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Show I -- J PESSIMISTIC POLITICS. I There seems to be a streak of pessimism running through the appeals of the politicians these days. They would have us believe -there is something wrong in this country, just what no one knows, I but something at once mysterious and not under-tandable. under-tandable. Nor do the politicians of one party more keenly seer the impending disaster than those of the o' To avert the calamity, it is I imperative that '. le should elect the candi- dates of the pii: v. '.- -e principle they espouse; defeat portends, a "i so.ts of adversity, misery and ! distress. This p s -'v istic condition is not altogether alto-gether new; indeed, it is the staple subject for campaign speaker: and writers, and has been since vve can remember, ami probably since national campaigns cam-paigns were instituted. 1 J)e.-jite the politicians, when the subject of ma- j ferial conditions in America is considered, the con- I elusion is inevitable that thi. country is the most I favored of any on the globe. No cither nation is I so attractive to capital and labor alike; no other I . country offers so many and varied opportunities to men of steady habits and strong wills to work. I The possibilities of making a good living here are I fo well known in European and Asiatic countries : that we have been compelled to restrict immigra- tion. which is probably very selfish on our part, I ', but the influx in spite of the restrictive laws shows I plainly enough how much more favorable are con- ditions here than in the countries from which tKe I emigrants come. Just now. too, the crop experts I are telling of enormous yields of farm products. and the production of the mines is gradually in- creasing from the slump of last winter. What. then. i the cause for the pessimistic out- 1 look (if the politicians ( Is there a cause for it be- I yond the mere desire 1o corral votes? Is the most I favored country in the world really on the verge of starvation? And if economic conditions here, j in the garden spot of the earth, are to be affected I so disastrously by the outcome of a presidential election, in what unenviable condition must, the ! people of oilier nations find themselves, dependent as they are largely upon America for their supplies I of foodstuffs and clothing i I Personally, and we do not pretend to speak for j any other member of the Catholic church, let alone I pretending to voice the opinion of the church, if it I has an opinion in matters political, we do not be- I lieve the success of either of ihe great parties this fall will mar or make prosperity for the people. I As the years have gone by, invention and develop- ! ment have complicated our mode of life. In the J old day? we wore homespun, and kept warm in the I winter time by splitting wood for the cook stove. I Nowadays we have the whole house heated ami we I , need tailor suits and boiled shirts to make us un- comfortable Take the mailer of white laundered j collars alone, and it must cost ihe men of Amer- I ica at least a half a million dollars a week. There are so many tilings like white collars lhat we don't really need, and would be more comfortable with- "iit. things like shoe polish, and pold jewelry, and I ; necklies. and frivolous amusements like summer 5 vacations, and automobile trips, and soda water, j We do not advocate the abolition of those things. We only mention them to show how really luxuri- I otisly we live in America, as compared with the J ; people of the last generation. It is needless to go t further into details. All these things take monev j and lots of it. We must have them because our neighbors have ihem. So most of us are kept busy supplying ourselves with things which we could f do without, and we get hard pressed at times. We call it hard rimc. and the parly in power is held account abb' t ihe people for their misfortunes. All this artificiality keeps us jueity busy to supply sup-ply ourselves with what we think we need. We have very litlle time for anything but our material needs, and we grow bard hearted and grasping, and we want bigger profits and higher wages, and we all complain of grafters and go into debt for what we don't need, and the politicians tell us we should have a change of administration, or we must continue con-tinue the present policies, according to what brand of politician we listen to. And the politicians are a very persistent crowd, but they dare not tell the people to reduce expenses, because if they did the people might begin with the politicians. The one great need of these days is not greater opportunities to create wealth or a more perfect distribution of ihe good things of earth so much-as much-as a realization of the possibilities latent in the teachings of the Savior. We would not say the politicians are all wrong, but they are all very diligently dili-gently looking out for the welfare of the laboring man, the merchant and. incidentally, themselves in material things, and are completely overlooking that broader sphere in which God is the foundation, founda-tion, and present and eternal happiness the reward. |