New Britain herald., 1926-04-17
THE OBSER VER- On the City and Its People
 Makes Random Observations

electric refrigerator had put in last week.
 The fellow upstairs is a prince of q tenant Yes. the rent Is high but hc pays me promptly on the first of every month.
 Yeh. l got some real pre-war stuff My bootlegger sure knows how to dig up the goods.
 I'm proud of that kid of mine. He borrowed my car to take his giri friend out last night and brought 1t back without a scratch on it.
 My daughter is expected home from college to spend the week -end.
 Ten day isn't so bad. especially when l own my own home.
 You should see the place we stay ed last summer We've already made reservations for a month this year.
 My boss let me have some stock in the company at five points under the market.
 Gosh, l forgot to put my wife's furs in storage, Gee, she'll be sore. l don't know much about high brow music but the Little Woman has bought two tickets for the course so J s'ppose I'll have to take in the concerts.
 The foregoing statements ore heard every day. They reflect an improvement in human happiness which the Kerosene age" never of- fered. It Is possible for a man 10 travel several hundred miles a day in his own conveyance, listen in on a concert by one of the worlds best lorchcstras, eat strawberries in winter and do a lot of other things that could not be done in the good old days" Perhaps, in those days, men had simpler wants, put aside some- lining for a rainy day. and stayed at home more, but they didn't have the fun folks have today and, if ex- periences mean living, they merely existed.
 After the last election, we admit we're licked on one point. The Ob- sever has always heretofore main- tained' that the past was intrinsical- ly no different from the present and that by the substitution of wagon" gas, beau" and Civil" for "auto," electricity" sheik," and "World' you could make one era into the other. But now we are down for the count. Let us explain.
 Back in the nineteenth century everybody voted.
 Therein lies the difference,
 It was not only duty and a prlvt- lege to cast your ballot in those days, but 1t was also a joy and a goal which must be reached If you were to retain your self-respect. Now voting, like professional attendance at funerals, is a mere incidental to a. free ride.
 During the period of strife between Federalist and Democratic Republi- can vote was sacred. You not only voted but you killed one of the other party in a duel to keep him from voting against you. If your side lost, you sold your plantation and moved to the West Indies to escape government by the vulgar proletariat. Now you walk into the polls arm in arm with an opponent and If you lose it only means you can stand on the sidewalk and watch the parade instead of tiring yourself out marching for weary miles.
 After the Civil war the K. K. K. was organized 10 keep The Triggers" away from the polls by persuasion, argument, or hanging and to see that the "damyanks" didn't get nearer the polls than three feet north of the Mason-DiXon line. And the c. A. R. wanted to continue the war until all the Democrats were exterminated Now we have partisan organiza- lions which say, eve don't care how you vote, but vote"
 And the days of free silver and 16 to 1 were great ones. If you had dollar. you voted for Mckinley, and if you didn't you backed Byran to the last drop of blood. You could argue all the fine points of the plat form blanks with precision. Now you don't know what a candidate stands for and you don't even know Iwho the candidates are for any other office than president, governor. or mayor.
 Imagine the glorious era of cleo ton riots. when the immigrant and the Fifth avenue swell" said 1t with bricks as well as ballots and turned a November Tuesday into riot To- day If a man tells you he Is going to vote Republican and you are a Democrat you don't even bother Co