| Show Politics Good and Bad P POLITICS TD may b bo be singular or plural plural good good or ba bad Strictly speaking it is the and art arL of government government gov gov- emInent and ana in popular rule demands ind individual atten tion When Mr rr l issues his order to railroad i es to keep out of politics he lie is only driving to the o singular form His warning to railroad constitutes seizure of another opportunity to pa play his own particular brand If federal control is is goin going to io disfranchise our voters and that is the logical result resul of ol tho the McAdoo railroad order we are drifting to a bureaucratic bureaucratic bu bu- removed from froni tb the thc form onn of government go far principles laid down in our constitution In his lIis order Mr 11 McAdoo directs his remarks to the end that railroads railroad under private management were veri charged with playing laying politics bub bubno no road and no management management man man- ever attempted to curtail the rights of its em em- with the drastic restrictions which have ha just been imposed by Mr Ir McAdoo l If it were not for th the fact that this order dr drives dres es at the fundamental pillars olour of ol our government wo we might place it in the same class of ol ofa a amusements as his not e As we have outlined before politics may be he either good or bad and ve we believe that the McAdoo brand i ithe is the thc most dangerous that has been brought to the Amer Amer- American American ican lean people The fhe word politics is under a stigma because because be be- cause too many men and factions have ha attempted to tc suppress tho the national will Its taint comes from too toc little politics not too much When politics attain their zenith in the United States the popular will is to assert as assert as- as sert itself That is what the American people want a government by the people of the people and for th the people It is to be attained only as e cr every individual voter senses his duty by his government and recognizes nize his vote otc as his voice in his first and foremost right We Ye W arc not to reach this ideal by suppressing politics and und placing the gag on voters Bad politics come from a lack of interest b by br the people Cliques and gangs control elections where tho thc citizens do not go to tho the polls Good politics come como from the people from the thc free voice in the affairs of oft t the nation We Ve grant that times are arc different that thai we are arc engaged in a a. great war that we must bo ho first last and all the time for the United States of America Jf f we have citizens who are ure not standing on this platform platform plat pint form then it is time that AVO wo give them a a. free voice that we may know who they are ue Perhaps it will be bc said in ill defense of Mr r. r McAdoo that he lie is not trifling with the right of franchise a alie as aslie lie places the ga gag on politics Politics and anti government go arc inseparable an and we ive cannot deprive depre e the individual of his right to political discussions without also restrictions on his vote Mr r. r McAdoo was placed at the head of the railroads to speed the tho conduct of the war not to shame private enterprise ri or perpetuate LII I fed cral ra control But he he is playing g politics s and nd in that role lie le must show that fe federal eral control is superior The dangers langers of the McAdoo system are arc apparent a as aa federal control is proclaimed as the cure of all ills iUs Every railroad man mall is employed by the government and aud the same condition applies to the telegraph and nHI nHIt t telephone If it is fair for one ODe it lb is fair for forth forth th tho other Other forms of or federal control are arc proposed to increase this claim on the thc inalienable rights of the individual By tho the McAdoo order they are barred from becoming delegates to a political convention prohibited from serving any political party in any capacity nn denied denied tho the right to seek seck political office In short Mr McAdoo establishes a movement movement- to lo cu cut the American citizen loose from the first e essentials of self Politics pass from the thc control of tho many to the few as federal control is extended and the political rights of the arc are abridged Good politics arc ure those that best represent th the masses while hile those representative of the few too often aro are bad Let Lct us win Avin the war and nd to that end let us encourage clean elean politics polities that we may not lose ourselves while we strive to save ave humanity And let letIS us IS not for forget et that America speaks through h the many and not the thc few Lc Let politics II 1 remain plural plural and and good taci |
