There is not a wage worker in the world who may not truthfully say that he may not be a candidate for a public dinner at the next Christmas. The list is growing proportionately larger. The number to be fed increases. The victims of capitalism are so plentiful that a helping hand cannot be held out to all, but some are assisted so that the wheel may not grind too finely. Charity is an insult.
Charity is a degradation.
But charity is also a weapon in the hands of the capitalist, and it is one that he uses with dire effect. Such a state of affairs works the ruin of all who take part in it. Its increase betokens disaster. Its continuance breeds crime. A merry Christmas should be a Christmas that finds all men capable of producing their own merriment, instead of having it ladled out to them, to a chorus of self-praise and gratulation on the part of the givers.