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Show '9 .42 Independent Paper Published Under H :: Me Management of J. T. Goodwin :: V EDITORIALS B Y JUDGE C. C. GOOD WIN jH The Coming of Christmas JH CHRISTMAS was the first great hopeful sign H - given the world. The winter lay upon the world, 111 but from former experience the people knew that j 1 the crisis was passed, that the days would swiftly II lengthen; that the sun who had wandered so far ' 1 away would now be returning; that before long 111 the migratory birds would reappear; that the II thrill of another spring would be felt by the earth II and it would be responded to. There were no HI public schools, education was restricted to a few priests and lawyers, but the legends that had 1 come down from father to son for centuries were 1 known to them all, and so when the question J came: "Where is He that is born King of the II Jews?" fell upon their ears, it seemed to them II but a fulfillment of prophecy, as though it had I been expected by them through all their simple Hi lives, for had not their seers predicted it long Hi before and had not the hopes of generations of B their sires without number lived in expectancy of H such an event? H And when the shepherds reported the coming H of the star, and the hearing of the ringing words: H "Fear not; for behold, I bring you tidings of H great joy, which shall be to all people." H "For unto you is born this day, in the City ot H David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord." What fl wonder that to their simple minds the whole til- H vine plan was revealed, and one cried out: "It is M the Lord and his glory is above the earth and M t the heaven." !That was long ago, almost twenty centuries; the shepherds have long been but dust. Doubters say that story was but another priest-woven leg end put out to beguile the ignorant populace, but somehow where the teachings of Him who was the child who was born that day, are most revered; re-vered; there is most enlightenment, most charity, most progress, and most power among men. True, the wild beast instincts are not yet bred out of men's souls; there is still cruelty and injustice in-justice practiced, for "long Is the way and dark that out of hell leads up to light," but there is progress. So slowly moves the glacier in its flow that the human eye cannot mark it until it reaches a headland and then with mighty clamors breaks Hii off and returns to Its ocean mother. But if we H i mark where it has left its mighty trail, we find H I the mountain tops have been ground off by It, Hj i soil has been formed, and in its wake floweis H ( bloom and birds sing. There are glaciers in men's H souls, and most weary is the way for such souls H . to find their way up into the light of intelligence H r and charity and love, but the silent work is going HJ on and where the progress is greatest there the Db' ' belief ,'3 strongest that the scenes the shepherds Hl' witnesses and the voice they heard were real I HI scenes and a real voice, and that the mighty event waB to mankind what the coming of spring is to the earth. The spring does not come except through reverses. re-verses. The envious winter often sends back IiIb frost to blight its progress; there are frosts, not infrequently snow and hail and biting storms, but the summer is waiting to grasp and perfect its blooms, and the harvest of the autumn is assured So in the upward progress of men and nations there are quarrels and wars, all the evil passions are invoked, but the ultimate result is progress; and so it is a beautiful custom, when the great day dawns to hail It with joy and to repeat the mighty acclaim: "Peace on earth and to man good will." The Steady Drain THE opening of the New York stock exchange after having been closed for more than four months caused a little thrill in Utah. Utah stocks were the first to respond. The hope is that it will continue1 to remain open, for that great exchange, when conditions are normal, is a mighty factor in financial affairs. The wise ones tell us that were a stone to bu dropped in mid-Pacific it would start a vibration that would not be stopped until it smote every shore of the great ocean. In a financial way the New York stock exchange ex-change transactions vibrate to the utmost bounds of our republic. It is a barometer which indicates indi-cates when stormy or fair financial weather may be looked for. When it is very low its vibrations strike the door of every bank in the republic, and to those who want favors, those inside, through chattering teeth respond. "We are not discounting discount-ing today." The exchange closed its doors because, with the outbreak of the war in Europe, those holding American securities in their haste to unload them so flooded the market that it was impossible to absorb ab-sorb them. That is a reminder that just as soon as pos sible our country should free Itself from that perpetual per-petual menace. The bulk of the debt