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5418474_4_1263.xml
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5418474_4_1263.xml
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<TEI xmlns="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0">
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<title>
<bibl><title>Abendpost</title>,
<date when="1929-12-06">Dec. 6, 1929</date>.
<title level="a">The Great Difficulty</title><title level="a" type="sub">(Editorial)</title></bibl>
</title>
</titleStmt>
<publicationStmt>
<publisher>The Newberry Library</publisher>
<pubPlace>Chicago, Illinois</pubPlace>
<address>
<addrLine>60 West Walton</addrLine>
<addrLine>Chicago, IL 60610</addrLine>
<addrLine>USA</addrLine>
<addrLine>http://www.newberry.org</addrLine>
</address>
<idno>5418474_4_1263</idno>
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<notesStmt>
<note>Transcribed from digital images contributed to the Internet
Archive by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.</note>
</notesStmt>
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<bibl><title>Chicago Foreign Language Press Survey</title>, <date>1936-1941</date>,
<sponsor>Works Projects Administration</sponsor>,
<sponsor>Chicago Public Library Omnibus Project</sponsor></bibl>
<bibl>
<title>Chicago Foreign Language Press Survey [microform]</title>
<sponsor>University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign</sponsor>
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<change when="2009-10-09">Automated conversion to expanded header.</change>
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<front>
<pb facs="5418474_4_1263.jpg" n="1"/>
<div type="group">
<list>
<item>GERMAN</item>
</list>
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<div type="codes">
<list>
<item>I F 6</item>
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<div type="citation">
<bibl><title>Abendpost</title>,
<date when="1929-12-06">Dec. 6, 1929</date>.
<title level="a">THE GREAT DIFFICULTY</title><title level="a" type="sub">(Editorial)</title></bibl>
</div>
</front>
<body>
<p>As everyone knows, the financial condition of our city and county is deplorable. One might assume that our citizens and taxpayers would vent their feelings in howling and gnashing of teeth, but that is still reserved for the future. Of course, whenever our citizens congregate, there is talk of high taxes, the wasting of public money, and the pachydermal astuteness of certain public officials. But it is not difficult to detect a certain gloating over this political misfortune, whenever conversation reverts to the forensic efforts and the despair of the authorities as they try, by prestidigitation, to bewitch the empty coffers and produce golden cash once more. This smug satisfaction and intrinsic joy which <pb facs="5418474_4_1264.jpg" n="2"/>manifests itself when viewing the plight of others, this strange perversity, acclaimed by some psychologists to be the true form of human enjoyment, must expand into a veritable orgy of unadulterated frenzy. This will prove true for the inhabitants of Cook County, irrespective of the ominous fact that the people must eventually pay for the damage.</p>
<p>But human beings are indifferent to the distant future, when the present offers so many pleasures.</p>
<p>And who might reproach the distressed, highly taxed citizens of Chicago, when the situation is reversed and their tormentors lie writhing in agony? No, this perverse elation is understandable, that exhilaration should not be dimmed. Who knows how long fate will decree this blissful condition to continue?</p>
<pb facs="5418474_4_1265.jpg" n="3"/>
<p>Really, it is a fascinating picture to behold all the gentlemen of the tax-assessing and tax-spending fraternity of the administration branches and corporations, hurrying hither and you, like ants when an ant-heap is -kicked over and leveled. How they argue about the question as to who must submit to the greatest budget reductions. Everyone seeks to shift that unfortunate burden to some other shoulder; after all, such a reduction is likely to curtail the power and prestige of the one affected. It reminds one of the ingenuous Tyrolean peasant who played to his guardian angel: "Oh, save my own house, and please let my neighbor's burn!"</p>
<p>And these are the exhortations of the numberless administrative chieftains in Chicago. such invokes his own private and strictly personal saint not to diminish his cohorts but rather to diminish <pb facs="5418474_4_1266.jpg" n="4"/>those of some neighboring department. Whether their zealous wishes will be realized does not entirely depend upon political patronage at least not at this time. For the most part, the necessity for these satellites will be the deciding factor. Even today the City Hall and the County Building are said to be adorned with numerous moons and stars which appear sporadically, and are fully satisfied when they receive their checks regularly and promptly.</p>
<p>Since all the higher-ups are intent upon filling the depleted tills either in a regular manner or even, if necessary, by mysterious subterfuges, Chicagoans will soon see a splendid, meteoric shower when a part of the dispensable boarders at the city and county crib are stricken from the rolls. As for the relevancy of the word "dispensable," one might encounter diverging opinions. Many a soul might be found among the discharged who <pb facs="5418474_4_1267.jpg" n="5"/>did his full share and performed his duties honestly and honorably. His chief failing in this rule of nepotism consists in not having been a relative of the fifth or sixth remove, in which case he might have at least found a place as an absolutely essential precinct worker.</p>
<p>As sorrowful as this condition appears to all who considered themselves secure until the next election, it nevertheless has its favorable aspects.</p>
<p>Perhaps this experience will induce a few to refrain from seeking political offices in the future, and to concentrate on securing positions which in the long run are more lucrative.</p>
<pb facs="5418474_4_1268.jpg" n="6"/>
<p>The leading politicians, administration chiefs, etc., are not likely to arouse any considerable compassion because of their present dearth of capital. If they had been more frugal in former years, had given occasional thoughts to the bottom of that barrel which they drained so heedlessly, then their dilemma would be non-existent today. Verily, warnings were not lacking; they ignored the obsessed with the belief that their financial resources were inexhaustible.</p>
<p>Now, as they face empty drawers, they are perplexed and know of no alternative other than to ask for additional funds to squander. But they will be disappointed. They must now drink their own concoction down to the last dregs.</p>
<p>The citizens will not move a finger to help them. Like the long departed Munchausen, the politicians must now grab their own hair to pull themselves <pb facs="5418474_4_1269.jpg" n="7"/>out of the morass. The citizens will have to pay a stiff price for this spectacle, but it may possibly be a better investment than the millions which have slipped through the fingers of our politicians during the last years. After all, who knows!</p>
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