Life — December 9, 1915 — page 3: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

An Incipient Art 'HE art of making complaints is yet in its infancy. One of the chief difficulties lies in the fact that those who deserve most to have com- plaints made about them are the very ones of whom it does the least good to complain. They are hardened sin- ners. The chances are that the particu- lar complaint you make has been often made before. The fact that the cause of it has not been removed is evidence cither that they don’t care or they recognize the evil. Railroad companies have letter forms, couched in polite and unmeaning lan- guage, to cover practically every kind of complaint. Gas companies are not outwardly so polite, because it is a little harder to get at them for damages. As one comes down in the scale where individuals are dealt with, the problem becomes easier. It is possible to abuse ° one’s butcher or tailor and get fairly Che Grand Lowze ct the good results. To get anything out of i \) hier Ge oa amet iouee ax pile St TPanCISCO Lenanmelecitic Lipostton ) \) y an evil cigar in your face or the tired conductor has blackguarded you, is very much like dealing with the super- bas boon awarded to intendent of Mars or Jupiter. Then again, the very fact that you WwW Lh Wi 4. ke th laint is a determini a a =) with a certain suspicion that you are . a crank or a grouch, which becomes a This is the highest possible award and the only one of the class. certainty if the complaint is repeated. In addition we received five gold medals and one silver medal. Most of us: prefer, theretore, to:submut At the great world expositions, wherever exhibited, Waltham to numerous petty injustices and im- A ° ‘i . Watches have received highest awards. postures rather than to acquire the un: ty : #e om wholesome reputation of a reformer. The English language is free to all, and the words, “‘precise Gilbert Chesterton says in his biog- “best” and “reliable” can be used by any watch manufacturer raphy of Dickens, who had all the nor- with impunity. Rather than indulge in a battle of adjectives we mal—or abnormal—instincts of the re- former, that he was almost always right, but he was right too often. prefer to point out that where scientific tests are made and where the judgment of watch experts is encountered, Waltham Watches are invariably chosen as being the most accurate and dependable of all timepieces. Such evidence is not a mere claim—it is proof. WALTHAM WATCH COMPANY Waltham, Mass. SsSsSsSSoS SSeS sooocoool An Awkward Situation “ HE only barrier to the realization of a socialist ideal in the relations of employer and employee is the socialists themselves,” says E. W. Campbell, described in the news dispatches as the son-in-law of Judge Gary. If that is true, was there ever a situation more awkward? If we follow Mr. Camp- bell accurately, socialism is a desirable something which would be quickly obtained by those who don’t want it were it not for the activities of those who want it so much that they make a business of trying to get it. We must therefore attempt the almost im- possible task of inducing these socialists not to want socialism. Could that be done, they would slink off somewhere out of sight and, as that would remove the only barrier, the next thing we knew socialism would come to make us a permanent visit and happiness would take a firmer grip on the human race. comicbooks.com