Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1867-04-18

protect me, is the imploiing cry O
a comfortable, well-fed, well clad per
sonagc whom, at first sight, oac woul,
hardly take for beggar. "Protec
me! own but ten thousand acres O
land in the world. 1t is my all. |
is full of.coal but the Englishmen an,
Nova Scotians have got coal too, an,
offer to sell it cheaper than the price
want. Shut out this foreign coal an,
protect me, an American laborer." Ill
looks even less like laborer than
beggar.
"What makes coal so dear wheI
the weather is so dreadful cold? Go,
help us poor" came from the chat
tcring teeth of a toil-worn, care worI
shivering woman, as she measured
out with stingy eye scanty fresl
supply Of fuel to her waning fire.
No cry from her to the Governmen
for protection. No protection I,
her from the greed of the strong
the cunning, the avaricious. "Worl
for yourself Work or starve. Self
help. Every one for himself. IfGov
ernment gave bread or clothes or fue
TO the poor, it would demoraize them
Take better care Of the pennies you
earn. Lay them up in the summer fol-
a wintry day" Such are the answers
she would get if she asked for protec.
ton ifshe turned beggar. No chanc,
for her TO put in replication. The
voices Of the coal-owners are mighty
to drown hers. If she could be heard
she would say, allow can lay up my
pennies when the strong arm OF Gov,
ernment takes them from me day by
day, as fast as | can earn them, and
hands them over to my richer neigh.
borsy On every spool of thread | buy
Government takes from me a penny
or two to pay over 10 the Woonsockct
Factory Company, so that they make
dear thread and big dividends. On ev-
cry garment | wear, it takes pennies
and shillings from me wherewith to
fill the purses of the rich men who
make cloth and stockings and shawls
and who cannot be content with less
than fifty or one hundred per cent. in
crease Of their wealth every year to
pay them for making their clothes for
the American laborer. When / buy
a stove or pair of scissors, / must pay
some of my hard earned pennies to
support the wealthy iron maker.
beg no protection TO my labor and !
ask none. Let us both alone-mc and
the manufacturer. As you let me
work in my humble way along as best
| can, leave him to do the same. Give
him no part of my earnings, and am
content with my little share of this
worlds goods" If it demoralizes So
ciety for Government to give the poor
food and clothes and fuel, is it not
equally demoralizing for Government
to give to the rich and strongg And
whenitgives TO the rich by taking from
the comforts of the poor, is it not de-
moralizihg society at both endsg
"Mothcr,do give me another blanket,
| am SO cold, begs a shivering child,
of winters night, on our Northern
frontier. 81 have no more, child
blankets are so dear, and all sorts OF
clothes so dear. John, what makes
woolen things dcarcr than they used
to be Z"
81 don't know but they say it's
all done to protect us poor folks. A
tonguey man told us the other night
the Government must protect us from
the blankct-makers in England and
and other foreign countries"
"Yes, but John, over in Canada
they havcnothing but English blankets
and you can buy two blankets there
for what one costs here. The Eng
lish blanket-makcrs dent seem to DO
so hard on the poor people after ALL"
"Well, | can't tell the story exactly;
but the tonguey man made it all out
clear. think he said, too, that wool
wouldn't grow on our sheep unless
they was purtected."
"Wcll, John, you don't mean that
they kiver our American sheep with
blankets TO make their wool grow,
and that's the reason blankets are so
scarce and so dearl"
"Well, don't know about that; but
he made out that the sheep must be
purtected to get the wool, and then
the men who made the wool into blan-
kets must be purtected; else we'd |
have to use the cheap foreign blankets,
and then he said we'd be worse off"
"John, don't you think the tonguey
nan was pulling some wool over your
,yesl If | could get two blankets in
stead Of one TO keep the children warm
he sheep could do well enough with
heir natural kivering. 1t seems to
ne that we poor folks, what don't have
my natural kiver of wool growing on
'ur backs, want purtection more than
he sheep"
"Well, that's just what Deacon
Nellof says; he says these prices pur-
ect us as well as the sheep; and you
Inow the Deacon subscribcs good
'al of money TO the poor"
"Thats all true, John but then the
Deacon don't seem to get any poorer
or all he gives away and the Deacon
las got great many sheep of his own;
nd whatever is good for his sheep
must be good for the Deacon's own
'ocket; and they do say that he owns
art OF a big blanket factory down in
Rhode Island and so, maybe, the
Deacon wrongs us poor folks out of
en- dollars and then gives us back one
ollar Of it in charity; maybe, If the
oor had cheap blankets aud cheap
lothes, they wouldn't want any chari-
Y. You can't make me believe we're
r,, haitian OF c,r hox;pr, o,,l,, ona