The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1946-12-13
THE OLD SO & SO REFLECTS A BIT

Or, once when young woman came
, to the Mother and asked for ole
clothes. She spoke but little English
and she wore a shawl over her head
just as do the bobbysoxers today but
it wasn't fashionable then. Mother got
her out quite a bundle. The actual
value was probably but little but as
she was about to leave, this young
woman dropped to one knee, reached
for Mothers hand and kissed 1t. Some
thing of what actual need, want, meant
to mother with children, even though
a foreigner, must have entered into
the consciousness of a teen age boy
at that moment for the memory of the
incident is fresh today oddly enough,
the probabilities are the children of
the children for whom this mother
sought help are driving automobiles
today and perhaps sitting in offices of
Importance Who knows? But that is
America.
Again, there is the picture of the
prominent banker of the town taking
a group of men into the polling place
on an election day. 1t was probably in
banker handed each man the ballot
that had been prepared and watched
to see it was deposited in the box
and then they went out together. That
was all. Again a teen age kid saw
more, learned more and thought more
than ever, the prominent banker
dreamed he or anyone else would see
or think of the moment. 1t rather
seems now that some discreet inqui-
ries from ones father about that time
resulted in learning that the men were
probably working for about a dollar
a day and for their votes they probably
got 50 each and a couple of beers.
Likely they had only vague idea Of
what it was all about and cared less
but they were men for all that.
There has been progress since those
days, but only because a lot of good
men were willing to stand the abuse,
the insults, the undetermined blows
leveled at them by those who in that
day directed the policies of both poll
ical parties-under the close personal
supervision of the railroad companies
when the Australian ballot was pro-
posed. The word Communist hadn't
been coined then but they who
sought to put an end to buying votes
and stuffing ballot boxes would have
been so labeled had it been In use
and by the political ancestors of those
who banded the word around just |
lately.
1t is now more than fifty years since
the Old SO and SO sat as delegate in
a state political convention-yet a
teen ager-and made speech-Oh
Lord oh Lordi-a speech. There was
Mary Ellen Lease, the woman who
made speeches for the Populists. She
would have disdained the use of
it been even dreamed of
then for she could be heard and
a block and half away.
There were the days of torchlight /
1arades and wild celebrations when
Cleveland was elected and utter
in the republican camp
Bryan shot up like meteor and grip
BED the imagination of the youth of
he West, if not of the land, only to
all behind the professions in later
'ears. Theodore Roosevelt though he
ought the Pops, as they were called
capitalized on the spade work they
lid. William Allen White woke up one
morning to find himself famous for
lis whats the Matter With Kansas"
etter and the darling of Mark Hanna
,nly in later years to realize he was
Ill wrong and the Populist movement
o have been a righteous outbreak
against economic and political in
admit it in his autobio-
,raphy. Quite a picture as it unfolds.
Many lessons there. Let us pray they
20 not lost to the generation which is
low about to take control-the gen.
grafton Of servicemen and women. The
uture is in their hands