is against the railroads of the United States, and it is much larger than it should be. Straw companies have projected railroads in America and then have sold bonds abroad, not only enough to build the roads, but to give the projectors little fortunes besides permitting per-mitting them to own all the stock. This should have been stopped by law long ago. Neither the United States nor indhidual states should ever give a company of men a charter for a road until such company can prove that It is substantial, and never should permit it to issue bonds for more than half the value of the road when completed. Had this been done thirty years ago we should doubtless have less roads, but should have owed no such debt as Europe holds against us. It may be said if they In Europe are willing to buy bonds, why should be worry? The answer is that when any crisis comer home or abroad, those bonds are thrust upon u market, and, because of it, business is paralyzed - tl from sea to sea. jH Then in normal times the interest on those ,HH bonds has to be regularly paid, and it is a perpet- , ual drain upon this country. That interest with ll what wo pay to foreigners in fares and freights, together with what American tourists spend i abroad, have about absorbed all the seeming bal- ance in trade in our favor for thirty years. The whole business, save what tourists spend H should be quickly stopped. H The Old and The New Year H DEFORE another Issue of this paper the old lH D year will have been rung out, the new year j rung 4BH The past year will be memorable as long as N time .H The historian will bo forced to say that the 'H enlightened nations of Europe, through ambition 1 for power, through ambition for power and ll place; through commercialism, through land lust tH and through fear of each other, for years had been lH increasing their navies and their armaments and '1 making offensive and defensive alliances with and against each other, deriding all advice, heed- ,H less of experience, intent on carrying out utterly H selfish plans, and pursued their way until the il tension could no longer be borne and the climax H came in the most terrible war the world had over seen. BH It is idle to split hairs as to which precipitated iM the cataclysm. All had been preparing for it, all HH had been expecting it; on two or three occasions M in the last five years it has been iminent. The H pitiable thing Is there was no holy purpose be- H hind it, the most pitiable feature is that the H masses of people who are fighting and dying had H no desire for it because they were at peace; they H had no enemies; they did not want their peace H disturbed. ,H The war frenzy that the first shock of war awakened is still upon them and no one can see ' H the end, ' H The shadow of it all has crossed the Atlantic H and covers our country, but from beneath it can , H bo seen that for our country there is no present H menace; that the promises for the new year are 11 all hopeful, that it will be right to welcome the 11 new year with the ringing of joy bells and to fill 11 the air with the new year happy acclaims. if II Our Navy and Army H THE experts tell us that our navy is short by K many thousands of men. There is more than R one reason for that. The exactions are too many ( I upon many men who would enlist. A half-inch 'I too short of stature is one. That would have pre- l vented Admiral Count Togo, General Phil Sheri- II dan and Emperor Napoleon from enlisting. Then hi the inducements are not great. Great Britain lias 1 H lines of steamers running to all the world's ' W ports when conditions are normal, and sees i H to it that at frequent Intervals her ships tf iff waif visit those ports, the sailors and marine n H given shore leave; they go ashore and pa' !R ) I l r tfH 1 S(1tMgnuttfrnHMaHH m town rod and have something to talk about for u L week or a month laten It is not alluring for a H young American to think of joining a machine ft and being tied up for three or four months in a Br roadstead like that of "Vera Cruz, never going HP' ashore, never having eVen a fist fight, or the regu- H lation grog. a Bfe There is no incentive to call at some port and F have the people ask what .country they represent B and when they tell them to be asked if the United Hl States has any more ships save the one they H cume H Our country will have to be known as a sea H power before there will be much anxioty to en- H list in the navy. B The army is better, for in the army some men B have risen from the ranks and won for them- B solves great names. Kf Where there is rib high incentive behind Amer- B leans, they will not seek the confinement of a life H on a ship of war. B They would rather go fishing off the Grand B Banks in a smack. X In the same way the president's plan to enlist B' volunteers to learn the elementary lessons of B army life, will never succeed. Most men are bust- H ness men and the question they ask is: "What's H the use?" It was asked