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History
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GAMBLING ON THE PRICE OF WHEAT The wheat gambling in the pit (trade center) at Chicago has been watched by the whole country for some time past and as long as it was fight among the gamblers no one cared much about it, but the continued advance has caused a raise in the price of flour, and naturally this will cause a raise in the price of bread and thus the whole country will be made to suffer by the fight of these gamblers. It would be something of a financial relief if any of the wheat was still in the hands of the farmers where the country in general could share in the profits. The day will doubtless come when gambling in the necessities of life will be in some way prohibited and until such a time shall come the entire country will be called upon to pay tribute to the greed of men. FIGHTING IN THE MIDDLE EAST (Present day Iran) More than 1,000 non-combatants, including many women and children, were killed by the royalists in the recent fighting around Tabirz, according to a statement issued by the Persian revolutionary committee. The atrocities by the revolutionists were also unchecked, most of the royalists who were taken prisoners, were put to death. The last definite reports said that the besieging royalists had been badly routed by a relief column, but in the committee's statement today an appeal is made for other revolutionary centers to hasten additional forces to Tabriz. The committee says that this is to prevent the escape of the royalists and their return to Tehran, against which a sweeping movement is planned in the near future. PROPOSED LAW WOULD OUTLAW 'BUYING A ROUND' A pro-prohibition editor wrote the following comment on a proposed state law: “There is a bill now before the Michigan legislature to prevent one man from treating another, and while it smacks of curtailing personal liberty, it is remarkable how many good words are heard for the bill. Many a man can recall where he wasted time and money just to keep his end up with a bunch of good fellows and drank a lot that he did not want. Whether the bill becomes a law or not, it appeals in a way to the active man about town as a good suggestion.” PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT PRAISED Another editor wrote: “That retiring (Theodore) Roosevelt made some mistakes during his administration no one will argue, but one fact stands out very potent to all, that he was for the people, and only the future can thoroughly demonstrate the real amount of good he actually accomplished for the common people of this nation. He certainly had the courage to try and carry out his convictions and the nation will always honor such a man.” WALL STREET CONCERNED ABOUT PRESIDENT TAFT'S FIRST ADDRESS Wall Street had decided to be very much pleased with President Taft's message-- until after they read the document-- and then the announcement was made through the daily papers that they were very much dissatisfied, because the new president announced quite emphatically that he was one of Roosevelt's chief advisors during his term of office and that it was his determination to continue that policy in dealing with the trusts and abuses of the country, and while no legitimate business need have any cause for fear, all who were pursuing any other dealing with the public could take fair warning that their methods would receive investigation and possible correction. The nation generally seems pretty will pleased with the first message of President Taft. |
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LINCOLN BORN 100 YEARS AGO
One hundred years ago, Feb. 12, an event took place in a little log cabin that was to put its impress upon this nation for all time to come. There Abraham Lincoln first saw the light of day and there began a life that today is being commemorated by every loyal American, no matter where he may be, and whose name is revered and honored by every reader of history. In fact as the years roll on they but add to the reverence of that name, made scared by his martyred blood, which grows more precious and is better comprehended as its magnitude more fully dawns upon us.
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PUBLIC OWNERSHIP OF NATURAL RESOURCES
The legislature should take some immediate action if possible to secure to the state of Michigan her property rights in the ownership of her rivers and streams. During the past few years great corporations have been organized and property rights secured for damming the rivers and during the past few weeks, since the vote was taken adopting the new state constitution there has been considerable activity in organizing new companies and merging other ones.
It is expected that these streams will be used to generate electricity at a very small expense and that the future power, both for lighting and factories will be furnished by lines from these companies running all over the country.
The rivers are the property of the people and the government should see to it that they are not given away to a set of corporations who will simply harness up their power and then charge the people at enormous profit for the privilege of using that which really belongs to them. The new constitution covers some of these points and the rush was made to get under cover before the document went into operation.
