The corn corner of Joseph has been in the public eye recently. That young man had a good private character, but Joseph, the king's jackal, who took every advantage to take away all the property of others, can be held up only to obloquy. Compare Joseph, the enslaver of the people, with Moses, the liberator!
What was the matter with Joseph? He was, like most men, only fractionally converted. We think the conversion of a man in his private character is enough; but he was not converted as a citizen and as a man.
In conclusion we may note the Richmond Times-Dispatch's remark that "compared with Mr. Rockefeller's, Joseph's was a mere cozy corner."
SOCIALISM'S LATEST MILLIONAIRE CONVERT.
Views Expressed by J.M. Patterson, of
Chicago, Who Has Resigned Office
Because of His Convictions.
One of the most recent converts to Socialism is Joseph Medill Patterson, of Chicago. Though he is now only twenty-seven years of age, Mr. Patterson has had a strong taste of public life as commissioner of public works in Chicago. In the local campaign of 1905 he supported Judge (now Mayor) Dunne, who, after election, gave him his important appointment. He has now resigned the commissionership. In his letter of resignation he says:
It was through a common belief in the cause of municipal ownership of municipal utilities that I first became acquainted with you, and in this letter of resignation I desire to express publicly just how my views on this subject have changed. They have not diminished. They have enlarged.
I used to believe that many of the ills under which the nation suffers, and by which it is threatened, would be prevented or avoided by the general inauguration of public ownership of public utilities. But my experience in the Department of Public Works has convinced me that this policy would not be even one-fourth of the way sufficient.
He then goes on to say that in Great Britain—where municipal trading has been highly developed—the problem of the unemployed is becoming very intense; while in Germany—where municipal and government ownership of public utilities has become almost the rule—the gap between the possessions of the rich and the poor grows wider every day. The letter concludes: