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Show THE CITIZEN 4 (g n Tlhiis n f n i lllllllllllllll!ll!!lllllllllllllllll!llllllllllllllllllllll!IIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIillMI Published by THE GOODWINS PUBUSHING COMPANY 420 Ness Building, Salt Lake City, Utah. SALT LAKE CITY, MARCH 16, 1929 Lets Have the Facts TF7HILE Salt Lake City stands aghast at the sensa-- v tional string of peculations made with public funds in the latest disclosure in the city and county building, officials are attempting to determine just how far, in what direction, and how many people are included in the vice that has played tag with the city's money. Aroused at last by the death of Max Beaver, city treasurer, by the charges of friends that his death was not suicide, brought to stark realization that the city is the city hall has awakened from demanding a clean-uits stupor to initiate searching inquiry into every department and towards every person who may be even remotely concerned. The Citizen speaks for the people of Salt Lake City when it demands that the facts be obtained and then that the facts be made knoton! We have too long been played for the guileless public. We have elected our city commission, they have approved the appointments and completed the personnel of their departments. And now the people who elected that commission demand that it go to the bottom of this wholesale game of tag with public finances and discover why such practices have gone unchecked for such a long time. The breath of scandal has more than touched the city and state. For the past three months we have been rocked again and again by the startling disclosures of the thousands of dollars that have been gambled away through private peculations. The system of I. O. U.s by which much of the difficulty apparently has been caused is a breach of public trust. Dishonesty, a major offense in the conduct of private affairs, has become criminal in its widespread appearance on the rolls of men who are given the power of the people to execute the duties of office for the good of the commonwealth. The citizenry demands not only thorough audit of the city treasury. It is clamoring for searching investigation of every office in the city and county building. If the officials are discharging their duties efficiently, honestly, they are to be vindicated. Until complete check is made, the 140,000 people of this city are going to hold every man in public office in suspicion. p, The Voice of The Citizen COOL analysis rather than loud and raring demands constructive suggestions rather than wide criticism, sympathy and understanding with both sides of every question: these are the things that build good citizens. Some criticism has been hurled in our direction because we have not been waging loud and strident cry for reform, because we have bent the editorial brow in wrath against individuals and against parties. To that sort of criticism we have our answer. The Citizen has not seen an obvious wrong without making a whole hearted and sincere effort to right that wrong. It has not uncovered a blunder without making demands for restitution. It has not revealed a breach of public trust but that it has taken steps to bring justice to play. It has not seen a need for civic and individual betterment but that it has brought that need to light, and made recommendations for its satisfaction. The Citizen does not believe in flamboyant gestures, bold type, words crying for deliverance from imaginary evils. The new era of journalism is beyond that as the American public is beyond wanting such a thing. Today men think, they analyze, they discover the facts before they condemn or praise. The mob spirit is the spirit of the hue and cry. Dignity is the force and the means by which real reform is over-powerf- ul accomplished. How often must we recite our creed our creed pledging the columns of this magazine to the interests of the people at large ? Once, perhaps, for the man who thinks. More times than that for the people who refuse to accept that purpose at its full strength, and cry instead for the useless maudlin of words that cry for this, that, the other anything to replace what is in force. Do you read this as a challenge? It is meant to be. It is meant to be a challenge to the heart of every citizen. We mean to be the voice of the citizen. If we are wrong it is because the facts at our command are inadequate. And if we are wrong, we stand ready to make restitution. If we are right, it is because sound thought has directed our pen because the preponderance of facts have directed the way clearer than the babble of the thoughtless. We hope that we have made ourselves clear. It is not our desire to antagonize. It is our wish to stimulate. W do not court reactionary ideas. We do hope for sound progressive measures. We are not blind to shortcomings, but before we raise our voice in protest we must know in what direction remedy lies. Above all, ours must be the true voice of the citizen. -- In a modern apartment you dont need a cat, unless you open milk bottles with your thumb. Chronicle, San Francisco Traffic expert says the car that hits you is the one behind the one you are watching. course, is to watch the second one. third ? San Francisco Chronicle, The solution, of But what of the The Legislature Ends Dr. Roy Chapman Andrews is again leaving California to explore the Mongolian desert. This time he is not particularly interested in dinosaurs. He will hunt for the cradle of mankind and let the rest of the world Gobi. Los Angeles Times . The man who wastes time seeking revenge is likely to miss something really good.-- Los Angeles Times , the second Tuesday in January, the Eighteenth Legislature has been in session at the State Capitol with perhaps the most far reaching legislation it has ever had to consider. Most of the details of the work of that legislature already are somewhat hazy, and there are many who could not recite the outstanding accomplishments of the session or detail the reasons for the failure of some of the measures that were expected of the session. SINCE i |