The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1921-09-02

ticle on the honesty of the big men
who compose the business mems clubs
and other organizations in nearly
every city in the United States. Mr..
Forbes in part, says:
Are our business men fit to be en-
trusted with the running of the busi-
ness activities of the country?
"This is the question raised by the
following TRADE against business
launched by man who is rapidly de-
veloping radical tendencies. This
man has followed events very closely
and has done a lot of serious thinking.
Here are the chief points he raises
in support of his sweeping statement
that business is rotten to the core
"The minute the searchlight is turn
ed upon any business and hidden
things are revealed the public receives
shock / don't know why the public
should feel shocked; they ought to
expect it by now, for they have seen
the same thing happen over and over
again ever since Hughes showed up
the life insurance rascals. Nothing
of this kind shocks me any more.
| have long since learned to expect it
and am not often disappointed
what industry can you name that
has come out of any deep probe with
out discredit?
'The newspapers have been full of
nefarious practices which have been
going on for goodness knows how
long in the fire insurance business
The public, it is shown, has been goug-
ed by the New York fire insurance
people at every turn. They were al
working in league against the poor
defenseless public. Laws evidently
were laughed at But will anybody
go to Jail? My guess is that nobody
will.
How borrowers of mortgage money
were feeced and maltreated by say.
ings banks, insurance companies anG
other rich lenders in New York and
neighborhood is only TYPICAL of what
the public ought to expect by now.
"A few days ago it was the people
in the building business that were
being shown up. Brindell, the graft.
ing labor leader, is in Sing Sing, but
how many of the corrupt employers
who have been exposed are wearing
stripes alongside him? If every EN-
ployer connected with the building in
dustry who was guilty of wrongdoing
had been sentenced to Sing Sing there
would be no room in it for anybody
else. 1t was shown that the whole
business was honeycombed with graf
and bribery and corruption. But yol
bet it was the dear public who had tt
pay for it all If some of thost
scoundrels who made building impos
sible were led through some of th
East Side streets and into lot O
the overcrowded novels there, the,
would see what their devilish doing
have brought about-and | don
think they would feel very proud 0
themselves. Instead, however, the,
are driving their limousines and oc
cupying swell homes from their loot
and then the coal people! They ar
a beautiful bunch, aren't they? The
certainly got theirs while the gettini
was good And they got so accus
toned to raking in profteering profit
that they can't make up their mind
to get back to doing business at fai
prices. We read in the newspaper
not SO very long ago that soft Goa
was being given away by some mine
at the plymouth; but try to buy som
and you find a different state o
things. The anthracite gang are do
| ing business at the old stand in tn
old way. Every now and again the,
emit squeal about the poor price
they get at the mine mouth. Blu
when poor devil scraping along try
!: ing to make ends meet goes to bu,
ton he is lucky if he gets it unde
: SIS. Who's doing the robbing if i
isn't the big fellows at the top? If i
is only lot of little fellows, surel,
it shouldn't be very hard to get holC
of them by the neck. If the anthracit,
coal profiteers are not steering things
straight toward government owner
ship | miss my guess.
"You can't pick up a newspaper
these days without reading statements
from cabinet officers or big banker.
or men like Judge Gary that retail
merchants are gouging the public
right at this moment. The public
i don't need to be told this-they are
learning it to their cost every day
Farmers and fruit growers have prac
tically to give away lot of their pro.
ducts, but when you look around fol
some of this cheap stuff you get rude
disappointment-it manages to lose
its cheapness on the way from the
/ grocer to the consumer. There's
plenty of talk, but is anything being
actually done to stop this form of rob
berry of the public? If there is have.
1 MT heard of it.
"The public's eyes are being opened