Klamath Union High School - El Rodeo Yearbook (Klamath Falls, OR)

Page 21 text:

?T'uht Mitw N .NN hh: m...- N m'hmmdc. a deymz N NW w'jm II Inn Mahdi 0-- m 3 Mann. ubonzhmhrlmz- lbWulhmit Wm! M I twaimml: .111 um. .baguife' uh 2ft: M 3' me KLAMATH COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL BOOMER. 11 allowed elsewhere. They found less limitations on thelboundless prairies, and ih the unfenced forests each man was free to do as he pleased. Thus gradually they worked into the idea that might made right. They got rich With no question asked. came to count for'more than honesty. Energy Dishonesty was found in nearly every occupation. In mining camps it was claim jumping; in cattle countries it was stock stealing and all for no purpose but that of securing wealth. For the same reason many a man has discarded his honesty, thus putting money in the place of his God. The idea prevailed that our great country stands as a golden apple tree and every man must knock down all he desires, The man who was allowed to work. out his road tax would go to the place designated and probably put in not more than three or four hours of steady work and claim allowance for a day. The next day he would go to the polls and elect a man whom he expected to handle the public money honestly. If he should not oh ! what a howl that honest voter would make. But the people of this country are now awaking to the fact that honesty like charity must begin at home, and so today there is a steady although very quiet movement toward general honesty. The men in the public oflices who are still inclined to be dishonest are very slow to attempt any such thing for they know they are being watched. They know the common people are becoming more honest. V'That private honesty will demand public honesty. That as the people are, so must the nation and the nation,s ser- vants be. It is a praiseworthy and noticeable thing that the majority of the people of the United States try to do the right thing. They are awakened to the right. They are demanding the usquare deal. England as a nation has been watching the conviction of grafters in America with a great deal of scorn for the past few years. The thought naturally arises, is there any such thing in England? If so, why is it not discovered? An examination of Englandls condition will show that there is public dishonesty there as well as in the United States. Although the obligations of personal services have been abolished, England is still feudal to the core. manhood suffrage, but the relations of classes are those of the The feudalism has been modernized by commerce and

Page 20 text:

10 KLAMATH COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL BOOMER. had been sworn into the presidential chair. His first skirmish was With the beet sugar trust against their- plan to prevent Cuban reciprocity. His was a moral issue-a square deal-the dutv of this nation to Cuba, and McKinleyis promise to fulfill that duty. This was foremost in his mind and the people saw his point and gave him their support. This was a typical struggle. Along this same line he has been fighting dishonesty ever since. He asks more than he expects to get and gets more than his enemies ex- pect to give. , He weut into the fight with a clear moral, vision, a clean mind and a simple boyish heart. William Allen White: says uHe puts all the energy of his forceful character behind his faith in God, and his belief in'common honeSty and therefore plays no tricks, lays no ambushes, relies on 'no strategy, but seeing his duty goes to it joyously, bravely and with a wise direction and simplicityf' The passage of the law creating ,a department of Commerce and Labor reminded the people of the Governmentfs right to investi- gate private business affairs. The usquare deal stands for the fact that every man should have every dollar he really earns and he can do this only when no man is allowed to have a dollar he does not actually earn. His idea 'on the railroad rate question is a plea for simple honesty. He cannot see why the misfortunes of the shippers should be capitalized and transportation charges based on the need of service instead of being based on the actual cost of service. i ' J ust laws never interfere with those who do what is right. . It is always the dishonest class who cry about laws being unjust. The meat inspection law and the pure food laws would have caused no fuss if the manufacturers of these articles had been giving honest values. Therefore, if a man is working against a law that will promote public honesty he is either a grafter himself or is under the influence of some grafter. The cause. of dishonesty in our nation is obvious. ' During the past generationthis country has been earnestly engaged in getting rich. In the thirty years that followed 1870, thirty million people have come upon this continent and surged westward, taking with them the customs and traditions of the East and after getting Ont West have found and appropriated privileges that they were not

Page 22 text:

12 KLAMATH COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL BOOMER. fifteenth rather than of the twentieth centuries. There is a caste system in England like that in India. The gentry is opposed to the laborer and the line is very clearly drawn between them. The gentry control the railroads, press, church, mines, commerce and franchise corporations and are thus in a position to compel the' working class to ask no questions. Therefore, they are almost as immune from dangerous criticism as the Czar of Russia. Under these conditions it is not surprising that there are no exposures of dishonesty in the higher oflices of Englanda The English graftef holds his position for life behind that strong barrier, caste. For this same reason is Wall street rotten vyith corruption; for unlimited power and wealth tend to corrupt most men. ' ' Yet the fact that here and there men are found guilty of breach of public trust is not a cause for discouragement, When we consider how few they are compared with the vast army of men holding responsible positions. The fact that When a man has violated the trust reposed in him, he is tried before a jury of his peers, convicted and punished, is one of the most hopeful signs of the awakening of the public conscience that the dawn of the twentieth century reveals to us. The problem of national honesty has been answered by Judge Heny: ttWe must have as high a standard in business as .in' ofIicial life. We must have a higher standard in politics. We must have a square dealJ am if! i z I '1 I I H 1 a I I x if? if; i L!:I 2:2 91! kt , I1 .5 I l I f l A