Thompson Vocational High School - Owl Yearbook (Thompson, PA)

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FHL UW L xxcalthx oncs st elr uurrements xxerc abolrahed and then propertx holdrng requrre ments After the adoptlon of thc constrtutrorr racc drstrnctrons xx ere blctted out and noxx the sex barrrer has been broken and xxomen haxe an equal xorce xxrth men rn chooarng. thc ofhcers and makrng thc laxxs of our countrx One reaaon xx hx the great xx orld xxar xxas fought xxas as prcsrderrt Wrlson exprebsed rt that the xx orld mrght be saved for democracx lt resulted rn a complete xrctorx of the free peoples oxer those ruled bx ancrent monarchs Noxx rf the xxorld falls to make the adxancc THE FUNCTIONS OF GOVERNMENT The functrons of our gox ernm nt are of urlxersal concern and ext rv rerbon rn the Unrted States rs at fected bx rts problems In explarn Ing the functrona of goxernmcnt I shall center my attentron upon three of rts most apecrfrc problems name lx labor Taxatron and educatron Vlhat re Labor' In an economlc sense labor IS human effort erthcr phxalcal or mental or both dlrectefl to some useful and productrxe end and 1s the marn frctor rn the pro ductrorr and dlstrrbutron ot xx ealth Thrs questron rs one of thc grcatest problema facrng Amcrrcm socret todax The dexclopment of thc usc cf machlncrx and the rrrcreascd portance of capital canre xxrth the Irrdustrral Rexolutron e arated the employ cr from thc cm ploxee and unfortunatelx h duced labor to a posrtron rmrl rr to that of land and capital The la bor element rn productron 1 on a nt hlch lt ics es r fault of the people themserx es Cox ernment alrrost exerxxxhere 1 rn then hands The part of the pecple noxx IS to elect those xx ho xxrll repr e sent therr Interests rn the goxcrn ment those xx ho are honest uprrght true Amerrcans xxho xxrll not be bought or aold xx ho xxrll not xxork for therr oxxn selfrsh dlmb This rs the onlx xxax t t the people hlxc of gettrng thfrr demanda from a goxernment of the people by the pecple and for the p ople whose just clarmb are derrxed from the consent of the gox erned Anna Blngham dlfferent baarb from that of land and caprtal Laborers are hrmrm berngs rnd must be treated not as potentral machlnes but as rndrxld uals Abraham Llncoln Sdld fre Gox rnment rs ercpresslv charffcd xx rth the duty of proxrdrng for th gencral vxelfare The emplrxcr thrng from opposrt x rexx polnts The tendency of the employ er rs to loxx r xx ages and not prrceb rn equal pro portrons xxhrle the laborcr rs con stantly demandlng hrgher xxage Todax the greatest emphasrs rs placed upon the emplovment srtua tron Thrs countrx rs rust passrng through one of the greatest crrsrs rn hrstorx Lnemplox ment produces poxe tx sufferrng rgnorance rn cttrcrenc xrcc and crlme on hc rart of the uncmplox ed and thosr Jepcndent upon hrm To see thc xxo ker has somcthrng, 'o d rs a necessarx xx ay to safe guard hrs rn terests To correct an cx rl remox the cause rs alxxays good adxrce rf rt can bc carrred out I xxrll quot Ior xou a fcxx relief measures of 18 ' T ' 'H I' P rr: r grous re- me . xx c 3.11 .. lt s the ' . . V . A , ' V 1 1 1 V ' - . f- V 1 ' V' 1 V- 1 l AV V . V V 'S ' 1 c . A , ' I L' I xx , . ' ' V. . A, ' V ' . ' V V 1 V ' V . V 1 V' 1 , 1 ,- X 1 . . . , . ' . V ' ' V V ' V 4, V - , v l V 1 1 v 1 1 1 Q. V ' V' ' 1 K ' 1- 1' . V V' X 1 - i ' ' ' I , -L. V ' V V' V . V I , , ' 1 V 'V 1 ' V 'V ' , , V V 1 1 1 y v1 y 'sv 2 Ve V1 V1,. ' v1,1. fx' x'. 1' ' irl- A- K f ' V V i 'V ' 1 1 r 1 n 4 Y 1 11 ' 1 1 1 -7' 0 1 , . c , - A ' l , v . 1 V v ' ' ' ' .. A V - , , , ' V 1 1 V 1 1- . 'vlv 1 I ul l : . 1 l 1 1 1 A C A 1 I - w '1 1 1 ' V 1 V ' ' -' - . ' i3 ' v - 1 -V ' A V59 ' . K, 3 J . V ' ' O 2 1 V ' V V , ' ' ' ' rg w A L1 1 s ' . . ,- - . V ' and the laborer seem to see every- 1 w ' 1 1 N . 1 1. vi y . y f . ' ' A I 1 . 1 L1' 1 1 1 1 - 1' 1' , ' 'Q ' i 'K J X --1 V l g' A .' ' ' VV' .. . . ' V . .' ' ' ' ' F. 1 A Y ' L' ' ' ' . ' 4 ' 1 'V 1 1 1 L1.L1 .lv 4 l 1 1 I 1 1 1 I ' , 1 - . . . .- U . ' ' L' ' ' ' ' ' 'V 1 1 'V ' V 1 V -' 7 1 1 1 I M K ' Y' v 'Q v 1 . ' uf 1 . - V, ' , A., , .VYV, V'.,, 1 ..' t , , . ' , .. . ' .. . .. im- ,. ' , V . V , - 1 . 11 ' 1 .1 -' V , ' V , J ' . It has p- ' r' ' 3 l f . o 5 ' 1 1 V ,. A A A - 1 A-K-1 -tr v1 v V1 1 1 'LV ' - 1 1 1 1 1 tt 1 1 1 4 1' .1 - , ' asp re- c .. 1 , fe 1 1 1 1. l Q. . 1 1 11 1 fl . 1 1 'l V1 1 '. 1 . 1' 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11 ' 1 A , 1 h ' ' .1 A 1 --' 1' U , ' 1 1 ' 'S . ' - 1 V , V 1 ' 1 K- - mV -

