Country Is In Need of Rest From Agitators
By GEORGE B. HUGO, President of the Employers’ Association of Massachusetts
OUR COUNTRY UNDOUBTEDLY NEEDS A REST FROM PROFESSIONAL MISCHIEF MAKING AGITATORS AND UNIVERSAL FIXERS OF EVERYTHING — MORAL, POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC. IT DOES NOT NEED A REST, THOUGH, FROM THOSE HONEST AGITATORS WHO VIGOROUSLY ATTACK EXISTING ABUSES AND ADVOCATE DESIRABLE REFORMS.
The pure food agitation, for instance, deserves every encouragement. The “swat the fly” movement is also productive of general good. But because it is it DOES NOT FOLLOW THAT WE SHOULD SWAT EVERYTHING THAT FLIES, CRAWLS OR WALKS. We see, though, to have entered into a NATIONAL SWATTING CONTEST, evident in may diverging lines of endeavor. Some of these, while not productive of good, are NOT DANGEROUS TO THE PUBLIC AT LARGE.
But this cannot be said of that type of agitators, inciters of class hatred, advocates of lawlessness and violence, who frankly declare, “The question of right or wrong does not concern us.” They attack by this teaching the very fundamentals of morality and are therefore a positive MENACE TO THE COUNTRY.
Wichita Daily Times (Wichita Falls, Texas) Aug 6, 1912
Image from American Gallery – Robert Koehler
The Socialist Menace
The socialist is usually the worst menace to the country in which he resides when it is at war. The real socialists — the ones with brains enough to understand their own propaganda — are opposed to violence, but attached to them is always a group of extremists who are in favor of anything that savors of mischief and even bloodshed.
Laredo Times (Laredo, Texas) May 13, 1917
Tags: 1912, 1917, Agitators, Morality, Socialism, Socialists, Swat the Fly