in England year after year, H and when a real war came there was no fair pro- H portion of her people who knew anything of the H requirements and duties of soldiers, while in H Germany every able-bodied man had gone through H at least a year's training. Now it seems that H our people have not as a rule had the best train- H ing, and there are not, by thousands, men H enough to train the volunteers that would flock B to the standard were a war to come. H Why not make it compulsory for all young men B -o have a year's training, say between 18 and F 10 years of age? The boys would be glad to H accept it. g In three years those who accepted would look H down upon those who evaded it. B The effect on the young men would in a single v year make every parent wish to have his or her B sons trained that way. flj But there is a divided authority between the fl states and the central government as to how this B might bo brought about. It is not a difficult mat- B ter Just lek congress undertake to bear half the B expense of these state camps of instruction and B supply the instructors from regular army officers, B fr an army is the exact opposite of the free insti- B tutions of a republic. It is imperial in all its B metliods, and in war it must all be under the B central government. B The course should include the annual man- B euvers where the young men would gain an idea H of how vast bodies of men finally become a raa- B chine to act as an offensive or defensive force. Bl With this done in five years the world would B know that the United States could, on call, muster H some millions of trained soldiers and then our H peace would be certain. Br The Anticipated Western Rush IN a New York paper is a heading as follows: "Less Touring in Europe, 'but increased facili- H ties for reaching nearby islands and the many H playgrounds of the south, where to spend a warm weather vacation at golf, fishing or hunt- ing." H That is good, but the shortest day and longest L night of the year are passed; in a brief few jH. weeks the sun will be coming back in force, H the 'birds Will be singing again, the trees will be BIBl putting on their summer garniture; people will BBBn sin to weary of the south and want a change. BsBBIIIBKL- They cannot 'go to Europe this coming year, MKJBBHBBBkt least not for pleasure; why should they not ftBBHn0 west? E2BBB!xflHBHMy h&ve read as a legend that the waves RBtifHHHHfetly on our west coast; that geraniums bloom in the open air the year round as far north as Astoria, Ore.; they have seen the quotation "where rolls the Oregon," and not finding such a river on the map, have concluded that Oregon must bo a rolling prairie; they have heard of Shasta and Ilcod and St. Ilellens and Ranier, but have put it aside as something of no concern con-cern to people who have seen Jura and Mont. . Blanc. They have heard that there are to be expositions expo-sitions in San Francisco and San Diego, and inasmuch in-asmuch as the president has expressed a determination deter-mination to visit those places, who knows but it would be a good thing to visit them in this warring year in Europe? A good many thousands of them will come this way and will learn with surprise that from here it is only a day's ride to the wonders of Yellowstone park, but a day and a half to the Grand canyon. On the way here they will learn some marvelous mar-velous facts about Utah, of her great lake, of her wonderful canyons, of her mines, of her valleys, of her sunlight, of all the glories that are clustered clus-tered within her boundaries. And a good many will stop off and will remain just so long as the facilities for showing them around and feeding them are reasonably good. Salt Lake can take care of them, but outside of the city how are things? There is good bathing at the Hot springs, but nothing else. How are the summer houses in the canyons? There is one at Pine Crest, one above Ogden, and some at Brighton. Are any preparations being be-ing made elsewhere? How about the road to the Grand canyon and the resting places along that road? There are many idle men here would fain be employed. employ-ed. Can not a struggle be made to employ them in a way that, would be sure to bring a return in the spring and summer? Men grow tired of bestowing charity and self-respecting self-respecting men deplore accepting it; but they gladly accept work. Cannot work be provided that will be a blessing to him who gives as well as to those who receive? John Muir IT was queer that John Muir should have died of pneumonia. He must have changed his habits hab-its of late and been sleeping in a comfortable house, and it was too severe a shock for him. It is but five or six winters ago that he was met at the southern end of the pass in Alaska and was asked if he had at last been caught by the gold fever. He answered: "Oh, no; but it has been told me that a new species of fir tree grows beyond the pass and I am going to see if that is true," and in the