"Official Neglect" by Andrew W. Loudon (1926)

Official Neglect.

BY ANDREW W. LOUDON.

Written for The Troy Times.

At the wading pool in Frear Park

I heard from a mother this remark:

"Just think of kiddie going in there:

When they come out they'll need scrubbing for fair."

Look at the bottom, coated with slime,

In point of neglect lacks nothing of crime;

Under the guise of a healthful bath,

Conditions provoking resentment and wrath.

Is there a soul, or must we despair,

Vested with power this wrong to repair?

Is there a conscience so heedless of right

As to leave our children in such sad plight?

A feature suffusing with scarlet the cheek—

On leaving the pool they're forced then to seek

A shelter of weed, to robe and disrobe,

Conditions demanding a swift, searching probe.

Troy Times. July 28, 1926: 16 col 2.

Doggerel: that'll more than work!

Yellow journals abound today

Lurid, worthless things to say.

Investigative? Nowhere in sight

Those journalists bound up in fright

Of publishers who are billionaires

(The First Amendment needs repairs)

"Newsmen" who are corporate tools;

The public: undiscerning fools?

Where's the real news today?

Seen only by the N.S.A?

E'en *neglect* neglected now

Bought politicians: sacred cow

That corporations won't offend

Lest more cash they'd have to spend

To cover up their ev'ry crime

Gatekeeping news in ev'ry clime

Report on scandals? Well, if there's sex

"Ripped from the headlines," multi-plex

film adaptations in the works

Of jerks, by jerks, for the jerks