Stoneham High School - Wildlife Yearbook (Stoneham, MA)

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THE STONEHAM HIGH SCHOOL AUTHENTIC 3)n ©ranstium” Herman JL Ricketts, ,3jtrsi Jfottor The prospect of a cold and fuelless winter of factories silent because of no coal, of a general lack of all the ne- cessities of life, was impressed upon j the American people by the continua- j tion of the coal strike and the railroad strike of last summer. Then people real- ized for the first time how utterly de- I pendent modern society has become ! upon the primary resources of power. Modern civilization, with its social life, industries, transportation and commerce, depends for its continuance and expansion mainly upon coal. Until recently not much thought had been given to the railroads as more than an important industry. All of a sudden the great war — that rude awak- ener of sleeping forces — jarred into consciousness the snug indifference of I the masses. The American people have j learned the lesson of the indispensabil- i ity of the railroads of national pros- j perity. They arc now giving heed to j the fact that transportation is the one J industry of all industries which cuts its figure in the daily life, the comfort, the wealth, and the well being of every individual in America. Now, as never before, the railroads, the arteries through which that life- blood of American industry — coal — must pass, have been brought to the attention of the people. Realization of the seriousness of the situation has caused a radical change in the attitude of the public since the car shortage last year alone caused American farmers to suffer a loss of $400,000,000. The lack of transportation in any country would act as a perpetual han- dicap to its development and expan- sion, for unless transportation is avail- able, no country can hope to success- fully market the fruits of its skilled labor and inventions. Indifference has been replaced by fear for the future prosperity of American industry. Out of our fear for the destiny of civilization in the face of an exhaus- tion of the coal supply comes the au- thentic statement from the U. S. Geo- logical survey that properly utilized there is enough coal in American fields to supply present demands for the next 1 57.000 years. And the railroads that are today so inadequate were for over ; half a century in advance of the de- mand placed upon them. What, then, is that formidable drag- on that defies government and the gen- eral public alike, and with its hand at the throat of American industry uses the power of threat for its own ends. As we think of the transportation sit- uation, we also think of the shopman’s strike ; a thought of the coal shortage brings to mind the strike of the an- thracite operators of last summer; and then conies the answer to our question, the strike menace. President Harding made this statement in his message to Congress on August 18, “That the simple but significant truth is revealed that the country is at the mercy of the United Miue Workers of America.” He might well have made a similar state- ment in regard to the railroad shop- men. It is not the place here to enter into any discussion of the right of labor to organize and to strike for its demands. The biggest problems in the world to- day is not how to crush and destroy organized labor, but how to avert and restrain its excesses. I cherish no hos- tility for capital, no enmity to labor. The railroad is an engine of civiliza- tion, and coal is a national asset, and not a private property. The simple truth is that the deep irritation of la- bor is a social fact to be dealt with. 6

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THE STONEHAM HIGH SCHOOL AUTHENTIC •where but ©n our books, and a constant reminder of our duty is necessary from our officers of discipline. Especially our last week, when lessons are just as important as any other time, are we inclined to think that school is really over (just for the collecting of books, you know). So keep up your courage and make the last days of the school year the most profitable ever spent, for “he that endureth to the end, shall re- ceive a due reward.” M. M. P., ’24. Jittck (3ft School is almost finished, and those pesky exams are over, and now, more than any other time in the year, there is that tendency to let things slide a little and not to put so much effort into work. We know how it is; we’ve felt that way ourselves, it is easy to say “Well the exams are over and I am not going to study any more. I won’t get any credit for it anyhow. The deuce with it.” We admit your average for the term may not be ma- terially changed, but then marks aren’t the only thing we’re after; who’ll care ten years from now whether you got A or B in Spanish or Physics. It isn’t the mark that counts ; it’s how much you keep under your hat. It is an es- tablished fact that every day spent in school nets that person nine dollars and some odd cents, and you can collect your nine dollars whether you get any marks or not. Nine dollars is worth nine dollars in June, just as much as it is in January, so stick to it, you’ll find it pays in the long run. J. J. W., ’24 penrium Co-operation is the key to almost any kind of work or play. In large business firms such as Jordan Marsh and Filene’s, if the workers did not co-operate and work together, the busi- ness would not be worth much to the owner. When a baseball team is play- ing if the players do not co-operate, the team presents the appearance of a one-man team. If co-operation is used in every-day life, we benefit by it greatly and especially in school, we ought to learn the lesson of co-opera- tion between student and teacher, for it is by these lessons learned during school life that we mould our future destiny. Therefore, fellow students, question yourselves — have you proper- ly learned the meaning of the term co- operation and employed it to its full- est extent? E. K. P., ’24. PHjat (3fs ' ffizdnotizm? Patriotism is a word that everyone has heard repeated over and over again in the last few years. But what does it mean to show patriotism and to be patriotic? A true patriot is one who lives an everyday life that is a credit to his country, who develops his mind to the best of his ability, who keeps his health up to standard, and never, for one mo- ment, forgets what he owes to God. Anyone who fails to live up to those ideals is a slacker. A person who goes to Washington’s monument on February 22nd and lays a wreath at the foot of it, is not always a patriotic one. If after that is over, he or she should do some harmful thing that lowers the mind and body standard, they are not patriots. Any woman, yes, and any man who indulges in a habit that does injury to the health, blunts the mind, and dwarfs the spiritual nature, curbs his or her usefulness as a citizen of the country, is to that extent a slacker. Patriotism is more than an emer- gency or holiday affair. It is living a life in the home, the school, the office and on the farm that measures up to the highest physical, moral and spirit- ual standards. A young man was wheeling a go-cart to and fro in front of his home. He looked hot, but contented. “My dear!” came a voice from an upper window of the house. “Now let me alone!” he called back. “We’re all right.” An hour later the same voice in ear- nest pleading tones: “Arthur, dear!” “Well, what do you want?” he re- sponded. “You’ve been wheeling Dora’s doll all afternoon. Isn’t it time for the baby to have a turn?” 5

