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Show Barnacles Extraordinary We have an animal in this country with whose services we could easily dispense with profit. That animal is the "barnacle "barna-cle extraordinary." Humanly spaking, Mr. Webster Web-ster describes a barnacle as a "persistent office holder." Persistent is right. He never wants to let loose. Political barnacles are expensive ex-pensive animals. They can eat up taxes faster than anything any-thing that travels on two or four feet. Chicago is a moaning example ex-ample of barnacleism. In the windy city taxes this year have been increased 42 per cent in order that the army, of barnacles may remain fastened to the public payroll. The people of that city are roaring mightily, but all they can do is to roar, and pay up. and roar again. We, however, should be ready and willing to profit from the follies of others. If we have any barnacles fastened to our payrolls in this state they should be dislodged. If we have any public .servants .ser-vants who are loafing on their jobs they should be replaced by men who are willing to do an honest day's work for a rlav'c Tav If the political leaders make too big a noise when the people want to clean house we should class them, too, as Darnacles and drop them by .the wayside. .The day is coming when the great mass of the people will conclude that they are being fleeced by incompetents, and loafers, and often by grafters, and when that clay arrives we will witness a great slaughter of the barnacles. They will drop off like leaves following the first frost. Progressiveness and the legitimate le-gitimate expenditures incident thereto are highly commendable, commend-able, and to these no fair minded mind-ed citizen will object. But boosting taxes in order to provide soft jobs for' an army ot political followers is damnable and should not' be tolerated by the people who pay the bills.. . ' ' ' This condition is not , confined confin-ed to any one political party or to any particular section of the country. It is general, but is more pronounced in some places than in others: ' It is the canker in the heart of our political system, and. as long as we allow it to remain we will nurse a destroyer "of a builder. Keep taxes. down by keeping the barnacles out. |