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24 WILMETTE LIFE February 19. 1926· WILMETTE LIFE 1811JBD rllmAT o· &A.CB WIDIDK 1222 Central AYe.· Wilmette. Ill Cllle&eo oftlce: C N. Mlchlcan Ave. TeL 8t&te 1111 ~eJt. . .e LLOYD aoJ:liiTWa. 1·c. ····.············.········· Wllaette 1 . . 11JBSCiliP'ftON PRICB ................ A 87 Carrier ··..······················ ~ a ·-t· ~All All commualcatlona muat ~· accompanied by the aame and addrua ot the writer. Artlclea tor publlcatlen must reaob the editor b7 W'8Clneaday noon to lnaure appearance tn current laaue. Reaoluttona ot condolence, carda of tbaaka, obituary.. notlcea of entertainment· or other atfairs where an admittance obarce Ia pu~Uehed, wUl be charce· at recular advertlaln« ratea. Entered at the poet oftlce at Wilmette. Illlaola, aa maU matter of the aecon4 claaa, under the act ot Karch I, 1871. Indifference In 1924 there were, according to published statistics, 1.700,000 n1en and \\·otnen in Cook county who \Vere eligible to vote in the primary elections. Of this number 204,510 voted f.or Len Small at the gubernatorial notnination. enough to make hin1 the choice of his party for. the highest office in the state. The figures tell only part .of the story, of course, but they do show that only a small proportion of eligible v.o ters take the trouble to express their choice as to candidates in the primary elections. This comes partly fron1 a misapprehension on the part of a considerable number of the importance of the primary. "Only <-t. primary" is too often heard to leave ,o ne in doubt as to the general attitude of the voter towards this preliminary election. As a real rna tter of fact, however, it is of greater importance than the regular election. for it gives to the people .o f the party the. opportunity to put the best available material on the ballots. There is too little difference between the t\VO major parties for the label to make any very great difference in state politics. It is the men themselves that should be \\·eighed. Indifference on the part of the electorate to the party primary is responsible · for the. necessity of choice between t\vo poor candidates, a situation that often confronts the conscientious voter. Such an occasion o.ffers opportunity to the stay-athome to justify his action. He forgets that it is because he, and his kind, have failed to vote on the primary election day that there is no better material available for the office to be filled. During the incumbency of Governor ~tnall \Ve in Illinois have had ample opportunity to see \vhat happens \vhen the intelligent portion of the electorate absents itself from the polls. The ignorant and easily fooled, the "payrollers," and the patronage seekers are not among those who tarry \Yith their own affairs on election day. They are busy, as the c.o unt of votes tells only too plainly. Until we can exhibit some such interest and concern in the cause of the honest and efficient candidate at the primaries we shall have just such conditions as are revealed by the figures in our opening paragraph. concern the public life of the community when elections are s.oon to' be held in which men and women to have charge of the business of the municipality are to be chosen. There · is no getting around the obligations of citizenship. We may refuse to observe them, but we cannot, no n1atter hovv· ingenious our argument, develop any plea that excuses the person of intelligence from taking active part in civic affairs. Like jury service, it may be unpleasant to the individual, it may take time that can apparently be ill-spared from other things, but the claim of the community cannot he denied. Just a little less reprehensible than the person who does not v.ote at all, is the person wh~ votes without trying to find out the qualifications of those who seek election and the facts concerning the issues at stake. Such sessi,ons as are being planned at the Ouilmette Country club should eliminate the latter group. And the interest that brings the study of civic affairs into the club should dispel the apathy . that allows the eligible voter to fail in the exercise of his privilege. Effort to secure a 100 per cent voting people should not he limited to the men of any one organization nor to the people <'f any one town. It is a purpose which should be included in the reason for being of all organizations that exist for public benefit. (' ore ~ ~ l~ 1nes ..f HOME TIES Crackli11g ·wood itt the fireplace , Daddy in the hall; Mother smiles her greetings, Baby briugs her ball. Lovi11g ilwughts mt the threshold, Al·ways make the homeGolden thrrads to bind 1ts No mattrr where ·we roam. ,,. - Mr ss A~oNY~IOc s . Progress "THINKING, talking, and acting progress is the quickest anc! surest way to bring prosperity." We agree heartily with this statement in