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THE STONEHAM HIGH SCHOOL AUTHENTIC Industry must be managed in the pub- lic interest. When the struggle be- tween capital and labor hampers the progress of two public utilities essen- tial as coal and transportation the pub- lic is gouged to pay the cost. In the case of coal and transportation, strikes are formidable physical forces approxi- mating civil war. As a matter of fact, the strike is a blockade, and the block- ade is recognized as one of the most effective instruments of war. The sys- tem of making war with the public to settle controversies with the railroads and coal operators is politically, social- ly, and economically unsound. To tol- erate private control of a commodity as essential as coal is like permitting individuals to regulate the city water supply. How much longer shall such industrial autocrats be given power over a vital public utility. The strike is war — war of the most atrocious kind — and war must cease. It is not creditable to our govern- ment if a condition so fraught with possibilities of industrial disturbance and political revolution is permitted to survive. The 110,000,000 people in this country are as a matter of right en- titled to efficient and fair-priced rail- road transportation, and as a matter of self-preservation they must have it. When the governors of five different states have urged the President to take over coal carriers and if necessary the coal mines, it is evidence both of the serious effects of the coal and railway strikes and of the steady trend of pub- lic opinion toward what a little while ago was regarded as unthinkable rad- icalism. Behind this movement lies not socialistic theorizing but the pres- sure of facts. The advent of govern- ment regulation of the coal mines and railroads is rapidly approaching. The American citizen must be protected by government action from that deadly weapon of labor called the strike. The stage of American industry is a devastated battle field. On th e one side Capital, in its selfish strife for profits, directs its fire on the other side at labor, with its waring demands for wages and conditions. Between the two firing lines stand the American people. It is to the government that the American people turn for deliver- ance . The conventional government ownership and operation will never suf- fice. The kind of national ownership which is hopeful is one in which the government will own the roads and mines; put its credit behind the hir- ing of capital; and turn them over to a democratic administration by repre- sentatives of experts, the workers and the consuming public. Such a program and only such a program affords the hope of substituting for the present strife of owners for profits, of consum- ers for low price and service, and work- ers for high wages; a constructive and creative control of essential industry for which all parties interested have a definite responsibility. Congress has time and again asserted its power over interstate commerce to protect the public against imposition on the part of railway managements, and the supreme court has upheld such legislation. By this same token, Con- gress may intervene with statuary en- actments requiring railroad employees to refrain from interruption of inter- state commerce and destruction of the property and lives of the people. La- bor must understand that no organiza- tion to which he may belong would be permitted to aspire to wage civil war on society and enthrone anarchy in our republic. The transference of the control of coal and transportation will not come as a sudden realization of a dream. American affairs are not conducted as in Russia, where the present order may be overthrown and new institutions created by a single revolution. Ameri- ca is a land of gradual changes and slow evolution but never of revolution. We are living today in the dawn of the age of the government regulation of essential industries — America Is In Transition. All this, of course, is a dream of the future but it is just such dreams that have made our railroads, developed our coal fields, given us the automobile and the radio, and created all that we are pleased to call modern civilization. “I wish I had a baby brother to wheel in my go-cart, mamma,” said small Elsie. “My dolls are always getting broken when it tips over.” — Boston Transcript. “Here’s a man who found nine pearls in an oyster stew. Wonderful, hey?” “Oh, fairly startling. I thought you were going to try to lead me to believe he found nine oysters.” 7