U.S. TREASURY DOES NOT HAVE FORTUNES, WAITING TO BE CLAIMED
Foolish stores have long been in circulation about great fortunes piled up in the United States Treasury, awaiting claimants. These stories take varying forms.
One fortune represents loans made to the government in war time. Another consists of "damage money" paid by foreign countries and not yet distributed to the proper recipients. An official of the treasury said recently that innocent and credulous persons are often induced to contribute money to designing persons who offer to secure for them shares in these mythical fortunes.
The United States Treasury has no money belonging to estates or individuals. The treasurer’s report shows clearly all the funds in his custody and the source of them.
THE PURPOSE OF ‘MONEY IN THE BANK'
Money in the bank is always busy money. It is the main function of the bank to keep the stock of money in the community busy, stimulating and promoting business enterprises that make the community prosperous.
The bank gathers up the idle money and gives it activity. Puts it to work. Money put thus at work is taken out of mischief, and becomes a power in the development of industry and commerce. If you are trying to be your own banker and your money is idle, bring it to this bank and we will make it profitable for you, the community and, for the bank.
TOO MUCH RETIREMENT TIME
Recently a man wrote to the ‘New York Times’ saying that he was a little over 50 years of age, and having worked all of his life to acquire enough money to make him independent, and having succeeded, he had retied, and was now trying to make himself happy with nothing to do.
He passed five hours a day reading, three hours in exercise and eating, which left him eight hours, which he found it hard to dispose of.
His letter was in the nature of a lament. His bubble had burst. What he had dreamed of being able to do all his life had come true, and was an empty vanity. Foolish man! exclaims Life. The independence that money brings with it is the least of all our independencies. And where it enables a man to improve himself, it almost invariably leads to his deterioration. To criticize one’s creator is surely in bad taste; perhaps it should rather be said in his praise therefore, that he has provided nothing better for us in the way of permanent satisfaction than being compelled to work for a living.
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January 1, 1909 THE REAL WEALTH-- The papers have much to say about millionaires and the things they produce, but the fact is they are only the manipulators of the wealth of the real producers of this country. Most of their millions are only on paper and when a panic strikes the country their wealth vanishes like the vapor of the morning. The real millionaires and producers are not found in boards of trade or the palatial offices of Wall Street, but they are found scattered all over this country. They are unpretentious in their appearances and unassuming in their ways and the fact is that only a small percent of them realize their importance and sometimes even long to leave the real thing and join the ranks of the sham. We could continue this article indefinitely, but it is all summed up in a few words in a short sentence from the annual report of Secretary Wilson of 1908 as follows: "For the first time in history, the value of all farm crops equals $5,000,000,000 and of this total the value of the corn crop is about one-third; wheat, hay and cotton combined make more than another third; and the smaller crops the remainder, or nearly one-third." ‘LANSING JOURNAL’ REPORTS Out of school because they do not possess shoes or their little bodies are thinly clad. Many little children of the city, within reach of plenty, are obliged to remain at home to be warm as best they may. Warmth and comfort, proper living and even a simplified education are denied them. The calls for aid are many, and the work of the charitable institutions in the city is being steadily carried on among the needy. AUTOMOBILE FEVER The editor of this paper (George Adams) has had the automobile fever ever since he saw one, and unlike the old Michigan ague (malaria) which shook its victim one day and let up the next, there has been no let up in this case and on Monday he brought a small second-hand Rambler runabout home from Detroit and may be seen occasionally "chugging" around the back streets of Fowlerville. GOVERNMENTAL SLEUTHS KEPT "ON THE JUMP" An decidedly opinionated piece published 100 years ago stated: That branch of the public service which its detractors called "the government spy system" or the "Black Cabinet", has been brought into conspicuous prominence by the current tiff between Congress and the President over funding the Secret Service. "The system of government espionage over the private citizen has grown in an unprecedented manner under the administration of President Theodore Roosevelt. Whether it conduces to the general public welfare is a matter for publicists to discuss, but as to the fact that the Secret Service has reached greater extensions than ever before there can be no doubt. This extension has been brought about by the executive branch of the government and its justification, in large degree, is that a law has no value unless it is enforced and the only way to enforce it is to look after violations. Originally, the Secret Service of the United States had two functions and two only. Those were the detection of counterfeiters and the hunting down of illicit distillers. A good many years ago, however, long before Mr. Roosevelt, entered public life, one of the presidents detailed Secret Service men to serve at the White House. There was not the slightest authority in law for such a procedure, but Congress had a good deal of consideration for the executive and this violation of law went on year after year. Finally Congress, seeing that the practice had become permanent and not wishing to engage in a dispute with the executive branch, conferred the legal authority necessary to enable presidents to make such a detail. Gradually the presidents enlarge the practice of detailing Secret Service men and sent them hither and yonder, on all sorts of errands. Then other administration officers-- cabinet chiefs and even bureau heads-- without the remotest authority in law, called upon the Secret Service branch for agents to be sent out on confidential missions. Gradually Congress, itself, has enlarged the inspection, or espionage, system of the government, but for the most part, it has done so under executive pressure. Naturally, the fact that the Congressmen helped to create so many "spies" would be expected to stop their criticism, but it is fashionable now to blame a good many things on the President. The army of government detective numbers all told about 5,000. Nearly all of these men are engaged in traveling about the country and mingling with the 80 million people outside of Washington. The list includes Secret Service, post office inspectors, special agents of the land service, pure food inspectors, meat inspectors, and others. |
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In recent Presidential campaigns, including this 2008 version, many on the conservative side claim that the mainstream media has a liberal slant; that it reports favorably on the Democratic candidate and less favorably about the Republican standard-bearer. Many of those making this accusation are commentators and partisans who, of course, have their own "slanted" view. Interestingly, the tables were turned 50 to 60 years ago, with the Democrats feeling that the press (at that time mainly newspapers and radio) was controlled by Republican-leaning owners who were not "fair and balanced". The Michigan Press Association used to send out a weekly column to its members that provided details and analyses of what was going on in state government. It was called "Michigan Mirror". In late November of 1948, shortly after President Harry Truman upset the pollsters and forecasters by beating Gov. Thomas Dewey, the "Michigan Mirror" had a column about these allegations of press bias. It went: "Is the ‘power of the press’ waning in Michigan? "Republicans are inclined to crow that the 1948 election majorities in Michigan fully vindicate the press. Did not a majority of the (Michigan) voters favor a Republican nominee for President, a Republican nominee for the United States senate, a substantial majority of Republican nominees for Congress, a 23 to 9 Republican majority in the State Senate and a 61 to 39 majority in the State House of Representatives. "Democrats point gleefully to the Truman upset in the face of pollsters’ prediction of a Dewey triumph. And the surprise defeat of Republican Governor Kim Sigler by Democratic nominee G. Mennen Williams is held up as proof of a declining press. "In both assumptions the power of the newspaper is predicated on a belief that the press influences through the editorial page. Actually such assumption is far off base! "Under the American plan, the public wields power at the ballot box by strength of majority action. The people arrive at their decision, wisely or unwisely, as the result of information appearing in the news column; in pamphlets, magazines; on lecture platforms and motion picture newsreels; on the radio air waves; even over the back fence among neighbors. "If there has been any power, It has been the power of the PEOPLE. This power is derived directly from NEWS. "A free press will continue to report honestly the news as it happens, and the American people will continue to arrive at majority decisions, right or wrong, through their own appraisals of the facts at hand. "A free press will continue to offer personal opinion, qualified and openly presented as editorial expression of the newspaper editor. The reader has the right to agree or to disagree. He may even write a letter for the newspaper publication. "If there is any mandate in the 1948 election in Michigan, or otherwise, it is a mandate for the press to report truthfully, to interpret honestly, and to let the people choose their own path. In the fulfillment of this mission lies the real power of the press." As for the second view; In his essay "Bedfellows", written in 1956, E.B. White offers some thoughts on the subject . They were prompted, in part, by Truman’s reminisces about the ‘48 campaign. "Mr. Truman says the press sold out in 1948 to ‘the special interests’, was 90 percent hostile to his candidacy, distorted facts, caused his low popularity rating at that period, and tried to prevent him from reaching the people with his message in the campaign," wrote White. "This bold, implausible statement engages my fancy because it is a half-truth, and all half-truths excite me. ".... Being a second-string member of the press myself, and working, as I do, for the special interests, I tend to think there is a large dollop of pure irascibility in Mr. Truman’s gloomy report," the essay continues, adding, "In 1948, Mr. Truman made a spirited whistle-stop trip and worked five times as hard as his rival. The ‘Republican-controlled press and radio’ reported practically everything he said, and also gave vent to frequent horse-laughs in their editorials and commentaries. Millions of studious, worried Americans heard and read what he said; they checked it against the editorials; then they walked silently into the voting booths and returned him to office. "....The criticism of the opposition in 1948 (to Truman) was neither a bad thing nor a destructive thing. It was healthy and (in our sort of society) necessary," White stated. "President Truman couldn’t have got through to the people in anything like the volume he achieved. Some of the published news was distorted, but distortion is inherent in partisan journalism, the same as it is in political rallies. I have yet to see a piece of writing, political or not, that doesn’t have a slant. All writing slants the way a writer leans, and no man is born perpendicular, although many men are born upright.
"The beauty of the American free press is that the slants and the twists and the distortions come from so many directions, and special interests are so numerous, the reader must sift and sort and check and countercheck in order to find out what the score is. This he does. It is only when a press gets its twist from a single source, as in the case of government-controlled press systems, that the reader is licked."
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NEWS, VIEWS & HUMOR FROM EARLIER TIMES DEADLY AUTO RACE Here’s an attempt at satire that obvioulsy didn’t sway opinion. In an August 1909 editorial, the newspaperman writes: The automobile races in Indianapolis, Indiana last week were a decided success and two speed records were raised a trifle. Incidentally the lives of three men were sacrificed in order to accomplish this wonderful feat, but what are three human lives compared to loweriing the time record a few seconds. Men are plentiful and you can get them anywhere, but speed records in autos are hard to produce. One of the cars in the race made a beautufl dive off the track and the driver and mechancian were brilliantly killed when the racing car reached the fence. The only real drawback was the rather ignominious killing of another mechanician by running over him, which is a rather disgraceful way to die from an automobile. THE RIGHT BAIT A Methodist bishop was recently a guest at the house of a friend who had two charming daughters. One morning the bishop, accompanied by the two young ladies, went out in the hope of catching some trout. An old fisherman, out for the same purposes, wishing to appear friendly, called out: "Ketching many, pard?" The bishop, straightening himself to his full height, replied, "Brother, I am a fisher of men." "You’ve got the right kind o’ bait, all right," was the old fisherman’s rejoinder. DOLLAR BILLS COMING SOON Maybe the folk at the U.S. Treasury Dept. should have read this 1889 news brief before proceeding with the Susan Anthony coin a few years back. It went. Almost everybody will be glad that a new issue of one and two dollar bills is soon to be made. They are to be silver certificates, and will take the place of silver dollar coins that, to those who deal in money, have become a burden. LUCK VS. LABOR Also found in the 1889 news was this observation on luck and labor: Luck is waiting for something to turn up. Labor, with a keen eye and strong will, will turn up something. Luck lies in bed and wishes the postman would bring a legacy. Labor turns out at six o’clock and, with busy pen and ringing hammer, lays the foundation of a competency. Luck whines, Labor whistles. Luck goes to the poor house. Labor to independence. WIT & WISDOM * Beggars want hand-outs and robbers demand hands up. * A man who is tied to his wife’s apron strings is well connected. * Always tell the truth, and you’ll probably pose as the defendant in a suit for damages. |
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