the creed of the Glencoe Chatnber of Commerce. If a man or a con1n1unity ·wants to be prosperous, the tnan or the community must concentrate ,o n progress. Keeping progress in the spotlight is, barring accidents, bound to result in prosperity. All of these activities-thinking, talking, acting- are essential. Not one of then1 can be dispensed \vith. It's positively bad to think progress without talking or acting it. Tt's like continuously building 1castles in the air, not trying to realize thetn in actual stone and wood. N.or is it enough to think and talk; there n1ust be action If the tnerchants in a town \vish to increase their business they must first have the goods, and then they and the townspeople n1ust think, talk, and act progress. The virtues of the town n1ust be cn1phasized, and the defects must be gotten rid of. Facts tnust be adhered to in the thinking and talking. One of the most in1portant factors in the progressive tnovetnent on the north shore is \vithout doubt the \vork of the chambers of con1n1erce. They have rendered invaluable service in maintaining and increasing civic pride and also in strengthening co-operation between citizens and merchants. -<]. NAME NEW CANDIDATE One of the most important political announce ments ever made in Wilmette came this week from a group of prominent and civic minded citizens who have banded together into an organization known as the 19th Ward Better Government club. For week s they have been quietly canvassing the old 19th ward to gain an idea oi the sentiment toward the possible nomination a s Vil lage trustee of a prominent citizen of the di strict. With the following statement the 19th ward Better Government club put s forward it candidate and brings the \\' ilmette political pot to the boiling point : "Believing that th e residents of the 19th ward have never had adequate repre sentation on the.: Village board of tru-;tcc s and that their intere st ' have suffered through lack of capability on the part of former trustee s elected from the ward we hereby announce that our candidate for trustee at the Apnl election will he none other than joseph Bigelow. "Mr. Bigelow need s no further introduction to re sidents of the village a s there is scarcely a man, woman or child in \Vilmettc who is not familiar with this outstanding personage. "Until recently h e ha s been a member of th e police department. serving voluntarily and without pay other than the gratification he derived from being of sen·icc to the community. While a policeman he enj o yed an enviable record for at tention to. duty and bravery under fire . "It .is our opinion that his we11 known nobility and gravity of bearing will lend an air of dignity to the meetings of the Village board and we arc sure that hi s dogged pcrserverance will win for the resident s of the 19th ward the consideration which is their ju st clue a s citizens of Wilmette. \Ve solicit the support of everyone for Bigelow at the coming election , and urge that all who arc in tere sted compare his record with those of the op po sing candidate s of the two other parties:' It was learned that Officer Bigelow has resigned fr o m the force becau se of illnc s · caused b y his devotion to duty.. He is now staying with friends in Rogers Park and taking a complet e re st on orders fr om hi s ph~·s ician . All attempts to intervie\\' him conc e rning hi s candidacy have so tar failed . \' # c- ., . AT NIGHTFALL As I ga=e from m}' ·wi11dow at 11ightfall The streets are hushed mzd stillAnd I see the lights of the v illage Gleam o'er each window sill. The snowflake.; dance so friendly AI y thoughts with kindness fill As I wondrr and dream and ponderAt the lights o'er the window sill. LADY GRAY. .- ..... Civics a11d Pleasure It's a good sign when organizations such as the Ouilmette Country club sho,v sufficient interest in civic affairs to take account of this subject in the regular program of their activities. Particularly important is it at this titne that the more sub<;tantial portion of the citizenry of every community give thought to matters that Our co-editor had half a mind to compete in the North Shore Open skati11g conte t and \vin the solid silver skates. In his day he was the Hans Brinker of northern Ohio and could cut the double dutch and make figure eights all around his fello\Y skaters. We advised hitn against entering this recent contest, knO\\'ing his reckless tendencies. . ,. With all the beautiful weather we have haJ during the past week we are expecting a rush of spring poetry for our next issue. We do hope our contrihs will he seasonable and send in beautiful little things about violets, blue eyes, roses blue skies or anything along the spring poetr; line. At this time of year even an old bachelor like us may be pardoned for waxing slightly romantic. THE SLAVE. . ...