Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1922-06-21
Ii the Cap Fits Let Him Wear It.
Bloomington Record)

FlenQ sherman OF the Lancaster
Herald is becoming more and more
concerned about what he terms in
his last issue as Showing yarious
things at the people upon the princi-
PIE that the dose was good for the
patient and had to be taken, YES or
no. Possibly the Herald editor is
not entirely satisfied with the Ten
Commandment? What is his honest
opinion of the 18th Amendment to our
constitutional the Volstead law?
Where would our good roads move
ment, which the Herald advocates so
ably on occasion, be if left under the
local control that the Herald seems
so much in love with? There are
countless similar examples of the
failure or incapacity of local control.
This is an age of specialists, and the
Record editor is frank to say that he
believes there are many people better
informed on good many subjects
than he is. If we wanted to build a
house, we would want the advice of a
competent architect; to build a good
road demands the services of a COM
petent engineer; we are less cOmpe-
tent to decide educational questions
than are experienced school men; and
SO on. The Herald's advocacy of
more local control is fine in theory
and also enjoys considerable cheap
popularity, but to our mind is de-
structive and not constructive"
In the article friend Bish refers to
the Herald positively did not have our
West Grant contemporary or his af-
fairs in mind. 1t may be that the
mater of popularity" is getting on
Bishops nerves. However, if friend
Bish, thinks we did refer to him, we
advise him to read our caption to his
last weeks editorial reprinted here
with.
The Herald editorial to which the
Record refers dealt with the evils of
paternaIistic state and federal gov
ernment-things we have always de-
pIored and things the Record, smugly
Democratic as it claims to be, has al
ways condOned and defended. Ger
tainly we did not have the Record in
mind although we did have in mind
the type of mind generally in evidence
in the Record editorial sanctum.
The barb, if barb there was, seems
to have struck home as the Record as
sails twice in the same page Once
for printing unsolicited articles on
public matters sent us and again for
daring elsewhere to infer thant any
thing can be wrong with methods the
Record is such, an acute follower of.
Popularity, cheap or not, criticism
unfair or bitter, for these things we
care nothing. The test of a papers
popularity and fairness are safely
left with the great common people a
public press should serve. We are
content to leave the matter there to
be judged along with the Record.
The Herald does not recognize any
right of the Records to PROFOUND us
questions upon any subject II the
Record wants our views he can find
them in this paper We suspect that
afraid to sass and goad the farmers
farther the Record is aching to turn
his guns upon someone else, We re
fuse to be the target.
900
We hope we are progressive in our
ideas. At least along with progress
we want to see democracy advance.
The test is very simple: Is the idea
favored by a majority? If so let it
pass. If not, kill it. That is all. The
paternalists knowing themselves to be
in a minority are afraid of this test.
So they adopt a "know-it-alP' attitude
patronizing the other fellow in a
bland, plying sort of way. The other
fellow may not be skilled in words
or books but he knows enough to
know when things are being slipped
over on him. He is not to be con-
fused by fine sounding words like
specialization, etc, ad nauseam.
-OOO-
These fellows who want to take
away all initiative from the people,
who believe in hiring specialists" to
run every phase of the government,
who are not willing to submit to the
simple tests upon which democracy
is built, should move to the several
foreign countries where their ideas
have full flower. Germany recently
gave us a fine example of the rule OF
the autocrat Russia is now showing
what a mob can do. In both countries
the people had no chance. SO long
as the paternalists stay here we VIII
F.gNN