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THE OV! L respect to the power I represent and that pow er IS you Now when vou salute an ofiicer you salute not the man but the representatne of your own authorlty It IS very Import ant that we get the rlght xdea of the meaning of our government It 19 the same ldea that the officer gaxe h1s soldlers concerning the salut that the goy ernment IS our own or ganlfatxon made posslble bv coop eratlon and home l1fe and xn com mumty llfe In deyeloplng government the famlly ln early tlmes meant a good deal more than It does today l though now lt IS called the founda t10D of soclety The anclent tamxly conslsted of all the unmarrled ch1ld ren the marrled sons and then' all the slayes and seryants The father had absolute power because he w as the head of the famlly H had a rxght to put anyone of them to death or sell them as slaves He was supreme Judge a law glvcr and a protector Slnce phy su al strength alone counted ln the eallv tlmes absolute rule was the only method possible In th1s wav the famlly system was the patteln for the absolute government whlch w as used ln the early states and natlons Gradually for protectlon and other reasons some fam1l1es of the same rel1g1on and same lnterests would un1te1n a group called a clan The most powerful man became leader and he used the same power as the father of the family dld The clans would unlte and become trlbes and stlll physxcal strength contlnu ed to determlne the rules of them The prlclple purpose of each tr1 Je was to secure efflclency ln war The chlef of the trlbe was a leadel 1n w ar and a klnd of presldent IH peace Then the office was handed down IH l1ne of mherltance Trlbes often comblned lnto a clty state elther by conquest of other trlbes or umtmg with them The c1ty was the center of actly 1tv and work of all klnds was carr ed on thus mak 1ng the people become more pro gresslve and enterprlsmg Then flnallv by conquest colomzatlon an nexatlons and trade clty states grew mto natlons The fust forms of goyernment was an absolute monarchy m whlch the ruler had full control over the people But gradually the people began to deslre some lxbertles o the1r own so the leadlng men ol the state acted as councll to 3.lIY1S9 the kmg The tendency to take power from the klng became strong er and 1n some countrles vlolent changes took place and the mon Great Bfltlan IS an example ot a country ln whlch the form of Gov ernment has not changed but the power of the King has been reduced to almost nothlng The representatxves of the people control the Goy ernment Now where the wxll of the people IS sup posed to exercxse a gllldlllg hand IH the affalrs of the Government and where there are no officers who 1nher1t thelr places a democratv Ol republlc has been bullt up Durlng the last century tremend ous progress has been made toward democracy Many reform bllls have been passed extendmg the vote to more of the people Tenny son spoke of the country ln Whlfh reform has been Introduced as the country where Freedom broadens slowly from precedent to prec fl en Also durlng the nineteenth cen tury there was a steady deyelop ment of democracy 1n the Urlted States Thls was partly due to the able leaders of Amerlca who want ed government that represented the common people lnstead ot the ' 17 , - 1 ' V. V , , 1 ' v i - V . Y ,, . . - . 7 U ' ' ' . . . , . . V Y , n A v. v A y - . . 9, v . . . Y . r I K. u , , K' f . . . K ' y . , . Iv a ' . I Q' , . .l . Y ' , Q . iv ' .- , ' s ., ' v 3 ' . ' families, the adopted chlldren, and arcles were completely destroyed. 7 Y , ' ' 1 . J, e . ' 9 l ' I I ' I , 'L fc ' . . S, 1 1 , I .x . . . n. . . . , 'I' u I . , ' r ' 5' ' . D V . 1 ' A ' . ' I 44 . - K , . . ' .. -3 - ' t V7 ' - 'I ' - . . l ' - ' l ' - . I r v - v ' l ' ' , , A

