-
sentation in parliament, in congress,
and state legislature on the basis of
occupation and not of residence. Car
penters send representative from
their midst to express their wishes and
needs; longshoremen, one from their
ranks; and, in the same way, all other
occupational classes, even including /
lawyers and-if the system were adopt j
ed today-even bankers.
There is surely nothing Objectionable
to plan of this kind-that is, nothing
Objectionable from the standpoint of
common sense. But politicians and the
wealthy classes know very we'll that a ,
legislative body elected on this basis.
would be composed chiefly of work i,
ers, sent to that body to represent work !
ing class interests. 1t is true that, as
the workers are daily becoming more /
discontented with the present system
Of exploitation; they might make laws
to help them in their struggle for
livelihood. A law might even be en-
acted to put an end to the whole sys-
TEN.
Still it would be REAL GOVERN
MENT. FOR, BY, AND OF, the peo-
pie.
1t has been announced that the
Standard Oil Company. together with
It's subsidiaries, distributed dividends to
the amount of $54.ll0,092 for the
irst half of this year. Since IT'S So
:alled dissolution" in 1912. ONLY
47,754.366 has been divided among
he stockholders!
1t takes a lot Of courage to announce
such figures to struggling workmen,
who are compelled to go out on strike
in order to earn merely enough to keep
their families. Nearly $l00.000,000
every year has been squeezed out of l.
the labor Of the workers employed by
the Standard Oil Co., as a "melon" II
chiefly for the non-producers. And
It IS regarded as quite natural.
Yet when the railroad workers, by a
insurgent strikes, forced the Industrial {
Board to take up their case, and OBJ u
tanned only $6O0,OOO.000 to be divid-
ed among 100000 empIoyees.-which II
means only $500 a year per man, or c
about $6 week. capitalist papers saw n
no reason for the men being dissatis-
fled. w /
If the men go out on a strike, there HI
is every likelihood that the government Z
viii bring the Lever Act into opera IL
tion-for the PUBLIC WELFAREl Il
Question 1 Is it to the public well {
fare that the Standard Oil Co. should {
exploit the workers to the extent of Ii
sl00.000.000 yearp \
Question 2 Has the Standard Oil I
Co. ever paid The $29.000,O00 fine I'M ,
posed on it more than ten years ago2