high Sierra, he saw by the indications indi-cations that a great storm was on the march and would be in full force around the spot he was on in an hour or two. He had long desired to watch the full phenomenon of a Sierra storm in all its majesty and in his mind to measure its tremendous forces, so he at once left his cabin, went out where the tempest would have an unobstructed sweep, and climbed a tree to the height of forty feet and there took up his watch. He remained there for hours and when he returned re-turned to the cabin his clothing was soaked through and his teeth chattering, but he was radiant and exultant over the experience he had enjoyed. When camped alone in a hut in that winter he spent in Yosemite valley, a fall of three feet of snow came one night. He arose in the morning and beat and breasted his way to a waterfall two miles distant just to see if he would not find his waterfall bird still at her post. And she was there, as though Bhe expected him, to extend the courtesies of her habitation to him. The idea of such a man dying in a comfortable comfort-able .home is uncanny. To us who only knew John Muir, by the records rec-ords he engraved on the rocks, the lofty heights, the trees, the valleys, everywhere in the wild, he takes on thought a colossal intellectual stature. stat-ure. He was a child of nature and the love he gave his wild mother exalted him. He loved to get in the wake of a glacier and tell of all the changes it had made in its long journey, and how nature had covered its trail I With verdure and flowers. ' He roamed weaponless through the wildest and most inaccessible retreats of the mountains, but no wild beast over disturbed him. His theory was that the fiercest of them were friendly when they found a man who wished them no harm and was not afraid, and they were in accord with him. Had he been chained to civilization one of two things would have happened. He would either have beaten his life out in longing for the unattainable, or would have broken out into song that would have been higher and clearer and sweeter than was ever seen before. His pen pictures pic-tures of nature are all prose poems. His simple narratives are framed in words that are an enchantment to read. It is said he was a finished scholar, but the truth is they did him little good after he had learned to read and write. It was from his postgraduate post-graduate course in the hills that he drew his wisdom, or rather we should say, that placed his mind in full accord with all that was grand and high in nature and gave him the inspiration to tell what he saw in a diction beyond the compass com-pass of any school to teach. It was from such a soul as his that the savage's sav-age's idea of a heaven that would be a never-ending never-ending hunting ground was evolved. His death is a great loss. California should give him burial in Yosemite valley, near a great rock and near a waterfall near which the birds make their nests and 'beside which the flowers bloom, for if spirits come back to visit the world at times, as some believe, there is where his spirit will come and it is not hard to believe that if one goes there and listens intently they will hear on the breeze something like the rustle of brooding wings. Aaron Keyser FOR forty years he was a familiar figure in this j city. He was the type of business man who J always succeeds. His mind was absolutely practical. prac-tical. He had no more imagination than a proposition propo-sition in algebra. He reasoned straight from g ' v.ause to effect. If two and two made four, then fl three times two could not be either five or seven, w it must be exactly six. So he uegan his work. , f It could not help but succeed, as it did he expanded ex-panded with it. It required help to carry on his problems, so he left the work to other hands, but stood at the helm himself, and thus, while h opening new fields of industry, he gave those I whom his unerring judgment endorsed, a chance, I and thus in a hundred fields he was a providence II to others, so he worked and planned all his life; 1 1 from little he amassed a great fortune and in A. doing that enabled many others to lay the foun- X, dations of fortunes for themselves. Xli In the meantime he became a pillar of strength lij to the community and in many directions his i. work is recognized as a bulwark to the business H' of the state. His death was like his life. With jfifj) constant running the machinery of his physical self M i ran down and stopped, when the work was fin- w I ished. Life's day was done, and he fell asleep. M" Were all men like him, there would be no need ' of courts or laws. Industry would be the rule, exact justice the balance sheet, and'Aiere would K be neither cause nor desire for disagreement. There would be little poetry In the world, but the books would exactly balance every night. He 1 worked hard and incessantly through the better part of a century. He earned the peace hat has come to liim. |