Jasper County Democrat, Volume 11, Number 71, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 February 1909 — PERIL IN ABUSING UNCLE SAM. [ARTICLE]

PERIL IN ABUSING UNCLE SAM.

Bill Tompkins once expected to be made Consul to The capital of Portugal or Siam or Peru; And when he didn’t get it he began to loudly shout, “The Government is rotten and this country without doubt Is going to the dogs as fast as any country can,” Which was libeling the nation, said a Secret Service man, So he yanked him to jail Under very heavy bail, And the Government will sue him • For a million, more or less; For a libel is a libel. And an angry diatribe’ll Get a fellow into trouble When it's hurled at the U.**S. Jim Wilkins wrote a letter to his wife requesting that She ship his 1 laundry to him and also his other hat Jim was a traveling .salesman and he needed those things sore. But the letter didn’t reach her, which accounts for Wilkin’s roar “The postal service nowadays is getting worse and worse, It was bad in the beginning, but today it is a curse.” But a Secret Service, copper Got to Wilkins good and proper, And the jury now is working On the question of intent; For a libel is a libel, Whether personal or bribal, So be careful what you say About our Government. When the weather man deceives you, prophesying weather fair, And, believing his prediction, you walk out to get the air, Should it start to rain, forget it, get to shelter if you can, But launch no maledictions on the fickle weather man; Don’t impugn his motives noble or question his veracity, You’re apt to get in trouble, if you’re given to loquacity, For a Secret Service sleuth, Wh6 is on the job, in truth May charge you with a libel That is criminal and base; And the Government will get you, It will lock yon up and sweat you, And you’ll owe the nation money If you cannot prov@ your case. —Detroit Free Press. ■-