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THE OWL fered for unemployment by econom IC lnvestlgators Dlstress should be relxeved by employment and not by donatlons It IS a spendldlv sound pollcy and very effectlve lf our ldle needy were glven public work The last thmg the Amer lcan government should do IS make dependents of lndependent Amer 1can cltxzens To lmprove the general labor con dltxons the employers and m ployees as well as the government must enter lnto a cooperatlve plan of adJustment where by each wlll have to do hls share ln satlsfactorlly settllng labor dlsputes Labor weapons such as the strlkes are caused by the fallures of the em ployers and laborers to come to agreements ln the questlons f wages hours of work and general worklng condltlons It IS necessary that our government brmg greater pressure upon labor and employers and force them to settle thelr dxs putes wlthout concedlng to the use of such rumous weapons of whlch the strlke is most common We have confldence ln our gov ernment and know lt has the mtell lgence and patrlotlsm necessary to successfully act upon and to legls late for these presslng labor pro blems of today Now let us conslder the problem of taxation The government llke mdxvlduals spends money because there are certam thmgs whlch xt must do and certaln thlngs whlch It deslres to do In the formatxon of the Constltutxon of the Unlted States Congress vvas endowed vvxth power to lay and collect revenue for the purpose of paymg the runnmg expenses of the Govern ment It m1ght be sald that only too fre quently has thls power of taxatlon been used unjustly yet ln order 1or a government to serve all lts people large amounts of revenues are nec essary hence the problem of levy mg Just taxes ns a matter of great lmportance to the people ln general In the past government expendl ture has been steadlly mcreaslng un tll at the present tlme there seems to be no l1m1t ln order to balance the budget A tax may be deflned as a com pulsory contrlbutlon exacted from the II1dlVldll3lS by the government In return for these taxes the govern ment renders valuable servlces for 1ts people such as publlc educatxon safeguardmg of the health and pro tectlon of llfe and property and ln many other ways The fundamental defect of thc Amerlcan taxatlon IS the lack of a defmlte and coordlnated system The tax laws of most states have un dergone many changes and are stlll IH the process of development old system of taxation Varlous states have reorganlzed thelr tax laws wlthout regard to Federal tax laws As a result the tax burden vvelghs unequally upon dlfferent classes and there IS also an overlap plng of State and Federal taxing power Of the total government expendl ture ln thxs country about 35 f IS made by the Federal Government 10 by the State Government and 55 ' by the Local Governments But where as the Federal and State Gov ernment have adequate taxmg pow ers the taxlng powers of local gov ernments are narrowly restricted by the State Constxtutlon Such local functions as health protectlon pub llc school educatxon and recreatlon are constantly demandmg greater expendltures yet local govern ments have found few opportun 1t1es for securlng necessary funds The dommatlng power of the state 19 . ' I . . J , , '- - Y . I Y .' 1 I - ' 7 ' u n 1 i - ' ' . 9 - . . . 7 . . ' Y V' L ' V . . . . ' , . ' Y , . . , - ' a ! ' 7 . - I ' ' 0 . . . , . . u . : - - 1 whxle some states are uslng the same . . . v- . , 1 1 n , ' - ' . . . I .- , fl I I . 1 . Y ' . . . I: 1 1 'K' ' . . . . I' u p . I I , ' - 7 Y V. . . - ' , - . . I- ' , - . fu l , V . - 7 v ' . D ' !